Happy Holidays!

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas! The time got away from me and I wanted to post sooner, but we've been busy enjoying the break. How quickly we can fall into vacation mode!
I wanted to thank those of you who sent in juice and popcorn for our treat last Friday. It was a short notice, and we had a short amount of time, but we loved the treat. Thank you!
It is important to relax and unwind and enjoy break like it's meant to be. It is also important to feed your mind over break too. I hope you had a chance to hear the family journal already so you can hear what your child is most looking forward to over break. I loved hearing the variety of ways everyone celebrates the holidays. It was amazing to hear many children say they were most looking forward to spending time with their family. I'm asking each child to write to me once over the break in the family journal. They can write anything they want that tells me about how they spent Christmas or what they're doing over break. I can't wait to hear all about it! I know the break is busy, but for every time you do XtraMath I will give a horseshoe and one point to be added to the next math test. If you're really adventurous please do some 2-digit addition to keep up with the skill over break. Children can comment on here too (with parent approval)-I'd love to hear from you all! Thank you!
Wishing you and your family a fun break! Happy New Year!  Mrs. Montes

Presentations



Ryan teaches us about his family from Ireland.



We finished up our presentations today. Here are a few more pictures to share. They were so much fun. We really enjoyed learning about all of our cultures. My cell phone died so I could not upload the other one. If you came in and have pictures to add please email them to me so I can put them up here on the blog. Thanks!



Anita shares a license plate from her mom's car from Germany.




Presentations are going well and are so much fun. Thank you for your hard work into helping the children learn about their ancestors, heritage, and customs and traditions within their culture. I have learned so much about each and every one of our families.  I just love their comfort with the vocabulary words. They are doing a fantastic job of answering questions asked by their classmates. I will share some pictures on here for you to see. Thank you again. They are fantastic!!!




Here is Frank telling us about his dad coming here from France.

 



Vicki teaching us about Italy and her great grandfather.




Victoria teaching us about her grandmother coming from Mexico.



Vince teaches us about his Filipino Heritage.











Winter Weather!!! (Finally)

The Winter Wonderland just may be making its way through Woodstock finally! Just some reminders about proper gear for wearing outside at recess. Today the children came in with some rosey cheeks for the first snowy recess. Please make sure your child has the proper snow gear to play in the snow. Otherwise, they will be asked to play on the blacktop. Thanks!
hat     mittens/gloves    snow boots      snowpants   warm jacket 

On Friday we will have a small holiday celebration in our classrooms. We are asking for donations of cheese popcorn, butter popcorn, caramel popcorn, 2 dozen Christmas cookies, and juice boxes. If you wish to donate please comment here on the blog or email me. Thank you!

Have a fantastic day.
Mrs. Montes

Monday Updates

Dear Families-With a very challenging weekend behind us, I cannot help but be reminded how truly precious our children are to us, given the events that took place in Connecticut.  An event like this can cause us to grieve individually, as a school community, and as a nation. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families, the community, and the first responders affected by the tragedy in Connecticut. As tragedies like this occur,  we want to reassure you that we want our children to feel safe when they come to school, and that we understand the importance of our role in the event of an unlikely emergency. If you feel your child has any concerns or questions please talk to them about what they are wondering so they hear it from an adult so they are not mislead into sharing false information with others. We encourage them to talk to their parents or teachers if they feel the need to. I know this was difficult to talk to my own children about over the weekend, but we wanted to talk to them first before they heard anything misleading at school.
We will not be sending home any homework this week, but would still like Xtra Math to be completed on Wednesday. We hope that you can still do Xtra Math or flashcards 2-3 times a week over break. We are working on 2 digit addition in class now, so feel free to make up some problems for them to practice over break. I can send some home for you too if you let me know you would like some. Thank you.
Presentations are off to a great start! Please remember to bring the Culture Questionaire sheet with you when you present. The work should be done in your child's handwriting for their presentation, but you may guide them in what to say. We are really enjoying this project.
What a busy week ahead of us we have. We have presentations, holiday read alouds around the school Wed-Fri, and the Mustang March and holiday sing along Friday. If you are unable to volunteer this week due to holiday preparations I totally understand. We will be in and out of the classroom so I would have volunteers do flashcards and sight words. Thanks!
Have a fantastic Monday.
Mrs. Montes

Updates

Wow! We have a lot of things going on at Olson in these last weeks before Christmas/Holiday break. We are finishing up our last rotation of Culture today and tomorrow. Hopefully, the children will be experts on holiday celebrations in England, Italy, Mexico, the USA, and Germany. Next week we will spend most of our time on presentations to teach the class about their heritage and culture. I am really looking forward to these exciting presentations the children keep talking about. Presentations will be in your native language, unless you have been asked to do them in both. We will also compare/contrast ourselves to another country and compare/contrast two countries we learned about. In addition, the children will be persuading their families which country would be best to visit.
We have had a lot of children sick these past two weeks. The flu is passing through our school/classes so please remember to keep your child home if they are sick. When they come to school they are so likely to pass it along to everyone. We are very mobile throughout the day, and these children are all over the place spreading germs. We remind them to do lots of handwashing throughout the day here at school. If your family hasn't been touched yet, consider yourself lucky! Wishing all our families well.
Mrs. Montes

Welcome December

What a beautiful weekend this has been! I hope you and your family are enjoying the 60's in December!
This week the Appaloosas will be taking their MAP tests in the computer lab. We will not follow normal volunteer schedules, but we can always use help doing sight words and practicing math flash cards with 1-2 children at a time. If you would still like to come in and do this that would be great. Thank you.
The culture presentation notes will be going home this week also. We will attach the culture questionnaire you filled out, and a rubric to show how the presentations will be graded. Please begin practicing with your child. They will need to organize their presentation and choose the important information to share. Each presentation should be less than 5 minutes long. The presentations will begin Monday, December 17 and go through the 21st. We will assign each child a day to present.
Have a fantastic week!
Mrs. Montes

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Please try to do Xtra Math at least two times over the break. Some did it at school today so they only need to do it once. I know the weekend might be crazy, so hopefully they can do it right when they wake up to keep up with their facts practice.
Next week we start our culture unit. We will be switching classes in the afternoon with all second grade classes to learn about a different culture around the world. We will learn 5 cultures and their holidays and celebrations that go with them. We are sure to learn a lot and have a great time.
We are also doing MAP testing on the computer for the next two weeks. Clydesdales will be next week and Appaloosas are the following week. Due to the culture unit and testing, we will not have a regular spelling and vocab test over the next couple of weeks. Also, parent volunteers can take the next 2 weeks off since we will be out of the room at different times for testing and culture. If we need any special volunteers we will let you know. Thank you!
Our holiday party will be Friday, December 21. We only have about 30 minutes on this day because of the early release, an assembly, and a concert on this day. Look for the information to come home soon on what food donations we will need. Thank you.
We are so thankful to get to spend our day with your delightful children! Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with family and friends. Count your blessings and hold your loved ones tight!
Mrs. Montes

Friday!

