Munchkinland News

2008-10-02T13:53:00.001-07:00

Here is the final new address - hopefully none of us will get confused anymore?

Please check this link and mark it to your favorites -

munchkinlandgrade2.blogspot.com

Odds and Ends

2008-09-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

That new reward system - the paper marble jar? It's WORKING! We are much quieter lining up and more respectful listening! Yippee!

Also want to let you know that there will not be a formal spelling test on Friday due to the craziness of Homecoming, Oregon Manor, altered specials times, etc. We will do our test in the form of a game.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow night. There will be no presentation - just come and enjoy the Book Fair and stop by our room! Look for the apples on Brett and Dorothy outside our room. On them will be little items that we are "wishing" for. Things like hand sanitizer, ziploc baggies, etc. It's kind of like the Giving Tree at the mall! :)

Happy Wednesday - Mrs. S.

Where in the world is Mrs. Swenson?

2008-09-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

I'm here - just paddling as fast as I can to keep my head above water! There is SO much to do at the beginning of the year, organizing myself is a challenge!

*Everyone in class passed the science outcomes! Congratulations!
*Everone is doing a fantastic job in MAP testing and reading with me. I have 5 children still to read with - so sure hope to finish early next week.
*We still have 1 Memory Box to share.
*We started trying to earn marbles for good behavior and hard work. We are working hard learning to be respectful listeners. We are working for a BIG treat when we get to 100 marbles. We're still thinking about what it will be ...something like a game day or extra recess.
*We are on Unit 2 for Spelling and finishing up Unit 1 in Math. We'll be assessing math at the end of the week hopefully!
*Carla's name was picked to represent our class on Friday on the PVE Homecoming float in the parade!

- - - - - - - - -If you are planning on joining us for the Oregon Manor on Friday a.m., please be here by 8:50.
- - - - - - - - - If you are planning on joining us for the Homecoming Parade on Friday p.m. please be here by 1:40-1:45. We'll walk out to watch the parade. Please let me know if you are planning to take your child home from the parade. We will NOT bring our backpacks/coats along unless you make a plan to pick up from the parade.

Your child may wear orange/black or any team jersey, hats, beads or hair coloring on Friday. However, hair must be colored before coming to school and beads will need to be kept on desks during outdoor recesses.

Any other questions - please email me or give me a call! :)

BIRTHDAYS:
We decided yesterday in our morning meeting time, that we would celebrate birthdays with a treat if you would like, a pencil from the teacher, notes from the other classmates that will be written at school and that the birthday student's pet may visit if you prearrange a time with Mrs. Swenson. It does not have to be on the day of the birthday, but rather when it fits into your schedule and ours!

I will have the volunteer lists out and the conference sign-up sheets out at Open House on Thursday night. Look for the signs. Volunteering will begin in October.

Hope to see you Thursday sometime between 6-7~ Mrs. S.

Froggie Facts

2008-09-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,

The children were very good for Mrs. B. today while I was testing. They even earned a treat!

We went to Mrs. Sessler's room again today for Science. We learned that frogs have longer legs than toads. Frogs have thin skin and toads have thicker skin. Frog skin is smoother and toad skin is bumpier!

Tomorrow is MAP testing. Our math test will begin around 8:30 and lasts for a little over an hour. It is NOT a timed test and children have as long as they need to finish. We think it might be kind of fun!

The children are going to begin to contribute to this blog. I will probably type as they give me input. Today Keion, Alexis, Erin and Kevin volunteered information. We'll try to spread it around! :)

Mrs. Swenson and the Munchkins

Tuesday

2008-09-16T14:22:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow we have Library, Spanish and Phy Ed.
Don't forget to practice spelling words. Test on Friday.
Our Daily Five practices are getting longer - Read to Self, Read to Someone and Read Alouds (or listen to reading).

Mrs. Swenson was able to thoroughly assess 6 children today. With only 2 weeks to accomplish this assessment for our entire class, it will be pretty hectic. When all is said and done, I should have good information for each of you at our October Conference.

A good day - I can't believe tomorrow is already Wednesday!

Enjoy this gorgeous weather - I was so glad to have recess duty this aft.
Mrs. Swenson and the M's

Rain, Rain Go Away!

2008-09-15T13:41:00.001-07:00

Finally, nicer, dryer and cooler weather! Hopefully your child is relatively mud-free as they come home.

Today we started our day with Ann who is a cross-country Senior at OHS. She read us a story and we learned that even athletes like to read! :)

We also met Brittany Z. who will be joining our class from 2-5 times/week as a volunteer from the H. S. She will help us with our literacy block and eat lunch with us. She is a junior this year and loves children. We are so thank ful to have her, especially since she is giving up a study hall to come to our class!

We learned how to take our MAP test on Thursday. It'll be fun and new and interesting. We can't wait.

Tomorrow Mrs. B. comes into our room for the morning so Mrs. Swenson can do reading assessments with us. We'll continue our Science unit on Frogs and Toads with Mrs. Sessler. And we'll practice our Daily Five routines - Read to Self, Read to Someone and Word Work.

Spelling homework came home tonight and Mrs. Swenson forgot to say that it is not due until Friday! Whoops. Keep the word list and practice in the car, during dinner or whenever works out for you.

Also, don't forget about the reading log. I can't wait to see how many minutes we've read.

All for tonight - more soon, Mrs. S. and the Munchkins

PS. Lots of colds going around! Wash, wash, wash those hands!

We made it!

2008-09-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Our first 5-day week and we made it through with flying colors!

