Oaks Notebook

2009-2010 School Year

2009-08-23T18:06:00.002-04:00

Thank you to all of you who have visited my 2nd Grade blog over the 2008-09 school year. I have developed a new blog for the 2009-2010 school year. Please visit my new 4th grade blog: oaks4thgradenotebook.blogspot.com

ThanksGIVING and Giving "Thanks"

2008-11-16T11:00:00.013-05:00

Neptune Beach Elementary School is a wonderful place to learn, to work, to play and to volunteer. We are blessed with the best students, parents, faculty, staff, administration and volunteers. Coordinating everyone's efforts is an ongoing task. "THANK YOU" to all of you who work to make our school GREAT.

Try Out Online Books

2008-10-18T08:01:00.015-04:00

A letter I received from "TumbleBookLibrary:"

"I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about a great way to merge technology and literacy in your classrooms– include ebooks in your curriculum! TumbleBookLibrary (www.TumbleBookLibrary.com) is an online collection of animated, talking, picture books which is used by over 7,000 public libraries and schools across North America.

In Florida, the following school districts offer TumbleBookLibrary district-wide: Miami-Dade, Seminole, Palm Beach, Broward, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, Manatee and Alachua. Other districts such as Citrus County, Clay County and Collier County (to name a few) also have schools subscribing. Have your school join us too!

The TumbleBookLibrary has a selection of children's favorite story books. Old time favorites such as "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch, as well as fairy tales such as "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Old Mother Hubbard" come to life in an educational and interactive way. Other titles include: "Diary of a Worm," “How I Became a Pirate,” "Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10," "One Duck Stuck," "Tops and Bottoms", and many more.

Our TumbleBookLibrary website is perfect for schools! We have a special link for educator resources with lesson plans, crosswords, puzzles, book reports, and much more. In addition, our online books have various features which help emergent or struggling readers such as "word helper" feature which sounds out the specific words, or text which follows along to the narration. We also has books in other languages such as Spanish and French. The website is customizable to fit your own needs!

As part of a special back to school promotion, we’ve set up your entire district with a free trial until November 30th, 2008.

Simply visit www.tumblebooklibrary.com to start ‘Tumbling’ right away."

Username: duvalschools

Password: trial

Links to other sites which read books:

http://www.lookybook.com/

http://www.storylineonline.net/index2.html

Let me know what you think of the TumbleBookLibrary. Although this is an advertisement for this company, it does offer students another opportunity to read books online until Nov. 30th.
Please send your comments to oakss@duvalschools.org

"WOWed" by My Students

2008-10-04T07:44:00.024-04:00

I love learning. That's why I love teaching. Teaching regularly offers me new opportunities to learn. My favorite "learning" moments come when my students teach me, when they "WOW" me with their abilities. That is just what happened about 10:00 Friday morning, October 3rd.

Background: There is a genre study at the end of each unit in our new Houghton Mifflin (HM) reading series. "Poetry" is the genre study at the end of Unit 1 for 2nd grade. On Tuesday, I used variations of the old nursery rhyme "Over In The Meadow" to introduce the new vocabulary: rhythm, rhyme, stanza. On Wednesday, we read another version of that rhyme, Over in the Ocean by Marianne Berkes, an author who visited NBE two years ago when these students were in kindergarten. Then we went to our HM anthology to read the first four poems. I read each poem several times. We tapped to the rhythm if there was rhythm, found the rhymes and looked at the shape of the poem to decide if there were stanzas, divisions within a poem. On Thursday, we reviewed our vocabulary, read another variation, Over in the Jungle, also by M. Berkes, brought in by Jered. I read the next four poems from our anthology. Then I asked the students to pick one of the first 8 poems and practice reading it at least four times with their reading partners. On Friday, Reading Workshop was shortened by our "Healthy Living/Spike" assembly. I read the last poems in the HM anthology. We talked about each poem in terms of rhyme, rhythm, shape, why the author may have written the poem and closed the books. Finally, I asked the class if anyone could remember a poem, any poem and would like to share that poem with the class.

That's when they "WOWed" me. To my astonishment, many hands went up. One by one, students stood up and recited poems from the HM anthology. Chase shared "Gecko," Bailey shared "People," Majiya shared "Pickety Fence"... My heart sang!

My students reminded me not to underestimate their abilities. I knew they loved learning as much as I did.