Happy Friday to our wonderful families!
There will not be any spelling or vocabulary words coming home in English next week. After Thanksgiving we start a new unit on Cultures Around the World. We will learn about different cultures and their celebrations, traditions, holidays, locations, food, and languages. Please complete the culture questionnaire that we sent home yesterday. It needs to be turned in on Monday. We will be presenting these to the class (at a later date) in December throughout the unit. I will tell you when it is your child's turn to present. You may be dressed as your ancestors for this presentation. Students will be practicing their oral language and presentation skills for this project. Please help them with the answers, but the students need to complete the questionaire in their handwriting. We are so excited to get this next unit started!
Our next math unit is two digit addition and subtraction with regrouping. This is a tough new skill so please be practicing basic addition facts throughout the week. Xtra Math and flashcards are great ways to strengthen these addition and subtraction skills. Last year I focused a lot on the progress overall for the class on Xtra Math. I was amazed to learn the difference between the students who practiced 3-4 times a week compared to the students who only did it once a week on Wednesdays. I am sorry if it is frustrating for the children but we are teaching them to practice and overcome challenges. Please encourage them to practice their facts for 5 minutes a day to improve speed and accuracy.
Short week this week! We will dismiss at 1:20 on Wednesday. I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend. I am very thankful that I am blessed to spend the day with your fabulous children!
Mrs. Montes

Update

I hope you and your family enjoyed the 3-day weekend and took some time to thank our Veteran's for their service. I know we enjoyed a weekend in the Dells relaxing!
We seem to have a lot of sick kids in the past couple of weeks. I know we don't want to keep our kids home for too long, but if they are coughing a lot and running a fever, they really should stay home and not return unless they are 24 hours fever free. Please keep that in mind as you decide to send your child to school or not.
Just a reminder about birthday treats-please let us know a day in advance (if possible) what time you will be bringing in a healthy treat if you plan to bring it in. Otherwise, you may send in a healthy treat (store-bought only!) and we will share it when we have time. Just a reminder please do not send cupcakes or cookies with frosting. Thank you.
Friday is the last day for Operation Christmas Child! Please be sending in girl and boy items to bless a child from another country. This could be their first Christmas gift ever! We have a shoebox here at school to collect the items in. Thank you.
We are collecting non-perishable food items also for the Woodstock Food Pantry. Thank you to those of you who already sent something in. Thank you so much!
Have a wonderful rest of the week. Math test is Thursday. We will have two parts to the nutrition test. Part one is tomorrow and part 2 is Thursday.
Mrs. Montes

Woodstock Food Drive

This time of year we think of many ways we can give to others and help others in need. If you are in a position to participate, we will be accepting donations of non-perishable foods for the Woodstock Food Pantry. This is a great way to integrate our six pillars and social studies by talking about being a good citizen and helping out our community.

• The classes that bring something in will get a citizenship award that they can display outside their classroom.
• We will keep track of the cans collected on a graph in our room.
• We will also keep the cans down by the office to watch the piles grow.

Please also remember that this is completely optional.  If you feel this drive does not suit your family please don't feel obligated to participate. Our family believes we can't help everyone, but our wish is to help someone. We thought it would be a great way to integrate our six pillars and social studies by talking about being a good citizen and helping out our community. Thank you.

Next week we will have a Nutrition test where the children will need to know which foods belong to which food group and the benefits of that food group. We will also be finishing up our math unit on graphing. Our test will be next week also. 
Here is a photo of our cooperative strip paragraph done by some of the Appaloosas. They did a great job putting together their paragraph about what our body needs to be healthy.

Have a great night!!!

                     Mrs. Montes

Weekly Update

It was an exciting day in our class yesterday! We had a lot of fun voting yesterday for the new president. As voting history in classrooms has shown, this year was no different. Only two times have the students not voted for the actual president at election time. Our classes voted and 39 students voted for Obama and 14 voted for Romney. The children were very excited to participate and couldn't wait to hear the real results. Several came in this morning just so excited to share who won the election. Kuddos to you for already talking to your children about the election. I have heard some "rumors" about the candidates from the children. I have talked to them about having integrity when we hear things we don't really know to be true. The words we speak  need to be the truth and not what we have "heard" from other children. Some are saying they heard some things on the bus and at home and at recess. I don't think these things are directly from the news, but are opinions that are twisted a little from children. I just remind them to speak to their parents if they have any questions about the election. Please encourage your children not to spread these rumors unless they have the facts. Thank you for your cooperation.
Olson is participating in Operation Christmas Child again this year. We will be trying to fill a "girl" and a "boy" box in each class. This is our chance to give to children from other countries who may not have a Christmas or who may not be blessed in ways that we are. We invite you to make girl and boy donations of small gifts (great ideas are from the dollar store or from Target Dollar Deals) for the shoebox that we will send to share with children around the world. I love doing this with my children at home. They are allowed to shop with $5 that I give them and they use $5 of their allowance. It teaches a great message about the importance of saving and giving to others. This is a great opportunity for our school, we appreciate your participation but also understand if you are not in a position to participate at this time. Thank you!
We are very busy in our class this week! If you are able to come in and help out we would love it from 8:15-9:30 and 12:15-2. Thank you!
Have a great night!
Mrs. Montes

