The Internet is BACK!

We survived!

Our internet was restored last Thursday, and we are so glad! It's amazing how much we rely on the internet just for everyday routines like attendance, receipting, and of course communication! I am glad we are done with that. 

This week...
     
     - We will have IB Action Hero Day on Thursday. Dress like an action hero! 
     - Picture Day is Friday. 
     - Our first unit in Math will come to a close. 
     - Garden class will meet on Friday. 
     - We will study symbols to include: flags, seals, and landmarks. Think about how your               student could contribute to this conversation based on their experiences. Have they                 visited an important landmark? Is your family from another country or state? 
     - Ask your student about their narrative writing. This week, we are working to revise by            adding details. 

* If you still have your video permission slip from Miss Smith, please return it as soon as you are           able.

* Next Monday is our first field trip. We will leave for  the Bama as SOON as the buses arrive. Don't    be late!

Have a great week! 

Happy Monday!

Happy (3rd) Monday! 

I hope that everyone had a great weekend! I know that I am on the countdown to football season, so I spent this weekend making sure all of game gear is ready to go! :) 

Thank you so much for your patience with the Scholastic book orders. I am not sure why the site was down, but it appears to be back. I'll place the order tomorrow to give everyone a chance to log in. 

This week, we will use a picture book to introduce small group reading. Everyone will read A Bad Case of Stripes as we learn literature circle routines. 

Our first week of word study groups were a SUCCESS! Please continue to work with your student at home throughout the week, and always feel free to find ways to learn the vocabulary with them as well.

Friday is the first school-wide run of the year. If you can, come run! I think I will. :) It should be at 1:00 for us, but I will send a time when it is confirmed. 

Lastly, don't forget...NO SCHOOL next Monday! I am heading to Indianapolis to spend the weekend with my sister; I hope your family is able to have some fun, too! 

Have a great week! 

Four weeks to go...

Bits from the Birdhouse... D

4/20/15

Friends! We are down to the end! The last month of school is PACKED with activity, so be sure to watch all school communication closely. 

Please remember to sign your student up for the 5k in May. Students run for free!

There is NO SCHOOL for students on Friday. I forgot, and made book orders due on the 24th. Oops! Have them turned in by Monday the 27th instead. 

Be sure to ask your student about this week’s happenings! We will...

• Wrap up Natural Resources and our impact on the Earth.

• Continue working on problem solving strategies. 

• Finish The Magic Finger. 

• Work on biography poems as part of our celebration of National Poetry Month. 

• Finish our mini-reports about endangered animals.

• There will NOT be word study lists this week. 

• If The Most Important Thing book comes home with your student this week, please be sure to read and write a quick response. Thanks! 

We’re ready for a 

great week!

April has Arrived!

I don't know about you, but I am always floored at how quickly the school year flies by. I can't believe it's already April! Honestly, April can get a little tough. Expectations are high because we are almost third graders, and the struggle is real because everyone is starting to get antsy for summer. Please remind your student of the importance of completing work, both in class and at home and to remember classroom behavior expectations as the end of the year approaches.

Bits from the Birdhouse... D

4/6/15

Good morning! I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend with family. 

Be sure to ask your student about this week’s happenings! We will...

• Continue to learn about Natural Resources and our impact on the Earth. 

• Begin our math unit about partners and teams, which is a foundation for multiplication. 

• Have new word study lists. Please be sure to study at home!

• Start a new novel, The Magic Finger. It is a wonderfully weird little story! :) 

• Work on opinion writing. 

• Take Classworks Math on Wednesday.

• If The Most Important Thing book comes home with your student this week, please be sure to read and write a quick response. Thanks! 

We’re ready for a 

great week!

Back to real life...

Bits from the Birdhouse... D

3/23/15

Welcome back from Spring Break! 

I hope that you were able to enjoy a great week with your family. I was able to visit Pensacola (which is where we lived before we came here), and it was so nice to see old friends. The more I go back to visit though, the more I have come to love Tuscaloosa. I really never thought that would happen, and I am so glad that it has! 

I can't believe that we are on the countdown to the end of second grade. It just doesn't seem possible! 

