Pizza Hut Book It Program

Parents and students this a reminder that all reading logs for the month of November need to be turned in by Wednesday, December 1st for the Pizza Hut Book It program. Also, new reading logs for December will be passed out on Wednesday, December 1st. Happy Reading! We appreciate the encouragement you have given your child to participate in this meaningful program.

Reminder

Just a reminder that we only have two days of school next week. We are in school on Monday 11/22 and 11/23. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving break!

One True Media (Under Construction)

One True Media is something new I found to share pictures or videos of special activities in our classroom. This will be used in addition to Slide.com. One True Media has more graphics and music, and seems to be similar to Photo Story. I am excited to be able to use this on our blog! Before viewing, you may want to turn down the volume on the Playlist Player at the bottom of this page. This slideshow does contain music.

Famous Americans

Over the past three weeks, in Social Studies, we have been learning about Famous Americans. We each picked a Famous American who we wanted to learn more about. We then began researching about them on the computer and in books. Learning about our Famous Americans has been a ton of fun! We then took those facts and wrote a bio-poem about them. Over the past week we have been creating their bodies. You can find these Famous Americans hanging in our hallways!

Pajama Program Donations NEEDED!

In order to help kick-off the gift giving season, Gombert has decided to participate in the The Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive sponsored by Scholastic. It's simple to participate:

1. Donate a pair of new pajamas from newborn to adult sizes. (complete sets or nightgowns only please!)

2. For every pair of pajamas donated, Scholastic will donate a book to accompany each pair of pajamas.

Last year, Scholastic donated over 18,000 pairs of pajamas and 18,000 books to those in needed. The goal this year has been raised to 25,000 and Gombert wants to help make that happen!

Click here to learn more about The Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive sponsored by Scholastic.

Cards for Soldiers-"G" Cards

As an ongoing project, the Gombert Student Council is sponsoring a service project to help send packages of cards to soldiers. To support our troops, students are asked to create cards for soldiers that they can use to send messages to their family and friends while they are away.

Students can make cards out of standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch computer paper in three different sizes:

1. half fold

2. tri-fold

3. quarter fold

Envelopes will be provided by student council, so all they need are the cards! As a helpful reminder, there should be no writing on the cards, as this allows the soldiers to use the cards for any occasion (birthdays, holidays, etc.)

Don't feel like you are artisitc enough? The Gombert Student Council is also looking for donations of gallon size ziploc baggies to package the cards into and pens (not pencils) to include in the packages.

All donations can be placed in the red, white, and blue basket that is located in the LMC. The Gombert Student Council will be packaging the cards in December, February/March, and May to send to soldiers! Thank you so much in advance for your support of this program!

New Gadget

How exciting! I just found a new gadget for 2F's blog page. It is called a Voki. I will use it to keep you updated on important events and to thank volunteers throughout the year. Soon you will hear a familiar voice coming from this new gadget (MINE!). I hope you enjoy this.

Stop-Walk-Talk Bully Prevention Program

Gombert and all schools in District 204 are implementing a Bully Prevention Program called Stop-Walk-Talk. The goal of Stop-Walk-Talk is to “give students the tools to reduce bullying behavior through the blending of school-wide positive behavior support, explicit instruction, and a redefinition of the bullying construct.”

This week in Second Grade, your child will be learning some valuable steps in confronting bullies they may encounter at school. When students observe another student not following one of the 4 Be’s of Gombert – Be Respectful, Be Resposible, Be Ready, and Be Safe – they will initiate the Stop-Walk-Talk method.

The method is simple and easy to execute. Students first let their bully know that they would like them to stop their behavior by giving a firm “Stop Sign” with their hand raised up in the air, palm out. If the bullying continues, the student is encouraged to walk away or remove themselves from the situation. The final step, or talk, is used only when the behavior continues beyond the stop and walk. If the student finds that Stop and Walk have not helped them to remove themselves from a bullying situation, they are encouraged to find the nearest adult, teacher, or supervisor to inform them of the situation.

It is our hope that students will begin to use Stop-Walk-Talk to prevent bullying to themselves or their peers. We will continue to revisit these procedures throughout the year so that students may gain independence in their use.

Veteran's Day Assembly

On Wednesday, Nov. 10th, Gombert Elementary School will celebrate Veteran’s Day at an all school assembly. At 2:00 p.m., students will honor our veterans and celebrate the freedom of America. Third graders will perform their musical "Revue, Freedom!"

Word Work

More pictures of your children doing Word Work will be posted during the upcoming week. Enjoy!

