No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
- Aesop
- Aesop
Good evening 221 parents!
I hope everyone is having a relaxing evening so far. I wanted to reach out and let you know about some upcoming events and projects we are working on.
- Pod 220's Spring Sing is tomorrow! The show will begin at 9:45 and CAC doors will open at 9:30. Students should wear blue jeans/blue plants. The top should be anything that has bright spring colors. Girls can wear a dress but do not have to. Students need to be dressed when they arrive at school.
- We have started a Science unit on plants. Currently the students are learning about the Scientific Method before they begin their own experiment with Lima Bean seeds.
- As part of our plant unit, our class is working with Ms. Walter's Service Learning Club to beautify the Ubuntu Playground. The students will each get an opportunity to plant flowers that will not only make the playground beautiful be also be a butterfly friendly garden. We will be going to the Ubuntu Playground on Earth Day, April 22nd!
- The students are almost done creating their poems for our Poetry Slam on the 29th of April at 9am. We all, rooms 221/222 and 223/224 will be rehearsing on the 26th.
- Please start sending in your bags of bottle caps. Please make sure they are clean and all in the provided zip lock bag. We will be starting on our Disneypalooza art project that first week of May.
- Ms. Walter's Service Learning Club is also raising money for a variety of charitable organizations. The Service Learning Club is asking all Disney families to collect soda pop tabs and bread tags. Please look over the attached flyer to see how you can help! The deadline is April 29th!
If you have any questions, please let me know. Good night.
Mrs. Whitfield
4/1/24
Hello 221 Families!
I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break! I am very excited to see the kids tomorrow. I know they are ready to start off the 4th quarter in a strong and positive manner!
Please read over the following information:
- First of all, thank you so much for the wonderful Family Recipe projects! I can't wait to try these out at home! The students will be presenting their projects throughout this week and the next week. There is still time to turn in the project, if your child has not done so. Late projects will have 5 points taken off the student's score for each day that it is late, starting April 2nd.
- Wednesday, April 10th is Report Card Conferences day. I will be sending out an email with appointment sign-up times tomorrow after 4pm. We can meet virtually or in person. Conferences run from 11AM-6PM, with teachers taking lunch from 2:00-2:45PM.
- The pod will be going out to the rooftop playground to witness the Solar Eclipse on April 8th. We will have sunglasses available for the students. The students will be coming home tomorrow with a consent form. It must be checked off and signed in order for your child to participate on April 8th.
- Our Spring Sing performance will be on April 19th @ 9:45AM. The doors will open at 9:30AM
- Rooms 221 and 222 will be collaborating on a study of Poetry for the month of April. The students will be learning and writing about various forms of poetry. We will culminate our study by way of a Poetry Slam performance on April 29th. More information will be forthcoming!
Well, that seems to be it! Boy, we will be very busy this month....how fun! :)
If you have any questions or concerns please let me know.
Mrs. Whitfield
1/8/24
Good afternoon 221 families!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Winter Break and I wish all of you a Happy New Year!
We had a fantastic first day! The students were ready to get to work and I thanked them for such a great start to the new year!
I will be using this week to get the students reacclimated to being back in school. We will be discussing what a resolution is and setting some personal goals for the rest of the school year. The students cleaned out their work folder today and will be cleaning out their drawers and desks this week.
In reading we will be going over the the long i and e sound spelled IE (pie, believe), discussing about and reading realistic text, and working on our nonfictional text research assignment that we started right before the Winter Break. In Math the students will be working on regrouping in addition. We started on this skill today by using model representations (tens and ones) to go over the steps and the reason why regrouping is done.
I wanted to make a correction about the Spelling Bee word lists. I was unable to print out the complete list for the classroom Spelling Bee. I will hand that out tomorrow. The students went home with a new schedule that shows the Exploratory classes for the rest of the year. Please make sure you look it over.
The report cards for Quarter 2 will be printed out tomorrow and will be sent home this week. I am thinking either Tuesday or Wednesday.
12/4/23
I hope everyone had a wonderful day!
I just wanted to let you know that the students went home today with last Friday's homework. We went over the Chapter 3 Test Problems A and I instructed the students to take it home and keep it to use as a study resource for this Wednesday's Chapter 3 Math test. I did not put a participation grade on it but if you log onto Aspen you will see this assignment was entered and worth 10 points.
Today's homework is the second part to the Chapter 3 Test Problems (B). Please look over the answers and discuss their work. We will go over the answers in class, tomorrow. In class today students completed some of the practice test problems in the back of their Chapter 3 math book. We will finish some more of those problems tomorrow. Whatever we don't finish will go home as homework to prepare for the test.
The students should not have taken the Chapter 3 math book home today. If your child did, please make sure it comes back tomorrow.
I hope everyone has a lovely evening!
Mrs. Whitfield
11/27/23
Good evening 221 families,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I was so happy to see all the smiling faces today!
I wanted to let you know that I did not send out this week's newsletter due to changes to this week's schedule of lessons in math. I am moving the math lessons over by one day so that the students can have more time to get ready for the Chapter 3 test.
