This blog will be very brief with more dates and reminders than curriculum updates.  We start our seven day countdown today.  This is a sure sign that the time is really here - the school year is coming to a close.  

End of Year Dress Up Days

G 5/30 Go Team! Wear your favorite sports gear
O 5/31 Odd/crazy sock day
O 6/1 Orange Colors
D 6/2 Dads and moms (dress like your parents)

B 6/5 Backwards clothes day
Y 6/6 You’re so bright (wear sunglasses)

E 6/7 Extra bright clothes

Wednesday is our walking field trip to City Hall.  Please remember to have your child wear good walking shoes, comfortable clothing, and sunscreen. We will be walking from NDLC to City Hall and walking back to school after we have lunch and play at La Follette Park. So far, the weather looks clear and not too hot! Don't forget a bag lunch with a drink for our trip, too (unless you ordered a bag lunch from school).

Field Day and Minicourses are next week on Tuesday, June 6.
The last day of 2nd grade is Wednesday, June 7th with an 11:30 dismissal.  

This week we will be taking time to do more hands-on science experiments, using all we know about reading and writing. We will be continuing our end of the year review in math.  This is a fun time of the year to remember all that we've learned!

Have a GREAT week!

Lisa

It is hard to believe that we are down to our final weeks of the ’16-’17 school year! Many fun activities will keep us busy these next couple of weeks!

A few notes...

We are heavy into end-of-year assessments at this point. So far, we've done MAP and I am excited to say that the kids did amazing! I am astounded by the growth made by the entire class and I'm so proud of the hard work each child has put into this year. I am excited to share the results with you soon!!!

All May Scholastic Book Orders are due on Wednesday, May 24.

All permission slips for our trip to City Hall are due on Wednesday as well.

If your child still has books from the school library, please have him/her turn them in as soon as possible so the library can take inventory.

What's coming up?

Tonight – NDLC Family Fun Night from 6-7 pm at the NDLC Playground - Come join us in celebrating a great school year! Socialize with other families, play on the equipment, have a few snacks, and learn about the summer library program. Bring up to ten books to swap if you'd like!

Friday, May 26 – No school for students

Monday, May 29  – No school for students and staff - Happy Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 30 - Wear Favorite Sports clothing

Wednesday, May 31 - Odd/Crazy Sock Day and field trip to City Hall

Thursday, June 1 - Wear Orange

Friday, June 2 - Dress Like Your Dad or Mom Day

Curriculum Updates –

We will continue to wrap our writing and reading units together by writing about our series books. We'll take our last unit test in math and will take the end-of-year math test early next week. We'll work on contractions in word study and will be conducting experiments with magnets and sound in science.  

It is sure to be a fun-filled, quick week!

Lisa

Welcome back to another fun week! These next few weeks will fly by, so I am going to savor each and every moment. It will be hard to say good-bye to this class at the end of the year. We sure have had a great year together!

The Kaukauna Public Library came on Friday to share the Summer Reading Program with us.  The registrations and information will go home on tomorrow.  The reading program is a great way to keep reading throughout the summer.

Thank you to the PSC for the Superhero Obstacle Course for our KAT celebration.  The students were able to participate in this fun event on Friday afternoon and they absolutely loved it! 

We took our reading MAP test this morning and the kids did outstanding! I can't believe how much they have grown this school year! Not only is it evident through their test scores, but more importantly, through their daily work. Thanks for all your help with nightly reading at home! MAP scores will come home with report cards later this year.

A few reminders for this next week:

Timber Rattler ticket orders are due this Friday. If you participated in the Fang Reading Program in March and April and turned in all four bases, the order form went home a couple weeks ago. 

Our next family night is scheduled for Monday, May 22.  Please RSVP by tomorrow so we can get snacks and set up for the Book Swap. 

City Hall field trip slips went home on Friday.  There is no cost for this field trip.  We will be walking to City Hall on May 31st.  Please return signed slips by May 23rd.

There will be one last chance to order books from Scholastic for summer reading. The forms will go home tomorrow and will be due next Tuesday. That will give plenty of time to get the books by the end of the year.

All library books are due this Friday. We will not have any more checkouts this week.

If you have any box tops, please send them in by Friday, June 2nd. We appreciate you sending them in!

-I spent some time organizing our classroom library over the weekend and have noticed that many of the books are missing. When you get a chance, could you please go through your child's room, bookshelf, under bed, etc. to see if you have any of school's books at home? I know how easy it is to leave some at home over the school year, so I appreciate you looking and sending back any that may be at home. Also, if you are going through books and have any you'd like to donate to school, please feel free to send them in with your child. Thank you!

Dates to take note of:

5/18 Math MAP test 9:30
5/22 Family Night 6:00-7:00
5/26 No School for students - Staff Records Day
5/29 No School - Memorial Day
5/31 City Hall Field Trip

Curriculum Updates:

Reading and Writing - Our reading and writing coordinate with each other this week. We will be looking at ways readers can share their opinions and thoughts about books through writing. 

Math - We will be wrapping up Unit 7 (fractions) this week!

Content - We will work on the science behind balancing this week. The kids can expect some fun experiments!

Word Work - Students will be tested on their high frequency words on Friday.


Have a GREAT week!
Lisa 

What a beautiful weekend! I hope you were able to enjoy some outdoor fun and family time.  It was great to see some of our running club members at the Kaukauna Strong 5K on Sunday. Great job to all who participated!

Thank you to everyone who helped make Teacher Appreciation Week so special for all NDLC teachers and staff. We are proud to have such amazing and supportive families! Thank you!

The NDLC Facebook is almost to 500 likes. Are you one of them? If not, follow us at https://www.facebook.com/NDLCCharter/. It is a great way to keep informed. You will often see photos of different class and school activities that your child is involved in.

