January 7th Newsletter

January 7, 2013

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year!  I sincerely hope you had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of fun and happiness.   It’s great to be back in school and settled into our routine once again.

Christmas Party:  I’d like to express a special thanks to those of you who furnished goodies for our Christmas party and also candy for the piñata.   The treats were wonderful!  The piñata was a lot of fun.  We appreciate your efforts.

Toy Day: On Friday January 11^th, students may bring one toy to school.  The students will be able to play with them at the end of the day.  Please don’t send anything that will break or remote control cars.

Language: We will be working with writing paragraphs, reviewing the friendly letter format, reviewing r-controlled words, and learning how to add  “-ing” to words.

Spelling:  Watch for spelling words to come home today.  The test will be on Thursday. 

Math:  We will review place value, double digit addition and subtraction, and work with money.

2^nd Quarter Ending:  January 11^th will be the end of the second quarter of school.  If you have reading minutes or homework, please have them turned in by then as I will be doing the progress reports.  Wow!  I can’t believe that the year is half over on Friday.  It is passing too quickly for me.  This is an extra special class whom I’d like to keep as long as I can.  Thanks for sharing your child with me each day.

Reading Parents:  Reading parents may continue to come this week.  We appreciate you and the help you give to our class.

Grandparents Program:  On Monday February 11^th  at 1:30 p.m., we will have a program for our grandparents.  (Parents & family members are invited to attend, too.)  We have begun to learn songs and poems for it.  Invitations will be sent home when the date gets a little closer.  If your child has grandparents who live close enough that they might be able to attend, would you please let them know of the date?  Mark the date on your calendar as well.  Thanks!  The program will last approximately 45 minutes.

MISC:  We will plant potatoes, an amaryllis,  and a root garden this week in class. It will be fun to watch them grow over the winter months.  We’ll have a potato party the last week of school where we’ll eat our potatoes.  We will learn about feelings this week, how to stay healthy and talk about setting goals. We will also start learning about Martin Luther King and the important role he had in American history.

Social Studies:  We will begin our unit on maps this week.  It’s a fun unit where we learn about direction, continents, oceans and the world around us. 

I appreciate all that you do to help us.

Sincerely,

Brenda Haight

October 23, 2012 I hope you had a wonderful and safe vacation. I did but it is great to be back in school. Science: We will finish our unit on rocks this week. Watch for the rock folder to come home. We’ve had fun investigating rocks and learning how they are formed. Mrs. Malufau, our student teacher, will start her unit on the moon. Leaf Homework: Sent home today are directions on pressing leaves. Please help your child gather and press 10-15 leaves (preferably several varieties and sizes.) They will need to bring them to school by next Thursday November 1st. We will be using them for an art/literature project. Math: In math this week, we will learn about equal, greater than and less than, do more with odd and even numbers, and review the concepts we have learned thus far this year. Progress Reports: Progress reports will be coming home this week. Watch for them. If you have questions, please give me a call. I will also send home a copy of the goals that were made at our SEP Conference. Red Ribbon Week: This week is Red Ribbon Week sponsored by the PTA. The focus of the week is to help the students become more aware of the dangers of drugs. There are different things happening each day: RED RIBBON WEEK: Oct. 23-26, 2012 "These 'PAWS' Don't Touch Drugs!" Tuesday: "Turn Your Back On Drugs" / Wear Clothes Backwards Wednesday: "Hairs To a Drug-Free Life!" / Dress Up: Crazy Hair Thursday: "Say Goodnight to Drugs and Tobacco" / Dress Up: PJs Friday: "Let's Sock It To Drugs and Tobacco" / Dress Up: Crazy Socks and South T-shirt All students will be issued "dog tags" and prizes will be awarded for participating in dress ups and wearing dog tags all week. Activities include assemblies, red ribbon tying, and hand print pledge to remain drug free! Cold Weather: Please see that you student wears a coat or a jacket to school each day. The weather is cooling off. As you know, in Cedar City it can be warm in the morning but by afternoon very cold – especially if the wind blows. Field Trip Permission Slip: We have three walking field trips coming up in the next few weeks. 1. We will be walking to SUU to visit the art gallery and the Natural History Museum on Friday afternoon October 26th. 2. We will be walking to Cedar High School in the morning on Wednesday October 31st to watch the dress rehearsal of their musical production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. 3. We will be walking to the Heritage Theater on Tuesday November 6th at 10:00 to view the first Cedar City Arts performance. Robert Ghies, a concert pianist will perform. A permission slip was sent home with all three of these field trips on it to be returned by Thursday October 25th. Well, I think that is all I need to tell you. It was a lot this week. Thank you very much for your help and support. Sincerely, Brenda Haight

