Thursday, December 1, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dear 2B Families,
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. It's R & R weekend which means NO homework (insert sigh of relief)! I can't wait to hear all about your Thanksgiving break adventures when the students return on Monday! Mr. Dombrowski and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the FIRST time. My first turkey...wish me luck :-). I hope your children share with you why I am thankful for them...29 reasons to be thankful in 2B!
Scholar Shout-Outs:
First - Congratulations Anthony! He was our virtue award winner for the month of November for showing COURAGE..."the will to do something difficult or dangerous".
Second - Happy Birthday to Keegan!
Wish List Highlight: We could really use 20 more privacy folders (2 sets of these) for testing. If you can help out with this purchase, please let me know :-). Thank you in advance for your generosity. We are also almost out of Clorox Wipes and Kleenex.
Please be collecting toilet paper rolls at home! We will use these during our Boxcar Feast/Holiday Party.
Here is what we will be learning when we return from Thanksgiving Break...
Language Arts: In language arts next week we will introduce students to writing a friendly letter! This will tie in perfectly with a holiday activity we do where each student writes a letter to another student telling them how wonderful they are! Students will learn the parts of a letter next week, and how to address an envelope! Please email me, or write in your students planner your address by Wednesday so that we are able to address an envelope!
We will be reading chapters 8-10 in The Boxcar Children, and have a class discussion about what makes our homes feel special, and what makes us homesick!
Math: In math we will continue to work on dividing things into equal groups. Students are ROCKING this! Check out two of our super scholars (Evan & Lilah) who modeled a division problem under the document camera for the class...
Math: In math we will continue to work on dividing things into equal groups. Students are ROCKING this! Check out two of our super scholars (Evan & Lilah) who modeled a division problem under the document camera for the class...
We will continue to talk about what to do when things cannot be split into equal groups, and we have “leftovers” or "remainders". I suggest using hands on manipulatives when working on dividing at home. Please also practice skip counting by 3s and 4s with your scholar. We will review all week and Friday nights homework will provide great practice for a test on Monday!
Science: Last week we spent time reviewing complete vs. incomplete metamorphosis. Next week our young entomologists will continue their study of insects through learning about bees (honeybees, drones, queens), paper wasps, termites, and ants. Ask your scholar if they can describe the difference between a social and solitary insect. Can they describe what each bee must do in order to survive? Can they tell you how ants and termites are different from other social insects?
Check out part of this wasp nest that Ms. Spriggs brought in! I'll share this with the class next week...
History: Our study of Ancient China will continue through learning about the Silk Road, silkworms, and Chinese Inventions like fireworks. Did you see the paper lanterns we made this week when we learned about Chinese New Year?
Wishing you & your family many Thanksgiving blessings!
Love,
Mrs. Dombrowski
Friday, November 18, 2016
Winter Concert Success!
Dear 2B Families,
Happy Friday! Your children were AMAZING at the Winter Concert. What a joy it was to hear them sing. They sounded BEAUTIFUL! I wish I had taken more pictures!
Happy Friday! Your children were AMAZING at the Winter Concert. What a joy it was to hear them sing. They sounded BEAUTIFUL! I wish I had taken more pictures!
We have TWO Scholar Shout-Outs:
FIRST ~ Happy Birthday Trenton! He brought us a yummy treat today!
SECOND ~ Congratulations to Megan, Evan, Kendall and Francesca! They moved on to the oral Spelling Bee in class today. It was a tough competition and we are so proud of each of them! The results are....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...Kendall (1st place) and Francesca (runner-up)! YAY! They will move on to the Archway Arete School Bee in the Gym on December 5th!
We had TWO amazing class discussions today about TEMPTATION (our Touchpebbles story this week had to do with stealing) and SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY WITHOUT PAY (Boxcar Children talk). Please continue these discussions at home and ask your scholar what they learned in class!
Classroom Behavior: Mrs. Smith and I would greatly appreciate your assistance in reminding your children about our class meeting this week regarding TRUST and the question, "Am I setting a good example for others to follow?" We've talked a lot about resisting the temptation to talk to our neighbor and not talking when the teachers are talking. Please remind your scholar about appropriate classroom behavior...at special classes too!
