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