Please remember that Women's History projects are due on Friday. If your student misplaced theirs over break, PLEASE email me and I will happily send a second copy home. Also, Scholastic book orders are due on Friday. I sent an email with the class code for everyone just in case. 

Be sure to ask your student about this week’s happenings! We will...

• Introduce our new unit about Natural Resources.

• Begin our math unit all about fractions. 

• Have new word study lists. Please be sure to study at home!

• Start a new novel, Snow Day Dare. 

• Work on opinion writing.

• Have popcorn on Wednesday! 

• Teacher lunch is Thursday. If you can come sit with our class at 12:30, I would be so thankful! 

• Send report cards home on Friday. 

We’re ready for a 

great week!

It's an even shorter week...

Good morning! It's been a few weeks since I made it to the blog to post. This week was cut even shorter by the delay this morning, but we are settling in for a great week!

This week, we will wrap up the third investigation for this math unit. We are working a LOT with collecting and spending a dollar. A great way to work with this at home is to gather up lots of coins and work with your student on adding up to a dollar and  then subtracting back to 0. Have your student create a "grocery list" of sorts and show how their items add up to a dollar. This is a great way to work with numbers within 100, as I remind them all the time that $1.00 is no different than 100 cents, which is just like 100. It's so important for them to make these connections. If your student is ROCKING with $1.00, challenge them to go to $2.00.

We are going to start a whole group book study this week! It's a fun second grade reader about winter and changes in matter. We are going to use it to learn about the structure and process of whole group "novel studies," since that will be a HUGE focus of reading in third grade. I love this little book, and hope the students do, too.

Our President posters should be up by the end of the week. Please feel free to stop by next week to wander the Hall of Presidents to see the students' hard work. It's been so much fun, and I can't wait to see all of the posters displayed together!

It's Monday again!

Good morning! I hope that you all had a great weekend! We were able to get away to the beach for the weekend...it was cold, but a much needed family weekend. This week we will...

1. Continue to work on our President's projects. I can't believe how many flags came back this morning! I love it! Everyone seems to really be enjoying the project. I can't wait to see how it all comes together.

2. Start unit 6 in Math. It's called "How many tens? How many ones?" and places a HUGE emphasis back on problem solving.

3. Pick portfolio pieces. We simply did not get to it last week.

4. Introduce our new IB unit of inquiry. It's a study on Matter, and will incorporate lots of hands on experiments. I love it!

Be sure to ask  your student about meeting a real secret service agent this morning. If you didn't already know, Mrs. Barnes' husband has been an agent for a long time and he gave us his morning and taught our students a little about the Secret Service. It was so fascinating, and the students learned so much!

Have a great week!

Monday Musings

Well, I just realized that my cute header and fonts with the adorable bird don't translate from my Mac to a PC. Go figure. So, I guess it's alright that I can't get my mac to connect to the internet today anyway. Haha!

I hope everyone had a good weekend! I FINALLY took down my Christmas tree and watched my beloved Colts beat the Broncos (even though I am still a Peyton fan), so it was a pretty good weekend!

Here are a few highlights for the upcoming week:

- We will look at President's Day, Chinese New Year, and MLK as we wrap up celebrations.

- We will continue unit 5 in math, which is all about repeated addition, number patterns, and a (very      basic) foundation for multiplication.

- We will start our President's research project.

- Kiddos are moved into new reading groups for the Spring!

- Report cards are in folders TODAY. Thanks for your patience.

It's a NEW YEAR!

Bits from the Birdhouse... D

1/5/15

It’s 2015! A friend said over break, “Y’all remember Y2K? That was FIFTEEN YEARS AGO.” Wow. 

I love taking the new year to focus on all the wonderful things around me. I don't really make resolutions...I don't have the dedication to keep them. I did, however, spend two hours working on my family's calendar for the start of this year...yikes. I'm not sure it was such a good idea. Haha! I hope your family can start the new year refreshed and ready for new challenges! 

Be sure to ask your student about this week’s happenings! We will...

• Continue our Celebrations study. New Year is this week’s focus. 

• Wrap up unit 4. Begin unit 5. 

• Have new word study lists. Please be sure to study at home!

• Work on poetry and opinion writing. 

We’re ready for a 

great week!