Assembly: Can you believe Thanksgiving is NEXT week? I sure can't! There will be a school-wide assembly next Tuesday, November 22nd at 2pm. There is no school next Wednesday, November 23rd-Friday, November 25th for Thanksgiving Break.
Boxcar Children Project: On Monday, instructions for The Boxcar Children diorama will be sent home with your scholar. These will be due on December 12th. I will be sure to share some sample project pictures with you on our next blog post. In the meantime, find an old shoe box!
Holiday Party/Boxcar Feast: Our Boxcar Feast will be combined with our Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 21st. Be on the lookout for a sign up genius link. We will be requesting blueberries, clean recyclables, milk, and bread. Students will also participate in a "Secret Student" letter writing activity as well as a book exchange. Please find a gently used book (or a new one is fine too) and wrap it in your child's favorite wrapping paper.
Next week will be a short week but there's still GREAT learning happening in 2B!
History: We will continue on our fascinating journey through Ancient China. Last week we learned about the importance of ancestors in Chinese culture. We also traveled back in time to learn why a famous wall was built and we discovered the origin for a written language so different from our own. We will learn a little bit more about Chinese New Year and we will review concepts like Confucianism and the two important rivers: Yellow and Yangtze. Ask your scholars what they know about Emporor Qin, calligraphy, and the importance of family and ancestors. Have them share what they know about Ancient China at the dinner table, it is sure to be interesting!
Other Announcements:
The Inaugural Chargers Golf Tournament is just around the corner…December 3, 2016 – 8:00 a.m. (registration deadline is Nov. 27)
· Berge Ford Hole-in-one prize – get a hole in one on the 3rd hole and win a C-Max Hybrid or a Ford Escape!
· Superstition Springs Golf Course, 6542 E. Baseline Rd, Mesa, AZ
· $150 per golfer (includes lunch, raffle ticket for great giveaways, and a one month membership to LA Fitness)
· A few of the prizes included are…
o Gift card to Red White & Brew
o Gift card to Pita Jungle
o Gift card to Zushi
o Gift card to Pie-fection
o Free golf lessons with a golf pro
There is still time to sign up – help us make this event we can look forward to year after year!
Competitions for: Closest to pin
Longest drive
Longest put
Straightest drive
Select or copy/paste this registration link: areteprep.configio.com/content/golf
FIRST ~ Happy Birthday Trenton! He brought us a yummy treat today!
SECOND ~ Congratulations to Megan, Evan, Kendall and Francesca! They moved on to the oral Spelling Bee in class today. It was a tough competition and we are so proud of each of them! The results are....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...Kendall (1st place) and Francesca (runner-up)! YAY! They will move on to the Archway Arete School Bee in the Gym on December 5th!
We had TWO amazing class discussions today about TEMPTATION (our Touchpebbles story this week had to do with stealing) and SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY WITHOUT PAY (Boxcar Children talk). Please continue these discussions at home and ask your scholar what they learned in class!
Classroom Behavior: Mrs. Smith and I would greatly appreciate your assistance in reminding your children about our class meeting this week regarding TRUST and the question, "Am I setting a good example for others to follow?" We've talked a lot about resisting the temptation to talk to our neighbor and not talking when the teachers are talking. Please remind your scholar about appropriate classroom behavior...at special classes too!
Assembly: Can you believe Thanksgiving is NEXT week? I sure can't! There will be a school-wide assembly next Tuesday, November 22nd at 2pm. There is no school next Wednesday, November 23rd-Friday, November 25th for Thanksgiving Break.
Boxcar Children Project: On Monday, instructions for The Boxcar Children diorama will be sent home with your scholar. These will be due on December 12th. I will be sure to share some sample project pictures with you on our next blog post. In the meantime, find an old shoe box!
Holiday Party/Boxcar Feast: Our Boxcar Feast will be combined with our Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 21st. Be on the lookout for a sign up genius link. We will be requesting blueberries, clean recyclables, milk, and bread. Students will also participate in a "Secret Student" letter writing activity as well as a book exchange. Please find a gently used book (or a new one is fine too) and wrap it in your child's favorite wrapping paper.
Next week will be a short week but there's still GREAT learning happening in 2B!