Weekly Update

Thank you for your patience this week! What a crazy week it was with the half day Tuesday, and I was out sick Wednesday and Thursday. It's really hard to teach when you lose your voice! The children were great this week and very patient. Thank you! I hope you and your family had a safe and fun Halloween night. I love hearing all of their stories about Trick or Treating.
I apologize for not posting October birthdays on the blog. I have updated October and November!
Thank you so much again to my helpers who just keep coming in! You are a true life saver when you come in our room. We are always very busy, and having an extra hand to edit work with students or take small groups to work really helps us a lot! Thank you for being here.
Friday next week is our Veteran's Day Assembly. It begins at 1:00. If you have any Veterans in your family we would love to recognize them!
Please send in any Mustang March donations you have raised. We haven't seen many come in. Hopefully they are still out there just waiting to come to school.
The Art cards need to be returned to school on Monday. Thanks.
Picture retake day will be Tuesday, November 6. Please let us know if your child will be retaking pictures so we are sure to send them.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Montes

Reminders

Please remember to return the following things to school by Friday:
ART card forms
Report card envelopes
Mustang March donations and forms

Thank you.

Friday's vocabulary test will be most of the words we have learned this unit in nutrition. I will read the sentence and they will do the smiley face or frown to show if it makes sense or not with how the word is really used. Please be practicing these words all week with your child.

Happy Halloween! Wishing you a safe and healthy trick or treat night. Stay warm!
Mrs. Montes

Happy Friday

The Storybook Parade was a lot of fun. We enjoyed A Bad Case of the Stripes. Thank you so much to all of you who donated paint and for the fantastic helpers who painted all the faces! They looked so adorable! Thank you for all of your help. We couldn't have done it without you! Thank you for your healthy food snacks from each of the food groups also. You truly are amazing families!

Next week we will have a review of all of our nutrition vocabulary words. A list will come home on Monday. We had 3 weeks of vocabulary words. All of those words will be practiced throughout the week. I will also add our non fiction feature words (label, photograph, illustration, caption, and diagram) for the test Friday.

Reminder half day Tuesday. There is no breakfast or lunch served but the children may still bring in a healthy snack for breakfast. Dismissal is at 11:10.

Remember to check out www.spellingcity.com for some fun spelling and vocabulary activities. We will be using this next week to review also. There is a link on the blog also.

Next week our nutrition unit takes us around the world as we learn that people everywhere need food for energy. We will learn about Italy, Japan, India, and Mexico.

Have a wonderful weekend. Thank you again for making this week so fantastic!
Mrs. Montes

Wednesday

I apologize for not updating the blog this week. My computer is still being fixed until hopefully tomorrow.
If ever you are not sure about something you can email me your questions. If you are not sure about homework, please check your child's assignment notebook. They should be filling it out every morning with the homework and important information for the day.
For Friday, Ms. Perkins has given us the OK to paint faces for the Storybook Parade. If your child is wearing stripes to school, it is ok and there is no need to bring a change of clothes. (Unless the striped clothing are a distraction) If they need to change into something, please send it in a bag and we will allow them to change before 1:00. I am looking for parents who can donate some face paints for both classes and are available to come in and paint students' faces before 1:00. If you can come in between 12:00-1:00 Friday to help with this that would be fantastic. Please let me know if you can help!! Thank you! We look forward to this fun and exciting day!
We read our story today and I hope they come home and tell you all about Camilla and the lima beans and poor Myra!!!
Thank you again for all you do for our class.

Have a great day!
Mrs. Montes

Nutrition Website

I just wanted to share some great resources with you about nutrition and "My Plate." This is the old "Pyramid."
www.myplate.gov
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-tips/ten-tips.html

A "Smooth" Friday

Thank you to all of the wonderful parents who donated the smoothie ingredients: mix, cups, and milk. We really enjoyed the smoothies. I think for a celebration of wonderful behavior we need to do this again! Thank you again for sending in all the ingredients so that we could enjoy smoothies as we learn about the fruit group.
Next week is our Mustang March. Please have gym shoes here at all times next week. A pledge sheet went home with an envelope this week. There are some great opportunities for awesome prizes so we hope all of you will enjoy participating in this event to support Olson School. If you are able to come in and volunteer Mrs. Etnyre would appreciate your time. Thank you!
Specials schedules will change next week. Here is the new schedule for the Clydesdales and Appaloosas.

Specials Schedule Quarter 2-Begins Monday 10/22/12

	Clydesdales	Appaloosas
Tuesday	Music/PE	Art
Wednesday	Library/TDPE	Music/PE
Thursday	Music/PE	Library/TDPE
Friday	Art	Music/PE

Please have your child do Xtra Math or flashcards at least 3 times a week. More is absolutely acceptable. You can really tell by the ones who practice more that their scores are growing with them. Some of us are doing a great job of improving and others have not shown much growth this year. Please encourage extra math time at home!

Just a reminder for the Storybook Parade taking place on Friday, October 26, at 1:00. Feel free to meet us out on the back lawn and watch as we parade our "Stripes" around the field. Please remember to send your child's stripes costume/clothes to school with them and we will change after lunch. Remember to dress in as much stripes from head to toe as you can! We are looking forward to this great event!

Have a "smooth" weekend!
Mrs. Montes

Character Week & Nutrition

Next week we will finish up learning about all of the food groups. We will learn about how people everywhere need food for energy. We will learn about what people from other cultures eat and even have some samples from other countries. Right now we have a guest speaker. Mrs. AS24 will be coming in to share some food and teach us about the culture of India. Other cultures we will learn about are Mexico, Japan, and Italy. If you have anything you would like to send in or teach us about these countries (food or culture) please let me know. Please remember anything you bring or send in for this will need to be store bought and not baked or made at home. Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to the many opportunities and experts we have within our classroom families. Thank you!
Next week is also "Character Counts/Character Education Week." To show our school spirit and good character, we will have a spirit week. The days are as follows:

Monday 10/22- “Join Our Drug Free Team” – jersey\sports wear

Tuesday 10/23- “Courage to Stand Up” – hat day

Wednesday 10/24- “Sock it to Drugs” – silly sock day

Thursday 10/25- “Be a Person of Character” – wear the pillar colors

5th grade-Orange

4th-yellow

3rd-purple

2nd grade wear-blue

1st-green

Friday 10/26- “Storybook Parade” – wear your character costume--> See below.

