Family Turkey Project!

Parents, today your child is bringing home a paper turkey. I would like you to decorate this turkey as a family project. Please return them to school when you finish decorating them. I would like the turkeys back by no later than November 10th. All turkeys will receive an award and will be displayed on our hall bulletin board.

Your turkey can be decorated in any way you would like. Be creative with anything you have around the house.....seeds, spices, tooth picks, fabric, paint, feathers, crayons, cotton balls, buttons, bows, noodles, cereal, small pieces of candy.... etc.

This is a second grade class project. When you come in during Conference Week in November you will see all the second grade turkeys displayed by their classrooms. Each year parents as well as staff members stop and remark about all the creative turkeys that are on display.

I hope you have fun working together with your child on your turkey!

Class Halloween Party

Our Class Halloween will be on Monday, October 31st from 1:45-2:30. Parents and grandparents are always welcome at our class parties. If you have the time, we would love to have you attend and join in the fun.

Our class helpers for the Halloween Party will be: Cash, Emily, Sam, Jasmine, Mason, Nik, Raelynn, and Mariana. These children have brought home a paper listing the food item that they are to bring to the party.

You can either send the food item to school with your child the day of the party of bring it to school by 1:45 on the day of the party. Whichever is most convenient for you. A big 'Thank You' to all those helping out with the Halloween Party!

If your child's name was not mentioned above, then they will get to have their turn at being a party helper at one of our other class parties.

Coats Need To Be Worn At Recess Until Spring

Mr. Williams has told the staff to remind our students and parents that coats need to be worn until spring. If your child gets hot outside they are to tie their coats around their waist.

Our concern is that children are not bringing coats to school. Or if they do bring them to school they are not taking them outside. With October came some cooler and wetter weather. Please realize that even in misty or light rain the students go out to recess. This can present a problem with children that do not have a coat.

Mr. Williams has said that children who do not have a coat will have to spend recess sitting in a chair at the office. So please be sure that your child brings a coat to school for recess.

Focus On Poetry

Next week your child will be studying poetry in our classroom and in their Penguin Reading Group. As a part of this, I would like the children to share their favorite poems with our group to gain experience reading aloud with expression for an audience, and for children to hear a variety of poems.

This is optional homework. If your child would like to share a poem, your child should give a copy to me by Wednesday, October 12th. Please have your child practice reading it at home and encourage him or her to bring the poem to life by using expression. The poem can be read and does not have to be memorized.

March of the Penguins Has Begun

This week we started our Penguin Groups for Reading. We have used the test results from your children and have grouped them into leveled groups to best help them. Our groups run for 30 minutes Monday through Thursday. The children join the "Parade of Penguins" to different second grade classrooms during this time. This is a concentrated time of reading skills for each student to help them reach their potential of being better readers.

Second Grade Music Program

Our second grade music program will be on Thursday, November 10th at 7 p.m. Mrs. Wellings is sending a note home to parents this week with the words of the songs for the children to practice at home.

Mrs. Wellings also needs some children from each second grade to do speaking parts. If you think that your child might be interested in this, then you will need to sign the form and return it to school by Friday, October 14th. It is important that the students doing this extra participation make a full commitment to attend the performance. They will be working with others who may be thrown off if one member of the group is absent.

Whether they want a speaking part or not, I hope that all my students can be part of this special program. I wouldn't want them to miss the fun experience of performing for an audience.