October 15, 2012 Greetings from our classroom where each day is filled with as much learning as we can pack into our schedule. I sometimes wonder if the children realize how much they are learning because we are really having so much fun. I hope your child is enjoying school as much as I am. Picture Retakes: Picture retakes will be on Monday October 15th . If you want your child to have retakes, please send the picture envelope with money or the picture packet you don’t want with your child to school on Monday. End of the First Term: October 17th is the end of the first quarter of school. Please send to school this week any reading papers or homework that your child has at home. I will be making the progress reports and will be totaling this information. Thanks! Math: We will continue with number patterns, do more with odd and even numbers, learn about greater than, and less than. Science: We will continue with our rock unit this week. We have had fun learning about the three different rock types –sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks and making some of them. We’ve learned how to classify rocks; we’ve written rock poems; we’ve learned about the uses of rocks; we’ve done experiments with our rocks; we’ve had several listening centers centered around rocks; well make rock collections; we went on a field trip to Cedar Breaks and much more. I could go on and on about what we’ve done with rocks. We have learned a lot and have certainly loved every minute of it. This week, the students will work in groups to prepare and present a report on one of the aspects of rocks. We will be finishing up our unit on rocks this week. Weather: The weather is turning cooler. Please have our child wear a jacket or coat to school each day. We do go out to break and when the wind blows, it is cold. Harvest Holiday: There will be no school this Thursday and Friday Oct. 18th or 19th or next Monday, Oct. 22nd because of the Harvest Holiday. School will resume as usual on Tuesday October 23rd . Reading Parents: We will not be having centers this week because of the short week. So, reading parents you won’t need to come. We will resume our reading center schedule the next week, Oct. 29th, as usual. We’ll see you then. Spelling: There will be no spelling words or test this week because we are not doing centers. Pen Pals: We had a great field trip on Thursday to SUU as we met our Pen Pals from East Elementary there. We played some get to know you games and had a treat. It was fun seeing who our pen pals are. We will be corresponding with them throughout the school year. This is a great way for us to learn and practice with the friendly letter format. Homework: There will be no math homework on Wednesday because of the short week. Watch for it to come home next week. However, please continue to have your child read each day. I sure do appreciate all of the support you give to me and the students. Sincerely, Brenda Haight

October 8, 2012 Dear Parents, It was wonderful to meet with you and your child last week at S.E.P. Conferences. Thank you for all the good you do to help your child’s education. As you could see, we are always very busy in our classroom. We are having fun but most importantly, we are leaning a lot. Math: We will continue with the concepts learned thus far this year concentrating this week on number patterns, patterns and symmetry. Picture Retakes: Retakes for pictures will be on Monday October 15th. Field Trip: We will go on a walking field trip next Thursday October11th to SUU. There, we will meet our pen pals from East Elementary from Mrs. Mosdell’s 2nd grade class. Reading Parents: Thank you for coming each week. Your help is greatly appreciated. Spelling: Watch for spelling words to come home today. The test will be on Thursday. There’s a different format to the list and a few more words. There will be two word family words each week, the regular spelling words and then some challenge words. Your student only needs to do the challenge words if he/she chooses. Science: We will continue with our rock unit this week. Weather: The weather is turning cooler. Please have our child wear a jacket or coat to school each day. We do go out to break and when the wind blows it is cold. Harvest Holiday: There will be no school on October18th, 19th and 22nd because of the Harvest Holiday. Homework: Math homework goes home with your child on Wednesday to be returned on or before Friday. The purpose of this is to review concepts being covered in class as well as build responsibility in each child. The other homework I give is for the students to read each day for at least 20 minutes, 5 nights a week. Reading is one of the most important things your child can do each day. Thank you for encouraging this. Language: We will learn about the “r” controlled vowels this week and will continue to work on those throughout the year. We are also working with writing stories that have a beginning, a middle and an end with a problem and a solution. We’ve learned that stories need characters and a setting as well as lots of detail to make them interesting. Thank you so much for your help and support. Sincerely, Brenda Haight Our Blog: mrshaights.blogspot.com