This weekly update is filled with quite a few reminders. Please be sure to read it carefully and if there are any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  

Important Dates to Remember:

• Wednesday, May 10 - Bike to School Day - If you would like to bike or walk to school, please meet us at Recyclist Bike Shop by 7:15 AM.
• Monday, May 15 - Reading MAP test at 8:15
• Tuesday, May 16 - RSVPs for Family Fun Night and Book Swap are due
• Thursday, May 18 - Math MAP test at 9:30
• Friday, May 19 - All library books are due 
• Monday, May 22 - Family Fun Night - 6:00-7:00 at the NDLC Playground
• Friday, May 26 - No school for students
• Monday, May 29 - No school for students
• Tuesday, May 30 - Wear your favorite sports gear
• Wednesday, May 31 - Odd/Crazy Sock Day

Curriculum Updates:
Reading and Writing ~ We are continuing to work on learning about characters from reading and using that to help guide our opinion letter writing. The more that we learn about characters, the more we are able to formulate strong opinions for our writing. We are also studying author's craft in reading.

Math ~ This week we will be wrapping up our last math unit, Unit 7, and will take the unit test early next week.  We will then begin reviewing information that was learned throughout the year, as well as using those skills in different ways. The end of the year math work will be taught through rotations, games, partner work, etc. It will be a great way to use all of our 2^nd grade math skills!

Science ~ Our Balance and Motion experiments will continue for the remainder of the school year. These are all hands-on experiments that are very engaging for the students. We are currently working with things that rotate.

Word Study ~ New high frequency words will come home early this week. 

Have a great week!

Lisa

Welcome to the month of May! I am hoping that temperatures start to match the time of year!  

We have Action Figure/Sci Fi Day on Thursday, May 4th. 
I will be out for a math conference on Thursday and Friday. The kids will be in good hands with Mr. Brien, but I will also be checking my email frequently so feel free to reach me that way if needed.


Curricular Updates

Reading - We will continue our series book clubs this week by learning as much as we can about characters across a series. Studying what characters do and say, as well as how they react to problems, tell us a lot about the characters.

Writing - We will finish up our informational writing unit this week and will begin opinion writing later this week.

Math - Unit 6 will wrap up this week. We will take the Unit 6 test on Wednesday. We will begin Unit 7 later this week.

• In Unit 7, students will "... learn about arrays and equal shares and solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of lengths. Visual models and real world situations are used throughout the unit to help children understand important fraction and measurement concepts." (Math Expressions)

Content - Students loved making tops and looking at the spinning motion last week. We will continue our investigations on balance and motion this week by working with "spinners".  


Have a great week!
Lisa

Our end-of-the-year assessments are right around the corner. We will take our Reading MAP test on May 15th at 8:15 and the Math MAP test on May 18th at 9:30. All results will be sent home at the end of the year.

Friday is "Funky Friday". Students are encouraged to dress as silly as they'd like. 

This is an exciting week in 2^nd grade. We are starting new units in Writing and Content!

Reading ~ We just began our final Reading unit – Series Book Clubs. Much of this unit focuses on characters and author’s craft. This unit will be a fun way to wrap up the school year!

Writing ~ Students will be finishing and publishing their nonfiction books later this week. We will have a museum share so students can read the writing of their classmates. Watch for their informational writing to come home early next week. The new writing unit aligns well with the new reading unit.  In writing, students will be Writing About Reading by writing opinion letters on what they have read. 

Math ~ We will be finishing up on our 3-digit addition and subtraction unit and will take the test on Friday. Our final unit will focus on arrays and fractions. 

Content ~ We will be starting a Science unit on Force and Motion. This is a hands-on, experiment-based unit. We will have 'Science afternoons' throughout the last month to allow ample time to explore and experiment. 

Enjoy the last week of April!

Lisa

I hope that your family also had an enjoyable break. It is hard to believe that May is right around the corner! We will have a busy remainder of the school year!

I will be out on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but I will be checking email often. The students will be in good hands with Mrs. Desmond, a retired second grade teacher who has been with our class before. :)

This week's dates to note:

4/20: Tornado Awareness Day - A drill will be held around 1:00

4/20: Family Night 5:30

4/21: Earth Day - Wear Green and Blue
Earth Day Clean Up - 2nd grade will be cleaning the neighborhood at 2:30.


A few reminders and requests:
KAT
Last call for KAT pledge forms! We are still collecting through the end of this week. Thank you for the generous pledges. 100% of the donations go directly back to the school! Thanks to everyone who was able to help.

Birthday Boxes

Thank you for all the Birthday Box donations. We will be assembling boxes this Saturday, April 22. Please click the link below if you are interested in signing up to help!

http://signup.com/go/fa4ZnY

Please contact Kristin McEneany at  kristin.mceneany@gmail.com  with any questions.

Curriculum Updates:

Reading - We will be wrapping up our Informational unit this week. As a final project, partners are working on creating a digital presentation to teach the class about the topic they have been researching. Partners are creating the presentation on iPads and will be presenting to the class later this week.

Writing - Our writing unit has moved from lab reports to using scientific knowledge about forces and motion to write informational books. These books are about a topic that students know a lot about and will include scientific vocabulary and definitions. This writing is an extension of informational writing done earlier this year.

Math - Unit 6 continues to grow our mathematical thinking. We are reviewing what we know about 2-digit subtraction and using those skills for 3-digit subtraction. We will be working on this throughout the week.

Content - We will be working in centers looking at articles, pictures, maps, and newspaper ads from Kaukauna's history. These centers are done in a compare and contrast style in which students take notes on what they notice from the past compared with what these things are like today.