Weekly Announcements

Happy Monday Parents~



Just a few announcements for the upcoming week:


there is NO mass tomorrow due to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Holy Day of Obligation) on December 8th. Please have your children wear UNIFORM DRESS on WEDNESDAY, regular uniform tomorrow. Be sure to pack a PE uniform for students to change on Wednesday!


At the staff meeting on Thursday, we were asked to have the children write letters thanking our servicemen and women over seas. The children wrote sweet letters of thanks to our dedicated military. If you have the time or inclination, we are also having a small collection for care packages to be put together (I am not facilitating this, however I will be happy to pass on any donation). Some items of need/want are: gum, loofah (the "plastic" ones), candy (no chocolate) like licorice, slim jims, instant individual packs of coffee, and chapstick. Thank you in advance for any donations, and please don't feel obligated as this was last minute information.


Please remember to have your child do ONE spelling activity per night. A couple of kids are coming on Friday with no spelling homework completed and are receiving incompletes in my gradebook. The children are now free to choose any activity they'd like. They should not be doing the same activity every night or every week for that matter. Please make sure they mix it up.


Please check back for important emails from our room moms regarding upcoming Christmas activities in the classroom.


I will be sending home First Reconciliation packets with activities/booklets inside. Please complete these at your leisure over the next few weeks, but please be sure to do them. You are on the honor system! :) It's really important for the kids to see that their Sacramental year is important to you. Take a few minutes each night to complete the activities/discuss the major points. Thanks!


Finally, I apologize for the look of the report cards from the first trimester. The school had some issues with Cornerstone, the online gradebook company, and long story short they were not prepared for us to enter O, G, S, NI for the work study/behavior areas. I am going back this trimester to fill those in so that Trimester 2's report cards will look like last year's. They will show the missing grades in those areas. As for now, if there is an area of need, you will see a check (more like a "square root sign" as my husband pointed out) and if you see a + it means an area of strength. If you don't see anything, your child is doing fine in that area.






Have a great evening!


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2nd Grade News!

My goodness!! It's been a long time since I've posted and so much has happened in the world of 2nd grade!!

Well, BIG NEWS for our class! (Though I suppose old news, too, given it happened last week!)

The 2nd graders can now officially say they have met an ASTRONAUT! How cool (dead word) is that?? As you already know, we took a field trip to the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana.  The kids got to experiment with science in a very hands-on way... making clouds, climbing walls, a bed of nails, and so much more! We explored two whole floors of science excitement... but we had a special treat waiting for us inside of the theater. Astronaut Danny Olivas was there to talk to us about his adventures in space. He told us all about zero gravity in the International Space Station, as well as his thrilling space walks. Astronaut Olivas told how vital re-entry into Earth was and how important it is to land perfectly. He told all about how science and math are vital parts of space discovery and research. It was such an awesome experience!

Now, when I was younger, my mom ALWAYS forced me to take pictures and would be rather pushy trying to get "the perfect shot" with whomever it was that was so important. I swore that I would never, ever be like that. Well, never say never. ;0) Astronaut Olivas was not scheduled to take pictures with the kids, but I used my mom's "skills" and tried to get a picture as best as possible. Please excuse the poor lighting and the trashcan right in the middle of the shot, but at least we got something!

Here are some more pictures from our field trip...

2nd graders "digging" for fossils...



 Letting water vapor gather and working together to make a cloud!

Building dams and experimenting with erosion...

My sweet students doing an awesome job representing St. Rita School!

Students and Chaperones tired on the bus ride home... :0)

Thank you to Mrs. Gorocica, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Sanchez, Mr. Beaton, Mr. Householder, and Mrs. Lovano for being many extra eyes and ears!

Halloween Excitement!

On Friday, we had a great party in the classroom! Our wonderful parents put together a beautiful (and healthy!) breakfast spread. The kiddos ate while decorating their pumpkins! Thank you to all of the moms who helped out!!

 Moms ready to take on Halloween!

 Farmer Cash hides the bonus spelling word: February!

 Sister Grace working praying for a great day!

 Kids lined up perfectly to take some small bites for breakfast.

 All smiles from Table 4 as they wait for the festivities to begin!

Let the pumpkin decorating begin!

