Dear Parents,

I can’t believe that it is the end of October already!

This week we have our Halloween Party on Friday, October 30th at 2:00.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who will be volunteering their time and items that we need for the party.
We have everything we need so thank you again!

This week:

Spelling: black, track, stop, crab, flat, slip, slid, drop, flood, stack, drab, history, plus 3 new words I give the kids on Friday that relate to the ack, at, ip, or id chunk. Basically, we want kids to learn that if they know how to spell black, they will know how to spell an unknown word with that same pattern. That is why we give them a few “cold” words on Friday.

Reading/Daily 5: STudy cause and effect relationships in reading.
Continue to find main idea and details in nonfiction reading.
Build stamina in Daily 5.
Homework: REad for 20 minutes each night and record what you are reading.

WRiting: Begin drafting our informational article on bats.
Each informational piece should have an introduction, information organized under each heading, and a conclusion.

Science: Finish our unit on forces.

Social Studies: Begin studying about Michigan’s history.

Math: Home Links come home every night as we build fluency with addition and subtraction.

Have a great week and please let me know if you have any questions:)

Sincerely,
Gina Parana

Welcome back to another wonderful week of learning in Room 34!

Spelling words this week are:
lunch
much
thump
truck
bug
under
thunder
rug
bunch
bump
motion
object

Reading: We will use the strategy: Find the important points and cite the evidence in the text. We will read nonfiction text and work on finding the most important ideas in the article. We will write down these ideas to show that we understand “cite the evidence” and notetaking.
Thank you for reading for 20 minutes every night:)

Writing: We will write important points about bats and then organize the writing into an informational article with a table of contents, headings, bold print, etc.

Math: We will return to Home Links this week as well as Math Journal pages if students don’t finish them in class.

Social Studies: We are almost finished with our Michigan studies and will have a class review. Then we will go to the computer lab on Friday to input our answers.

Science: We will learn about friction this week and wrap up our unit on Forces and Motion.

Have a great week and as always, please contact me if you have any questions:)

Sincerely,
Gina Parana

I am beginning math assessments today so students may not have homework in math today.

They will be assigned work during math workshop time and if they don’t finish it they will have to take it home.

Thank you for checking the planner and signing it each night. This way, you know what the homework for the day is.

Have a great day!

Just a reminder: The Fire House Field Trip for 2nd graders only is tomorrow, 10-13-15 at 9:30 and takes approximately 1 hour.

Please make sure your child’s permission slip is turned in:)

Thank you,
Gina Parana

Dear Parents,
These are the things we will be working on this week:

Spelling and Word Work Practice:
This year, you are free to practice the spelling words in any fashion. The words this week are:
each
met
meet
tell
rest
wet
seem
about
ago
force
push
pull

Reading/Science
We are studying nonfiction text features such as headings, subheadings, diagrams, etc. These ideas flow nicely into our science studies of force and motion. Ask your child what they have learned about force, motion, position, weight, pushes and pulls, etc.
Thank you students and parents for reading for 20 minutes each night.
Please also practice retelling the story from beginning to end.
Toy cars: If your child has any toy cars small or large, we could use them for a science experiment. You can send them in this week:)

Social Studies:
Students have been learning about Michigan and it’s natural resources, vegetation and climate, etc.
2nd graders have been focusing more on their own community.

Math: 2nd graders took their Unit 1 Math test on Thursday and did very well. Please go over anything that was challenging for your child.
3rd graders have been introduced to elapsed time which is something new for them and they may need a parent to sit down with them and give some assistance. They seem to be catching on pretty quickly though!
Math Homework: There will be homework each night. It may be your child’s math journal and/or a home link page.

Also, this week:
Tuesday: 2nd graders have a field trip to the Dearborn Fire House at 9:30. The trip is free and a note was sent home last week:) If you would like to volunteer for the trip, there is room on the bus. Please make sure you have a form filled out about background checks. Forms are good for 3 years if you filled one out last year.

Friday, the 15th, is a half day for teacher professional responsibilities.

Upcoming:
Halloween Fun. A note will soon be coming home providing information:)

Hangers: Please don’t throw away hangers with clips (the hangers that hang pants). I could use them to hang posters:)

Thank you for all you do with your children.

Sincerely,
Gina Parana

Spelling:

poke
rock
mop
below
lock
broke
show
slow
top
choke

Book Fair: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.

Late Start: Wednesday, 10-7-15

Have a great week!

Mrs. Parana

Dear Parents,

It’s been a busy couple of weeks here in room 34! Students are doing great learning new procedures and rules. Class dojo is a great way to see how your child is doing throughout the day. Let me know if you are not logged in to Class Dojo and I can get you another form so you can sign in to the program.

Below is a summary of things we’ve been working on:

NWEA testing:
2nd grade completed reading and math in September.
3rd grade completed reading, math, language, and science in September.
I can go over the results with you at your child’s conference time in November.
I am sitting down with each student to develop academic goals based on their score from this test.
Science:
2nd graders have been working on properties and helped to sort objects based on their properties.
3rd graders have been working on forces and explored that concept in stations with the other third grade class.

