Mrs. Abrams’ Super Second Grade

Break time!

I wanted to remind everyone to send in their child’s snack for our Christmas party this Thursday. Thanks also for sending in all the wonderful pet items. I know the Scott Co. shelter will really appreciate it. I will take the items at the end of this week, if anyone still wants to send anything in.

Due to the holiday season, I will be taking a break from the classroom blog until we return in early January. If anyone needs to get a message to me, please email me.

I look forward to seeing the kids sing in our annual Christmas show Thursday night. I would also like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season.

God bless!

Mrs. Abrams

Hello to all! I hope everyone has enjoyed this long weekend and had a good Thanksgiving. I have worked around my house and caught up on some reading. It’s been great!

Pilgrim update-The children were absolutely adorable in their costumes. I have to praise them for the amount of work they put into making them. The girls had a LOT of cutting to do and the boys were little gentleman helping them hold the cloth. The boys did a great job making their hats and bringing in the popcorn as well. Thank you all for helping make that special for the children. Mrs. Hargrave and Ms. King took pictures, so I am sure you will see them in the near future.

Christmas program-I know Mrs. Durr is working really hard to get the children ready for our annual program. Please remember to help your child practice if they have a speaking part. This show is really beautiful every year. I know we all look forward to it.

Good habits-This time of year can prove challenging for all as our children become preoccupied with Christmas. I can tell you as their teacher, it will be difficult to keep them on-task during the next 3 weeks. You may want to double check that they are completing homework during this time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! God bless!

Mrs. Abrams

Ok, I am a little behind on my blog….It is the end of the semester at Georgetown for me and I have been completing projects and preparing for finals, sorry.  I hope everyone is well.

Thanksgiving-The Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, the children will share a popcorn and apple juice snack with the 1st grade.  Our students will take on the role of Pilgrims, so we will be making bonnets and aprons for the girls and hats for the boys.  Girls need to bring in a a white queen-sized pillow case by tomorrow and boys will bring a bag of popcorn on the day of our celebration.  No microwave popcorn please.  If a couple of parents of the boys could buy a set of 15 black Styrofoam plates and send them I would really appreciate it.  We also need a role of black crepe paper.

Christmas program-I drew names for 3 students to have a speaking part during this program.  If your child has one, please practice with them at home.

It’s getting cold-Parents please make sure your child has a jacket every day it is cold. They love to sneak outside without them. I try to go out for recess as much as we can and I want them to be warm.

Conferences-I really appreciate the number of parents who came for conferences.  It was so nice to talk with everyone.  Please let me know if I can do anything for your child.

God bless!

Mrs. Abrams

Hello and Happy Halloween! This upcoming week is going to be a really busy one, so lets get started!

Field trip Monday: We will be seeing a play about Abraham Lincoln’s childhood at the Thoroughbred Center. Please have your child wear their P.E. uniform. Also they will need a sack lunch and drink, as we will not be back for our usual lunch time. It should be an interesting play. Thanks to parents who are driving. Please be at St. John no later than 9:00 am. We will leave around 9:15 am.

Schedule changes: We do have some changes this week. Monday we have our field trip from 9:15-12:00. Wednesday we will have Music. Thursday we will have a Halloween party around 1:00. Mrs. Hargrave has organized a treat and craft for the children. Friday the children will “trick or treat” to Kindergarten and 1st grade, we have a pep rally at 10:30 and early dismissal.  As you can see, it will be a crazy week!

Spelling: Due to the crazy schedule, we will not have a spelling or reading test this week.

Thank you!: The pumpkin patch trip was so much fun! Thanks to all the parents that came with us. These field trips would not be possible without you!

Give to the needy: This week all students at St. John are collecting toiletry items for the needy. Please give generously.

Long weekend: Don’t forget this upcoming weekend is a 4-day weekend. Enjoy this break, we all need it!

I hope everyone has a great week! God bless!

