The Latest

     Greetings from Mrs. Cowan's Class.  We have been busy the past few days working very hard.  In Reading, we are still reading Ant by Rebecca Stefoff.  Today the class did a fabulous job of creating anagrams about ants.  I will try my best to post them on the web site.  It will take me a few days since I have more updating to do as well.  

     We are still working on our functional writing pieces in Writing.  Mrs. Robinson introduced a graphic organizer to the students today that will hopefully organize their work.  The organizer comes from the Step Up to Writing program.  It is an excellent program that incorporates many wonderful ideas into writing instruction.  I will let you know how the pieces work out.

     We are studying American Symbols/Icons this month in Social Studies. Each child was required to complete a project. This project is due Friday. Details about the project were sent home 3 weeks ago. This project will count for a grade in several subjects to it is imperative that all students complete it.  Please feel free to be creative in the presentations.  Your child may do a poster, model, a PowerPoint display or even a web page.  I have heard from several students that they are creating web sites.  I look forward to seeing all of your wonderful projects.  Feel free to be creative and have fun!

     Starting this week, I will be sending home a short story with a few questions that need to be answered.  Each short story is specifically created to reinforce a reading standard that has been taught in class as well as improve fluency.  I would suggest reading the story once on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night aloud.  This will help your child to practice reading aloud which will improve fluency (reading speed).  On Thursday, the questions related to the story can be answered.  These stories can count toward the 20 minutes of nightly reading.  

     On Thursday, February 21, the 2^nd grade presented a PTA program in honor of Black History Month and President’s Day.  It was a wonderful success.  I wish to thank all of those that participated and joined us for an entertaining evening.  The children worked hard and did a fabulous job singing.  Great work!  Pictures of the event will be given to you at the end of the year on our Digital Class Yearbook. 

     As a sidebar, I recently completed a proposal at Donorschoose.org where I am asking for books that will allow our students to write reports and create PowerPoint displays.  The proposal is called Researchers Abound.  The id number is 161849.  If you are able to help us out, simply enter the id number into the search box and our project will be displayed.  These books will help our students to become better researchers and writers.

     Finally, you will notice a new button on the side of the blog that says, "Call Me."  You can click on this button to type in the phone number you are calling from and your name.  Once you have entered that information, you can actually call me.  Give it a try if you would like to contact me.  It does work.  This way, if you have a question about the blog or what we are doing in class, you can call me right away.  Isn't technology grand?  Well, have a nice evening.