Own The Word

2008-09-21T09:29:00.019-04:00

I am teaching "Vocabulary" in a different way this year. For years I have been looking for a better way to help students acquire and use new words. On Wednesday, September 17, I had the privilege of hearing Quality Quinn's presentation at the I.E.T. (Instructional Enhancement Team) meeting at the Schultz Center after school. She inspired me. I came home with her words singing in my head..."teach fewer words better; students in the USA are woefully lacking in the number of words they use when writing; don't depend upon the publisher to give you vocabulary because you (the teacher) know your students; you can tell if a student really knows that vocabulary word when he/she uses the word in their writing; AND students must HEAR (many times), THINK, SAY, READ and WRITE that word before it becomes part of their vocabulary."

Quality Quinn reminded me of my experiences as a student in Norway...at the end of the year I was expected to take the 2 days of written exams right along with all the norwegian students. I took a two week intensive language course before my "teachers' school" began. That's where I found out that I needed lots of practice listening, thinking, speaking and reading long before I was ready to write answers in the norwegian language. I know my students feel just like I did. I know that Quality Quinn was correct when she stated that new vocabulary is acquired with lots of repetition. Therefore, in my classroom I will use "new" words as often as possible in converstation and instruction.

Every Tuesday, students will add 4-6 words to their Vocabulary Books. We will talk about these words and what they mean. I will use the words in sentences. We will read the words in our anthology and in our Guided Reading selected texts. Hopefully, the students will have many encounters with these words. My goal will be for students to successfully use these words in their own writing. That's what I call "Own The Word." When a student uses one of these words in his daily writing, she/he can color the word yellow. Over the entire year, when I am conferencing and observing student writing, I will check to see if the yellow word is used correctly in the sentence. I will put a GOLD circle around the word in that student's Vocabulary Book if they "Own The Word." This is not a one week project for each group of words. Gathering new words will be ongoing, for the entire year. For example, it may take "Suzy" until January to use the new word "commotion," one of this week's words, in her writing. She will receive the gold circle and sticker whenever she uses "commotion" correctly in her own writing.

Parents, I need your help, too. Please do try to use our words in conversations at home. I will post our "new" words every week on this blog (See "Vocabulary" on the left side) and students will write the words into their Planners on Tuesdays. Under the "Links of the Week" students can play a practice game online with these new words (Reading: Vocab #). Some or all of the words may already be a part of your student's vocabulary. But we do have students from other countries in our room who are learning English as a second or even third language. Students must hear, think, say, and read these words many times in order to increase their writing vocabulary.

I am very excited about "Own The Word." Thank you for all you do at home to help me help your student.

Character Traits of the Month

2008-09-16T06:31:00.011-04:00

Duval County's 2008- 2009 Character Traits of the Month

August- Responsibility and Attentiveness
September- Citizenship and Cooperation
October- Fairness
November- Patriotism
December- Kindness and Caring
January- Courage and Initiative
February- Respect and Tolerance
March- Honesty and Trustworthiness
April- Self-control
May- Patience and Perseverance

What is Character Education?
-Teaching students how to take responsibility for their actions and to treat others with respect.
-Showing students that there are specific payoffs in life for doing those things.
-Modeling that behavior for students every second that they are with us during the day, and expecting them to do the same.
-Creating an atmosphere at school where students can safely practice those behaviors until such behavior becomes the norm.

For more information about Duval County's Character Education, visit:
http://www.duvalschools.org/static/ourschools/studentinfo/character.asp

Report Card Changes

2008-09-05T19:01:00.034-04:00

In an effort to keep parents informed about changes which impact their student(s) in Second Grade and because we have already had Open House, I wanted to share this new information about Spelling and Handwriting on the Second Grade Report Card.

UPDATE 9-16-08: The changes below were "approved by the board."

Promotional requirements remain the same for Second Grade.

Taken from the Student Progression Plan, 2008-09 for DCPS:

(Page 14)
Grade 2: Promotion of students in grade 2 is based on teacher judgment that the student has met Sunshine State Standards/New Standards Performance Standards in reading and mathematics indicated by a final grade of "D" or above.

The changes appear on the table below under 2nd Grade. Also, please read about the new requirements in Health Education, Character Education and Physical Education below the table: (Page 14)

REQUIRED PROGRAM OF STUDY K-5: The required program of study for elementary students in the Duval County Public Schools reflects state and local requirements for elementary education. The areas of study required for each grade, kindergarten through 5, are shown in Table 1. (Click on the table to enlarge):

A. HEALTH EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: Students will receive the minimum amount of instruction in health education, to include human sexuality, substance use prevention, HIV/AIDS, bullying prevention, and other topics as specified in s. 1003.42 and s. 1003.46, F.S. Grade Hours K-3 25 hours/year 4-5 36 hours/year Any student whose parent presents a written request to the principal shall be exempted from the teaching of reproductive health or any disease, including HIV/AIDS, its symptoms, development, and treatment. A student so exempted may not be penalized by reason of that exemption (s. 1003.42 (3), F.S.).

B. CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM: A character development program shall be required in elementary grades K-5 (s. 1003.42 (2)(s), F.S.).

C. PHYSICAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, all students in grades K-5 will receive a minimum of 150 minutes of physical education per week (s. 1003.455, F.S.).

About the changes:

FROM: Dr. Jeanne Ballentine, Director,
Reading, English Language Arts and ESOL

Rodilyn Bacho-Logsdon, Supervisor,
Reading and English Language Arts

SUBJECT: Removal of Spelling and Handwriting as Separate Subjects in Grades 2-5

DATE: September 4, 2008

During the June 9, 2008, school board meeting, changes for the 08-09 Student Progression Plan were recommended.

Note:
· Change: Spelling and handwriting are removed as separate subjects in grades 2-5
· Rationale: Spelling and handwriting progress are integrated in the Language Arts grade.
· Impact: Students in grades 2-5 will not receive a separate grade in spelling or handwriting on the report card, since spelling and handwriting are integrated in Language Arts instruction.

Principals, please inform your teachers and parents of students in grades 2-5 of this removal and the impact on instruction and grade reporting for these subjects.

NEW: Tropical Storm Fay Make-up Days

2008-09-02T19:02:00.005-04:00

Today Duval County Public Schools set new (and different dates from what was posted by DCPS last week) dates for making up days missed because of TS Fay. "Makeup days for students due to Tropical Storm Fay will be on November 10 and December 18 and 19. The storm also required us to move the end of the first quarter, changing the date for Teacher Planning Day from October 20 to October 24. Students will need to now attend school on October 20, not on Teacher Planning Day, October 24."

From: Jill Johnson, Supervisor of External Communications & Media Relations, Duval County Public Schools, 1701 Prudential Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207-8182, Office - 904.390.2942

Make-up School Days

2008-08-29T05:02:00.002-04:00

"Because of Tropical Storm Fay, Duval County public schools were closed August 20-22. As a result, it has been determined that students will make these days up on Monday, November 10; Wednesday, November 26; and Thursday, December 18."

from Duval County Public Schools website:
http://www.duvalschools.org/static/contact/communications/press%20release/2008%20Press_Releases/pr0826.asp

Spelling

2008-08-25T17:25:00.006-04:00

Tropical Storm Fay left us with branches to pick up, stories to tell and the new school year to begin again. I gave a pretest today to determine each students' spelling words for this week. The 15 words on the pretest correspond to the 15 words suggested as Spelling words in our new Reading Series.

After the pretest, each student receives 10 words to study for Thursday's Spelling Test. Their words are chosen from the words that each student misspells. If the student does not miss a total of 10 words in the 15 that are on the pretest, he/she receives a list of words that follow the pattern we are studying that week (2 examples of patterns: 1. short "a" words, like "crab" 2. words patterned Consonant/Vowel/Consonant/silent "e" also called CVCe words, like "like" ), also taken from the new Reading Series. I will staple the word list into their planners on Thursdays so that they have 7 days/nights to study. The numbers highlighted on the word list are the only words which count as part of the Spelling grade for each student. And, even though each student has only 10 words, these are 10 words that they do not know; it is not as easy as it sounds. Students should study their words daily.

Each student's word list is the same but the highlighted words for each student will be different. This might be called "differentiated" Spelling. There are many websites available for Spelling practice. But you can devise your own spelling practices...a little catsup smeared on a plate...call out the word...and your student writes the word with their finger on the plate.

NO SCHOOL on Wed. & Thur.

2008-08-19T20:39:00.003-04:00

Duval County Schools will be closed due to weather on Wednesday, August 20th and Thursday, August 21st. Please listen to local news for further information.

Duval County Weather Updates

2008-08-18T17:16:00.003-04:00

Due to the possible effects of Tropical Storm Fay, all after school activities for Duval County Schools have been cancelled for Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008. NBE will still have extended day.

For the current press release, you can use this Duval County School web address:

http://www.duvalschools.org/static/contact/communications/press%20release/2008%20Press_Releases/pr0818.asp

We will be watching the weather!

Welcome!

2008-08-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

August 18, 2008

Welcome to Second Grade!

Our school wide theme is "Wild About Learning." Think of this year as a Second Grade Safari!

I am so excited about the 2008-09 school year. I want to share many of those wonderful moments we have every day in the classroom with you. I hope that this blog will provide that opportunity. Tuesday's homework will be a permission form for you to sign to allow me to include your child's photo, voice and classwork on this blog throughout the coming year. I am posting some examples from last year's class (permission granted last year).

Working toward a fabulous year,

Mrs. Oaks