October 1, 2012 Dear Parents, I’m looking forward to meeting with you and your child this week for our S.E.P. conference. Please send one LARGE apple to school with your child by Friday. We will be using them on Friday for a Halloween activity. Student Teacher: Today we got a student teacher from SUU, Mrs. Malafau, who will be wonderful! We are excited to have her join us for the next few weeks. Field Trip: The field trip to Cedar Breaks was very fun. We also hiked down the Canyon Trail. The students seemed to have a great time as we learned much about erosion, sedimentary rocks, and uses of rocks. Math: We will continue with the concepts learned thus far this year. We will focus on graphs, odd and even numbers, surrounding patterns and growing patterns. Reading Parents: Thank you for coming each week. Your help is greatly appreciated. Spelling: Watch for spelling words to come home today. The test will be on Thursday. Science: We will continue with our rock unit this week. We will be learning about metamorphic rocks and erosion. As you can tell, we are immersed in the study of rocks. . . and the students absolutely love every minute of it. Language: We will work with the character, setting, the question words and the friendly letter format. Harvest Holiday: There will be no school on October 18th, 19th and 22nd because of the Harvest Holiday. Thank you so much for your help and support. Sincerely, Brenda Haight

September 24, 2012 Dear Parents: Field Trip: Just a reminder that this Thursday is our all-day field trip to Red Cliffs. We will be leaving right at 9:00 so please see that your child is not late. We will be hiking at Red Cliffs so your child needs to wear good walking shoes. All students need to purchase a school lunch for that day. Please do not let your child bring electronic devices such as ipods, etc. for the bus. I’d hate for anything to happen to them. Thank you. S.E.P. Conferences: Next week is S.E.P.conferences. I have sent home a suggested time for you and your child to come and meet with me. Please sign and return it as soon as possible. Just a reminder that school will be dismissed next week at 2:30 each day (even Wednesday) because of S.E.P conferences. I’m looking forward to meeting with you and your child at your scheduled time to celebrate the wonderful things he/she is doing in school. Math: We will continue with patterning, symmetry, skip counting by numbers , simple addition strategies, and work with greater than and less than. Spelling: Watch for spelling words to come home today. They are on a half sheet of green paper. The spelling test will be on Thursday. Top Secret Bag: Throughout the month of October, starting next week, I will be sending home each night a mystery bag with two students. This is a TOP SECRET activity that you can do with your child in place of their 20 minutes of reading. There is a book to read as well as an activity to do. Please help me reinforce to the students that this is a top secret activity. I would like it to be a surprise for everyone at the end of the month just like it will be for those at the first of the month. Please complete the activity and send the bag to school the next day so I can send it home with another student. Have fun with it! Science: We are having a great time with our unit on rocks. We will learn about metamorphic rocks this week and learn about erosion. It will be another great week. Language: We will work with the friendly letter format, character and setting as well as continue with punctuation. Take – Home Library: Take Home Library books started to come home. These books are on your child’s independent reading level. The students should be able to read them by themselves. Please encourage your child to return these daily (if they don’t have a chapter book). These books are a great help in getting reading minutes in each night. Spirit Friday: The PTA is sponsoring Spirit Friday where they are encouraging the students to wear their school shirt. It doesn’t have to be this year’s shirt. It’ll be fun to watch the school pride as well as spirit soar. Parents, I am delighted with our class. We have wonderful students who get along very well, work hard and help each other. It is a joy to be their teacher. I’m looking forward to a great year! Sincerely, Brenda Haight

