March April Newsletter from Principal Whitehead

Attached is the Principal's Newsletter for March and April.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LCjxKKk2T9dZanYzO0_P_jjBnKoJDVH3/view?usp=sharing

Adjectives

We are learning about adjectives. There are some great youtube videos that I shared with the kids today. One was a great re-write of "All about that Bass!"

The kids really enjoyed the first song, and thought that the 2nd was old!

"All About that Adjective"

Schoolhouse Rock: Unpack Your Adjectives

Back into the Swing of Things

Can you believe that February is almost over? I am shook by how fast this school year is going! And I think that February Break was much needed, but sooo long! I miss all my kids. My Rose hugs me daily, but there are about 17 other warm, little, squiggly, joyful kids that I miss greatly!

I miss the little things about being with the kids, like saying:
1. "Put your shoes on!" to my boys who like one shoe off and one shoe on! lol! Who knows that poem?
2. "Umm? Good Morning! I didn't see you already today."
3. "Is there pork in that? If yes, please go to another teacher's room for a few minutes."
4. "For Goodness Sakes!"
5. "Heavens to Betsy!"


I also miss their laughter, their smiles and excitement.
Most of all, I miss how smart and caring they are.

See you all tomorrow!

February 12-26th

We have an exciting week coming up!
Tuesday, we get to go to the Media Center for the AR store. Not many of the kids have earned more than 10 points this time. Sadly, we have many friends who have not earned 1 point. I hope that changes before the next AR store.

Wednesday, the kids are to have "friendship cards" with them to share with their classmates. They will pass the cards out during Literacy time. Then, we have guidance with Dr. Hyman and Mrs. Hale, at 10:30. Following guidance we'll eat lunch (cheese pizza) in the classroom. Many parents are coming in to help and enjoy our Friendship Party/Math Centers. Please let me know if you are joining us.

Our math centers are going to cover many math standards:
     Ice Cream Sundaes= Addition and Subtraction Activities
     Rewards and Prizes= Problem Solving Stories
     Cupcakes and Cookies= Measuring Weight
     Snack Time= Measuring Length

Friday, All of the 2nd Grade teachers are going to combine the students and teach different math lessons to different kids. We do this after lunch and before specials.  This will give the kids the opportunity to learn from someone else who teaches the same math concepts as me, but may use different terms. Often times the kids love getting the chance to meet teachers with a different personality. We work closely together planning our weekly math lessons, so we look forward to the chance to make an impact on each others' kids.  It is fun.

Homework for this week says to do SpellingCity.com.  There are 10 activities on the list, but I really want them to choose 5 to complete. If they do more, that is okay too!  There is also a reading log. I will collect that on Feb. 28th!  Any students who has 6 hours of reading recorded, will receive a free ticket to Six Flags Over Ga. I will send a new addition sheet as many of the problems on the one sent home Friday have sums over 1,000. I don't want to confuse the kids just yet. So, if those problems are giving you trouble, skip them and I will send new ones tomorrow. Check out my youtube videos to help with the addition and subtraction practice.

Donorschoose #FirstMillion

Today they are matching all donations! I can fully fund my project for $163!

I have my $50 ready to go!

Please pass this to friends who like to help out the schools!

https://www.donorschoose.org/project/lets-plant-the-seeds-for-lifelong-learn/3016433/?utm_source=dc&utm_medium=directlink&utm_campaign=project&utm_term=teacher_1946404&rf=directlink-dc-2018-01-project-teacher_1946404&challengeid=309252

February Break Opportunity

February Break  Coob has a Stem Camp!

I got this link from Dr. Grizzle's TWEET!

Learn more about STEM Camp Cobb @ https://stemcampcobb.weebly.com/ 

Snow days and Ice again! What to expect the next couple weeks.

Days Away from School: Oh My! 

Hope this doesn't become a habit this winter! Goodness, we've been through the wringer: Irma, Ice Storm, College Championship/traffic, and now another snow storm that closed schools from Texas to North Carolina! Craziness!

Just a Yankee, FYI for you:

 I hope all of our families fared well these past couple of cold days. I made it home safely Tuesday, but made sure to fill my tank up first. I am not sure how many of you are from the north and used to this cold, but I wanted to warn you that your gas can freeze. On days like we have had this week, or days they warn us about these temperatures, it's always a good idea to have more than half a tank.  I learned the hard way, that leaving liquids like 12 packs of pop or laundry detergent is not a good idea! Oh, my poor little Neon! It sure did teach me a lot for those 6 years I had her! LOL! imagine my surprise when I went to empty my trunk, a few days after getting groceries, globs of unscented Cheer laundry detergent mixed with slushy diet coke all over.  I can't say I was very "Cheer"ful cleaning up that mess!