Thank you Mrs. Cargal for the documenting this day with your great photos!

Odds and Ends

Hi devout readers!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. Please come back soon for photos of our exciting Halloween party from last Friday!

Just a brief post to show you the picture of our beautiful platter. The silent auction winner was Mrs. Beegle. Congrats!!

Harvest Fest Item for Auction (and other announcements too!)

Dear Parents-
Sorry for the lack of blog postings lately. Things have been very busy here at school and I have not had time to post as frequently as I had liked.

A few announcements:
First, SS Project Part 3 is due WEDNESDAY the 27th.

Thursday is FREE DRESS with a 6 PACK OF BEVERAGES for Harvest Fest. Please drop off the drinks in front of the office on the lunch tables.

NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY FOR HARVEST FESTIVAL SET UP -- SEE YOU THERE!

Next week is our Halloween celebration -- please buy a mini pumpkin for your child to decorate during our "It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" celebration. Extra donations of arts and crafts items (pom poms, wiggly eyes, etc) are much appreciated! (The Dollar Tree has a great selection!)

Please send an EMPTY cereal box to school with your child before Tuesday, October 26th. We are working on our first book report in the classroom.

Check back in a few days to see a photo of the platter up for auction at the Harvest Fest (google blogger uploading of images is down due to maintenance right now)

Announcements for the week of October 11th

There will be a "random" uniform check sometime this coming week. Students who are not in the proper uniform attire will receive a Uniform Notice. As is school policy, 3 uniform notices = 1 detention (on the east campus - typically 3rd grade classroom). Please refer to the Handbook, which can be found at http://www.st-ritaschool.org/parent-handbook-2010-11 (pages 23 and 24)

Please check your child's homework packets for a list of all the classroom activities from the week prior. We've already sent home 2 "newsletters" and a lot of the kids are so eager to read their own words (and the words of their peers!)!

Scholastic Book Orders for October are due on Friday (the 15th)... CHECKS ONLY PLEASE!


There is no school on Friday, September 22nd due to the Harvest Festival preparations...

While reviewing reading logs, I've noticed that many students are not filling out the form entirely. Each night requires a single sentence entry, and the final entry includes a 3-5 sentence summary. Students ARE getting graded on this! If it's missing, points have been taken off. Starting next week, if the summary paragraph is missing, the assignment will be marked incomplete.

Starting Monday, all missing assignments for the week will be listed and sent home on Friday for the student to complete and/or submit by the following Monday. Please sign the paper that is sent home so that we know you have acknowledged your child has completed their work.

The book report for October will be coming home starting the week of the 25. Please make sure your child has one book in mind for writing a book report. The majority of the work will be completed in class.

Don't forget -- ancestry project Part 1 (including the map) is due on WEDNESDAY!

Any questions? Comments? Press the COMMENT link below and I will be happy to respond/answer!

Star Students Make Lanyards!

Last Thursday, the Star Students redeemed their reward for their awesome behavior and work habits the week before. We ate lunch together and then I taught the kiddos how to make lanyards. At first, it seemed to be a little overwhelming, but slowly and surely the students started to catch on! We were so excited when someone learned how to do the box knot correctly! Congrats Hope, Jolie, Alexa, Elise, Alex, Olivia, Juliana, Trey, Brynn, Alyssa, Danny, Sarah, and Sean! I hope you all had a great time... we'll keep working on it next time!

September Raffle

Today we had our first ever raffle reward for cashing in Cash bucks. The students purchased as many raffle tickets as they had Cash bucks (or as many as they wanted). The grand prize was a bucket full of (in Trey's words) "fantastic Halloween prizes"! Second place was a jar of Candy Corn and a Halloween pencil. Third prize was a package of Halloween erasers.

Isabella won the erasers, Brynn won the Candy Corn, and WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER goes to Danny!

Some of the kiddos seems a little disappointed that they didn't win. I still have the tickets and will raffle off a few other things next week. It doesn't necessarily mean that everyone will win, but at least a few more will get a little prize.

Special Student of the Week

A few weeks back, Mrs. Lovano and I came up with the idea to have a randomly selected student be "Special Student of the Week." For the entire week, the students keep their eyes on that individual, and observe the many different ways they are special (SLE: A Maturing Individual who accepts all God-given talents and abilities.)

