Summer Practice

     In 2nd grade, we used a website/app called Scootpad.  This website allows children to practice the Common Core reading and math standards and collect points for correct answers.  The questions are written in a way that mirrors the type of questions they will be asked on the state assessments.  We used the free version and had great results.  I thought the children might enjoy using this website over the summer! 
      Most user names are firstnamelastname (no space or punctuation).  For example, John Smith would be johnsmith.  There are a few children who have a 1 after their name.  The password for everyone is 1234.  If you need help logging in, please email me!
Below is a flyer from Scootpad.  They do offer a variety of summer versions.  (Again we used the free version at school and it worked great!)  Hope you are enjoying your summer!  Don't forget to read! :)

We're Published!

     Wow, the weeks just keep going by faster and faster!  Last week, we worked really hard on learning our poems for the poetry read.  We also shared our informational books with the kindergarten and first graders.  Our second graders were so excited to read their work!  Due to popular request, I have scanned the books and put a link below so you may read them.  We only have a black and white scanner so I apologize for not being able to see the pictures clearly.  More books will continue to be added to this link below.  

Informational Books 

Here are some pictures of the afternoon class sharing their books with the first graders. 

 

   This week we started on a fiction book based on the If You Give a Mouse a.... books.  We will post those when we get them done!

     Here is the link to this week's homework.  Don't forget to practice your poems too!

Homework 5/3/13

We hope to see you on Thursday, May 9th at 2:15pm for our Poetry Read! 

Celebrating Authors

I am so excited to finally be able to say we have "published" our informational books!  Our authors are very happy and can't wait to read their book to anyone interested!  I have posted a few pictures of the books below!  These are books from the afternoon class.  The morning class students are still putting their finishing touches on the books.  The children worked so hard researching and writing the information in their books.  They are very proud of them!

  Sydney's Goldfish Book

 Crishaun's Snake Book

 Robby's Tarantuala Book

 Alyssa's Shark Book

 

Here is a link to this week's homework: Homework 4 19 13

Don't forget  to practice your poems too!

Where did the week go?

Forgive me for my late post this week!  I am not sure where Monday, Tuesday and now Wednesday have gone!  We have spent this week putting the finishing touches our informational books in writing.   I will put pictures of them up soon!  We are also gearing up for our big "poetry read" on May 9th!

Below is our homework for this week:

Homework for 4/12/13

I also put our poems for the poetry read online.  Please help your child practice these each night.  They do need to memorize these before May 9th!  I do apologize for scanning the poems upside down.  When you download them, just right-click the mouse and hit rotate two times. Thank you for your help!

"Poetry Read" Poems

 

Look for some pictures of us working hard next week!

Weekly Update

Wow, what a busy week!  It is hard to believe that we have less than 40 days of school left!  The morning reading class Skyped with South Dakota this week!  They only had 7 kids in their class and all of the children lived on ranches!  We thought it was so cool that all the children had their own horse!  On Thursday, the children took a "listening quiz" on the information we learned from our South Dakota friends.  They took the quiz using an Ipad app called Socrative.  After the children answered a question, it told them immediately if they were correct! 

In the afternoon class, we finished our research and began writing our informational book.  We hope to be finishing the book up by the end of this week.  I can't wait for you to see them.  The children have been so excited to share all the information they learned!

A few reminders for this week:   Monday (4/8) at 9am is our Awards Assembly

                                                     Wednesday(4/10) at 2pm is Early Release

Below is a link for this week's homework:

Homework for 4/5/13

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Enjoy the warm weather!

Happy Spring!

I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break!  It is nice to see that the weather is finally starting to warm up!  The next eight weeks are going to fly by and will be filled with lots of learning! This week we will be working on our informational books in writing.  We have a little more research to do and then we will start writing what we learned in a book.  In reading, we will read a book about the water cycle to help the children connect reading and science. 

Before break, our afternoon reading class helped the first graders research using the computer.  They were quite the experts and really helped the first graders navigate the websites.  The first graders used the information they learned to help write their own informational books.  Below are a few pictures of the children working together!  (The first graders are not shown since I do not have permission from their parents.)

Here is the homework for this week.  It is still due on Friday but is a little shorter!

