Wonderful things at SPS, winter concert, Mrs. Minchin, Superhero, Ms. Stout

Wonderful Things I see Every Day at SPS
There is no doubt that your children are learning academically. I can see it in their scores and in their work as I observe them every day. I hear it in their conversations with one another during small group and book club and I see in on their math boards and morning work. However, your child is also growing so much socially. The way in which they interact and share is changing. I see hands automatically fly in the air when I ask a student if they need to 'phone a friend for help.' I hear students ask, "Do you need help?" when someone is reading through a new or difficult word. It happens all the time, each and every day. I know it's in large part because of your work at home, so I thought I would share just a glimpse of an event that happened at dismissal. A friend helping a friend...wonderful

Winter Concert

Wow! Can we sing, or what?! We did awesome on Tuesday night. Photo below (some of us got cut off due to cropping; sorry).

Mrs. Minchin

Mrs. Minchin, our para-educator, helps out in small groups in the afternoon. The students love working with her on Greek and Latin Roots and on math facts. We shared some love with her on Friday. She also distributed gifts to the students.

Superhero

Our superhero this week is Amogh. He was selected by Mr. Sheldon for always going above and beyond in taking care of his classmates, the classroom, and the school.

Ms. Stout
Ms. Stout is simply amazing. Not only did she prepare hundreds of students for concerts this week, she also prepared her choir class to sing to us on Friday. So fun and amazing.

Writing, Fifth Grade Poet, Student of the Week

Writing
Many of us finished our essays during Technology last week. We will have time to work on new essays or finish up work this week.

Fifth Grade Poet
We had a nice visit from a 5th Grade Poet this week. She read the poem and then taught us. Ask your child if they remember the poem.

Student of the Week
Our student of the week this week works very hard to show self control. She consistently follows CHAMPS, she's on task and helps others stay on task too.

Book Clubs and Good Citizens

Book Clubs
We started our literature circles (aka book clubs) this week. Students will be meeting with their groups about three times a week. They will each get a chance to lead a discussion and everyone will participate as they talk about author's purpose, author's craft, vocabulary, character development, summarizing, drawing conclusions, and much more. Ask your child which book they are reading.

Citizenship Award
Congratulations to the recipients of the first trimester Citizenship Award. All of the students in our class work really hard every day to make good decisions. This award recognizes those who had very few reminders to stay on green. Well done!

Student of the Week (photo finally available)

Student of the Week
Shane was chosen as Student of the Week for showing gratitude. He works hard take care of others and take care of materials. Way to go Shane!

Raz-kids, Student of the Week, End of the Trimester, Parent-Teacher Conferences

Raz-kids
Your child is now assigned a Raz-kids account. This online 'classroom' gives them access to free books. Your child came home on Friday with their login information. The login is their first initial, last name (altogether); their password is their first name. You can visit it by going to: kidsa-z.com/login/dmueller4. I can check and assign readings; this is a great opportunity to read both fiction and nonfiction books!

Student of the Week
The last two students of the week for gratitude were Shane (photo coming soon) and Liam. These two individuals show gratitude for their classmates, classroom, and school. I am extremely proud of all they do to make our classroom a great place to be.

End of the Trimester & Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thank you to the very generous contributions from our 2nd Grade Families. We had a nice celebration at the end of the day Tuesday. It was nice to see so many parents there.  We had so many cookies, we shared with the 4th graders in Ms. Payter's class!

Thank you also for attending our parent-teacher conferences. It was nice to spend time talking about your child's progress and work together on plans to help them with their continued success.

50s Day, Student of the Week, Mr. Sheldon's Superhero, Assembly on Diversity

50s Day
We had a great time celebrating our 50th day of school. We did the limbo, listened to some 50s Day music, watched a few cartoons from the 1950s and enjoyed rootbeer floats.

Student of the Week
Our Student of the week does a great job showing gratitude by treating others with kindness. He also shows gratitude by taking care of materials, our building, and our classroom.

Mr. Sheldon's Superhero
Our Superhero of the week demonstrates kindness and compassion as well as gratitude. This past week he went out of his way to help a friend in need.

Assembly on Diversity
We worked together to create a video for diversity. We talked about how we are all individually great, but when we come together and work together, we create something wonderful. We hope you like it.

Student Leaders, Red Wings Assembly, & Middle School Stories

Student Leaders
Your child gets a chance to be a leader quite often. We have math leaders, table captains, teacher assistants, and classroom jobs that allow them to lead and help one another on a regular basis. Ask your child about it.

Red Wings Assembly
We had a lot of fun at the Red Wing Assembly. Your child will be coming home with more information about how to get involved, stay active, and eat healthy.

Middle School Stories
Middle Schoolers from Mrs. Anderson's Literature Class came and read their stories to our class on Friday. We had fun listening to their stories and hearing about their writing process.

Student of the Week, Visitor for Social Studies, Thank You

Student of the Week
Please congratulate these two students if you see them. They were the last two 'Students of the Week' for the last two weeks in October. Both students show respect each and every day. They are kind classmates who use great manners and consistently listen when others are talking. They also offer help to adults and others.

Visitor for Social Studies

To wrap up our local government unit in Social Studies, we had a visitor from Ypsilanti District Library come in and visit with us. She told us about her career in Library Science. She also told us how we can use the library for free (thanks to our local government funding and tax payers.)

