Graduation

Our second grade graduation ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. The ceremony will begin at 10:00 am. We are very excited about celebrating the progress made by all this school year. I have enjoyed working with my students and although I know that I will miss each one, I am so very proud of them! Parents, thank you for your support throughout the year!

Field Day was fun (and hot)!

Celebrating writing.

Ruth Patrick Science Center

We had a wonderful trip to the Ruth Patrick Science Center at USC/Aiken. The staff was wonderful and the sessions were so informative! Our class participated in three sessions; animals, matter and magnets. After a class poll, it was decided that students enjoyed the animals best. Thank you to Mrs. Arrowood, Mrs. Kittrell, Mrs. Johnson and Ms. Bovian for volunteering to chaperone. Your help was greatly appreciated!

Celebrations!

We had a lot to celebrate last week! We celebrated the completion of our opinion writing unit, some our students attended the AR celebration and we also celebrated our March birthdays. As I heard one of the students say, "It was the best day ever!"

We are looking forward to creating more wonderful memories when we go on our field trip this Thursday. We hope to leave campus at 8:15 am.

Field Trip

Parents, on April 6, 2017, our class will be going on a field trip to the Ruth Patrick Education Center in Aiken, SC. The cost of the trip is $12. Permission slips were sent home on last week. I am asking that you sign and return them by March 29, 2017. We are all very excited and looking forward to this event where our children will enjoy several hands-on STEM activities. On April 6th, reports cards for the 3rd quarter will be sent home. Please be on the look out for them. If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for supporting your child!

Here are our children participating in a book club meeting. They work hard to read and comprehend their books in order to discuss them with a partner. The best part is that the book club meetings are student led.

Enjoying a read aloud with a guest...

Valentine's Day Exchange

Thank you parents for being so generous with the treats sent in for our Valentine's Day exchange. The children really enjoyed themselves!

Wow, How Time Flies!

It is amazing to realize that we are now in the third quarter! I can't begin to tell you how proud of our children I am. They are becoming wonderful readers and writers. We are beginning to form book clubs and the members are reminding me when it is time for a new book. Parents, this is all due to the support you give to your kids. Thank you so much!

Happy Holidays!

It's hard to believe that we are already celebrating the Christmas season. This school year has been a very unique one. I am so grateful to my students for being so resilient during the times we were out due to the hurricanes. They would always come back ready to continue their journey in learning. Parents, thank you so much for your support, without it I could not do my job effectively! I am looking forward to 2017 and I hope that each and everyone of you has a Merry Christmas!

Report Cards

Report cards were sent home this past Friday. Please check your child's agenda if you have not received it. Please sign one copy and return it. Also, if you would like to schedule a conference, please complete the form sent home with the report card. I will do my best to accommodate you.

This week the students have been learning about the voting process. Here are students with their voter's registration cards:

Standing in line at the polls:

and casting their ballots:

Here are our students involved in a STEM activity challenging them to built a tower with candy corn and toothpicks. They worked as teams and discussed how to construct the base to support a tower and well as strategies to push or twist the toothpicks into the candy corn to prevent it from breaking.

A common or proper noun activity:

We are busy!

After the Storm

I was so happy that everyone returned excited to learn and safe after Hurricane Matthew. Of course we wrote personal narratives about our experiences during the storm. We also continued our social studies unit on maps and map skills by creating a book.

In science, we are studying solids, liquids and gases. We worked as groups to create posters displaying matter we find in our homes.

Then came the earthquake drill!

The children are enjoying place value lessons in math. They love playing games on our interactive board.

And we wrapped up our week with a little dancing.

We were happy to be with our classroom family again!

School Closing

It has been announced that we will return to school on Monday, October 17th. While I do miss my little ones, I hope that everyone is safe and with power at this time. While we away from the classroom, please encourage your child to reread the books in their baggy. Rereading builds fluency as they become more familiar with the words in the text. Students can visit the website www.teachyourmonstertoread.com. This site will allow students to practice reading skills while enjoying a game. Usernames and passwords were sent home about three weeks ago. Also, there are several educational games under the "media center" button when you visit our school website which can be accessed through our district website, www.orangeburg4.com. I pray that everyone continues to recover from the effects of Hurricane Matthew and I can't wait to see you on Monday!

Celebrate Super Heroes!

Here at EPS, we have several days throughout the year where we celebrate particular things such as Red Ribbon Week, Storybook Character Day, and others.  This year our school theme is focused on super heroes.  On Wednesday, October 5th, we would like to honor and celebrate all of the special people who are our super heroes.  Please allow your child to wear a super hero t-shirt or costume on Wednesday in honor of super heroes everywhere!

As always, please remind your child to read at least 20 minutes every night!

Visualizing

We are visualizing while reading. Visualizing is creating an image in your mind to match text. Sometimes when reading, the author may not provide pictures. The strategy of visualizing help us to connect to and understand what we are reading better. Students have been reading texts, highlighting words that help them to create pictures in their minds, and drawing those pictures.

We are enjoying small group instruction! Parents, please make sure that your child is reading at least 20 minutes per night.

MAP Testing

We will begin MAP testing on Tuesday, September 13th. We will first test in the area of reading and will test in math on Wednesday. These tests can be a little stressful for students because this year the test will not be read to them. Please encourage your child to do his/her best. Children test best if they are well rested and on time. Thank you for your assistance!