September 17, 2012 Dear Parents, We had another great week! I appreciate your support in everything. Field Trip: The second grades will be going on an all-day field trip to Red Cliffs on Thursday September 27th in conjunction with our unit on rocks. Please see that your child wears GOOD walking shoes as we will be doing a lot of hiking at Red Cliffs. Also, all students will need to purchase a school lunch for that day. We will be leaving right when the bell leaves so help your child be on time so he/she won’t be left. We are on a tight time schedule and won’t have time to wait for stragglers. The permission slip was sent home today (Monday) to be returned by Thursday September 20th. Science: We will continue our unit on rocks. At the listening center we will be listening to Byrd Baylor’s book Everybody Needs A Rock. We will learn about sedimentary rocks, make a sedimentary rock, and write some rules for finding the perfect rock plus much more. We learned a lot about volcanoes on Friday. The students wanted me to tell you how we did the experiments. For one, put a tablespoon of soda in a narrow container and then add vinegar. Watch the chemical reaction happen and the mixture overflow the container. I added red food coloring for a cool effect. I also put a small amount of water in a 35 mm film canister and then added ½ of an Alka-Seltzer and quickly replaced the lid. The pressure formed inside exploded the lid off from the canister. I also poured hard shell ice cream topping over ice so the students could see how when lava cools quickly it forms neat formations. Language and Literature: We will learn about punctuation marks, as well as plot, setting and characters in fiction stories. Math: We will continue with patterns, learn about symmetry, and work with graphs. Watch for homework to come home on Wednesday to be returned by Friday. Reading Mothers: Reading moms started last week. We sure appreciate those of you who were able to come and help. Reading: I am impressed with the amount of reading that is done each night by the students. Reading each night will have a vital role in their becoming fluent readers and enjoying reading for life. Thanks! We as 2nd grade teachers will introduce the students to the Reciprocal Teaching strategies for comprehension on Monday. We do a fun skit which we then build on in our classrooms. Spelling: Spelling words will come home on Monday. The test will be on Thursday. Thanks again for your help and support. Sincerely, Brenda Haight

September 10, 2012 Dear Parents, Reading Parents: Reading parents will begin this week. I appreciate all who are able to help. I’ve been able to talk to all of you who signed up but one. I’ll give her another call. The time for our reading centers is from 9:45 to 10:30. Thanks so much! We’re looking forward to you coming. Spelling Words: Look for spelling words to come home today on a half sheet of green paper. Spelling words for most of the class are: there, can, an, your, which and their. The test will be on Thursday. Literature: We will read the story The Letter. We will work with setting, plot, characters, the friendly letter format, and solutions of a story. Science: We finished our unit on gravity on Friday. The students had fun doing experiments as they explored gravity over the past two weeks. Mrs. Petersen helped us do an art project on Friday afternoon which used gravity to have the paint run and create pictures. It was a lot of fun and a great ending to our unit. We will continue our unit on rocks. The students will be discovering more uses of rocks, and learn about igneous rocks. At the listening center, we’re listening to the book Hill of Fire which tells more of how igneous rocks are formed. Thanks for your help in compiling lists of Uses of Rocks. We started to compile a class list today and will continue working on it this week. For your information, we will be going on an all-day field trip to Red Cliffs on Thursday September 27th. Permission slips will come home later. Math: We will continue with patterns, graphs, and work with the addition strategies of doubles plus one and doubles minus one. PTA Fall Bash: The PTA Fall Bash is tonight from 5:30 – 8:00! This should be a lot of fun. We have a wonderful class. Thanks for sharing your children with me each day! Sincerely, Brenda Haight

September 4, 2012 Dear Parents, I hope your child is enjoying school as much as I am. We had another great week last week! Math: We have been working with and will continue to work with graphs, simple addition, doubles, and patterning. Science: We will finish our unit on gravity this week. The students had a lot of fun as they did experiments to learn about gravity. We will begin our rock unit this week. We will be talking about the layers of the earth, volcanoes, how rocks are formed and the uses of rocks. This unit will continue for several weeks. Please help your child complete the ‘Uses of Rocks’ worksheet that will be sent home on Wednesday for homework and return it Friday. Thanks! Spelling: Spelling words were sent home today. Watch for them to come home each Monday. Most of the students have the first grade spelling words that they missed on our pretest and some of the second grade words that they missed. We do activities at our spelling center during the week to help the students learn their spelling words. However, any extra practice you can give your student at home would be great. Each list this week is different so each child has their individualized list. Please help them with their list. Book Order: Please remember that the book order is due this Friday September 7th. Field Trip Permission Slip: Please sign and return the permission paper sent home today by Thursday September 9th. We will be going on a walking field trip next week up 400 So. to observe the many uses of rocks along that street. No student will be able to go without a signed permission slip. Thanks! PTA Fall Bash: Please support the Fall Bash, on Monday September 10th sponsored by the PTA. This will be their big event this year. There will not be a Halloween carnival. It is going to be LOTS of fun for the entire family. Watch for information to come home about it. School Pictures: School pictures will be taken on Monday September 10th. Packets will be sent home with more information. Language: We will be working with the friendly letter format, continue to review short vowel sounds and learn about complete sentences. Sharing: There will sharing this week on Wednesday at 1:00. Reading Parents: Reading parents will start next week. I’ll give you a call if you signed up to help. Thanks! Thanks for all of your support. It is a joy to teach your children. Please call me if you have any questions or concerns at 586-2850 @ school or 586-2189 @ home. Sincerely, Brenda Haight