This week's newsletter will be handed out tomorrow. If you visit our classroom website you will see a newsletter for this week but it has not been updated. You will be able to see this the spelling words.
This Wednesday ( 11/29/23) will be the Pod's End of the Month Reward. The pod will have the students play with board games in the CAC. I have some board games that the students can play with but it would be great if we had more! I would really appreciate it if students can bring 1 board game or card game from home. This would ensure that everyone gets to play! Remember, students can bring in 1 board game or card game on Wednesday, November 29th. This is not mandatory. They will take the games back home at the end of the day.
Mrs. Whitfield
11/17/23
Hello 221 families!
I would like to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with grace and peace! I hope that this time gives everyone a space to be with family and friends, to appreciate all we have. I know that I am very appreciative of my classroom and parents. The kids are so wonderful and I will miss being with them next week!
Please take note of the following information...
- Most of the students took their ipads, please make sure they come charged when school starts on 11/27.
- We had two assemblies and a project we are working on with room 224 for our Pod's December bulletin board. We were busy this week! Students are learning about culture through their study of Native Americans and winter holidays. They will take their knowledge to see the connections that both have by way of the idea of kindness. When we come back to school students will take these connections to create a piece of art based on the work of the indigenous Canadian artist, Norval Morrisseau.
- I had a lot of graded work to pass out but was unable to get it all to the students. Students will receive this work when they return to school on 11/27.
- Wednesdays are when I assign writing homework. I always explain the homework and stress to draw a picture and have it colored. The majority of students do it but some forget. So, in our weekly newsletter I will have written that the writing assignment needs to have a drawn and colored picture. I hope this reminder helps.
Well, that it is! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everybody!
Mrs. Whitfield
Hello 221 families!
Tomorrow is our field trip! The kids are so EXCITED!
The following are some reminders......
- Please make sure that your child arrives to school on time. We are scheduled to board the busses at 8:30.
- The students will need a packed lunch. No glass bottles please. We will be eating when we get back and in the classroom.
- Please make sure that your child is dressed for tomorrow's weather.
- Many parents were asking to chaperone but due to theater space we were allowed only two adults for each class. Ms. Walters, our Special Education teacher, and myself will be the two adults for 221.
If you have any questions, please reach out and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Mrs. Whitfield
10/25/23
Hello 221 families,
The following are some reminders and general information.
- Please see the attached Newsletter for the week. My apologies, I thought I had sent it out. You can always find our weekly newsletters on our website (mrsmaria221.weebly.com).
- Click here for the sign up times for conferences tomorrow. I would love to have the student present, if possible, during the conferences. It would be great if they were part of the conference discussion.
- Please see the attached Fall Festival letter. It lets you know what the students can wear as far as costumes and the candy (optional) they can bring. Our classroom has 26 students. If you can come by in the morning and help me fill out the candy bags, I would greatly appreciate it! Let me know if you can and what time you plan on coming by.
- The students went home with math (3.3) homework and an optional Day of the Dead mini-project. The students took home letters today explaining the project. This project is optional. I have attached the letter that went home today.
- I informed the students to read 2 books on Thursday and 2 books on Friday from Kidsa-z, from the Level -Up Room. I will be checking to see who is reading on each day. In addition to the assigned homework, the students can also read from Epic. The Epic digital library is free to students from 8am - 3pm. Students can also work on their IXL Language Arts Diagnostic and complete the recommended skills for each star.
I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Mrs. Whitfield
10/22/23
Good evening 221 families,
The following are some reminders for some upcoming events!
- Our November 3rd field trip money and sign slip is due tomorrow 10/23. If you have any questions about the trip please let me know.
- Our picture day is Tuesday, October 24th.
- Report Card Conferences will be on October 26th. There will be no school for students. Conferences run from 11AM - 2PM and 2:45 - 6PM. Teacher have lunch from 2-2:45. A link for sign-up times was sent on Oct. 17th. Parents had an option to come in person or have a Google Meet.
- There will be no school on Friday, October 27th due to staff development.
Mrs. Whitfield
10/18/23
My apologies! I forgot to share when the Reading and Spelling test will be. The students will take both these tests next Wednesday, October 25th.
We can't do it next Thursday the 26th because of Report Card Conferences or the 27th because there is no school that day due to professional development.
Thank you!
Mrs. Whitfield
10/18/23
Hello 221 families!
We started Chapter 3, Math Lesson 3.1 but did not finish. The homework that went home today is different than what is in the newsletter. The students received addition facts page instead of 3.1 Parctice and Homework.
Student's reading homework for today is to read from Kidsa-z, Level up for at least 30 minutes.
The students will not be taking their Reading or Spelling test this Friday, October 20th. The students need more time to review and practice the skills presented in this Reading lesson.
Tomorrow we go to the Book Fair!
Mrs. Whitfield
10/17/23
Hello 221 families!
I just wanted to send out some gentle reminders about the following.
