Week 5 Flew By!

Week 5 flew by! In Language Arts we introduced letter writing. Students wrote a letter to someone in school who’s made a difference. Shout out to Mr. Steele, Ms. Kelly, Mrs. McGlamery, Uriel, Mr. Svatek, and the First Grade Teachers:  our students appreciate everything you do for them! In Social Studies we continued to demonstrate our American Patriotism. We introduced the U.S. Constitution and watched a very interesting video. During Math block we learned all about place value. The Hot Tamales O’s were a big hit this week! We created a place value foldable and used place value blocks to demonstrate different ways to make a number. Students were able to demonstrate place value in standard form, expanded form, and word form. Science really rocked this week! We reviewed natural resources and introduced rocks and minerals. Students enjoyed a nature walk around the school and collected rocks, identified rock properties during our rock observations in the classrooms and in the Learning Commons. Students explored a variety of rocks through station rotation in the LC and referred to our 2^nd grade rock bulletin in order to identify the various rock properties. Science was not dull at all this week! It’s all smooth sailing from this week on!

September 17 was Constitution Day.  Here’s the link to the new 2015-2016 Constitution Day video, which features students from Christie, Carpenter, Clark, and Plano Senior HS.  

Constitution Day video (length --  5:00):

http://pisdtv.pisd.edu/communications/features/E_Tiv294cIXQZQMm2Jgk

Watch the video below-  One of my favorites from the 1970's! 

Schoolhouse Rock Constitution Video

Week 4 was Anything But a Bore!

Week 4 was anything but a bore!  

We sang patriotic songs during our Language Arts and Social Studies time; we discussed fact families in math and who can forget about our awesome Earth experts making observations during science?  So many great things are happening within our classroom AND in our school garden.  Did you know we have a thriving ecosystem right next to our school?  Well, we do and we love observing nature and it’s entire splendor.  Especially since “Scientist” is our name and “observing” is our game.  It’s what we do.  Here’s a picture of one of our Earth experts taking notes in his Science notebook; just one of the many wonderful things happening here.  Stay tuned for more news next week! 

Diving into Curriculum Week 3

Three weeks in and we are getting in to the groove of our routine and really diving into curriculum!

This week in Language Arts and Social Studies we have been reading, researching, and learning about our country's national symbols as well as our Texas state symbols. This unit on citizenship could not have come at a better time than right here around Patriot Day (September 11th). We are still distinguishing Texas symbols from those symbols that represent the United States of America, but we are having a blast with them!

Here are a few of our symbols from an assignment we did with our Social Studies books:

In Math we are continuing to work on Addition and Subtraction using different strategies. Next week we will be wrapping up Unit 1 and preparing for Unit 2, which will include Place Value so stay tuned for that the week after next!

We have learned to be Super Safe Scientists in Science this week. Our Science Notebooks are finally set up for the year. After learning about what makes a good Scientist last week we were ready to move on. We have signed our Science Safety Contract, made a Title Page, All About the Author Page, and practiced Making Observations. 

Below are a few examples of our Making Observations pages.  We observed a pencil using a hand lens.

Making Observation entries:

Thank you for joining us at Watch Dog Pizza Night on Thursday. We look forward to seeing more of you again soon. 

*DON'T FORGET* 

Tuesday Morning at 7:30 is Coffee with Mr. Steele for all parents. This is an excellent time to get any and all Christie related questions answered straight from our great principal himself! 

Other upcoming important dates:

Thursday, 9/17- 

Kindness Initiative Assembly at 8:00 a.m. for Kindergarten-2nd

Citizen of the Month in the Learning Commons at 2:00 p.m.

Monday, 9/21- Individual Picture Day

Off to a Great Start!

Second grade kicked off with great success this past two weeks. We want to thank all parents and guardians for remaining flexible as the school amends dismissal procedures to better serve all of Christie. Also, we want to extend another thank you to all those who attended Parent Information Night/Open House. We dove into an engineering STEAM activity our first week of school called Fantastic Elastic.  All second graders collaborated, troubleshooted, and explored variables while creating their wind-up toys.

This week, second graders will continue testing in both, Math and Reading, so teachers and administrators can attain a strong baseline for the needs of each child. We would love to see each student come to school with a well-rested mind and a healthy snack.

