Newsletter- Dec. 10, 2009
All Donations Due Tomorrow!
Dear Families,
For the holidays, staff, teachers and students would like to be sure that we recognize some of the truly special people at the school who help us all: The custodians, lunchroom staff and clinic nurse. If you would like to help us do this, send in a donation by Dec. 11th. Thank you!
NO AMOUNT IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL!!!
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop-This week we worked on writing responses to our reading. We learned to include our questions and recommendations.
- Writer's Workshop- This week we continued working on using a graphic organizer to add details and organize our stories.
- Spelling/ Word Work- This week we worked on identifying spelling patterns for the short and long o vowel sound.
- Math- This week we are learning to count back change to $1.00.
- Science- We began our unit on Energy!
Important to Remember...
· TONIGHT! Thursday, Dec. 10- Papa John’s Pizza Night
· Monday, Dec. 14- In-school Field Trip- Nature in a Nutshell
· Tuesday, Dec. 15- Holiday
· Friday, Dec. 18- Last day of 2nd 9 weeks
· Dec. 21-Jan. 4 Winter Holidays No School!
Newsletter- Dec. 4, 2009
Dear Families,
For the holidays, staff, teachers and students would like to be sure that we recognize some of the truly special people at the school who help us all: The custodians, lunchroom staff and clinic nurse. If you would like to help us do this, send in a donation by Dec. 11th. Thank you!
NO AMOUNT IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL!!!
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop-This week our focus is “Good Readers Ask Questions.” To be a good reader we ask questions before, during, and after reading a book.
- Writer's Workshop- This week we have been working on using a graphic organizer to add details and organize our stories.
- Spelling/ Word Work- This week we worked on identifying spelling patterns for the short and long a vowel sound.
- Math- This week we are learning to tell time to 5 minutes.
- Social Studies- We are learning about economics. Producers/consumers, goods/services, wants/needs
Important to Remember...
· Monday, Dec. 7- Nutcracker Field Trip
· Tuesday, Dec. 8- Our class visits the Cultural Celebrations display
· Thursday, Dec. 10- Papa John’s Pizza Night
· Monday, Dec. 14- In-school Field Trip- Nature in a Nutshell
· Tuesday, Dec. 15-
· Friday, Dec. 18- Last day of 2nd 9 weeks
· Dec. 21-Jan. 4 Winter Holidays No School!
Special Note…
- Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered as our copy parent this year. This is a huge help to us both!
- Please remember to send in a healthy snack for your child each day. As a favor to us, if you are sending in an orange please have it peeled and separated for your child. This is a wonderful snack but very messy and time consuming for your child to peel. Thanks for your help.
Newsletter- Nov. 5, 2009
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop-This week we are continuing identifying elements of a story: characters, setting, problem, and solution. We are using this knowledge to then create a story web in the computer lab.
- Writer's Workshop- This week we learned about using plurals in our writing and another type of lead called a Startling Lead.
- Spelling/ Word Work- This week we worked on identifying spelling patterns for the short and long e vowel sound.
- Math- This week we continued learning about plane and solid shapes.
- Social Studies- We are studying Oglethorpe, Tomochichi, and Mary Musgrove and how they worked together in their contributions to Georgia’s history.
Important to Remember...
- Saturday, Nov. 7- Fun Run
- Thursday, Nov 12- Papa John’s Pizza Night
- Nov. 23-27- Thanksgiving Holidays No School!
Special Note…
- Thank you to all the families who pledged to our Foundation. We really appreciate all that the Foundation does for us. This year 2nd grade applied for a grant and received materials for math and language arts to support what we are doing in the classroom.
Newsletter- October 30, 2009
Happy Halloween!
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop-This week we are learning about and identifying elements of a story: characters, setting, problem, and solution.
- Writer's Workshop- This week we have been working on using good leads in our writing, specifically a telling/thinking lead.
- Spelling/ Word Work- This week we worked on identifying spelling patterns for the short and long u vowel sound.
- Math- This week we began learning about plane and solid shapes.
- Social Studies- We are studying Oglethorpe, Tomochichi, and Mary Musgrove and how they worked together in their contributions to
Important to Remember...
- Saturday, October 31- Halloween! Please be safe and have a great time. Take your umbrellas!
- Saturday, Oct. 31- Change your clocks back one hour before going to bed!
- Monday, Nov. 2- Native American Day! Wear your Native American outfits and participate in crafts and games!
- Tuesday, Nov. 3- No School! Teacher Workday
- Saturday, Nov. 7- Fun Run
Special Note…
- Thanks so much to Kayla’s mom for joining us on the field trip to the
- Thank you in advance to the volunteers helping for Native American Day and sending in our special snacks.
- The kids did a great job on finding shapes in their homes and taking pictures! Thank you for your help with this project!
Please Support our Foundation!