Homework for 4/1/13

  Have a wonderful week!  

Spring is Almost Here!

Wow, what a great week!  Last week the morning reading class had their first Skype session with Maine.  It was so exciting to see the children share their paragraphs about Ohio and listen to the Maine students share about their state.  We learned that Whoopie pies are great snacks in Maine.  We also learned that Milton Bradley is from Maine!  We will Skype again after spring break.

The afternoon reading group finished their Ohio paragraphs last week.  On Friday, they helped the first graders research about animals.  They worked really well with the first graders and helped them find many interesting facts about various animals.  We have a few pictures, which I'll post soon!

This week we will begin a new research project.  The children will choose their own topic to research and write about.  This project will continue after spring break.

We are head over heels for fairy tales.  Last week we read Cinderella.  At first many of the boys weren't too sure about reading a fairy tale but I think they have overcome this feeling and are starting to appreciate the stories!  Comparing and contrasting different versions of fairy tales are part of the new reading standards.

Below is a link for our homework this week: 

 Homework 3/15/13

Enjoy your spring break!!

Weekly News

We are quickly reaching the end of the third quarter!  It is hard to believe that there are only 10 weeks left of school!  We have some exciting things planned for the rest of the year!  In May, we will have our poetry day.  We will also take a study trip. 

 Last week we continued to work on our research about Ohio.  Our Skype date, where the children will present their research, is set for this Wednesday!  (This for the morning reading class.)  The afternoon reading class will Skype after spring break!  Below is a picture of the children doing their research online. 

Ryley and Shelby

 

Our homework for this week is on the link below.  The spelling words are:

because     was     where    crash    crashes     have    about     after     found     really     right     more    what    saw     off

 

Homework 3/8/13

 

 

Happy Snow Day!

I hope you have enjoyed our first snow day!  I had almost forgotten how pretty the snow is since we haven't had much this year!  We are back to our normal routine after have a very fun Dr. Seuss week.  This week we have been working on our researching Ohio.  The children have done a wonderful job using both books and the internet.   In class we are using a site called www.kidrex.org to search.  I have added the link to our webpage in case you want to research at home.  The site is like google but is kid friendly. 

Below is a link to our homework for this week.  As always, feel free to print it out or do it on a separate piece of paper if you do not have a printer. 

Homework 3/1/13

Now on to our celebrations!  Below our pictures of our students who reached their February Star reading goal. 

Tim

Jaxon

Ryley

 

Demi

Madison

Brooklynn

 

Not Pictured: Christian, Jeremy, Azrel, Elijah, Hailey, Griffin, Kaitlyn, Jesse

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

This week we are celebrating "Right to Read Week" and Dr. Seuss' birthday!  It is sure to be an exciting week!   Don't forget to wear your spirit wear!  Miss W. and I have been working hard to get our "special" Dr. Seuss outfits ready! 

(Yes, there is a mistake....Tell Mrs. Niezgoda the mistake and you earn a surprise!

 

Below is the link for our weekly homework.  If you don't have a printer at home, feel free to write the answers or spelling words on a sheet of paper.

Homework 2/22

 

We worked on using adjectives to describe nouns last week.  Here are a few pictures of the children making their "adjective flower."

 

I'll put up our pictures of the children who met our  STAR reading goal later this week! 

Have a wonderful week! 

What a busy week!  We finished our last set of parent teacher conferences and celebrated Valentine's Day last week.  Thank you to all the parents who took the time to come visit us at conferences. 

The children loved exchanging Valentine's with each other.  We were having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures of our celebration!

Below is the link to this week's homework.  Also, I put our new spelling words on spellingcity.com. 

Homework for Feb. 15

 

Have a great week!

Yipee!

We have so many children reaching our Dibels reading goal for January!  Dibels is an assessment where the children read for one minute.  We assess their fluency and accuracy (how many correct words they read).  Below are some of the pictures for January.  I will post more pictures later this week (We keep running out of time to take the pictures!).