Important September Dates:

10 - Watch Dog Dad Night @ 6:00 p.m.
15 – Parents Coffee with Mr. Steele 7:30 a.m. 

17 – Kindness Initiative Kick-Off, K-2 8 a.m., 3-5 9 a.m.

21 – Individual Pictures

24 – PTA Family Picnic

Below are some of the books we read together as a class last week.  These books will set the climate for our class this year, as well as introduce classroom routines and rules.  In Social Studies we are learning the characteristics of a good citizen, and students worked hard to set up their science notebooks.  These notebooks will be used for note taking in science.  Math found us diving right into addition and subtraction math facts using the doubles and making ten strategies.  Math homework papers went home with your students last Monday-Thursday.  Please make sure your child completes their math homework page and reads for 20 minutes each night.  We ask that parents sign their child’s reading log Thursday night and return it to school on Friday for the teacher to check.

You're Finally Here! was used as a humorous way to welcome students back to school.

You're Finally Here Video Preview

The Recess Queen helped us learn indoor and outdoor recess rules.

The Recess Queen -- Book Trailers -- Children

Julia Cook was a guidance counselor prior to becoming an author.  Her books teach children problem solving skills through literature.  We have been reading some of her books to your children so that they can begin to solve some of their own problems.  

Watch this video link for more information about Julia Cook and her books.

Julia Cook Interview 

 

We also read the following two books written by Kevin Henkes: 

 Wemberly Worried- deals with feeling nervous

Wemberly Worried Book Trailer

Chrysanthemum- celebrates diversity and teaches kindness

Click on this link to learn more about the author Kevin Henkes.   Kevin Henkes

Special's Schedule for Mrs. Nachman's Class

We are yellow!

Our First Week of School

We survived the first week! Everyone take a deep breath and have a fantastic weekend... but before you do, let me tell you a little about our first week of school.

Little known fact: Teachers are even nervous for the first day of school. I had my lesson plans, pens, sticky notes, pencils, and lunch all packed up by 5:30 pm the night before.

I was able to share this with the class on the first day of school by reading "First Day Jitters", which is a story that does not show the face of the main character until the very last page. She goes through all the happy, nervous, excited, jittery jitters that the first day brings. She finally gets out of bed, ready for school, and is accompanied to her classroom by the principal to meet her class. The students thought it was so funny the jittery girl ended up being the teacher! They laughed for a good long while about that one. I shared with them that I was feeling many of the same first day feelings they were and that we are all in this together.

We shared many stories, such as "Recess Queen" and "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?", to help us set the stage for what our classroom, hallway, and overall school behavior and words should look like and sound like. We have practiced routines a great deal too. 

In Language Arts/Social Studies we have been talking about being a good citizen, which will continue in to next week. We have also read several Folktales and Fables and written about how it feels to be a 2nd grader and what their summers looked like.

In Math we have been practicing addition facts up to 10. One of our most popular stations included 10 Go Fish (think making 10 with your cards, instead of matching pairs of numbers) and ST Math on the computers. They are getting better and better at logging themselves in as each day passes!

If you haven't heard about our Science this week then I am probably not doing my job! Two words: WHIRLY GIG! The kids have LOVED this project. We are learning what it means to be a scientist and how they often have many failures before they come to a solution/succeed. We spent the first part of the week exploring the materials and drawing diagrams. These past few days we started and completed the building process. What these kids can make with just a cup, lid, rubber band, paper clip, and a wooden skewer have blown me away! I look forward to many more opportunities, such as this, to share with the class.

Looking forward to a great year!

2015: Welcome to Second Grade!

"Meet The Teacher" night was fantastic! I enjoyed seeing all the parents and smiling students in the halls.  

It is now time for the first week of school.  Classes begin Monday August  24th.  Please excuse our construction, but our school was in need of some updating. It will look fantastic when it is finally completed.  This week students and teachers will be getting to know each other and going over the rules and expectations of the classroom and school. Homework will begin the second week of school and will include reading 20 minutes every day and math problems Monday through Thursday.  I will be sending home my contact information soon so do not hesitate to call or e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns.

It is going to be a great school year and I am looking forward to working with your child!

Mrs. Nachman