Just to give you a heads up for the character costume for the Storybook Parade.... Ms. Salas and I will be reading the book, The Bad Case of the Stripes. Students are encouraged to be creative and dress in as much stripes as you can from head to toe that day!
We will also be looking through magazines and newspapers for captions and labels of food, nutrition, or health images. If you have any FOOD MAGAZINES OR HEALTH/FITNESS MAGAZINES please send them to school as soon as possible. Thank you!!!!
Have a thrilling Thursday!
Mrs. Montes

First Quarter Red Ticket Winners

Congratulations to SM25, DM16, KM18, MS23, VS18, CS14 for being our first quarter red ticket winners. They have earned at least one red ticket this quarter and got their ticket drawn. These children will have a celebration with the special area teachers to honor their amazing behavior this quarter. Way to go!!!!

Please let me know if you can send in any frozen smoothie pouches for Friday as we learn about the fruit group. Thank you.

Math Test is tomorrow!

Nutrition Vocabulary

Hello, and Happy Monday!

For some reason I can't get the side link back with the vocabulary and spelling words for the week. So you will find them below. There are no spelling words this week because I want to focus on the vocabulary words. Please practice these words this week.

Vocabulary Words October 15-19                   (No Spelling Test this week!)

The parts that are bold are what you will need to know.

1. Classification/classify – To organize or sort, put in categories

2. Needs- Something that is necessary for us to live.

3. Function- An action or use for which something is designed

4. Sugar- a white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative

5. Two main groups of nutrients in food. (Know this chart)

Fats & Carbohydrates	Vitamins & Minerals
Give us energy called calories.	Keeps your body healthy
We need fats to keep our body temperature normal.	Helps your body function at its best
We need fats to keep our skin and hair healthy.	Fuel for your body
We need fats to protect our organs to not get sick.	Help our organs function properly
Eat the right types of fats and right amounts.	Healthy growth and development in children
Too much fat is bad for your heart.

Sorry about the blog confusion with the posting of your predictions. I have no control over when the emails go out, but the blog should be updated as soon as I post new information. The children were suppose to come home and tell you to go on together and predict what cheese we would like the most. Thank you for making your predictions. We really enjoyed the cheese tasting.
I would like to do Fruit Smoothies for Friday. We will need 6 bags of Yoplait Smoothie mix found in the freezer/fruit drink section at the store. If you can send in one (any flavor) please let me know. You can email me or comment on the blog. You can send it in anytime this week until Friday morning. We will also need a half gallon of skim milk and plastic/paper cups. If your child has any dairy allergies (milk will be added to the smoothie) or fruit allergies please let me know of any alternatives so they can participate. Thank you.
We will have a math test on Wednesday. This will cover addition, subtraction, greater than/less than, and written problem solving.
Have a wonderful Monday.

Nutriton and Cheese!!!

Wow, thank you all so much for the generous cheese donations! We will have plenty of cheese for our tasting today! Thank you! Which one will be our favorite? If you can, tonight please add your comment to vote for which cheese you think will be the favorite? Here are the cheeses we tasted.....colby, mozzarella, string cheese, cheddar, and American. Please PREDICT what cheese you think the class favorite was. I will give a horseshoe to anyone who comments on the blog what they think the class favorite is. Thank you!
For future commenting on the blog, there is a filter that all comments must be approved by me before they are posted. When you make a comment, I get an email, I accept it, and then the comment will be posted. Sorry for the confusion. When I see them, I accept them and then they are there to view. :) I did have several this morning! :-) We will look at the blog together tomorrow as a class to see how our predictions matched the actual favorite.
Our nutrition unit is going well! Thanks again for the cheese.
Mrs. Montes

Nutrition Update

Our spelling and vocabulary words will come from the nutrition unit of study. We will learn about the five food groups, healthy eating habits, and what our body needs to grow healthy and strong. We hope to encourage healthy eating habits as always during our morning snack/breakfast. We will create food journals, do taste testings, and enjoy all the benefits of healthy eating together.
Here is what we need from you. Our first food group is the Dairy Group (cheeses, milk, yogurt). We would like to do a cheese tasting on Thursday 10/11. We are asking for a few parents from each class to send in donations of cheeses for our taste testing. Donations include: American cheese, Cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, String cheese. If we could have parents from each class participate that would be great. We have 56 students. Please comment on this blog if you are willing to send in cheese for sampling on Thursday. We will graph our favorites.
For homework tonight, we sent home a food journal. Breakfast and lunch should already be completed. We did those here at home. Please add to the journal anything your child eats past lunch today and return it tomorrow. We will share our journals tomorrow. Also, only the front page of the spelling and vocabulary need to be returned. The vocab is for you to practice this week at home.
Have a great Tuesday!!!
Mrs. Montes

Wonderful Week!

What a wonderful week this has been. I am so impressed with the study habits these children have. Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into studying for the Frog Life Cycle Test. The children were very well prepared with their hand signals/actions, stages, and vocabulary. I hope they taught you the actions at home while they studied. These tests will be returned next week. Thanks again for all your hard work.
I am really enjoying the time with all of you at conferences. What a wonderful group of children we have this year, and we thank you for molding them into the delightful children they are! I appreciate all the insight you shared with me about your child. I am glad we can work together to help your child succeed in second grade.
Next week we will start a nutrition unit. Our spelling and vocabulary words will come from this unit of study. We will learn about the five food groups, healthy eating habits, and what our body needs to grow healthy and strong. We hope to encourage healthy eating habits as always during our morning snack/breakfast. We will create food journals, do taste testings, and enjoy all the benefits of healthy eating together. Here is what we need from you. Our first food group is the Dairy Group (cheeses, milk, yogurt). We would like to do a cheese tasting on Thursday 10/11. We are asking for a few parents from each class to send in donations of cheeses for our taste testing. Donations include: American cheese, Cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, String cheese. If we could have parents from each class participate that would be great. We have 56 students. Please comment on this blog if you are willing to send in cheese for sampling on Thursday next week. We will graph our favorites. We are also asking for boxes from foods to make journals out of. For example, cereal boxes, granola bar boxes, etc. We will cut them in half and use them as a front and back of our in class response journals. Please start sending them in next week Tuesday. We are looking for parent helpers that can come in and assemble (cut the boxes to size and staple the papers inside to make a book) these journals Tuesday anytime. Thank you!
Have a wonderful weekend. We hope you get to spend quality time with your children during these days off.
Mrs. Montes

Happy Friday!