Today we had centers for math. We explored dominoes, unifix cubes, chain links and played coin combination bingo. We had a blast and were able to practice our rules for working in small groups. That was the hard part!

I have received Activity money from many of you already - thank you so much. I won't turn it all in until the 30th, so there is plenty of time yet.

Next week we will be switching with Mrs. Sessler's room. She will teach our class about frogs and toads and I will teach her class about butterflies! We took the outcome test for the life cycle of a butterfly today. I will correct and return on Monday.

Mark your calendars for our Back to School Night and book fair on Thursday, Sept. 25th. We will be previewing the book fair before that night, so if you are able, please stop by the fair!

I will be reading with students next week Tuesday and Wednesday mornings 1:1 while Mrs. Bychowski holds down the fort. I also spoke with the children about MAP testing today. They appear eager!

On Monday morning we will have a woman athlete from the H.S. read us a book. She'll be coming each week - isn't that way cool? Also, we will have a junior cadet from the H.S. come volunteer in our room several days each week. We can't wait to meet her. Her first day is Monday, too!

I hope you all have something to do inside tomorrow and that Sunday will be a beautiful day!

Stay safe - until Monday, Mrs. Swenson and the kids

Patriot Day

2008-09-11T12:00:00.001-07:00

Dear Parents,

We had a moment of silence this morning to recognize all the fallen heroes from 7 years ago today. Tomorrow we will color an American Flag to commemorate Patriot Day - or 911.

With Mrs. Bychowski this morning, the children almost finished up their butterfly unit. Tomorrow will be a short test on the life cycle of the butterfly/moth. Then on to frogs and toads next week!

We will also begin our MAP testing next week. This is a test of Language, Reading and Math that is given each year beginning in 2nd grade. The testing will be done over the course of 3 weeks - in one-hour blocks, in the computer lab. I will be with the class the entire time. We want to do our best, but put no pressure on the children. This could lead to high anxiety, especially at this grade level.

Our first hour block is on Thursday, Sept. 18th. Please TRY (try is all we can do!) to get your child to bed at a good time the night before. Also, a good breakfast is so helpful when we need to concentrate - preferably one with a little protein - eggs, cheese, p.butter, leftover pizza... :)

I had an entire morning of math training today and am feeling very overwhelmed! We were innudated with wonderful ideas from 7:45 -11:00! I am going to have to start with one idea and work from there! Thank you for your patience.

Spelling will start next week. I will try to send home the lists each Monday - they will be yellow.

I will print this page and send it home today with the correct blog address. I am so sorry about my mistake last week.

munchkinlandnews.blogspot.com
835-4245
mas@oregon.k12.wi.us

Looking forward to hearing from you as to whether or not this blog is helpful.

Happy Weekend, if I don't do another update tomorrow! Mrs. Swenson and the Munchkins

Wednesday already!?????????

2008-09-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Parents,

Many thanks to Joy B. who subbed for me this aft., and will do it again tomorrow a.m. Too many meetings!

Look for a short newsletter to come home today about a few important things.

1. Oregon Manor visit will be on Friday, Sept. 26th @ 8:50-9:30. We will be exercising with the residents! The date was switched to accomodate the Manor, but in October will switch back to the third Friday of the month.

2. Please send in some change for your child to work with during math time. The amounts requested are on the newsletter.

3. Also the second grade teachers are requesting 12.00 to be sent in to cover activity expenses. This money will also cover things like film developing and an individual book box for your second grader to keep his/her indpendent reading books in.

There was a little confusion with this blog - there were two of them somehow. I think I have fixed the problem and the address is changing - if you are accessing this through our homepage on the Oregon School District, the new address is munchkinlandnews.blogspot.com - there is NO number 1 in the address. Sorry about that!

All for tonight - I am running late. More soon, Mrs. Swenson and the Munchkins

Fabulous Friday

2008-09-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

What an awesome start in Second Grade we made this week. Completely stress free and happy, we even breezed through the long, rainy day and enjoyed indoor recess yesterday!

Each child has 1-2 books at his/her own reading level for independent and small group reading. We are on the third math lesson and have shared many things with each other about our families and our interests.

We are learning Spanish and Senora Hartung told our class that we were the best behaved and fastest learners she'd had!
We are quickly adapting to our new schedule and our days are already flying by.

This week has been pure pleasure for me. I hope your child has come home at least once this week full telling you about something that happened at school.

Our parent math letters have gotten lost in the summer printing boxes somewhere, so look for those next week. We are reviewing how to write our numbers into the thousands, calendars and coins.

In Literacy (Language Arts), we have begun the first phase of the Daily Five, which is Independent Reading. I am hoping to start small groups next week.

Next week we will also begin learning about the life cycle of butterflies in Science. The kids will love it!

Happy Weekend, As always, call or email with any questions or concerns.

Mrs. Swenson

Day 1

2008-09-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,

We have had the best first day of school ever! It just went too fast. Even those of us who didn't sleep well and had to get up early anyway, did very well!

We had juice boxes and animal crackers this morning and special bomb pops this afternoon! It was SO HOT! Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler - maybe a little rain?

We played a game with our names, talked about what our "ideal" classroom would look like, sound like and feel like...clean, safe, happy, quiet working, maybe music playing, etc. We did a graph of all the birthdays and found out that the majority of birthdays are in the Spring! It was a good day.

Please remember to send a snack and drink/water bottle with your child each day if you can/want.

Look for a little bit of fun-to-do homework tomorrow.

All for now - I have to go home and see how my baby did on his first day in High School!

See you tomorrow ~ Mrs. Swenson