Do you know about our ELMOs? Thanks to the Foundation, we started the school year with an ELMO in
every teacher's classroom! Click here to learn more!
The
Mt. Bethel Foundation is funded 100% by parent donations and the Patron Program, which ends next week, is their only fundraiser. If you plan to make a donation or pledge, please send in your patron card ASAP. The
superb programs and teacher grants provided by the Foundation are in
jeopardy! Thank you to the families that have contributed!
Our class currently has 59% Participation!
Highest participating classes per grade level:
Kindergarten - Schreck
Please view the MBESF website for more information about the Foundation and what it provides for our school. Keep Mt. Bethel students' thinking caps fully charged, send in your patron card before 10/30/09!
Newsletter- October 22, 2009
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop-We have been working on the skill of inferencing. This is when we use context clues and our background knowledge to make an educated guess about characters, ideas, or events.
- Writer's Workshop- We are revisiting some of our rules for workshop time. We also worked on using correct punctuation and capital letters.
- Spelling/ Word Work- This week we worked on identifying spelling patterns for the short and long o vowel sound.
- Math- This week we continued working on subtraction with regrouping.
- Social Studies- We are studying Oglethorpe, Tomochichi, and Mary Musgrove and how they worked together in their contributions to Georgia’s history.
Important to Remember...
- October 22-23 2nd/3rd Grade Play- Come on out and see 3 of our classmates in the play!
- Tuesday, October 27- Visit to the Fire Safety Village.
- Please have your child wear their class t-shirt, pants, and tennis shoes. No crocs, sandals, or skirts are allowed.
Special Note…
- Halloween is next Saturday! Please remind your students to be safe when out trick-or-treating.
- Book Fair is next week in the media center
Newsletter- October 15, 2009
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop-We have been working on identifying connections with stories and how they help us as readers.
- Writer's Workshop- We have gone through the publishing steps and worked on the laptops to publish our first stories for this year.
- Spelling/ Word Work- This week we worked on identifying spelling patterns for the short and long a vowel sound.
- Math- This week we introduced subtraction with regrouping.
- Science- We began our unit of study on James Oglethorpe and his contributions to
Georgia
Important to Remember...
- Friday, October 16-Report Cards
- October 19-23- Bus Driver Appreciation Week
- Tuesday, October 20- Firefighters visit our classroom
- Wednesday, October 21- Early Release at 12:20
- October 22-23 2nd/3rd Grade Play
- Tuesday, October 27- Visit to the
Fire
Safety
Village
Special Thanks...
- to all the volunteers for helping us out with our copies!
Special Note…
- Halloween is next Saturday! Please remind your students to be safe when out trick-or-treating.
- Also, be on the lookout for a note regarding our 2nd Grade Native American Day coming up on November 2nd.
Character Winner!
Congratulations to Jake for being voted the child in our class who most shows integrity!!
Newsletter- October 1, 2009
Dear Families,
I am so glad that we are back to our normal schedule this week. I hope that all of you are doing well after the flooding incidents last week. If there is anything you all need, please let me know how I can help.
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop-We focused on gathering information from non-fiction stories and identifying the main idea. We also discussed synonyms.
- Writer's Workshop- This week we are preparing to work on our final drafts for publishing our first piece of writing.
- Spelling/ Word Work- Our focus this week is on the long vowel spelling patterns..
- Math- We are working on counting money using $20, $10, $5, $1 and all coins.
- Science- This week we are learning about he states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas) and are beginning to learn about how matter can change.
Important to Remember...
- Please remember to help your child with our Walk Georgia activity. All we need you and your child to do is walk at least one mile so that we can record our progress on Mondays. This can be done anytime during the week but will be recorded on Mondays. Thanks so much for your help and participation as we explore our state!
- Tonight! Science Fair- 5:30 pm
- Thursday, October 8- Papa John’s Pizza Night!
- Friday, October 9- End of 1st 9 weeks
- Monday, October 12- Columbus Day
- Friday, October 16-Report Cards
Special Thanks...
- to all of our parents who have volunteered to help us out as Copy Fairy! This is such a huge help for Mrs. Lindsay and I and we really appreciate it!!
Newsletter- Sept. 18, 2009
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop- This week’s theme is “Good Readers Ask Questions” like who, what, when, where, and why to better understand stories.
- Writer's Workshop- We have continued working on personal narratives this week. We focused on adding details and focusing on a small moment.
- Spelling/ Word Work- we worked on words with the short u and long u spelling patterns.
- Math- We continued working on addition with regrouping.
- Social Studies- We have continued learning about the Native American tribes of the Creek and the Cherokee of Georgia. We also are learning about Sequoyah and his contributions.
Important to Remember...
- Tuesday, Sept. 22- First day of Autumn
- Thursday, Sept. 24- Foundation Patron Program Kick-off
Please help your child to remember to bring a healthy snack everyday.