Social Studies:
2nd graders are learning about their community while 3rd graders are studying Michigan. We’ve been using maps to explore Michigan’s location as well as learning about other important facts about Michigan.

Reading and Writing:
We’ve been learning about fables. Ask your child the characteristics of a fable: characters, setting, problem, flaw in one of the characters, trickery (sometimes), and a moral or lesson to be learned.
We are almost done with our first fable that we wrote together.
Students also write independently in their “Work on Writing” notebook, where they have choice over what they can write about.
During reading mini lessons, we have been learning comprehension strategies such as back up and reread, check for understanding, and monitor and fix up.
Check for understanding on every couple of pages helps students to monitor their understanding about characters, setting, problem, solution, details about characters, etc.

Reading Homework:
Which leads us into the topic of Reading Homework. Thank you for setting aside time to read for 20 minutes each night. Also, thank you for recording what your child is reading, comments about it, and the time they read on the flashcard in the book bag.
It is fine to keep the bag home if your child is reading a chapter book and it takes them a few days to read it.
Students should have good fit books in these bags. Good fit simply means that they are able to read most of the words and understand what they are reading.

Math Homework:
There should either be a math home link or journal that comes home each night for practice.

Spelling Homework:
Spelling homework is simply practicing the words any way you see fit. My daughter and I practice by: she studies the words and then I give her a practice test say on Wednesday or Thursday. She then practices the words that were tricky for her.
Students write these spelling words in their planner each Monday (2nd grade on a piece of paper).

This upcoming week:
Book fair: Tuesday at 10:00 a.m.

Don’t forget movie night tonight.
Sadly, I am home today with strep throat so I won’t be able to come:(

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Gina Parana

Hello Parents,

I hope that everyone is enjoying their break.
Thank you for signing in to the blog. I will try and update the blog weekly so that you know what we have been working on in class.

Students are doing a great job learning all of our procedures and rules. Our rules are:
1. Listen while others are talking.
2. Follow directions.
3. Raise your hand to talk or leave your seat.
4. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
5. Work quietly.

Our management system works as follows:
Class Dojo is used to add or take away points.
If a child receives 3 warnings, a note will be sent home for parents to review and sign.

Spelling: A list of words was sent home last week to review over the long break here. I will get a list out to parents who may not have received the list after I type this letter:)

Homework:
Your child should be bring homework home in the following areas:

Math: Students are either bringing home their math journal if it isn’t finished in class plus a home link or review paper.
3rd graders have a planner that helps them to remember if they finished their work in class and what the homework is. Parents need to sign it every day and return it to school the next day.
2nd graders also write what their work is for the day, bring the paper home to get signed, and bring the paper back the next day.

Reading: Students should be reading for 20 minutes a night, talking about the book, and then parents, please sign how many minutes and any comments you may have on the flashcard in the bag.

Spelling: Your child can practice spelling on their own, in whatever fashion you like. My daughter and I will practice together and then I will give her a practice test say on Tuesday. That is a good day to see what your child is getting right/wrong and those would be the words to practice throughout the week. If the words come easy, practice giving your child other words with that same pattern to see if they really understand the pattern of the word whether it is the bossy e, the ick pattern, etc.

Please let me know if you have any questions:)

Sincerely,
Gina Parana

Dear Parents,

The last note was regarding the upcoming school year.
I will be at Nowlin. Apparently, this blog is saying “former” teacher of Dearborn Public Schools. I will have to get that changed:)

This note is for upcoming 2nd/3rd graders:)

Enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer and we will see you all soon:)

Sincerely,
Gina Parana

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! I will send all parent notes via the blog in an effort to save paper!
Below you will find helpful information:

Supply List:
2 packages dry erase markers.
1 highlighter
2 boxes of kleenex
1 clean dark sock for erasing
2 boxes of pencils
1 spiral notebook labeled with your child’s name
2 bottles of hand sanitizer
2 lysol wipe containers
4 large glue sticks
A pencil sharpener
1 supply box
1 folder which will be used for reading homework.

Snack time and water bottles:

We will eat a snack between 10 a.m. and 10:30 everyday. Healthy snacks such as fruit, vegetables, cheese, or yogurt are recommended.
Please send in water bottles with a pop-top rather than a screw top, this will help to avoid spills.

Reading Homework:

Reading homework will begin in a few weeks after teachers find each child’s reading level. Each night a folder will come home labeled “Reading Folder”. Enclosed in the folder will be a book that your child should practice reading and retelling each night. 20 minutes a night is a good time to spend reading.
Please write the date, the book your child read, and your signature on the reading log that is in the folder and return the folder to school the next day.

Spelling:

Spelling will begin in about a week. We will have a spelling test every Friday. Words will come home on Monday.

Math Homework:

We will have a home link page to do each night.

I can’t wait to meet all of you and I look forward to a great year with your children!

You can always reach me before or after school at 313-827-6900 or paranag@dearbornschools.org.
The blog site is iblog.dearbornschools.org/paranag/ Simply type in your email address where it says “new subscriber” and you will receive an email each time I send a note!

Sincerely,
Gina Parana