November Word of the Month

Acceptance

Upcoming Dates

Monday, Nov. 5th- No School, Teacher Workshop Day
Thursday, Nov. 8th- Book Orders Due

Spelling Words

Week Of:

Nov. 5-9

One-Syllable Words

1. bright

2. pie

3. sigh

4. high

5. flight

6. lie

Two-Syllable Words

7. brightly

8. lightning

9. tighten

Milk Cartons Needed

We are still in need of many more milk cartons that are rinsed out for an upcoming project. Thanks for your help in advance!

Guided Reading

This week during whole group reading instruction and during small group reading instruction our class worked on identifying the main idea and supporting details to go along with the main idea. Please remember to sign your child's yellow guided reading sheet for reading and for math every night. Thanks for continuing to promote a love of reading with your child at home!

Science

In science students are currently thinking about vibrations and creating musical instruments using boxes and rubber bands.

Morning Movers

Since 2010, Maple Lake Elementary has been out walking around the playground from 7:45-8:00 every morning. Morning Movers is a program designed to provide more movement opportunities for students throughout the school day. Morning Movers is simple, yet an effective initiative.
The rules are:

1. Walk or Jog
2. Stay on the Path
3. No Touching Others

The benefits of Morning Movers are numerous...

1. It gets the brain going.
2. It is a great way for older students to connect with younger students and it creates a sense of pride and belonging.
3. Students who are active tend to have more focus following the activity.
4. And the list could go on...

Upcoming Dates

Monday, November 5th- No School, Teacher Workshop Day

Spelling Words

Week Of:

Oct. 29-Nov.2

One-Syllable Words

1. dream

2. feel

3. yield

4. cream

5. wheel

6. field

Two-Syllable Words

7. greedy

8. increase

9. relief

The Change in Seasons

The chilliness has arrived in the air. Please start sending to school with your child a hat, mittens/gloves, and a warm coat!

Guided Reading Bookbags

Please make sure your child reads the assigned book in his/her bookbag each night. Please note that most of the time students will meet with me about every other day for reading groups. If your child has the same book in his/her bookbag for more than two nights, then just have your child select a book from home to read for enjoyment until your child gets a new book from school. Every night that your child reads at home please initial the yellow reading sheet in your child's bookbag. Students can also read Battle of the Books books at home also.

Fall Festival Celebration

On Wednesday, October 31st, some academics for the day will focus around Halloween/Fall. Throughout the day our class will go to Mr. Hammerschmidt’s classroom, Mrs. Skay’s classroom, and our classroom to do several Halloween/Fall related academic activities. If your child chooses, he/she may bring in their Halloween costume to wear for part of the day. Please note that having your child wear a costume is entirely up to you. Just a reminder that all candy brought to school must be store bought! There are 18 students in our classroom.

Phonics

In phonics your child worked with words that had the long o sound within them as in boat, show, and toe. We spent a lot of time focusing on the letter patterns oa, oe, and ow within words.

Guided Reading

During whole group instruction time, your child has been working on several reading skills such as identifying various story elements within a story such as the characters, problem and solution, climax, etc. Your child has also been working on identifying the main idea and details within various stories.

USAgain

The Maple Lake School District is partnering with USAgain and is excited to introduce a “Schools Go Green” program. This is an easy way for your family to dispose of your unwanted textiles. Clothes, shoes, hats, bags, and bedding are welcome, even if they are slightly imperfect.

A green and white USAgain bin is located in the north parking lot by the maintenance building for your convenience. The clothing will be collected once a week and sent to the neediest parts of the world. Your trash will be someone else’s treasure. For every full bin collected a tree will be planted in a deforested area.

We are striving to teach the importance of reusing, recycling and repurposing textiles instead of simply throwing them in the garbage. You can learn more at www.usagain.com.

This program will also help raise additional funds for Maple Lake Schools. Let’s Go Green!

Upcoming Dates

Monday, Oct. 15th- Evening Conferences
Tuesday, Oct. 16th- Evening Conferences
Wednesday, Oct. 17th- All Day Conferences (No school for elementary students, high school students have school.)
Thursday & Friday, Oct. 18th & 19th- Fall Break, No School

Newsletter

I will not be sending home a newsletter next week due to a short 2 day week!

Spelling

No spelling words next week due to a short 2 day week!

Spelling Words

Week Of:

Oct. 22-26

One-Syllable Words

1. float

2. doe

3. grown

4. boat

5. shown

6. toe

Two-Syllable Words

7. below

8. yellow

9. toenail

Battle of the Books

Second graders were informed of the Battle of the Books a couple of weeks ago. This is a great opportunity to have your child read some great books and work with a partner to answer questions about each story. If your child chooses to be in the Battle of the Books they have from now until early February to read. Any questions about the Battle of the Books please let Mrs. Kath or myself know.

Unity Day

Unity Day is set for Wednesday, Oct. 24th. Students are encouraged to wear orange to school on this day to let people know that we don't allow bullying at Maple Lake Elementary School...instead we share KINDNESS!

Good Readers...

This week during Daily Five our class has been revisiting CAFE strategies that help us become even better readers such as:

• Good readers use pictures, graphs, and charts to figure out unknown words.
• Good readers reread.
• Good readers look for known chunks within words.

Book Clubs

If you would prefer to order books online through the monthly book clubs I send home each month, the online code is : GZKRD.

Nonfiction Book Project

In reading your child is learning about various parts of nonfiction texts such as: the Table of Contents, Bold Print, Diagrams, the Glossary, Headings, Photographs and Captions, Maps, Charts, Graphs, and the Index.

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday, October 9th- 2 Hour Late Start (Wear an Irish Shirt), National Hot Lunch Day
Thursday, October 11th- Book Orders Due
Friday, October 12th- Picture Retake Day

Spelling Words

Week Of:

Oct. 8-12

One-Syllable Words

1. train

2. stay

3. eight

4. sprain

5. tray

6. freight

Two-Syllable Words

7. complain

8. obey

9. raisin

October Word of the Month

Kindness

Phonics

In phonics this week your child worked with open syllable patterns within words as in be, he, shy, dry, go and so.

Writing

In writing students are learning about the steps in the writing process.

• Prewriting 
• Drafting 
• Revising 
• Editing 
• Publishing

Social

In social studies students are working on building a business community and writing a story about it. Your child has also been discussing good and services and advertisements. 

Guided Reading

This week your child is continuing to practice his/her STAMINA as he/she practices rotating through all of the daily fives. We are just starting to get into the routine of Guided Reading bookbags. If your child has the same book in his/her bookbag for more than 2 nights then have your child pick a book from home to read and write that book down on your child's yellow reading log sheet. Please also make sure your child is practicing his/her math skills at least 4 times a week and initial that on the bottom of your child's yellow reading log sheet.