Visualization and Actions

Lights, Camera, ACTION!

The kids are all reading a play this week for guided reading. Each student has a part in one of four plays. We are encouraging the kids to not just stand up and recite their lines, but to create ACTION with their words in the story. I think they got a pretty good laugh when I was trying to do some demonstrations of acting out one of the plays.

So enjoy the plays as a family at home, get brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa, cousins, etc. involved. Create your own family plays and enjoy being a different character from a story. I am really looking forward to seeing all of the kids perform their plays on Friday. Today they did a great job of writing down some actions they should see themselves doing, and I hope they come home as excited. I did tell them they could create props or costumes if they wanted to. Nothing over the top, something simple, and fun to portray their characters.

The most important part.....HAVE FUN!

Reading Highlights

We had a very busy but a fun time last week. The kids are all getting back into the swing of things after our winter break. We were able to laugh, have fun, learn, and be serious at times.

This week in reading we had a good teaching moment, as we were reading the story "Junkyard Wonders" by Patricia Polacco. I was able to see the kids minds open up, and envision the message that it had hidden inside. The story is about the author and her life and being in a classroom that other kids called the "Junkyard" because they were different. The story reminds us that although we are all different and go through different journeys in life we are still all unique and wonderful in our own ways. It was a great story on teaching us about self confidence and believing in yourself. One part of the story has one of the characters pass away, and it was an awe striking moment for me as a teacher to quickly see the kids emotions and understand the depth of the story. They had lots of questions, but were able to relate it back to the life cycle and understanding about different diseases and such that may cause one person's life to go more quickly than another. The story ends on a very wonderful note and helps encourage the students to push their limits and never give up, even if someone says differently.

Throughout the story we were working on the skill of visualizing as well. If you have a chance, read a story to your child without showing them the pictures, and ask them to describe or draw what they are seeing in their minds. This helps them to become better readers and become even better chapter book readers as they continue to grow into longer and larger books. We have had fun making pictures and visualizing what we are seeing when we hear things. This week we will continue this skill as well, and continue discussing the importance.

Here is a quick review of some of our reading highlights this year (things the kids should be able to describe to you, if you ask them).
~ Summary (B,M,E Charts)
~ Questioning (B,D,A Chart)
~ Visualizing - (mental picture)
~ Inference (what we THINK will come next, happen, or what isn't being told in the text, but you understand on your own.)
~ Prediction (what you think is going to happen, and then the story telling you in the text or pictures)

Eat 'Em Up Cats!

Last week we got to have a special pep rally for the Sam Houston State University Bearkats. Kinder through seocnd grade made signs and cheered on the players as they came into the building. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast!

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox

Questioning in Reading

Over the last week we have been hard at work with our new reading skill: Questioning! The students are all working hard on coming up with questions for Before, During and After reading. Tonight you will see your child's book covered with post it notes. They are labeled B, D, and A. They are to come up with a question for each post it note based on the part of the story they are on. "Before, During, and After." Help your child best by helping them come up with "deeper" questions. Questions such as "what happened at the beginning" is a very basic question. We are working towards getting deeper questions such as "How did the character feel during this part of the story? Why did the character feel this way? Can you think of a time when you felt this way?"

Questions that we all think to ourselves in our head while we read, but don't say out loud is what we are working on. Things that you "wonder" or connect with is what we are striving for.

The Constitution

Last week in class we started our new unit of study in Social Studies over Government. We have been discussing the local, state and federal levels of government. While we discussed these we also discussed where our laws "come from" and what they are based off of. This comes from The Constitution of the United States. Here are some pictures of our class signing and creating our own class constitution to follow.
(Sorry for them being sideways.....my computer has them the right way but they keep uploading the wrong way = ( Sorry about that!) 

Angel Tree

It is the time of year when the spirit of the holidays fills us with joy! We want to spread that feeling to families in Frisco who need help insuring the holidays are memorable and filled with wonder for their children.



Our class and the other second grade classes are participating in a service project to sponsor an “Angel” during this holiday season. “Angels” are less fortunate children in this community These families and children will have a joyful and memorable holiday season with our help and generosity. Below you will find information about the Angels that have been adopted by the second grade, including clothing sizes, needs, and wishes.


Please send your donations to school with your child:


1. Unwrapped


2. In a bag labeled with the angel number


3. If you are buying more than one angel, please send in separate bags, with angel number on each gift.


4. If you would like to donate wrapping paper, please send a roll with your gifts.


5. We have bike vouchers available this year. If you would like to donate money for a bike, for any angel, please contact us.


{lease send all gifts to his/her classroom by November 29th. All items will be distributed to families on December 17 and 18th.


Angel #274


Age 7 Gender Boy

Pants: 16/18 youth Shirt: 16/18 Youth Shoe: 5 ½ Boys


Coat: 16/18 Underwear:16/18 boxer briefs


Need: Jeans, T-Shirts, Socks, Hoodie Zip-ups (green and black)


Wish: 24’Bike (Green & Black), Boys Action Stuff (nerf,


transformers, wrestling guys, Real Steel Figures), Any boy stuff





Angel #1089


Age 10 Gender Girl


Pants: 10-12 Child Shirt: 10-12 Child Shoe: Size 3 for shoes, 4 for tennis


Coat: 10-12 child Underwear: Medium child


Need: Winter Clothes, Coat, Shoes, Gloves, Scarf, Boots (size 4)


Wish: Would like the Just Dance Wii video game and or a bike.