Report Cards

Your child should have brought home their 2nd trimester report card today.  Please look at it over the weekend.  Congratulate your child on their successes and let them know you are proud of the work they are doing. You can keep the report card but I'd like you to sign the envelope and send it back to school as soon as possible.  Remember that the writing, sight word, and fluency standards are skills we work on all year long and it may be closer to the end of the year before your child is secure.  If you have any questions please let me know.

Math Fact Fluency

On your child's report card you will find a grade for their math fact fluency  I just want to update you on a conversation we had at conferences about how the math fact fluency was going to be tested.  For the first trimester we used a test with fifty facts and the students were given 2 1/2 minutes to complete it.  As a grade level in the district we have decided to use a one minute test with twenty facts.  In order for your child to be secure on their addition and subtraction facts they must achieve a score of +20/20 three times.  If they have reached +20 I listed the number of times they have done that.  If they have not reached +20 then their highest score is listed.  If your child has not reached the secure level there are two good websites listed on the blog where they can practice. They all know how to do them because we use them every week.

Eagle's Nest

I just heard about this website today.  I don't know much about it but it is pretty cool to be able to watch an eagle this closely.  I believe there are three eggs that the parents take turns sitting on to keep them warm.  We'll be checking in on them from time to time at school.  Enjoy watching an amazing scene in nature!

I'll put a link to this website in with my other links located on the left side of my blog.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles

Banana Penguins

Baby Penguins Hatch in Room 217

Today each of the students received an egg they had to keep safe and warm.  They were responsible for keeping the egg with them all day long-even at lunch and recess.  Everyone waited all day long for their egg to hatch.  I was amazed at what caring "parents" they were.  Many eggs had beds, blankets, and  homes.  As parents they were fed fish (swedish fish)  to give them the energy they needed to take good care of their eggs.  After their eggs hatched they wrote news stories to tell about their new baby penguins. 

Community Leaders are Sibley Readers

Dr. Laurie getting ready to read to our class.

Sibley Elementary had lots of community leaders visiting this morning to share their own love of reading.  Our class was honored to have Dr. Laurie from the Albert Lea Medical Center read us When You Take a Pig to a Party.  He was a wonderful reader who used lots of expression in his voice.  He also talked to the kids about what he does for his job and answered questions they had.  He emphasized to the kids just how important reading is in life.  He said that if you learn to be a better reader it will make your math, science, social studies, EVERYTHING easier.

Everyone listening....what a great group of kids!

Wacky 2nd graders-Can you find Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat?

Mrs. VanBrocklin, Mrs. Christensen, and Mrs. Faber

Wacky Wednesday is Coming

As we celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday and our love for reading this week we thought it was time to take a little break and be silly. One of Dr. Seuss' books is Wacky Wednesday. So, on Wednesday, March 2nd we'd like everyone to be a little wacky!! You can mismatch you clothes, wear them backwards, have crazy hair...be creative and have fun! However, please NO face paint, colored hairspray, or weapons.