Two weeks ago, Danny was our first Special Student of the Week. All the students had great things to say about him. Elise said, "In first grade, Danny gave me a sticker because he's generous." Danny was also recognized for his great kickball and soccer skills!

This past week, all eyes were on Mark. Jacob said, "Mark is a better kickball player than me. His kick is like a torpedo!" Declan said, "I met Mark in Kindergarten. He was my first friend here at school."

What great comments to make about classmates!!

Stay tuned to see what the students have to say about our next Special Student: GILLIAN!

Star Students of the Week!

Forgive me for not posting this sooner!
We had so many Star Students of the Week last week!
Here they are:
Jolie
Trey
Alexander
Alex
Morgan
Elise
Sarah
Alexa
Danny
Nicolas
Andrew J
Olivia
Brynn
Hope

Great job, students!! :D

Online Book Orders

Hi Parents!

Now it’s easier than ever to find the perfect books for your child—shop our NEW online Book Clubs Web site. Choose from a much-wider selection of books than in the printed flyer. Plus, you can send your orders directly to me online and use your credit card to pay.

Best of all, we earn a FREE book for the classroom library every time a parent places an order online.

It’s so simple! Here’s how it works:
SIGN UP at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, register by clicking click the “Don’t have a user name or password?” link. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown below. This unique code ensures that your order is sent to me.


SELECT the books you’d like to order—choose from thousands of titles—many more than in our monthly flyers.


SEND your order to me online by the due date and your child’s books will be delivered directly to my classroom.
Ordering online is fast, easy, and secure.

Of course, you can still order using the form from the printed flyer. But why not see for yourself how convenient it is to order online?

September orders were placed today, so if you submitted your book orders by last Friday, the books should be here in a couple of weeks.

Here's the info:
Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: H8ZCB

Stay tuned to see who made Star Students of the Week! Check back in the next few days!

A little of this... A little of that.....

Happy Thursday Parents!

Tomorrow will be $$Dollar Dress$$... Students who bring a $1 donation will be allowed to wear free dress. (Please make sure your child is still dressed within the school's guidelines. Refer to the Parent Handbook for more information).

Also...
Scholastic Book Orders are due tomorrow. If you did not order or if you misplaced the form, a new form for October will be sent home next Thursday.

Wahoo!
2nd Grade came in 2nd place in the competition among classes for Magazine Orders!! We sold over $3000! WOW! Special congratulations goes to Gillian for having the 4th highest sales in the whole school, and Trey for having the 7th highest sales in the whole school! Thanks to ALL who helped their children sell magazines. The kids were so excited to have come in 2nd place.

We have 10 followers on our classroom blog!! That means 1/3 of our parents are following our classroom's journey through 2nd grade... it's not too late to follow the blog! www.mrscashsecondgrade.blogspot.com

Next week, the school begins ITBS testing. It is vital that your child is at school on time daily. If your child is terribly ill, there will be make-up testing the following week. The last day of testing for 2nd grade is Tuesday, October 5th.

Star Students of the Week!

We had EIGHT Star Students of the Week last week! Hooray! Congratulations to:
Hope
Jolie
Alexa
Olivia
Elise
Alexander
Ryan Z.
Juliana

These students met all of the criteria to be a Star Student, which is no easy task! The SSW will be rewarded with extra play time this week (10 minutes! Woo hoo!)and a Cash buck.

Several students only missed on one or two areas on the checklist... but the following students only missed ONE criteria for the WHOLE WEEK!:

Trey
Brynn
Isabella
Alex

These students received a Cash buck for Honorable Mention. It wasn't easy earning SSW this week!

This week, we have implemented a NEW activity. Each week, a student will be randomly selected and for the whole week, our eyes are on that person. Students will write down the things that make that person special, and we will celebrate that person at the end of the week. This week's SPECIAL person of the week is: DANNY!
(Student of the Week is based upon the Schoolwide Learning Expectation: A Maturing Individual who feels good about him/herself and is motivated).

This Week in 2nd Grade...

Coming up this week...