Whew! This week just flew by! I can't even express how much we just love this group of children. We are having so much fun with them and love how eager these children are to learn! We are so blessed to be with them this year!
Today was our first horseshoe catching day. Thank you to DM16's Mom and BM3's mom for helping out with that today! The children got to trade horseshoes for treats today and celebrate how hard they worked to earn the horseshoes.
Just a few reminders coming up that I want to share with you. The book fair will be here next week during conferences. Both classes will have a chance to shop for books on Monday. If you would like to send money so your child can shop during the school day, please send the money with them on Monday. Otherwise, they will have to go with their families outside of school time.  Please put it in a baggie or an envelope clearly marked with your child's name and class code. They shopped this week and made wish lists so they have a lot to wish for!
There will not be a spelling or vocabulary list next week with the short week. We will dismiss at 11:10 on Wednesday. We will not send home a family journal or poetry binder next week either. On Tuesday we will have our test on the life cycle of a frog. A study guide will come home on Monday to show what they have to create for the test. Family journals are coming home tonight for this weekend.
Reading Logs for September are due Monday. We will start Book-It on Monday. Remember, the required reading each night is 20 minutes. To earn the Pizza Hut Book It certificate, the children must read the required reading each month (or more). These will be turned in monthly. I am looking for a parent who would like a "homework project" each month to fill out the certificates for the children who have earned them. Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you!
Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy the time with your family and friends.
Mrs. Montes

Happy Wednesday!

We are having so much fun learning about frogs and toads and how they are alike and different through Venn Diagrams. Today the classes got to show us what they know! Now we are learning about diagrams through a life cycle of a frog. This test will be next Tuesday. The children will need to know the name of the stage, create an illustration, and write a caption below. The children did a marvelous job sending in a photograph with a caption to earn 5 horseshoes! Way to go!
We will not be sending home the family journal tomorrow. Ms. Salas and I will not be here tomorrow. We will be at a training. We will do the family journals on Friday and send them home for the weekend. We will not be sending home a poetry journal for this week.
I am looking forward to seeing you all at conferences. I have heard back from most of you that our scheduled time works. Thank you for being so prompt in returning the forms.
In math we continue to work on fact families, function tables, and partner houses.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Mrs. Montes

FROGtastic Friday!

This week we spent some time learning about Frog and Toad and their friendship. We compared several different stories. The children spent some time learning about Frog and Toad in Spanish with Ms. Salas a couple of weeks ago. We will continue to learn more about how frogs and toads are alike and different (compare and contrast) through Venn Diagrams and writing. We are learning about friendship and what it means to really be a friend to someone.
Our non fiction study is under way. This week we learned about two features: photograph and caption and their purpose. Hopefully your child can tell you these two features and their purpose. Please ask your child to show you one photograph and caption in a piece of non fiction this weekend. It can be in any non fiction piece through a magazine, newspaper, Internet, book, etc. Please cut it out, print it, or highlight it in some way to show it to me. I will give 5 horseshoes to those who bring this in on/show it to me on Monday. Over the next two weeks we will learn about the life cycle of a frog through a diagram. In addition, we will learn labels and illustrations. We will have a test on the life cycle of the frog then next Tuesday, October 2.
In Character Ed we learned about cooperation this week. What does cooperation really look like in the classroom? We are learning a lot about showing good character by cooperating with our table mates and classmates.
Our first Horseshoe Catching day will be next Friday. The children are so excited to keep earning and counting them. We are always accepting treasure box toys and candy to be given on these days.
If anyone would like to make generous donations to our classroom we are in need of clipboards and comfy cozy pillows for our rug. I appreciate it!
Conferences are Wednesday, October 3 and Thursday, October 4. I am grateful that most of you signed up at Open House! Thank you! That made it so much easier. I sent home some of the confirmation times today. Please let me know if something has changed from the time you initially signed up for, and we will do our best to accommodate that need. Wednesday and Thursday night is full from 5-9 pm. I look forward to meeting with you to celebrate the great accomplishments of these delightful children.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Mrs. Montes

Happy Friday!

We had a wonderful week! We learned about base words/root words and how they change when we add an ending (s, ing, ed). We learned how some -ed endings make a "t" sound or an "ed" sound in the past tense. This is especially difficult for our second language learners in pronouncing the words correctly. Continue to correct the pronunciation at home if you hear the words mispronounced. (jumpded, lookded, thankded, etc)
We learned about Venn Diagrams and comparing and contrasting two things. Next week we will continue to compare and contrast stories and other things!
Please remember to make 3 comments and have 3 signatures on the poetry binder for Mondays. The family journal comes home on Thursdays and you can keep them until Monday if necessary. Please return them with your comments by Monday. Thank you so much. I hope you are enjoying the family journals. The childrens' faces light up when they read your love letters back. Thank you for taking the time to show your child that you love them and make them feel special in your letters.
If you haven't already sent in a photograph of your child please do that Monday. We started our nonfiction text feature books today and some children did not have a photograph.
Late Start September 19.
Picture Day is September 25. Mark your calendars to get all beautified!
Next week's story will be for two weeks. These spelling words are tricky next week. We are changing a y-i and adding ed in the past tense. (Hurry-hurried). I updated the blog and Spelling City if you want to get a good jump on these words. The spelling test will not be until the NEXT Friday, September 28. We will spend two weeks on this story and words.
Thank you for the wonderful volunteers this week who volunteered their time in the classroom. I always appreciate your help. Remember, we switch each week in the morning so if you prefer to come in when I have your child you can come in every other week. Thanks again for your commitment to our class. I appreciate it!
I am enjoying our time together this year. I am truly blessed with a wonderful group of children this year.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Mrs. Montes

What a Wednesday!