Language Arts:
Due to the short week we will not have Spalding words (insert sigh of relief...or maybe a little cheer...it's okay!). We will spend the class time reviewing tough words and phonograms.
We will be introducing prepositions and prepositional phrases in grammar. The students have been wanting to use prepositions all year, and starting next week they will be able to! We will learn 2 new jingles, and students will set to work memorizing a long list of prepositions.
In literature, we will read chapters 7 and 8 of The Boxcar Children. We will have a class discussion about how the children show initiative!
Students received a copy of The Night Before Christmas in their homework folder. They are to choose one stanza to memorize and be ready to recite the week of December 12th. Please practice at home!
Math: Next week we will introduce students to division! Division will be presented at sharing a whole amongst EQUAL groups! We will do some fun Thanksgiving craft-ivities in math with turkeys as well!
Science: Our young entomologists will continue their study of insects through learning about bees (honeybees, drones, queens) and paper wasps. Ask your scholar if they can describe the difference between a social and solitary insect. Can they also describe what each bee must do in order to survive? Can they tell you the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis?
Due to the short week we will not have Spalding words (insert sigh of relief...or maybe a little cheer...it's okay!). We will spend the class time reviewing tough words and phonograms.
We will be introducing prepositions and prepositional phrases in grammar. The students have been wanting to use prepositions all year, and starting next week they will be able to! We will learn 2 new jingles, and students will set to work memorizing a long list of prepositions.
In literature, we will read chapters 7 and 8 of The Boxcar Children. We will have a class discussion about how the children show initiative!
Students received a copy of The Night Before Christmas in their homework folder. They are to choose one stanza to memorize and be ready to recite the week of December 12th. Please practice at home!
Math: Next week we will introduce students to division! Division will be presented at sharing a whole amongst EQUAL groups! We will do some fun Thanksgiving craft-ivities in math with turkeys as well!
Science: Our young entomologists will continue their study of insects through learning about bees (honeybees, drones, queens) and paper wasps. Ask your scholar if they can describe the difference between a social and solitary insect. Can they also describe what each bee must do in order to survive? Can they tell you the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis?
Other Announcements:
The Inaugural Chargers Golf Tournament is just around the corner…December 3, 2016 – 8:00 a.m. (registration deadline is Nov. 27)
· Berge Ford Hole-in-one prize – get a hole in one on the 3rd hole and win a C-Max Hybrid or a Ford Escape!
· Superstition Springs Golf Course, 6542 E. Baseline Rd, Mesa, AZ
· $150 per golfer (includes lunch, raffle ticket for great giveaways, and a one month membership to LA Fitness)
· A few of the prizes included are…
o Gift card to Red White & Brew
o Gift card to Pita Jungle
o Gift card to Zushi
o Gift card to Pie-fection
o Free golf lessons with a golf pro
There is still time to sign up – help us make this event we can look forward to year after year!
Competitions for: Closest to pin
Longest drive
Longest put
Straightest drive
Select or copy/paste this registration link: areteprep.configio.com/content/golf
Love,
Mrs. Dombrowski
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Measurement and More!
Dear 2B Families,
Happy Thursday! Thank you for sharing your children with me for yet another beautiful week in 2nd grade! There is no school tomorrow (Veterans Day). We wish all of our family members and friends who have served in the military a wonderful Veterans Day! Thank you for your service to our country!
Highlights for Next Week:
The WINTER DRESS CODE begins on Monday, November 14th.
The WINTER CONCERT is next Wednesday, November 16th. Second graders need to report to the venue at promptly 5:00pm. The concert will begin at 5:30pm. Please keep in mind that you will need to check out with me at the end of the concert. The attire for the concert will be as follows...
Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly.
Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, and black dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment. Please follow the Archway Arete dress code for guidelines on jewelry.
PICTURE RETAKES are next Friday, November 18th.
Homework Survey: I have seen the results of the homework survey. Thank you for the feedback! It seems that most parents feel well equipped to assist their child with homework. I wonder how we can help make it a more enjoyable experience for your scholar :-). If you still have concerns regarding homework, please reach out to me.
Our Curriculum Next Week...
