2A Superstars
WELCOME TO 2A 08/12/2010
 
 Welcome back to school! We are so excited to have you in our class! My name is Paola de Valladares and I will be filling in for Ms. Tepsic. My assistant is Ms. Rivera. Ms.Tepsic will be back in September as a new mom!!
This week is all about learning rules and procedures. The students are making our class rules and we will be practicing them throughtout the year. Please make sure you read the School Handbook online, sign and return the paper sent in your child's folder. You also need to send back the white card with your child's information. Assignment books should be checked daily and signed as well. If it is not signed, it will count as a missing homework assignment. ( 3 missing assignments = infraction)  Please remind your child that PE shirts should be tucked in their shorts, and complete uniforms should be worn.
Please be patient and cooperative for afternoon pick ups! Our school's expansion and improvement will be worth the wait!
Check the blog often for new updates! It's a pleasure having you in our class!       Mrs. Valladares/ Ms.Rivera
Update your information on our elementary computer lab through this link:
http://www.astcomputerlab.blogspot.com/
 
Post Title. 05/24/2010
 
Dear Parents,
This is the moment all your kids have been waiting for: The last week of school!!! The kids are extremely excited to start summer vacations and finally get some rest from schoolwork. They are all wonderful children and we will miss them a lot! We hope you enjoy a safe and fun summerJ.
This week in 2A…

Reading: We will continue reading Magic Tree House #2: Mummies in the Morning
Writing: Rractice our cursive
Math: Review multiplication tables
Social Studies: Continue working on our continents project, (presentations on Tuesday or Wednesday)

*Tuesday, May 24th (tomorrow) remember to bring a Red T-shirt for our Field Day
*Moms in charge of bringing treats, please be here at 9:50
* Friday  May 28th is our last day of school L and we will have an early dismissal at 11:15!(FREE COLORS DAY THIS DAY)
*Please be sure to pay Cafeteria, Return Library books, Pay Bookstore, etc., so we dont have to hold report cards
*Plato Tests Results will be send with your child this week

It has been a pleasure having your kids throughout the year and working with you parents, as well. God Bless you!

 Ms. Tepsic, Mrs. Giron and Ms. Rivera
 
Post Title. 05/17/2010
 
 Congratulations to all the kids that did an amazing job in our school musical!!!! It was fun to see you backstage and on t.v. Saturday in channel 48:)

This Week in 2A...

Math: Continue working on multiplication. x3, x4, x6, x7, x8. Last weeks tables are more important for second graders to know, This weeks are just an introduction of tables they will be learning in 3rd grade. We will review them all at the end.
Writing: Students will work on different writing assignments. i.e. Letters, essays, descriptions, etc...
Handwriting: cursive letters D, J, X, and L
Reading: finish The Boxcar Children and start Magic Tree House
* Tuesday May 25th is our Field Day, 2A will be wearing red t-shirts, moms that signed up for party may come from 10:30-12:30 with snacks.
* All library books were due last Friday. Report cards will not be given to students who still owe library books.
*Summer reading books in English are available in Metromedia, you must choose 2 from the following : Dinosaurs for L.120, The Beast in Ms. Rooney's room L.120, The case of the Stinky Science Project L. 115.
Summer Reading books in Spanish are available in our school bookstore.

·  * Please check for Social Studies book #14 at home it's been missing since the beginning of the year!
* Color's Day this Friday, May 21st (Lps. 5.oo)
* The Annual Sleep Over for students who have done an outstanding job both academically and behaviorally is this Friday, May 21st.
* The last day of school is Friday, May 28th. We have early dismissal that day at 11:15 am.
Remember 9 more days and your kids will be 3rd graders :)
 