- Students should have on their Ubuntu shirts tomorrow.
- Students can bring one board game or card game to school tomorrow. We are having board game fun with our Buddies! This is optional.
- Don't forget to send in your monies and signed slip by October 23rd. The trip won't be until November 3rd but we need the money by Oct. 23rd.
- Our Book Fair time has been changed to this Thursday, October 19th.
- Report Card Conferences will be on October 26th. I will be sending a link for conferencing sign-up times. There will be the option to conference in person or through a Google Meet.
If you have any questions please let me know.
Mrs. Whitfield
10/16/23
Good afternoon 221 families,
I hope everyone is having a great day so far and onto starting a lovely evening!
Please read the following information:
- Our Book Fair visit has been changed to this Thursday, October 19th!
- Our Picture Day is still next Tuesday, October 24th.
-This Wednesday, October 18th will be our Buddies Day. Please have your child have their Ubuntu shirt on that day. The theme is playing a game with your Buddies, so I thought it would be a great idea if the students brought a board or card game (like UNO) from home. This is totally voluntary. I have some board games but they might not be enough for everyone to play. The students who bring a board game will take it back home that very same day.
- The monies and signed field trip slip are due October 23rd! Our field trip will be on November 3rd. Please see the attached flyer.
-Thanks to all the parents who are coming out to help us set up, man the games/activities, and clean up. We are so grateful for you help in any or all of these areas. Please see the attached flyer.
- Our Pod 220 October Reward will be on November 1st. We are taking the pod down to the CAC to see a spooky movie with popcorn. Our pod does monthly rewards such as this to say thanks to all the students who come to school and do their best academically and behaviorally.
If you have any questions or concerns please reach out and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible!
Mrs. Whitfield
10/11/23
Good evening 221 families!
I was absent today and was not able to inform the kids. I usually inform my students when I am going to be absent. I share my plans, what work will be collected, and what I will collect when I get back. I had a doctor appointment come through suddenly that I had been waiting to see for some time. I felt awful that I was not able to tell the kids.
Since I was suppose to be there today, I was going to tell them about my absence tomorrow. I will not be there tomorrow and I would appreciate it if you let your child know. I will most definately be there Friday.
Pod 220 is going on a field trip! Please see the attached flyer and be on the look out for the permission slip. Please send in a signed permission slip and the money as soon as you can. Please send both together.
We will be going to the book fair on Tuesday, October 24th. This is the only time we will be scheduled to go as a class.
I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!
Mrs. Whitfield
9/19/23
Hello 221 families,
Tomorrow is UBUNTU shirt day!
Students went home with their ipad Device forms today. Please make sure your child and you sign the bottom of the form. Once I get the form with both signatures, then the student can take the ipad home.
Once the iPad is taken home, the family needs to make sure that it is fully charged for the next day.
The students have received their username and passwords for Kidsa-z. The students will take their level placement test (about 15-20 minutes long) for this program tomorrow.
I hope everyone has a lovely evening!
Mrs. Whitfield
8/22/23
Good afternoon 221 Families,
Wow! The students have done such a great job of listening and following directions so far! This is going to be a wonderful school year!
I wanted to let you all know that the students of 221 will have the opportunity to check out library books, even though we do not have Library as an Exploratory class. Every Wednesday we will head over to the library and students will have about 20 minutes to check out books. We will be going to the library starting tomorrow.
Yesterday I sent home a packet with information about me and about classroom information. It contained a pink questionnaire and yellow volunteer form. Please make sure to fill out the pink questionnaire and return it to school by Friday (25th). If you plan on volunteering and/or can offer other ways to help the class, then please make sure you fill out the yellow volunteer form (also due by the 25th).
Ipads will be available to the students by tomorrow but they will not be able to take them home. The ipads need to be registered to each individual student first. I will let you know when the ipads will be able to go home. Parents need to make sure that they have chargers for the ipad at home. The school does have any to hand out.
I hope everyone has a wonderful evening,
Mrs. Whitfield
8/27/23
Hello 221 Families!
I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday!
I wanted to share some information about this week:
- The students will be receiving their weekly classroom newsletter tomorrow. They will get one each Monday. The newsletter will have the spelling words, homework for the week, and any additional classroom/school information.
- Please note that I will also post the classroom newsletters on our website: mrsmaria221.weebly.com.
- Students will be taking their iReady reading test this Wednesday (8/30) and their iReady Math test next Wednesday (9/6). Please read the attached flyer for 2nd grade that gives you information about the test and the need for your child to have their own headphones. I will be sending this flyer home tomorrow.
- Thank you for sending your child with their school supplies! Students need what was listed on our pod supply list and specifically the following in notebooks and folders: 2 spiral notebooks (Reading and Science/Social Studies), 1 composition (Writing), 1 Work folder, and 1 Home folder. Some students are missing some of these supplies, so I will be reaching out to parents to let them know what their child is missing.
I hope everyone has a lovely evening!
Mrs. Whitfield