Reminder: Please send in a photo of your child by Friday for a non fiction study we are doing.

Xtra Math went home with codes and passwords today. Have fun! Hope it is a success to log in and get started today. Xtra Math will be homework every Wednesday.

Vocabulary and spelling test will be Friday.

I sent home the volunteer sheet and email directory for our classes today. Please respond to the volunteer sheet if this will work for you or not. Thank you!

Mrs. Montes

Happy Friday! Happy Weekend!

We worked very hard this week! Thank you so much for doing a fantastic job on the first week with the Family Journals. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I know Thursdays became my favorite day of the week when my son brought his home. Remember that your child may choose to share their journal when they bring it back. We had a lot of fun sharing them today. The children were so proud and excited to share their love notes from you. Thank you for your time and kind words that poured over their journals. No wonder these children are so amazing, they have amazing parents! Remember the journals are always due on the day we return from a weekend so you have the whole weekend to respond.
Next week we will begin a non-fiction study on Friday. Please have your child bring in a picture of themselves doing something.... anything! Eating, sleeping, playing a sport, posing.....etc. We are making a non-fiction journal and will start with a photograph of ourselves as we write captions and explore the wonderful world of non fiction. You will get the photograph back, but it will be glued to the journal. So don't make it a very special picture because it will get sticky!
We read a lot of stories this week and made connections to our schema. Hopefully they can tell you something about Ruby, a crafty chameleon, or even Oscar! Our lesson this week was "Being Me" first and no one else because me is who I am made to be! I hope that our good character will shine in each of us as we make good decisions about who we are and encourage others around us also. We are learning to be children of good character and show integrity.
Parent Volunteers-thank you those of you who already started coming in. I really appreciate it. I do not have the "schedule" ready yet because of MAP testing these next two weeks. We can always use helpers 8:00-11:20. Thank you!
Have a great 3-day weekend! Enjoy the time with family and friends. Hoping for some good weather this weekend, as my family and I are going camping.
:) Mrs. Montes

Xtra Math

It looks like everything will be changed when we send home the parent flyers. Tonight's homework is just an addition/subtraction math practice. Starting next Wednesday we will have Xtra Math for homework every Wednesday. Feel free to do the program as many times as you want to practice, but it must be done at home on Wednesdays. Your child's login/username may change here at school but everything should transfer when you get your login sheet. I will send these home tomorrow so you can try it out. Hopefully, we will have all the glitches out by next Wednesday. Thank you again for your patience and for your help!
If you haven't sent in a composition journal please do that tomorrow!
Book orders are due tomorrow also. Thank you to the few of you who already placed an order. I will send it out tomorrow.
Mrs. Montes

Tuesday Update

Thank you so much for all of your help with the blog this week. I loved reading your comments about "schema." The children are doing a fantastic job at connecting events in the books to their own schema. I hope they continue to share with you.
Please remember to send in the composition journal by Thursday. We hope to send home our family journal for the first time this week.
Spelling City is up and running. You can go there and check out our spelling words and vocabulary words for this week. There is a link on the Blog page.
I am still working on Xtra Math. I will let you know when we can start that again.
We are off to a great start this year.
Mrs. Montes

Happy Friday

We made it through our first week of school! What a great week it has been. I'm really looking forward to this school year. The children are off to a fantastic start, which makes me thrilled for all the wonderful things we are going to be able to accomplish this year!
Please remember to send in $1 for the composition journal or to get one this weekend. We will be starting the Family Home Journal on Thursday next week. We are so excited to start communicating to you all the fantastic things we are doing already!
We have learned about "schema" this week. I hope the children can come home and share with you what this word is and what it means to us. If they can tell you, please post their comment here on the blog to recieve a horseshoe on Monday. I can't wait to hear their wonderful ideas!
Next week we will be MAP testing all week from 12:15-1:15. Just a heads up in case you were planning to come in and volunteer. I will have the volunteer schedule ready to begin on Tuesday after Labor Day. I look forward to all the wonderful volunteers we have already.
I hope you are enjoying the poetry binder that comes home on Fridays. This week we added Ms. Salas' Cancionero poem to the binder. Remember to read each poem 3 times and have at least 3 signatures/comments on the picture page. I hope you enjoy them this weekend! They sure created some fun titles and creative illustrations!
If you have not signed up to follow the blog yet, please do that this weekend! This will be the last newsletter I send home. All classroom information will be on the blog from now on.

To subscribe, please go to our website,

 http://www.MrsTMontes.blogspot.com

Click on the “Follow me by e-mail” link on the right side.  Enter your e-mail address.  The site will send you a confirmation e-mail.  You must open the confirmation e-mail and click on the link to activate the subscription. 

Have a lovely weekend.
:) Mrs. Montes

Welcome 2012-2013 Second Grade Dual Families

Thank you for viewing our classroom blog.  I hope you will enjoy this communication tool and "follow" me by email. This way you will receive a once a day notification of any current updates. I will be giving our new blog codes next week so please do not allow the children to comment yet. This way we are sure to practice Internet safety!  Students will receive this information on Friday and our blog will become interactive at that time. 

Save the date!  Wednesday, August 22, 2012 from 5:30-7:00 is Olson's Open House.  This special evening has been planned so parents can learn more about Olson Elementary, the staff, and the great learning opportunities we have to offer our students and families!  I look forward to seeing each of you here on Wednesday at 5:30! Thank you!

Last Full Week of School
Field Day is this Friday. PLEASE WEAR PURPLE  for our second grade color. Please remember to send sunscreen, a hat, water bottle filled from home (these will go home Wednesday) and tennis shoes. We will be outside most of the day from 8:30-1:45.  Thank you to those of you who have volunteered to help out that day.
Thank you so much for all of the beautiful flowers you sent in last week during teacher appreciation. It was a nice surprise seeing all the various flowers come in. They made a beautiful bouquet for our classroom. Thank you again for your kindness.
Please send an extra bag to school with your child. On Tuesday and Wednesday next week we will be cleaning out our lockers and taking home all of our supplies.
This week we will be finishing up plants tomorrow. We will learn about several non-fiction studies like rain forests, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes. We are putting our comprehension strategies we have learned this year to good use as we dive into this non-fiction literature.