Special Thanks...
- to Kayla’s mom for being our Mystery Reader last Friday.
Newsletter- September 10, 2009
Congratulations to Will for being voted the student in our class who most shows the character trait of Respect!
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop- This week we have been working on Predicting as a good comprehension strategy. When we use our schema, or background knowledge it helps us to understand what we are reading.
- Writer's Workshop- We began writing personal narratives this week. Personal narratives are stories of events that really happened to us. When writing these we make sure to focus on a snapshot or small moment in time.
- Math- We introduced addition with regrouping this week.
- Social Studies- We have been learning about the Native American tribes of the Creek and the Cherokee of Georgia.
Important to Remember...
- TONIGHT- Papa John’s Pizza Night
- Saturday, Sept. 12- East Cobber Parade 10 am
- Sept. 14-18- Bus Driver Appreciation and Bus Safety Week
Please help your child to remember to bring a healthy snack everyday.
Special Thanks...
- to Helen’s mom and Jake’s dad for being our parent volunteers on Wednesday while we attended our grade level planning meeting J
- to all the families who raised money for the Boosterthon Fundraiser. This will directly benefit our classroom!
A huge success last year, the MBESF Science Fair is back again for its second year, Thursday, October 1st, 5:30-7:00! It's a fun, non-judged event celebrating innovation and scientific learning. Students can work alone, with partners, or even a parent can get involved! Join us and see how much fun science can be!
Click here for easy online registration and more info. Register by Tuesday, September 1st to reserve your spot!
New this year - 4th & 5th grade students who wish to participate in the Science Olympiad, must enter an individual project in the Science Fair.
Newsletter- August 27, 2009
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop- This week we used poetry to explore figurative language. We also worked on strategies for choosing “just right” books for independent reading.
- Writer's Workshop- We examined the 6 traits of writing to help us plan for writing a descriptive paragraph. We also talked about using our five senses to help us add great details.
- Math- We continued working on place value this week, up to the thousands.
- Social Studies- We continued discussing the 5 regions of
Georgia
identified the major rivers in
Georgia
- Health- This week we continued identifying foods and where they belong in the food guide pyramid.
Important to Remember...
- Wednesday, Sept. 2- Boosterthon Fun Run Day 8-9:10am Parents welcome!
- Tuesday, Sept. 1 - Science Fair registration deadline
- Friday, Sept. 4 - Night in the Parking Lot 6-8pm
- Monday, Sept. 7- Labor Day NO SCHOOL!
- Thursday, Sept. 10- Papa John’s Pizza Night
- Saturday, Sept. 12- East Cobber Parade
Please help your child to remember to bring a healthy snack everyday.
Special Thanks...
- to Helen’s mom and Kayla’s mom for volunteering to be our room reps.
Newsletter- August 13, 2009
Mrs. Lindsay and I are so excited to be back in school with all of your children. This first week back has been so busy and full of activities getting us back into the swing of things. We enjoyed seeing all of you at Open House and want to remind you that if you have any questions or concerns please let us know.
We are learning...
- Reader's Workshop- We began our year discussing folktales, working on the short a vowel sound and blends, and learning procedures for handling books in the classroom.
- Writer's Workshop- This week we discussed rules and routines for Writer's Workshop. We also defined "personal narrative" and listed ideas for writing.
- Math- We are jumping right in to our math curriculum. We have been reviewing skills from 1st grade and working on using tally and bar graphs.
- Social Studies- We are learning about map skills and using a compass rose to help us find directions on maps of Georgia and the United States.
- Health- This week we began our unit on Nutrition by examining our snacks and discussing if they belong in the healthy or junk food categories.
Important to Remember...
- Attention all Second and Third Grade performers!! The auditions for
the upcoming BCP Fall musical "A Kid's Life" will take place from
2:30-4:30pm NEXT WEEK!
Tuesday, August 18th (3rd Graders)
Wednesday, August 19th (2nd Graders)
Please visit www.bcprod.org/mtbethel to download an information packet
with complete rehearsal schedule and audition pieces. Your child can
also stop by the Drama Classroom, or Ms. Roberts' (3rd Grade)
Classroom and pick up a packet.
- Thursday, Aug. 20- Boy Scout Night 7-8pm
- Friday, Aug. 21- Welcome Coffee for Kindergarten parents and New Parent 9:30 am
- Monday, Aug. 24- Boosterthon Pep Rally during school hours
Special Thanks...
- to all of our parents for your generous donations from our "Giving Tree"
- to Helen's mom for setting up our class calendar on the blog
Please note: I have sent and email to all addresses that I received. If you have not received this email please let me know so that I may add you to our parent email list.
Welcome to 2nd Grade!
We are so excited to get started on a great year with each of you! We look forward to meeting each of you at Meet and Greet in August!
Ms. Birdsong and Mrs. Lindsay