Mrs. Abrams

Hello to all!  Is everyone getting ready for fall?  It’s kind of hard to when it’s 85 degrees outside!  I don’t know about anyone else, but I want cooler weather.

SMART board has arrived!-We are so excited and grateful to have a SMART board in our room.  7th grade also received one.  Mrs. Boothe said there will be more added each year.  So far, we have managed to use it for many different lessons.  I am still learning, so I know there are still many great ways to use this technology.  The whole class loves it!

Field trip $-Thanks to all for getting money in on time.  I know this time of year is really busy.  I think the play will be really neat.  We will learn about Abraham Lincoln prior to attending.

That’s all I have for this week’s posting.  I hope everyone has a great week!

God bless,

Mrs. Abrams 

Hello to all!  I hope everyone is enjoying this fantastic fall weather.  I spent most of the weekend at my parish’s fall festival.  It was a lot of fun.

Zoo-Just a final thanks to those who tried to work out our zoo trip.  I think that cost is an issue for some right now.  That is totally understandable with the high cost of EVERYTHING.  No worries!  We have lots of other fun field trips to look forward to.

Parent Meeting-Thanks to those who were able to attend the sacrament meeting this past Sunday.  I will send home information packets to those who were not able to attend.

Play-If you have not sent in your child’s permission and admission for the play at the Thoroughbred Center yet, please do so.  We have to mail the admission money prior to attending the play.  I am also still in need of drivers at this time.

Math-The children passed Unit 1 with flying colors!  I can really see improvement in their recall of addition and subtraction facts.  We are now focusing on place value.  Keep those flash cards going at home, so they do not forget their facts.

Science-We have finished plants and are now working on animals.  We will be learning about life cycles specifically and ways to classify different animals.

Junior Achievement-Kara Jones, an undergraduate education student from Georgetown College will be teaching the children about communities.  Kara has met the children once and seems really excited to work with them.  She will teach about 30 minutes per week on communities for the next 5 weeks.  It should be fun and informative for the kids.

Calling all experts-Parents, if you work in an area or have expertise in any area that we are learning about in Science or Social Studies and would like to share an activity, please email me.  I think it is wonderful for the children to see their parents as role models to their peers.  Don’t be shy if you are interested!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mrs. Abrams 

Hi everyone! I hope your week has gone well.

Zoo-I am still needing Zoo responses from some people, as well as the deposit. I wanted to let you know that it is ok to ask another parent to supervise your child on the trip, so you do not have to go. This would save $35.00. Just a thought if cost is a reason you may not be able to attend. Let me know if that changes anyone’s plans.

Sight Words-This is just a reminder to keep your child’s sight words all week. I may ask them to complete writing assignments with these words. They should also practice them daily.

1st Communion Meeting-Fr. Linh would like parents to meet at St. John Church on Sunday October 5th at 9:30am to discuss this year’s sacrament. I hope to see you there!

Picture Day-Picture Day is this Tuesday. Students may be out of uniform.

Blessing of the Animals-This Thursday, Fr. Linh will be providing an animal blessing for those brought to St. John. You may bring a pet in for your child. Keep in mind there will be a lot of pets, so make sure your pet can handle being around other animals. Also, we drew names for students to read a prayer that morning and Joseph and David will be doing so. They are really excited to read the prayer in front of the rest of the school.

No School-There is no school this Friday October 3rd.

I hope your week is great! God bless!

Mrs. Abrams

Hello to everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the weather this weekend. It is near perfect!

Field trip notes-The field trip to Evan’s Orchard was a success! The weather was beautiful. I was really impressed with the changes to the play area this year. I think the amount of dirt on our children was a good indication to how much fun they had. I was also really pleased that the kids remembered to ask questions, so that the next day we were able to fill in our questionnaires. Thanks so much to the parents who came with us.