Pennies for Pies

Students have been informed about Pennies for Pies. We are encouraging students to bring in loose change to be collected and donated to a local charity to purchase pies for those who are less fortunate. If possible, please support your child in their endeavors to help others. This an opportunity to show the children how important it is to help those who do not have as much as they do. The students were excited to hear that the class who brought in the most change would be rewarded with a "Pajama Day". However, I reminded them that the best reward they could ever receive would be knowing that they helped someone who is need. Students must have all change in by Friday, November 5th.

Thank You Mrs. Schwartz, Mrs. Kahlfeldt and Mrs. McCutcheon

We would like to thank Mrs. Schwartz (Owen's grandma), Mrs. Kahlfeldt (Megan's mom) and Mrs. McCutcheon (Tyler's grandma) for being our Mystery Readers. Each one of them shared their time with the students in 2F and read books that were of high interest to all of the children. Mrs. Kahlfeldt shared an awesome pumpkin craft and Mrs. McCutcheon donated two wonderful books to our classroom library. She even brought in a special treat to celebrate Tyler's birthday. 2F would like to thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedules to come and be our Mystery Readers. The students thoroughly enjoyed every moment of your visits. You will find pictures of our Mystery Readers by clicking on the older posts option.

2F Growing and Learning!

It has been a busy few weeks in 2F. We have come such a long way since the beginning of the year and have learned many new things together as a class. One of the most rewarding experiences, this year, has been the success of Daily 5 in our classroom. Students have now been introduced to all components of the Daily 5 and are hard at work learning the expectations of how to properly participate in the exciting task of Word Work. This will give the students the opportunity to practice their spelling words more during the school day. Students will have the opportunity to use materials like Play-Doh, magnetic letters, letter tiles, and even paint dotters to practice their words.

Students have also been learning how to complete reading responses during Work on Writing. One of the major focuses has been writing summaries using a graphic organizer. In addition, students have been working on making connections and were required to include one strong connection within their response. Students will continue to practice responding to their reading and will be taught how to expand their connections so that they are true connections rather than coincidences. Mrs. Langel popped into our classroom last week and helped us to understand connections that were helpful to us as readers and those that were simply coincidences. We learned that coincidences do not lead us to a true understanding of the text being read; strong connections do.

In Math, we have been hard at work learning how to count up from a smaller amount of money to a larger amount in order to identify how much change one should receive. We have also been learning about Frames and Arrows Having Two Rules. Students continue to be instructed through the use of Guided Math. All of the Second Graders have had the opportunity to play games which have helped students to review the concepts being learned. This is a wonderful opportunity to reinforce what is being learned during whole class or small group instruction.

It also provides the opportunity for students to work on socialization and problem solving skills. The students completed the Unit 2 assessment and did an outstanding job. I look forward to sharing this assessment with you at conferences. It is evident that the implementation of Guided Math has enabled students to focus on the concepts being taught and understand them with greater clarity. I am very proud of the students and how quickly they have adjusted to this new format of learning.

In Social Studies, students are continuing to learn about our country's past. They will now be focusing, specifically, on famous Americans that have made important contributions to the country we inhabit. The students were extremely eager to begin their research projects. They were given the opportunity to work in the Computer Lab and use WorldBook Online as a resource for finding information. Mrs. Smith assisted us during this time, and we were very impressed with their listening skills as well as their ability to weed out the important information. We are still working on using our own words rather than using the exact words of the author. The students will be creating bio-poems which will be on display in the Second Grade hallway very soon. If you are in the building, please take a step into the past and stroll down our "Hall of Famous Americans".

Lastly, the students had the wonderful opportunity to meet a real, live author. Last week, Traci Dant came to visit our classroom. She shared the evolution of herself as a writer. In addition, she educated the students about the process of creating/publishing a book. Students are currently learning about the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing and publishing) during Writer's Workshop. However, we learned that authors have to be extremely dedicated when attempting to publish their work because there are several steps that need to be taken before their job is complete.

Her presentation was encouraging to the students and helped them to understand that what they do right now as students will determine their success in the future. The most memorable event was when she shared a book that she had written in fourth grade. It reminded me that writing is such a powerful tool to express one's thoughts and feelings. My goal is to instill this within my students. We will soon begin publishing our own writing during Writer's Workshop. Traci Dant helped us to understand that the possiblities of what a writer can do are endless.

I look forward to seeing you at conferences and sharing with you how your child is performing in Second Grade. Please be on the lookout for student work and pictures of the students participating in Word Work.