What does that mean for our up-coming days and lessons in F10?

We are going to have to back up to Tuesday and start from scratch. 

Writing- 

We are working on writing our opinions, and friendly letters. We have Pen-pals in Florida and South Dakota. I am pretty excited to have the kids writing with a purpose. Occasionally, they will be writing their new friends and I'm hoping to include their opinions in those letters, sometimes. We are talking about stating an Opinion and giving 3 reasons for that opinion. This genre of writing is good because the can use facts and emotions. Before the Holiday Break, we were working on facts like in a research project that we did together. This area of fact vs opinion is very tricky, for many of the kids still. They can argue their opinion about what is fun, tastes good, smells good, and any other topic that we all have our own point of view, but to write "how to" pieces or "characteristics of a mammal" and they start to put feelings into it. Having the kids writing to loved ones is a great way to help out at home. 

Reading- 

I know some of the kids are worried about the AR party for the 2nd Quarter.  I am pretty sure that it will be rescheduled, the PTA and Mr Estelle have been working hard to get it ready, so I doubt that they'll let the planning go to waste.  The kids are doing very well on AR I have many classmates who did AR last year and are collecting their 100 point bracelets.  Others who just started this year are getting close to their 25 point and 50 point bracelets. Can't wait to see how high many of the kids end up this year! I am not expecting to have many kids get 2 100s last week or this week, we just haven't gotten into our new routine all that well yet! 

According to our DRAs and other assessments in December, everyone is improving in their reading skills. I am so excited to see the kids enjoying books and looking for topics that are just right for them. This is the age where you see them swinging towards what may be personal interests, as opposed to when they were younger and they did things just because they had to. I love watching them develop their personalities. 

Math-

Here is where the "rubber meets the road!" Soon (last week of Jan.),  you will be seeing the kids bring home 3-digit addition and 3-digit subtraction homework. The strategies do not change, we just do the same steps more than before. I really need the kids to show their work on paper. IF you are running out of lined paper, please let me know, I ask the kids often if they need more, but some never do!  I have videos on youtube that you can watch or work with me on. Please feel free to ask me questions, this is not how we learned math and if you don't ask, it can get frustrating when you try to help the kids at home. If you subscribe to my channel then whenever I upload a new video it will notify you. Thanks, Leah for subscribing, I often forget that option. 

4 2-digit addends expanded form

4 2-digit addends base10

Supplies-

1. I will be passing out the 3rd box of crayons to the kids next week, for those of you who sent them in like requested. 

2. I am unsure if the supply boxes we are using this year are not as good as they have been in the past, or if the kids are just much rougher on their supplies, but I have had 4 kids break them. If you see that I write a note in the agenda asking for supplies, don't be surprised.  

3. I made everyone a sweatshirt. Please have the kids bring either that shirt or a sweater to keep in their reading bags. The county controls the air and heat, and we often go from warm and toasty to chilly and shivers, thus the sweatshirts. 

4. Please be sure to have pencils, crayons, colored pencils or other stuff at home to work on homework. They are not supposed to be bringing the classroom supplies home until our last couple of days in May!

Other stuff-

1. We have a field trip on Feb 2nd. This is a trip that parents are not allowed on, so says the Cobb Safety Village. An officer or firefighter will be coming to talk to the kids on the 25th. I have to hand the permission slips to him that day. I will be sending the forms home with homework tomorrow (I hope). Ms Cox has be the head teacher on this trip, so I am telling you about it as I hear it. The kids Have to Have them by the 25th!!!  Then the firefighter gives the kids homework that I have to turn in on the 2nd.  More info will be coming next week about lunch. 

2. Mid-term check lists are going home Feb 9th. With all of the days missed so far, I will be playing catch-up fit some of the requirements. Please remember that even though the mid-term progress reports resemble the report card, they are just a snap-shot of where the kids are at with half the information taught. 

3. I will be at a church training the 25th-29th of January. Mrs. Slaughter is scheduled to stand in for me. The days will be run as normal and she is very good about keeping things up and moving. This is my last planned absence this year. I will still be available via text, but she really does a great job, and I have no worries. 

4. We will reschedule the weekly assessments for this week. I will add some (4 or 6) new words to the spelling list that went home last Friday, and give new math problems for next week. The next weekly assessments will take place Wednesday, Feb 1. I want them to get the spelling patterns and work with the words for a few consistent days before the assessments. 

5. Friendship Day- (Valentine's Day)- I will let you know what we are allowed to do for Friendship Day when the admin gives us our parameters.