Post Title. 05/10/2010
 
Dear Parents,We hope you had a great, restful weekend and a wonderful Mother’s Day. We have only 3 weeks of school left and the kids are very excited!This week in 2A….
Math: We will begin Multiplication unit, x0, x1, x2, x5, and x10. We will be doing easy time “tests” after every review.
Writing: Continue poetry unit, learning different types of poems and this week we start writing our own.Reading: Continue reading The Boxcar Children Handwriting: Letters B, I, P, R, G and SScience: We will have students pick out an animal and research it in the Library (habitat, species, what it eats etc.). They will present it to the class on Thursday May 13th.
* AST Best of Broadway Musical is Thursday May 13th and Friday May 14th. You may purchase tickets at the PTO Bookstore. For one showing the cost is Lps.100 for both showings tickets are L.150. There will be no homework this week because we have a lot of members of the musical in our class who need to practice after school. VERY IMPORTANT, IF YOUR CHILD IS PARTICIPATING IN THE MUSICAL PLEASE LABEL EACH PIECE OF THEIR COSTUME, BECAUSE BACKSTAGE EVERYONE WILL HAVE THE SAME ITEMS, AND WE WANT TO AVOID ANY CONFUSIONS. * Art Walk is Thursday May 13th from 6pm-9pm in the Elementary.* This week we will be sending graded work.* Friday is the last day to return library books.

* Unfortunately there is a book missing from our Browsing box, it’s called “Young Cam Jansen and the Pizza Shop Mystery” Please check if by any it was accidently taken home, if not regretfully we will have to charge it to our whole class since everyone has access to it.*Field Day is Tuesday May 25th, our class will be wearing a red t-shirt. Mom’s who signed up for bringing treats this day please do it during the 1st recess (at 9:50)
 
Post Title. 05/03/2010
 
Dear Parents,
My name is Carol Giron, or Mrs. Giron as the kids call me. I will be the sub replacing Ms. Tepsic while she is out for maternity leave these last four weeks. It's going to be a real pleasure working with your kids. Most of them already know me, because they have seen me around campus during other maternity leaves, and I also had them as my students during Mrs. Lagos (computer) maternity as well.  Im really excited to finish this year with them, anything I can do for you dont hesitate to ask, my e-mail is cgiron@amschool.org

This week in 2A...
Math- We will be reviewing, "before, after, and between", comparing numbers using <,>, and =, and order numbers up to 1,000. There is math assesment on friday 7th, for which we will be sending review homework the night before.
Writing- We will keep working on Mother's Day writing this week as well, and we are starting a poetry unit for which we will be writing some poems.
Reading-   We will also begin a book called The Boxcar Children which will take us about 2 weeks to finish . 
Handwriting- Our cursive capitals for this week are Y,W, T and F.
Science- We are learning about snakes, and the kids will be working in a group project creating their own snake.

  *  Friday May 7th Will be our Mother's Day celebration at 1:45, the kids are preparing something special for you, we hope all of you can make it.
  *  Friday May 7th Summer reading books will be on sale
  *  Tuesday May 4th will be the 2nd grade Family Literacy Workshop. Our Literacy coaches in the Elementary will teach parents on how to read aloud with their children and share tips on how to improve your child's comprehension. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Ms. Rivera at krivera@amschool.org 
  *  Friday May 7th we will also be having the PTO BINGO at 6pm.

 
 
Weekly Letter 04/26/2010
 
Dear Parents,
This is supposed to be the hottest week of the year, with Tuesday being the hottest day of the year! Because of this, students will be permitted to come to school in their PE uniforms even if they do not have PE.  It is cooler than the regular uniform.  Also, please make sure your child has a water bottle with them in the classroom so they can drink when they need to and stay hydrated.
This week in 2A...
Math- We will be finishing our unit on measurement.  We have been studying temperature and liquid measures.  There will be a test on Wednesday, April 28.  Review homework will be sent the night before.
Writing- We will be doing some Mother's Day writing this week.  You will be able to see the finished product at the Mother's Day celebration!
Reading- We are using flowcharts in reading and writing this week.  We will also begin a Patricia Polacco author study mid-week. 
Handwriting- Our cursive capitals for this week are H, K, N, and M.
Social Studies- We've been learning about how food is produced.  We have talked about milk and wheat and traced the journey of these products from the farm to the grocery store.  There will be a quiz on this information on Tuesday, April 27.  Review homework will be sent tonight.
Science- This week we are learning about reptiles and amphibians as part of our animal unit.  There will be a quiz on Thursday, April 29.
  *  The Eagle Courier will be sent home on Friday, April 29. 
  *  Friday, April 29 is a Colors Day.  Instead of charging L.5, students are asked to bring 2 books in Spanish to donate to the American School's classroom libraries.
  *  There will be a bullying presentation for parents of students grades 1-5 in the Multipurpose room on Thursday, April 29 at 11:30.
  *  Science Fair projects are due on Monday, May 3 if you chose to do one.  They were optional.
  *  This week we are having a contest within Elementary to see which grade can produce the least trash.  You can help 2nd grade compete by sending your child's lunch items in recyclable containers.  For example, tupperware instead of plastic baggies, a cloth napkin instead of a paper one, etc.