Happy Friday!
We had a wonderful week learning about plants. The children shared several stories of planting experiences at home. I loved hearing them! We learned about the life cycle of a plant. We read about sunflowers and even got to taste them! What a healthy and delicious treat they are. Next week we will learn about trees. Our last spelling test and vocabulary test will be on Friday, May 11.
In math we finished fractions and are now learning about place value-3 digit numbers with addition. We hope to finish this up and touch on multiplication before the year ends.
We wished Ms. Accomando good luck yesterday on her last day. She is officially a graduate now! We were very fortunate she spent her student teaching time with us. She was very thankful for the basket of gifts we gave her as a class. We got her some of her favorite pens, bulletin board trimmings, earth day decor, notecards, stickers, and some posters and charts for her classroom. Thank you again for your generosity in helping us congratulate her on her graduation. I know she is so excited to see you at her graduation party on Saturday.
We have made such great improvements this year in math and reading. I'm so pleased with the growth that these children have made. Thank you so much for working hard with your child at home and encouraging them to always do their best. I'm so fortunate so get to work with such wonderful families. Thank you again to the parents who committed their time to helping out in our classroom. I'm very blessed!
Have a fantastic weekend! Only 13 more days!
Mrs. Montes

Our Going Green unit finished up this week. The children are making the reusable bags today and tomorrow, so look for those to come home. Thank you again to those of you who sent in donations for the bags. If you haven't, and would like to, it's not too late! We are still taking donations to cover the cost of the bags.
We are learning about PLANTS now during literacy. Soon, the classes will be learning about plants in Spanish during science with Ms. Salas also. Ms. Salas will be doing the hands-on experiements while we will be reading a lot of stories about plants and their growth. Our spelling words and vocabulary words will start next week on plants. We will not have any spelling/vocab this week.
We are sad that Miss Accomando will be leaving us next week on Thursday. We have enjoyed her teaching and time with us. We will miss her, and hope that she comes back to visit before she starts her new job. We wish her well as she ventures out into the real world of teaching!
In math we are finishing up Fractions with a test tomorrow. We will start 3 digit addition and then multiplication after that to finish up the year.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Montes

Congratulations!

Congratulations to AM12 for being our first mathematician to complete subtraction on Xtra Math. He now goes on to multiplication! Way to go! We have several students who are so close to joining him and many others who are close to joining subtraction! Keep practicing. I notice the ones who are advancing quickly are the ones who are practicing more at home.
Our math test is quite a challenge this unit. Please continue to practice money and two digit addition and subtraction over the weekend. We will continue the test on Monday.
Thank you to our classroom volunteers who continue to help out each week. I really appreciate your time and commitment to our classroom.
Next week we have our talent show at 1:00 pm. We look forward to seeing the many talents of our second graders! :)
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mrs. Montes

Going Green

Great job posting the comments! I love hearing the stories the children are sharing with you at home. Hopefully, those of you who are not recycling will start! I know the children are very motivated and interested in recycling at home. It was great to hear the number of you who recycle. Let's hope by the end of this unit we will have more families on board to recycle at home. I love hearing they are sharing facts with you. Way to go!!! Continue to post examples please! We are sharing them in the class. :)
We are almost finished with cursive writing. Once we complete the whole alphabet, we will be able to write everything in cursive.
We are coming to the end of our math unit on counting coins to $1 and two digit addition and subtraction. Please keep practice these types of problems at home so that we keep these skills fresh.
Have a great day.
Mrs. Montes

Happy Monday!

I hope you enjoyed the wonderful Easter weekend with your family and friends. We celebrated by going to church Saturday and Sunday, spending time with lots of cousins, lots of egg hunts, and eating too much food. We are so blessed!
Going Green! Our class is "Going Green!" We are learning about recycling and ways we can save the earth. We learned several ways to help save the earth in class today. Your child should have come home today and thanked you for recycling (if you do at home) and told you one way they can save the earth! Add your comment below for 5 horseshoes of what your child said is a way to save the earth by recycling. Please provide a specific example from the stories we read. I can't wait to hear all the great ways we can save the earth!
Thank you for your generous donations of $1 (or more) to pay for the recycled shopping bags. We almost collected enough money to pay for all of the bags. Thank you so much!
Please remember to encourage your child to complete homework each night. Provide a quiet space in the house and offer their assistance if it is needed. Let them know how important it is to complete the work the best they can.
Have a wonderful week.
Mrs. Montes

Happy Monday!

     Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful spring break. I know I had a lot of work to do, but I tried my best to spend time making memories and doing what is important. My husband and I actually went into our boys' classrooms and volunteered one day. It was a lot of fun for both of us. We spent a couple of days away just the two of us and a couple of days we took the kids away. I hope you enjoyed your time with your children. I loved hearing all the fun things the children did over break.
     Next week we will start a unit on "Going Greeen." One of the projects will be creating their own reusable shopping bag. We are asking a $1/student donation to cover the cost for this project. If you can donate $1 that would be greatly appreciated. I know some of you have offered to make additional donations for other students, so if you can give more than $1 that would be wonderful. Please label the envelope "Going Green" so we know that is what it is for. Thank you for your genorisity. Our spelling and vocab words will come from this unit over the next 2 weeks.
     This week we are learning about a non fiction story of geography and our earth. We will have several non fiction studies in the weeks to come.
     Remember there is no school Friday for Good Friday.
     Have a wonderful week!  :) Mrs. Montes

    

Happy Wednesday

Congratulations to AM22. We now have 7 students in the subtraction club for Xtra Math. Way to work hard. Please continue to practice as many times a week as you can at home. Over spring break please continue to practice when you can also. We have finished 2 digit addition in math. We are now learning 2 digit subtraction. Memorizing your facts will really help improve your speed and accuracy in 2 digit addition and subtraction. We are working very hard to learn the steps in class.
We are enjoying our week with Abuela. I love hearing about the connections the children are making with their grandmothers.
I can't believe we are already into the 4th quarter. Report cards go home Friday. Please sign and return the envelope on Monday when we return from Spring Break.
We love seeing the healthy snacks for breakfast. Keep up the good work!
Students may bring a water bottle to keep at school with this warm weather.
Have a wonderful week.
Mrs. Montes

What a Fantastic Friday!