Hailey

Crishaun

Hunter

Jazmine



Elijah

Madison

Sam



Sydney

Tim

Yamileth

Sierra

Anna

Brooklynn

Alicia

Ryley

Madison

Jaxon

 

This week we started learning about the reading skill of inferring!  We had a lot of fun using clues to try to describe a person!  After each group studied their clues, they presented what they found to the class!  We will continue to work on this skill throughout February.  Here are a couple of pictures from our inferring lesson. 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Week! I hope to see many of you at conferences on Tuesday! 
Mrs. Niezgoda

Pete Loves Norwood!

The afternoon class loves Pete the Cat!  This winter they also made a Pete book.  The afternoon reading class' book was modeled after Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes. 

 

To make our book, we brainstormed places Pete might like in Norwood.  Then we wrote the beginning of the story and the song together.  Next, our children were paired up based on their top choices for their favorite place in Norwood.  From there the children went to work and started writing their pages.  After a first draft, the children wrote and illustrated their page on the Ipads.  This was their first experience using the Scribble Press app to write and illustrate.  I think all the children enjoyed using a new way to publish their work and are looking forward to using the app again!

 

Check out our book by clicking the link below!

Pete the Cat I love Norwood

Weekly Update!

Boy, it sure is cold out there!   I am hoping for warmer weather soon!  This week is going to be a busy week at Sharpsburg!  We will be finishing our persuasive letters so everyone can see them at conferences.  We'll also be reading a fictional story about Groundhog Day.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone at conferences.  Don't forget to let us know if you need to reschedule or can't make it! 

I wanted to remind everyone that our district purchased a license to www.raz-kids.com for the children.  This website is a great way to practice reading at home or at the public library.  Just go to the website and log-in. 
The log-in for the AM reading class is jniezgoda.
The log-in for the PM reading class is lweinheimer.
I updated the reading levels tonight and they should be just right for your child.  I recommend having your child read a book at least 3 times before taking a quiz. 

Last, but not least, I will try to start putting each week's newsletter and homework online.  If your child needs another copy of the homework, just click the link and print it off.  OR if you want to save paper, just email the homework to me at niezgoda.j@norwoodschools.org.  Remember, homework is due on Fridays!

I apologize for the image of the newsletter this week.  Apparently, my scanner at home is not the best!  I will have a better image next week.  I am also missing the "Spelling Words with Fancy Letters."
Below are links to this week's reading and spelling homework:
For some reason when you click the links, they are not showing up on google docs.  Just click the download button and they will show up (It is the down arrow).  I will try to have a better way for next week!

Newsletter 2/1/13

Pyramid Spelling Words

ABC Order

Lego Reading Comprehension and Fluency Passage

Have a great week! 
Mrs. Niezgoda

Finally! Pete the Cat!!

In late December, we started studying Pete the Cat!  Like most children, our class fell in love with Pete!  After meeting with the kindergarten and first grade teachers, we decided to write a book about Pete for the younger students in our school.  We used Pete the Cat Saves Christmas as our model to create Pete the Cat Saves Norwood.

To begin the writing process, our morning reading class brainstormed ideas for our author's message and decided we wanted to teach the kindergarteners and first graders to help each other.  The children each picked a place in our town of Norwood and came up with a problem.  In their pages for the book, Pete had to fix the problem. After writing a first draft, we started publishing each page of our story on the Ipads.  The children were so excited about writing on the Ipads!  We found that it was a little harder to illustrate on the Ipad compared to using crayons or colored pencils. 

Take a look at our first published book!   (P.S.  The afternoon class' book is almost finished too!  I hope to have it up later this week!)

Pete the Cat Saves Norwood (By Mrs. Niezgoda's Morning Reading Class)

Way to Go!

Each month we take the "Star" reading assessment on the computer.  After the assessment, the results are graphed and discussed with each child.  The purpose of the assessment is track our reading progress and make sure we are continuing to grow. 

Below are pictures of students who made our January goal on the Star assessment!  The pictures are also hung in our hallway for everyone to see what awesome readers we are!  I am so excited about all of the progress everyone is making in reading!   I look forward to sharing more successes at conferences in February. 

Jaxon

Ryley

Alicia

Brooklynn

Russell

 

 Hailey

 

 Not pictured: Jeremy, Delanie, Shelby, Jesse, Elijah

Look for more celebration pictures soon! :)