Uniforms-I want to give parents a reminder to make sure their children have on the correct uniform. The uniforms should be purchased from “Educator’s Outfitters” in Lexington. I have noticed some girl’s jumpers do not appear to be from there. I have also noticed some children are not wearing belts and have colors on their socks. All teachers are supposed to send home uniform violations if the rules are not followed. I just wanted everyone to be aware.

Weekly Work-On Wednesdays of most weeks, I have sent home your child’s corrected work. Please sign the inside sheet and date it, so I know you have seen your child’s work. Also please note if your child needs to correct or finish any of the assignments sent home. I would have written a note on the front of their paper if they need to do either.

Zoo Update-As of Friday, I have not secured a date yet. The coordinator for the zoo has been unavailable. I hope to reach her this week. After I confirm a date with her, she will send me written confirmation of our night. We will then be responsible to send a deposit. I usually ask for 1/2 of the total money for the zoo and the bus. This amount should be around $45.00. We will pay the balance one month before we attend the overnight in the spring. Thanks to all who have supported this trip. It is a really special night for the kids.

I hope everyone has a great week. Email me with any questions or comments.

God bless!

Mrs. Abrams

Hello to all! Sorry for the delay in this week’s post. (Technical difficulties) I hope everyone had a good weekend. The Mega Mass was nice, although the wind gusts were a little scary!

Science: It’s Apple Week! In preparation for our field trip Thursday to Evan’s Orchard, we are studying different aspects of apples. Today, the kids enjoyed an apple taste test. They tasted 4 different types of apples and as a team decided if the apples were, “Sweet or Sour” and “Crispy or Soft”. We documented the results and then tallied the results as a class. Our class favorites with Granny Smiths and Red Delicious. It was fun and interesting. We are working on a book about apples all week, as well as looking at where apples grow in the U.S. and how orchards operate. During our field trip, the children should be asking specific questions that we will discuss the day before. The day after the trip, we will write about what we learned about Evan’s Orchard.  Thanks to the parents who are driving.

Math: We are almost at the end of Chapter 1. This week we will finish working on subtracting single digit numbers. I think everyone has done really well with these concepts.

Zoo Update: Based on the feeler I sent out, almost all parents want to attend the Zoo overnight and take a bus to get there. I am in the process of confirming a date in either March or April. I will keep you updated.

Accelerated Reader: AR has begun! For those who may not have heard of this program, it is a reading program where children of all ages read different books and then take a comprehensive quiz on the book on the computer. Each quiz they take earns them a specific amount of points. Today the children have begun taking the quizzes. I will allow time daily for these quizzes and we have many AR books in our classroom to choose from. Next week, I will set goals with the children. They can earn rewards each quarter that they meet this goal. More details to follow.

I hope everyone has a great week. God bless!

Mrs. Abrams

Hi everyone! I hope it has been a good week for all. The heat has been so oppressive. Please continue to send water bottles to school for the children. They are really thirsty!

Math: The children have finished the unit on beginning addition. Next week we will begin subtraction. They typically do not like subtraction as well as addition but with lots of practice, they will gain confidence. Keep up the good work with their flash cards at home.

English: We have been working on writing excellent sentences and I can already see improvement. We are also working on phonetic sounds and this week we are starting sight word practice. Remember, sight words are words chosen because they are used often and are more difficult to sound out. They are words that should be memorized upon sight. This will improve fluency. Please practice your child’s weekly word list a few minutes every night.

Science: This week we finished our unit on plants. We read and colored a book about plants, we classified real plant seeds, and we conducted an experiment about plant roots using vegetables and dye. I think we all learned a lot and had a great time.

Religion: We have continued our study of God’s love and listened to bible stories from a children’s bible . The children have such a wonderful grasp of God and his many blessings!

If you are still interested in ordering a book, I have extended the deadline until Monday to order.

Our first field trip is coming up soon to Evan’s Orchard. Please return your child’s permission slip and let me know if you can drive.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

God bless,

Mrs. Abrams