Xtra Math-I am so pleased with some of the progress we are making on Xtra Math. We have 6 students who are on subtraction now! Way to go! Congratulations to DM5 for joining the subtraction club this week! In looking back at the second quarter Xtra Math scores I noticed some students improved by 25, 50, and even 65 points from January! Wow! Keep practicing at home please! Some of you are so close to making 100 in addition. Then you will move on to subtraction also.
Next week's story is called Abuela. It is about a girl and the wonderful relationship and experiences she has with her grandmother. It is one of my favorite stories for the year. We will also read the sequel Isla. Please discuss with their child what special things they like to do with their grandma. We will be making text to self connections with what they love about their grandma in their own life.
Please continue to encourage good homework habits every night. We are trying very hard to motivate the children to turn in their homework every night. They will have a little bit of free time Friday afternoons for turning it in all week on time.
We are giving special treats to students who bring in healthy snacks for breakfast. We love what you've done this week with their snacks. I even saw some cut up cucumbers and carrots! Way to go!
Have a fantastic weekend. Enjoy this beautiful weather! It is hard to focus when it's nice like this! One more week until Spring Break.

Mrs. Montes :)

Happy Tuesday

The Olson Variety Show will be Friday, April 20. Here are some important dates for the Variety Show. Today we passed out information sheets for the students that were interested in performing. We try to encourage them to feel confident enough to get on stage in front of the whole school, however some children are not ready for this.  Each act is allowed 2 minutes.
Wednesday 4/4 Tryouts 2:15-4:00 Meet in the gym
Wednesday 4/18 Dress Rehearsal 2:15-4:30
Friday 4/20 Variety Show (Time, TBA)
Each child must fill out the permission slip and get it signed by a parent.

This is our last week of testing for the upper grades. Specials schedules will go back to normal next week. So if you volunteer this week before 12:00 pm, you can have this week off too! Thanks.

Wear GREEN on Friday to show our St. Patrick's Day spirit!Wea

Have a wonderful week. Enjoy this "summer-like" weather!

Mrs. Montesr green on Friday to show our St. Patrick's Day spirit!

Happy Tuesday

This week's story is about a cowboy named Anthony Reynoso. He learns how to work hard and train to be a cowboy. On Friday, we will have a "Cowboy Day" where the children can dress up like a cowboy/cowgirl.

I'm also sending home a book order this week. You can order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs or you can send in a check to me with your order. Each online order our class gets a free book for our classroom library.

We are collecting 5 horseshoes now for incomplete homework!

Happy Monday

Our math test on "Telling Time" will be this Wednesday. Please practice the hour hand, counting by 5's with the minute hand, days of the week and months of the year. Thank you.

Mrs. Montes

Happy Friday

Our Fun Fair has been canceled for tonight because of the expected weather. We will postpone it until next week, Friday, March 9. Please contact the office if you volunteered to notify them if you can still help out next week. My wish is for you and your families to be safe anywhere you go this weekend.
There have been several students not turning in homework or doing Xtra Math on Wednesdays. Every day there is homework from Ms. Salas or me. In addition, there should be 20 minutes of reading each night. Thank you to those of you who encourage your children to be accountable with keeping up with their school responsibilities. We will start a Friday award for those students who complete and turn in their homework ON TIME all week. Those students who do not do their homework will not participate in the activity if they have one or more late assignments. We will start charging 5 horseshoes for late homework.
In Science, Ms. Salas will start a new unit on Nutrition. As always, we encourage you to send healthy snacks with your child for breakfast/snack time. When we see any chips, cookies, Cheetos, etc. we will continue to ask your child take the snack to lunch. When this happens they are hungry in the morning. Please remember to pack a healthy snack for your child so they can eat something for their hungry tummies in the morning. We also have a lot of March birthdays. Please remember to send in a "healthy" treat to celebrate your child's special day. Thanks.
Next week we have different specials times from 9:30-10:30 because the 3-5 graders are doing ISAT testing. If you normally volunteer at this time, I would still love to have you for other ways to help out in the classroom. Please let me know if you are not going to make it so I can plan for that. Thanks.
Have a wonderful and safe weekend.
Mrs. Montes

Happy Friday!

We are working hard in math at telling time. Please practice this skill at home. Remind them that the hour hand goes first, then we use the minute hand to count by 5's. Some of the children still need practice counting by 5's. Please practice this at home to reinforce this skill. You can even do this in the car and sing the 5's to the tune of your favorite nursery rhyme (The Farmer in the Dell, etc) Please continue to work on Xtra Math whenever you have a chance to at home. Remember, it is still a homework assignment on Wednesdays.
Some of the children are needing too many reminders to work quietly at their seats. We will be adding more homework for these students to complete the unfinished work at home.
On Monday the children who completed week 2 of the reading challenge will receive a coupon for the Scholastic Bookfair taking place next week. This coupon is good for $5 of shopping of your choice at the book fair. It expires on Friday, March 2. You can even use it Friday at the Fun Fair. After Friday, this coupon will no longer be valid. The Magic Waters coupon, Six Flags, Applebees, and McDonald's apples coupons will come in May. Reminder: Please turn in any Six Flags reading logs by Monday if you wish to receive the free ticket. Some children completed the minutes but did not turn in the correct sheet. Thank you to those of you who turned in the sheet this week.
A very special thank you to Mr. Williams who came in all 4 weeks of the challenge and added up the whole school's minutes and awarded the prizes. We couldn't have done it without you. I really appreciate your commitment and help for the challenge. Thank you to all of the parents who come in on a regular basis to help in the classroom. I really appreciate the extra hands you offer to help us give extra time to individual students who need the extra help. Thank you again for being here.
Our Fun Fair is Friday, March 2. We are still looking for donations for the 2nd grade basket. Our theme is "Family Fun." We are looking for donations like board games, cards, crayons, coloring books, gift cards, etc. We have only received a couple of donations so far. Thank you to those of you who have donated.
 Remember to dress your child appropriately for the snow and cold. They really should have snowpants and boots any time there is snow on the ground.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Montes