August 27, 2012 Dear Parents, I hope that you are able to get this newsletter either by the Blog or email. There are some new pictures posted on the blog. To see all of the pictures and past blogs, click on the one you want under the archive list at the right of the blog. We have had a wonderful first two weeks of school. I am so excited to have your child in my class. I know that when parents and teachers work together, children have a successful year in school. I appreciate all the help and communication I receive from parents and look forward to working with you this year. Name Paper: Attached to the weekly reading log is a note regarding names and how your child received his/her name. Will you please help your child complete and return it to school by Thursday September 3rd? (Please print as your child will be copying it over for a class book). Thanks for your help. Book Order: Also sent home last week was our first book order. It is due back by Friday September 7th. This is just a reminder that the book orders must be paid with a check written out to the book company. Please don’t make out a check to me or the school or send cash. I appreciate your help in this matter. I will send book orders one or two more times during the year. Book orders are a wonderful way to add to your child’s library very inexpensively. Reading: Thank you for reading with your child each night for 20 minutes. (Your child needs to read 5 days a week but of course they may read more.) The lilac reading recording sheets are to come back on Mondays. Reading each night is one of the most important things you can do to help in your child’s education. Sharing: We will have sharing on Wednesday afternoons (except for the one Wed. of each month.) We’ll be going into the computer lab at that time). Please don’t let your child bring toys or anything which might break. Objects that go along with the units we are studying would be great. Thanks! Math: We are working with graphing, skip counting by twos, doubles and simple addition. We will start working with patterns this week. Labor Day: There will be no school next Monday Sept. 3rd because of Labor Day. School will resume as usual on Tuesday. Science: We are learning about gravity. This will be a fun unit for the class. Zero Hero Treats: If you signed up to send Zero Hero treats with your child, you may send them anytime. Spelling: The spelling words for this week are the days of the week and September. A list of them was sent home today with your child. The test will be on Thursday. Fall Pictures: Fall student pictures will be taken on Monday September 10th. PTA Fall Bash: The fall bash will be held on Monday September 10th. Thank you for your help and support! Sincerely, Brenda Haight

Addirtional First Day of School Pictures

August 20th Newsletter

August 20, 2012 Dear Parents, I hope you all get a copy of this email and can also view it on the blog. I also have posted on the Blog pictures from the first day of school. School has been fun and exciting so far as we have been making new friends and getting to know each other. I hope your child is enjoying school as much as I am. I think the favorite activity thus far was launching our water rockets on the first day of school. That sure was a lot of fun. No one even complained if they happened to get a little wet. (It felt good to get cooled off.) A special thanks to the parents who came to help. Their help made launching the rockets go very smoothly. THANKS! Grandparents Program: Our class will be performing a program for our Grandparents on Monday February 11th at 1:30 p.m. in the school gym. Please tell grandparents and family members who would like to attend about the date so they can put it on their calendar and plan on coming. It should be a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Reading Parents: Reading parents will start the week of September 1th. I appreciate all of you who have signed up to help. I will contact you before then to verify times etc. Thanks! Reading: One thing that will greatly benefit your child is if he/she reads each night. I am asking that each child read a minimum of 20 minutes per night (five nights a week). Sent home each week will be a reading record where your child can keep track of the days and time read, (The time you read to your child can also count but still have your child read as well.) Please sign and return the reading slip with your child each Monday morning. Book Orders: Book orders were sent home today to be returned by Friday Sept. 7th if you’d like to order some books. I’ll only send a couple of book orders home this year so this would be a great time to order books if you’d like. Book orders are a great way to add good books to your home library. Homework: Homework will be sent home on Wednesdays to be returned on Friday mornings. This will usually be a math review page. The homework this week will deal with doubles in math. Back-to-School Night: It was great to meet with you at Back-to-School Night. Thanks for coming. Take Home Library: The Take Home Library will start in the middle of September. Watch for that. Sharing: We will have sharing this Wednesday at 1:00. Please don’t let your child bring toys for sharing or to school to play with. Parents, I am looking forward to visiting with you often throughout the year. The children in our class are wonderful. We are going to have a GREAT year! Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or concerns - school @ 586-2850 or home @ 586-2189. Thank you for your support! Sincerely, Brenda Haight

1st day of Second Grade