High Frequency Words

Here are the high frequency words that are up on our word wall that the students should be able to read on their own.

Quarter 1:
bought
front
kitchen
roll
until
brought
reason
special
surprise
different
floor
letter
move
poor
word
beautiful
even
quiet
straight
year
busy
important
later
touch
young
across
brother
great
stand

Quarter 2:
during
heard
lion
winter
clothes
guess
order
behind
soldier
story
beleive
lady
whole
board
listen
told
between
care
weigh
ago
field
half
war

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a restful Thanksgiving break!  Students do not have homework, but I would still like them to read each night for 20 minutes.  Many of them took home a blank Turkey Talk sheet to practice telling the difference between fantasy and realism for a story we read, Turkey Trouble.  If that is not finished, they can work on that over the weekend.

If your child is having a hard time remembering the story, they are more than welcome to write about another non-Thanksgiving story you have at home.  I also found the book for only $1.99 as a Kindle download that you can read on a Kindle or an Apple product.  It is a great story that helped us think of fun turkey disguises!

Thank you to those who came in and helped and donated food to our Thanksgiving Feast!  We had so much fun cooking in our classroom.  We will definitely have to do this again soon!

Remind 101

I just found out about this great service, Remind 101, that I would love to try out!  All you have to do is text "@mrsheinl" to 469-208-4394, and your number will be saved in my account.  

I will be able to send out mass texts, like "Book orders due tomorrow" or "Fire drill in the morning, wear closed toed shoes".  This service is completely free and provides a safe way for parents, students, and teachers to communicate without breaking school district and state laws.  Many states and districts are creating rules and laws about how teachers can communicate with students, including over the phone and through social networks.  

Go check out Remind101 at their website and sign up today!  I'm excited to start communicating with you all better and more frequently! 

Another Donorschoose Opportunity

All this week any donation made to classrooms via Donorschoose.org will be matched with the code: PUMPKIN.  Because of this big event, I made a new project for our class for iPod Nanos to use to listen to books instead of old, junky tape players.  I'll be converting the audio files from tape to Mp3 and then will upload to the iPods.  This will be a great way for students to get better familiar with up-to-date technology and will be easier to manage (no batteries, so eaten tapes, no broken tape players, etc).

Because I just submitted the project yesterday, it is not posted yet.  Donations can still be made to our classroom through our classroom page: http://www.donorschoose.org/nicoleheinlein

Please help me share our page and the matching code with friends, family, and supporters of education.  I would be ever so grateful!

I am excited to see everyone tomorrow and I hope you all had a relaxing and restful Fall Break!

Songs

In our classroom, we have poetry books.  We add new poems every week.  Sometimes they are math related, sometimes science, and sometimes social studies.  I went to Kahua training last week in Maui and got to learn some great Hawaiian songs and chants.  I was inspired to sing these traditional Hawaiian songs with the class.  I was so pleasantly surprised when I saw that most of the students already knew the words and tune to Hawai'i Pono'i!  I did teach them a song they didn't know, though, 'Ekolu Mea Nui.  Click here to listen to the song and even download onto your computer, phone, or mp3 player.

If any of you know other traditional Hawaiian songs or can play the ukelele, let me know!  We would love to have you come teach us a song or two!

Funded!

Thank you for your support!  I woke up to an email that our backpack cart was fully funded!  What a great way to start a Friday!  Thank you to those who shared our project or donated.

Remember, you do not have to donate to help our class. A couple parents have taken things home to get ready for us or even grade.  If you are interested in this option, please come see me!

We also could use volunteers during the school day during our writing time daily from 9:35-10:45 and our reading center time from 12:00-1:00.  We could also use help checking out books in the library on Tuesdays from 12:00-12:30 or in the computer lab on Thursdays from 8:00-9:00.  If you are available, please let me know.  We would love to see your smiling faces!

Donorschoose

Our Donorschoose project is live and ready to receive donations.  Please share this link with other family and friends who you think may be interested.  I have really good luck when I post it on my personal Facebook account.  It's amazing how many generous people out there are willing to donate to classrooms.  Thank you for helping to spread the word!

***Edit: A good friend just told me about a matching code from Ala Moana Center.  That means if you donate $20 to our project, we will receive $40!  You will need to enter the code Mall at checkout in order for the code to work.  You'll need to act quick, because once Ala Moana Center donates a certain amount of money, they won't donate any more.   Help spread the word! :)  Thanks!

Book Lists

As a parent, I am always looking for good books for my children to read.   In our classroom, we choose books based on the I-PICK strategy:
I - I choose my own book
P - Purpose.  Why do I want to read this book?
I - Interest.  Does the book interest me?
C - Comprehend.  Do I understand what is happening in the story?
K - Know.  Do I know most of the words?

Here is a video of a song we learned to help us remember!

Here are a few links I have found with great lists of books that are good for second graders.  Choosing a good fit book is so important to make sure your child can and will actually read any book you purchase for them, but these lists of tried and true books should help take some of the guess work out.  These would especially be helpful for aunties, uncles, and grandparents who are looking for gifts for your children.

• Good Reads
• Scholastic
• Highland Park, IL Public Library
• Apache Junction, AZ Public Library
• The Reading Nook
• Birchwood Center, NY Media Center
• Great Schools

Welcome!

Welcome to our classroom website!  I am so excited to be here in Lanai!  If you misplace my welcome letter with all of our classroom procedures, you can get another copy from Google Docs.