Spelling Words:
1. went
2. pet
3. foggy
4. tugged
5. bathtub
6. telling
7. job
8. crops
9. fluffy
10. muffin

Homework for this Week:
Monday: Reading Log (1 Entry), Math Lesson 9B and Fact Sheet, Spelling Work (do a little each night - due on Friday)

Tuesday: Reading Log (1 Entry), Math Lesson 10B and Problem Solving Worksheet 10B, Vocabulary test on Wednesday (no need to study at home)

Wednesday: Reading Log (1 Entry), Math Lesson 12B and Fact Sheet

Thursday: Reading Log (1 Entry -- Log due on Friday), Math Lesson 11 B and Fact Sheet, Spelling work due on Friday, Reading and Spelling tests on Friday


This week we will be conducting ITBS Practice Testing on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Testing begins the following week on September 27th and ends on October 5th. Please don't plan to have your children out of school! Please schedule doctor's appointments after school or after testing. Thank you for your cooperation!

There will be NO school mass on Tuesday due to the trip to the Cathedral (we are not going to the Cathedral -- Father Richard and other teachers/students will be).

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

A Hodge Podge...

Thanks, parents, for the wonderful turnout at Back to School Night last night! I hope any questions or concerns you may have had regarding your child's year in 2nd grade were addressed.

Today was a great day in 2nd grade! The students were so incredibly well behaved that they earned 5 extra lunch time minutes! WOW! Cash bucks were distributed left and right! What a great way to start the year -- I hope to see such positive behaviors as we move forward!

As I briefly mentioned last night, I'm interested in making this blog private so that the only people who can access the website are invited readers. I'd send out an invitation to all of your email addresses, and you would have to become a reader. I'm not sure if you have to be a google account holder, but if that were the case, I could always change the blog back to an open forum. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated! (Feel free to comment below this post!) I'd love to make it private so that I could post pictures of the children working (with your permission of course) in the classroom or the school garden, etc. I think it would be a great way for you as parents to get a first hand view of what goes on in our classroom...

Anyways, I look forward to hearing any thoughts from you loyal blog followers (even those of you who aren't "official" followers, but read the new posts).

Have a great weekend! Off to put baby Emily to bed and feed my husband... :)

Monday, Monday...

Hi devout readers!

Today was a great day in the classroom. The kiddos are becoming accustomed to our policies and procedures and are adapting beautifully to having a new teacher. Today they came home with both their agendas and homework packets. Please turn in the reading log and spelling sheet on Friday. Math will be turned in daily for correction and revision.

Agendas are to be returned to school every day. It is important for students to learn how to write their homework down in a planner since they do not receive homework packets in 3rd grade. Again, please remind your child to put his or her agenda in his/her backpack for school every evening and place the backpack by the exit door so that the morning rush becomes a bit less stressful.

Please arrive to Back to School Night at 6:20 PM for a brief meeting and introduction led by Mrs. Cristina Cullen, Religious Ed director. She will be giving you important information regarding the Sacraments, dates of workshops, etc. We will be starting promptly at 6:20.

Tomorrow is our first school mass. Dress Uniform is optional, but encouraged. Please have your child to school by 7:45 at the latest. Students are to leave their backpacks downstairs. We will be lining up to enter the church. Fr. Ken Deasy, along with Msgr Richard will be celebrating mass with Fr. Ken taking up a special collection for the Holy Childhood Association. Any donations will be greatly appreciated! Please pack donations in a baggie and send it to school with your child (with a gentle reminder to give to their teacher right when they get to school).

Thanks again for your cooperation and I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!

Spelling Words, Story of the Week, and Homework...

The spelling words for the week of September 13th...
Focus: short a and short i vowel sounds
1. has
2. wag
3. bad
4. six
5. will
6. him
7. sat
8. had
9. fix
10. isn't

Spelling test on Friday, September 17th.

This week, we will be reading "David's New Friends". A Reading Test will be given on Friday. Textbook CDs will be sent home at Back to School Night.

Homework for the week (Note: I may not always be able to put this on the blog). Please remember that a packet will come home on Monday.