Language Arts: Next week we will start memorizing a new poem: The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore! This poem is broken into 4 stanzas that we will learn each week! Students will choose one stanza to memorize and we will recite the week of December 12.
Grammar: We will continue to work on writing interesting sentences using all the parts of speech we have learned. Students will be assessed on their understanding of subject nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs on Friday. We will also continue practicing narration and dictation using one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE stories, The Mouse and the Motorcycle!
Literature: We will be reading chapters 5-7 in The Boxcar Children. Students are LOVING the adventure that Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny are on! Next week we will find out what that strange noise is that was coming from the woods!
Spalding Words Next Week...
Monday: inform, both, heart, month, children, child, build, built, understand, follow
Tuesday: charge, member, case, while, also, return, office, great, Miss, miss
Wednesday: who, died, die, changing, change, few, pleasant, please
Math: Measuring, weighing, comparing...In math next week we will finish up our unit on weight and move into a new exciting unit on multiplication!
Science: Hear our class singing the ~ Water Cycle Song!
Next week our scholars will become entomologists as we begin our study of insects. We will learn about what makes an insect an insect through learning about the parts of their body like the head, thorax, and abdomen. We will also study their life cycle. Does it go through incomplete or complete metamorphosis? Finally, our entomologists will design their very own insect!
History: We will continue our learning about Ancient China. Ask me about the two important rivers in China and the teachings of Confucius (especially the Golden Rule)!
Cuteness ALERT! I just had to share this sweet picture of my lovable lab, Paisley, with my niece at the park last week!
With a Grateful Heart,
Mrs. Dombrowski
Happy Thursday! Thank you for sharing your children with me for yet another beautiful week in 2nd grade! There is no school tomorrow (Veterans Day). We wish all of our family members and friends who have served in the military a wonderful Veterans Day! Thank you for your service to our country!
Highlights for Next Week:
The WINTER DRESS CODE begins on Monday, November 14th.
The WINTER CONCERT is next Wednesday, November 16th. Second graders need to report to the venue at promptly 5:00pm. The concert will begin at 5:30pm. Please keep in mind that you will need to check out with me at the end of the concert. The attire for the concert will be as follows...
Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly.
Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, and black dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment. Please follow the Archway Arete dress code for guidelines on jewelry.
PICTURE RETAKES are next Friday, November 18th.
Homework Survey: I have seen the results of the homework survey. Thank you for the feedback! It seems that most parents feel well equipped to assist their child with homework. I wonder how we can help make it a more enjoyable experience for your scholar :-). If you still have concerns regarding homework, please reach out to me.
Our Curriculum Next Week...
Language Arts: Next week we will start memorizing a new poem: The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore! This poem is broken into 4 stanzas that we will learn each week! Students will choose one stanza to memorize and we will recite the week of December 12.
Grammar: We will continue to work on writing interesting sentences using all the parts of speech we have learned. Students will be assessed on their understanding of subject nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs on Friday. We will also continue practicing narration and dictation using one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE stories, The Mouse and the Motorcycle!
Literature: We will be reading chapters 5-7 in The Boxcar Children. Students are LOVING the adventure that Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny are on! Next week we will find out what that strange noise is that was coming from the woods!
Spalding Words Next Week...
Monday: inform, both, heart, month, children, child, build, built, understand, follow
Tuesday: charge, member, case, while, also, return, office, great, Miss, miss
Wednesday: who, died, die, changing, change, few, pleasant, please
Math: Measuring, weighing, comparing...In math next week we will finish up our unit on weight and move into a new exciting unit on multiplication!
Science: Hear our class singing the ~ Water Cycle Song!
Next week our scholars will become entomologists as we begin our study of insects. We will learn about what makes an insect an insect through learning about the parts of their body like the head, thorax, and abdomen. We will also study their life cycle. Does it go through incomplete or complete metamorphosis? Finally, our entomologists will design their very own insect!
History: We will continue our learning about Ancient China. Ask me about the two important rivers in China and the teachings of Confucius (especially the Golden Rule)!
Cuteness ALERT! I just had to share this sweet picture of my lovable lab, Paisley, with my niece at the park last week!
With a Grateful Heart,
Mrs. Dombrowski
Friday, November 4, 2016
Read-A-Thon FUN and Welcome November!