Like I mentioned in the last blog update, Thursday will be my last day at school with the children.  Our substitute's name is Carol Maria Giron and she will be spending the week with us before I go out for maternity leave.  Ms. Rivera will continue to be the 2A classroom assistant and help Ms. Giron with our routines and procedures.  It's been a great year!  The kids have worked hard but we've also had a lot of fun.  I also want to thank all you parents for being such a supportive group.  I wish you all a fun, relaxing summer and I hope that 2A students continue to achieve great things in 3rd grade!


 
 
Weekly Letter 04/20/2010
 
Dear Parents,
We are in our final 6 weeks of school, but I am in my final two! I will be going to the U.S. to begin my maternity leave next Friday, April 30.  Ms. Rivera will be in the classroom with Carol Maria Giron as a substitute until the end of the school year.  I will still be the one entering grades and creating report cards.  Next Monday our substitute will be spending the week with me in the classroom to get the hang of things before I go.  I'll be sad to say goodbye- this has been a great class!
This week in 2A...
Math- We will continue with the 2nd half of a measurement unit.  This part deals with weight and temperature.
Social Studies- We will begin a unit on food production this week.
Science/Social Studies- We will have a quiz about Earth Day on Thursday, April 22.  Students should understand the concepts of reduce, reuse, and recycle and be able to think of personal ways they can help the earth.
Reading- We will review fact and opinion as our reading skill.
Writing- We will write informative "newspaper" articles this week.
Handwriting- We will begin cursive capital letters and learn a new letter almost every day until the end of the year.  This week's letters are A, C, E, and O.
  *  Graded work will be sent home on Friday, April 23rd.  Please look it over and return the packet with the signed slip on Monday.
  * We are going to make a recycled craft project.  Please send metal bottle caps if you have some!
 
Weekly Letter 04/12/2010
 
Dear Parents,
Here's the news for this week...
Math- We are finishing the first part of our measurement unit this week and will have a test on Friday, April 16.  Review homework will be sent on Thursday night.
Science- Last week we talked about fish and this week we will talk about invertebrates with special attention to those that live in the ocean.  There will be a quiz on fish and invertebrates on Thursday, April 15.  Again, a review will be sent the night before.  We will also begin talking about Earth Day so that we are ready to celebrate it next week.
Writing- We are planning and creating a class chart that shows the animal groups and their traits.  Students have been practicing writing factual paragraphs about birds during Centers.
Handwriting- We will learn to write the letters r and f in cursive.
Reading- We will be practicing the skill of rereading to locate information this week. 
  * Please return report cards ASAP if you have not already done so.  We will be sending notes home in the Assignment books if we have not received your child's signed report card yet.
  * There is a parent charla on internet security this Wednesday, April 14 in the Multipurpose Room.  It will begin at noon.
  * There is no school on Monday, April 19th.  Enjoy the long weekend!
Have a great week!

 
 
Weekly Letter 04/06/2010
 
Dear Parents,
Welcome back and Happy Easter! There are a lot of sunburned faces in 2A today.  I hope you all had a great Semana Santa.
This week in 2A...
Math- We will begin a measurement unit today.  Chapter 11 in the math textbook covers this topic.  There are no tests or quizzes scheduled for this week in Math.
Science- We will talk about traits of fish as part of our Animals studies.
Social Studies- We will be reviewing the map skills that were covered before the break and begin mapping routes.  There will be a quiz on Friday, April 9.
Writing- This week we will talk about persuasive writing with a special focus on organization.
Handwriting- 2A will learn to write the letters v and z in cursive.
Reading- We will talk about cause and effect as a reading skill this week.
  *  Graded work will be sent home on Friday, April 9.
  *  Please send back signed report cards by this Friday. 
Have a great week!
 
 
Thanks to Estrella Salame for catching my mistake in this week's parent letter!!! I accidentally wrote that the 2nd grade values charla is on Wednesday.  It is actually on THURSDAY, MARCH 25.  Sorry for any inconvenience.