Mrs. Cummings 2nd Grade Class

Visualization and Actions

2012-01-24T19:58:00.002-06:00

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

2012-01-16T21:02:00.001-06:00

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!

2012-01-08T20:06:00.000-06:00

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!

2011-12-12T15:23:00.001-06:00

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox

Questioning in Reading

2011-12-12T13:59:00.000-06:00

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

2011-11-14T12:45:00.000-06:00

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

2011-11-08T09:06:00.003-06:00

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.

Fall Festival!

2011-11-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

Don't forget that tomorrow night is the

Robertson Fall Festival!

5:00-8:00 -p.m.

Robertson Elementary

Bring the whole family for a night of fun and games!

Pumpkin Math

2011-10-27T13:48:00.001-05:00

Today we took our math skills and applied them to counting pumpkin seeds inside a pumpkin. The students first took all the seeds and "gunk" out of the inside. Then they grouped the seeds into groups of 10's and then into groups of 100's. This allowed us to see how many we had! The pumpkins had 474; 513; 458; and 475. After all the counting was done it was off to apply our knowledge to some of our place value skills. We had a lot of fun!

Making Sounds

2011-10-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

Today in class we had a blast making "sound" by creating duck sounds using a styrofoam cup, string, sponge and paper clip. Here is a peek into the fun!

Mooyah Night!

2011-10-17T19:30:00.000-05:00

Join us for a

PICNIC IN THE PARK!

Spirit night at Mooyah Burger this Wednesday
October 19 4pm to close.
2587 FM 423 #404
Little Elm, TX 75068

Grab a burger and fries and meet at the park for a picnic. Enjoy the beautiful weather and great company. Make sure to tell the staff you are there to support your school.

Hosted by the

Robertson Elementary PTA.

Math Groups

2011-10-11T15:23:00.000-05:00

Today our groups were working hard on identifying the different forms of numbers we have learned in math. They worked in teams to find the standard form, word form, picture form and expanded form of the numbers in the bag. The kids have been doing great with this skill this week!

Here are some pictures of our learning:

Building Bridges

2011-10-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

Last week we learned about the parts to a bridge. Below are some pictures of the kids working in their groups. Our purpose in the lesson was discussing that in order for the bridges to work well, you had to have all of the parts. If you didn't have the playdough, would the bridge be as sturdy? We also related it to making a sandwich. If you don't have the bread you can't make a sandwich. We are learning about how all the parts work together to make it work successfully.

Congratulations to our winning team. Their bridge held 13 froggies!

Parent Conference

2011-10-09T19:45:00.000-05:00

Don't forget that tomorrow, Monday, is parent conference day. I look forward to meeting with everyone and getting to know everyone better.

I also am excited to share some videos and pictures from our last week in class. The kids work on their retelling was amazing! (I was missing a camera cord on Friday and my battery died, so I will get them posted as soon as I can tomorrow.)

Thanks Everyone!

Retelling

2011-09-28T13:37:00.000-05:00

This week we have been hard at work in reading. Our focus has been the topic of retelling. We have been focusing on the big ideas that come with retelling that include the beginging, middle and end. Here are pictures of our buddy work activity creating pictures to retell the story "And You Can Come Too."

A Message from Allison and Chazzy

2011-09-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

For the past few weeks we have been learning about matter, mass and energy. This week we have been learning about urban suburban and rural.

Magician Night!

2011-09-21T09:38:00.004-05:00

Thursday

September 22, 2011

Come join us in the Robertson Cafe at 7:00 p.m. for a special magician guest visitor. He will be putting on a fun magic act for everyone of ALL ages to enjoy.

I have attend the last two years and fully enjoyed the show. I hope to see you all there on Thursday night, I know I am looking forward to it!

2011-09-21T09:38:00.001-05:00

LSHS Community Pep Rally
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
6:30-8:30 pm
LSHS Stadium

* ACITIVITY BOOTHS
* CONCESSIONS
* CARNIVAL GAMES
* SPIRIT WEAR
*AND MUCH MORE!

2011-09-12T15:48:00.000-05:00

Calling all Dads!
On Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. we will be having our 2nd annual

WATCH D.O.G.S. kickoff meeting.
WATCH D.O.G.S. is an innovative program being used by schools across America which helps them to be positively impacted by the committed involvement of fathers and father-figures in their student’s life. Our goal is to have you spend at least one day this year at the school to be a positive male role model and to help promote a safe and positive school environment.
Dads, granddads, uncles, step-dads and adult brothers. . . . this is your chance to have a night out alone with your Robertson student in a fun atmosphere at school!

Great Week!

2011-09-09T16:05:00.002-05:00

The class has had a great week this week! We practiced meeting with all of our different buddies in Math, Reading and Writing. We have been having fun at our math stations and I look forward to sharing some new literacy stations next week with the class. Don't forget to turn in your scholastic book orders. I will submit them either Sunday or Monday for those who have ordered their books online.

This week our star student was Chazzy! I look forward to letting him get on our blog and tell us what he enjoyed most about being star student. Look for his update next week!

Surprise Guest!

2011-09-02T08:54:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was an exciting end to our day, and we had a special visitor come to our class. Gabe's dad who has been serving in Afghanistan for a year was able to surprise Gabe at school when he arrived back in town. He flew in yesterday afternoon and came straight to school to pick him up. It was a tearful moment for many of us as we were able to see a father and son reunited as well as the rest of the family. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the special moment as much as we did.

Welcome Back Mr. Lorance!!!!!! We are proud to have you home and so thankful for your services!

Curriculum Night!

2011-08-31T12:20:00.003-05:00

Curriculum Night

Thursday September 1, 2011

6:00-6:45

I hope to see everyone there. We will also have our parent conference sign up pages out for 2nd grade, and will be on a first come, first served basis.

Welcome!!

2011-08-16T13:02:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Mrs. Cummings' Second Grade Class! I am so excited for the upcoming school year and getting to know each of your students. I had such a great time getting to meet all of you at Meet the Teacher Night. I am so excited for the upcoming school year and getting to know your child and watch them grow in so many ways.

Hope you all enjoy your last weekend at home before school starts!