Monday:
Reading Log: 1 Entry, entire paper will be due on Friday
Spelling: Students will receive the week's worth of homework. Do a little at a time. Turn in the entire paper on Friday.
Math: Lesson 4B

Tuesday:
Reading Log: 1 entry
Math: Lesson 5B & Fact Sheet

Wednesday:
Reading: 1 Log Entry
Math: Lesson 6B

Thursday:
Reading: Log entry + Summary of week's worth of reading due Friday; test on reading selection of the week
Spelling: Work due on Friday; test on Friday
Math: Lesson 7B & Fact Sheet

I'm likely going to be sending home Science review sheets, not for homework, but for weekly review to master concepts.

Have a great weekend!

You're Invited...

...to Back to School Night!

Invitations from your children came home yesterday. Just to reiterate... BTSN is on Wednesday the 15th at 6:30 PM. Please arrive a few minutes early so that we can get started right away. (If you arrive on time, there's a raffle ticket with your name on it! I'll explain on Wednesday) There's a lot to cover and I want to be sure that I get you out at a reasonable time!

Please review the syllabus on my classroom website if you have a chance. I will provide a hard copy for you at BTSN. Come prepared with any questions and hopefully I will answer everything in my presentation. (If not, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions afterwards).

Looking forward to seeing you all there! Don't forget... this is just for parents! So please arrange for babysitting ahead of time.

Be sure to check the blog again on Sunday for this week's spelling words. Have a great weekend!

Back to Business..

Well, the first day went off without a hitch! The students have seemed to adjust to a new classroom and a new teacher very beautifully. We had a great time learning the rules and practicing our classroom procedures. The kids even got to go to music for the first time as second graders.

Tonight, the only assignment is to cover the Language Arts textbook. Enjoy it, because we rarely have nights without homework! We will start up on our regular homework schedule next week. Please see the email I sent earlier this afternoon for information regarding covering books.

Some of the kids came to school today missing a few supplies. I'm happy to announce that we have plenty of paper towels, baby wipes, etc, but every student needs to have all of the remaining supplies. Your child received a notice informing you of any missing suppies that will be needed next starting week.

Tomorrow, students will be asked to cover their Science books, followed by their Social Studies books on Friday. Feel free to keep the book socks at home.

A very special THANK YOU to those of you who so graciously donated hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes!! :D

Looking forward to seeing you all at Back to School Night next week!

Back to School

Welcome back students and parents! It's so hard to believe that summer is coming to a close and a new school year is about to begin. I am very much looking forward to meeting my new students and getting started on this school year.

Just a few reminders since there's still a little bit of time left...

*The summer assignments that were distributed on the last day of school are mandatory and will be graded. All assignments are due on the first day of school. Students are expected to complete assignments completely and to his or her own ability by following all directions. Late assignments will be accepted only until Friday, September 10th and will incur point deductions. Missing assignments will be scored as a 0, which can affect a student's report card grade. I know that summer should be a time of rest and relaxation, but it is so incredibly important for students at this age to have consistent exposure to those recently learned skills: reading, writing, and math. Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation.

*School supplies are so important to the flow our our day. In order to insure that the supplies remain in good condition (and are easy to locate), please make sure that your child's name is on all of the supplies that have an asterisk on the list. It's also important for you to have a few supplies at home for your child to use to complete homework assignments.

*Back to School Night will be here before we know it, so please keep on the look out for emails. My syllabus is located on my classroom website http://sites.st-ritaschool.org/secondgrade. Feel free to take a look before BTSN and come prepared with any questions you may have. Please be prepared to bring your personal calendars and checkbooks to BTSN for Sacramental Preparation information with our Religious Ed Director, Mrs. Cristina Cullen.

*If you need to contact me, please feel free to email me at cash@st-ritaschool.org. Once school resumes, I will have an "office hour" in which I read and respond to your emails (Monday - Friday 4:00-5:00PM). I will also be checking emails between 5 and 6 AM but not responding to them. Also, feel free to call the school and leave a message or write a note. I will get back to you within 24-48 hours.

Please come back to check this blog frequently. Better yet, become a follower! An email will be sent to you when a new post is written. I will use this blog to post announcements, spelling words, highlights on classroom events, etc.

I look forward to getting to meeting all of you and even more so working with your wonderful children this year. Second grade is going to be an unforgetable year!

Welcome!

Welcome New 2nd Grade Parents and Students!