Thank You

Thank you very much to the families who have sent in snack items. We had many families generously donate snacks so that each student can have a healthy snack in the afternoon.  We also had families share snacks on Thursday afternoon as we headed into our long weekend. Your contributions are appreciated.

Visit from a Judge, Middle School Flag Folders, Asthma Assembly & Skatin' Station II

Middle School Flag Folders
The middle school flag folding team came to visit us and talk about their responsibilities. They brought the school flag in and we compared the size of it to a 2nd grader. We also learned about the rituals of folding the flag and proper ways to treat the flag. This correlates with our Social Studies Unit on Civics.

Asthma Assembly & Judge Owdjiez
On Friday, Amanda, the teen representative of the Down River pageant, came to talk with us about Asthma. She talked about how she manages her asthma and how important it is to be educated about asthma. This is true for all students (students with asthma and students who have people in their lives with asthma.)

We had a wonderful visit from Judge Owdjiez. She talked about her career, her work in the community, and how local government works with the State and National Government. This also supports our understanding of civics.

Skatin' Station II 
We had a lot of fun at Skatin' Station II on Friday. What a neat way to end the week!

The Water Cycle & Mathematics

The Water Cycle
We learned about the water cycle this week. Students enjoyed the song we learned to memorize the steps of the water cycle. Ask them about it.

Mathematics
We finished our unit on foundational number systems and word problems.  Our class did very well with this unit. Beginning October 26th, there will be an additional math packet available for those of you who would like to see more math homework. Their unit test will be in this week's Monday Mailer for you to review with them. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.

Student of the Week, Fire Safety & Police Officer Visit

Student of the Week
Here are the pictures of our first two 'Students of the Week.' They both set good examples for all of us.

Fire Safety & Police Officer Visit

We are so lucky to have opportunities to talk with community members who keep us safe. The assembly this morning centered around fire safety. We learned what fire fighters to do in a fire, how fire fighters help us stay safe at home and at school, and what we should do ourselves in case of a fire or an emergency. This afternoon we listened to Officer Dergis tell us about how police officers help us stay safe and how they respond to emergencies. We also learned how we can be safe and responsible citizens.

Recognizing Great Behavior & Fictional Mayoral Elections

Sheldon's Superheros
Mr. Sheldon recognizes students who exemplify high moral character each week. These superheros are nominated by teachers who are looking for students who follow the social contract and show good character. The superheros get to wear a cape for the day. Our first two Sheldon Superheros are shown below.

Student of the Week
Each week we have a student of the week. These students complete a page for our 'Student of the Week' class book instead of doing homework. They also get to choose their job for the week. The first two were Tyler and Julia. (Photos of them or their book page will be shown next week.)

Fictional Mayor:
Throughout the last two weeks in Social Studies, we have been talking about how to participate in community decisions and how to be an active community member. As a fun way to learn about the civic responsibility of voting, we campaigned for a fictional character as mayor and then voted. They all did a super job with this. Ask your child which campaign they were on and who won the race as Mayor of Mrs. Mueller's 2nd Grade Classroom.

Pirate Day, Partner Work & Playground

Pirate Day
Pirate Day was a lot of fun. We looked pretty good, don't you think?

Partner Work
We work with small groups and partners every day.

Playground
We mix work with play every day. For many, this is the best time of day.

First Week, Class Contract, & Planners

First Week

We had a great first week. Thank you very much for all of the donations of school supplies. We are set for a while. SPS families are the most generous families that I've ever encountered. 

Class Contract

We worked for several days to complete our class contract. It is below. I think it turned out very well and look forward to working, learning, and growing with them.

Planners
Planners will be going home every day beginning Monday, September 14th. Please check your child's planner every night. We will note what we're doing each day as well as when homework is due and any color changes.

I look forward to having a great year!

Getting Ready for 2nd Grade

Our Second Grade Team
We are all very excited to start the 2015-2016 school year! Your 2nd Grade Team is as follows: Mrs. Minchin, Mrs. Mueller, Mrs. Korte, Mr. Sheldon & Ms. Ingall.

Popsicles on the Playground
We had a great time at our Popsicles on the Playground event. It was a very warm evening and the kids had fun reconnecting.

School Supplies
Following is a copy of the school supply list that went home during the last week of school in June. I thought I would put it here as well.

I'm looking forward to a great year and cannot wait to see you all soon!

NEW YEAR - NEW FORMAT 2015-2016

Hi there. I wanted to let subscribers know that as we head into the new school year, I will be changing the format. In addition, the audience will change over to a new group of 2nd graders.

I will be updating the blog very soon. You are more than welcome to stay on as a subscriber, but you can also unsubscribe as your kiddos head into the next year.

I wish you all the best as we head into the new school year!

Music Concert, Division, State Fair & Little Panthers

What a busy week. Our music concert was a success. The students sounded amazing! All week we've been working on division. 

Friday was very busy: we used skittles as manipulatives to see which numbers can be evening divided by 2 and 3, we visited 4th Grade's State Fair and many of us took part in the Little Panther's basketball game.

The Henry Ford Field Trip

The Henry Ford Field Trip
We had a lot of fun at The Henry Ford on Friday. Please ask your students about their favorite part (other than being made into a hot dog). You gotta love 2nd graders!