Dear 2B Families,
WOW! What a week we had! Monday was a wonderful Read-A-Thon Celebration and Assembly. Congratulations to Ryken (Citizenship) and Abigail (Honesty) for being our virtue award winners for September and October! Here are some pictures to share from Monday and a video TOO!
November is here! Can you believe it? The class spelled out our classroom virtue of the month which was RESPONSIBILITY so they decided they want a movie/popcorn party! We will do this next Thursday, November 10th in the afternoon. Feel free to bring a comfy pillow or stuffed animal. Something that can fit into their backpack please. Some of the kids asked if they can wear a ROBE over their uniform for the movie party and I said that was fine too :-). Again, it needs to be able to fit into their backpack. Thank you!
Just a friendly reminder that our winter dress code begins on Monday, November 14. Please take note that picture retakes have also been rescheduled to Friday, November 18th. There is also no school next Friday, November 11th. Thank you!
Next week in 2B...
Spalding Words for Next Week...
Monday: recover, mountain, speak, past, might, contract, deal, almost, all
Science: We will review the Water Cycle. A review guide will be sent home on Tuesday evening with your scholar. Please help them study for their test on Thursday. Ask them to sing you the Water Cycle and Cloud song they learned :-).
History: Our adventures will continue from Ancient India to Ancient China next week. Your scholars will be receiving a family tree on Monday. Please help them fill it out at home.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Personal side note...Mr. Dombrowski (born in Chicago) is THRILLED that the CUBBIES won the World Series! Go Cubs Go!
Love,
Mrs. Dombrowski
WOW! What a week we had! Monday was a wonderful Read-A-Thon Celebration and Assembly. Congratulations to Ryken (Citizenship) and Abigail (Honesty) for being our virtue award winners for September and October! Here are some pictures to share from Monday and a video TOO!
November is here! Can you believe it? The class spelled out our classroom virtue of the month which was RESPONSIBILITY so they decided they want a movie/popcorn party! We will do this next Thursday, November 10th in the afternoon. Feel free to bring a comfy pillow or stuffed animal. Something that can fit into their backpack please. Some of the kids asked if they can wear a ROBE over their uniform for the movie party and I said that was fine too :-). Again, it needs to be able to fit into their backpack. Thank you!
Just a friendly reminder that our winter dress code begins on Monday, November 14. Please take note that picture retakes have also been rescheduled to Friday, November 18th. There is also no school next Friday, November 11th. Thank you!
Next week in 2B...
Language Arts:
In Grammar we will continue practicing diagramming sentences this week, and making our own interesting sentences! Students will also learn how to revise their sentences, by adding in synonyms, add, or delete words. Our writing is sounding beautiful!
In Literature we will continue reading The Boxcar Children. The students are doing SO well with this book, and I hope they are coming home excited about it! We will talk about how the kids are resourceful and show courage this week! We will also discuss Veteran's Day, and write thank you notes to veterans early this week.
Spalding Words for Next Week...
Monday: recover, mountain, speak, past, might, contract, deal, almost, all
Tuesday: brought, bring, less, event, off, of, true, truth, took, again
Please practice Merry Autumn Days at home and be ready for poem recitation next week! It's sounding awesome in class!
The written test for our Spelling Bee will be next week!
The written test for our Spelling Bee will be next week!
Math: In math this week, we will start a new unit on weight! We will start by comparing weights and learning different units of weight this week. The students will be introduced to grams and kilograms. We will look at scales and learn how to measure. This can be tricky for students. While I introduce a scale as a "curved number line" they are thrown off by the fact that each individual dash is not labeled. Please closely monitor you children's homework and guide them through this.
Science: We will review the Water Cycle. A review guide will be sent home on Tuesday evening with your scholar. Please help them study for their test on Thursday. Ask them to sing you the Water Cycle and Cloud song they learned :-).
History: Our adventures will continue from Ancient India to Ancient China next week. Your scholars will be receiving a family tree on Monday. Please help them fill it out at home.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Personal side note...Mr. Dombrowski (born in Chicago) is THRILLED that the CUBBIES won the World Series! Go Cubs Go!
Love,
Mrs. Dombrowski
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