Munchkinland Updates

December - Stone Soup

2009-12-07T17:39:00.002-06:00

Hello ~ Long time, no see! Our play has taken control of us! We hit the floor running in the morning and sing Stone Soup songs all day long!

We hope to do a better job of keeping reflecting at the end of the day AFTER Stone Soup is over!

It's hectic in Munchkinland - more soon, Mrs. S. and the Munchers

Veterans Day

2009-11-11T18:39:00.002-06:00

Dear Parents,

Today we made our American flag pencil toppers and read about Veterans Day. We drew pictures and wrote little notes of thanks and appreciation to our soldiers. I will send them off this weekend. The children did a very nice job and I know the servicemen and women will love getting these beautiful creations.

Tomorrow we have guidance and lots of spelling to catch up on from today.

Happy Veterans Day, Mrs. S., Mrs. J. and the Munchers

Tuesday, November 10

2009-11-10T17:41:00.003-06:00

We have been so busy using every spare moment to practice our Stone Soup play or give our Native American project presentations, that we have given up reflecting for this week.

We have 3 presentations left to give as of this writing! All of them have been very nice - you can surely tell the hard work the children and families have put in to make these happen! Thank you very much for your support.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. We will learn just a little about the day and color and create American flag pencil toppers. With the sad events last week, I felt compelled to at least honor the day in a small way.

Your child may wear Red/White/Blue tomorrow if he/she would like.

Friday will be our surprise reward party! Your child could wear blue jeans and a hat to go with our surprise theme if they would like. Floppy hats would be the most fun, but any hat will do!

More soon, Mrs. S. and the Munchies

Thursday, Nov. 5

2009-11-05T12:24:00.002-06:00

Each group of desks (children) chose a name for their tribe. We have the Pups, Teddy Bears and Snack Eyes! It was wonderful to watch the children work this out on their own.

Today we practiced counting by 25s and making change.
We had library and gym and Spanish today. Tomorrow is our spelling test.

Wednesday, Nov. 4

2009-11-05T12:18:00.003-06:00

This is a little late - bus duty is cramping Mrs. Swenson's style! :)

On Wednesday, Mrs. Johnson was gone, so we had Mrs. Swenson all day. We learned about "2 rule" frames and arrows and did a very hard bar graph activity.

We moved our desks into 3 groups instead of 2 and are sitting by friends. Each group needs to come up with a "tribe" name. So far we have Snake Eyes and 2 other groups that are talking it over.

We had technology. We drew pictures of native americans and typed a sentence to go with it in Kid Pix. Next time we'll add our voices reading the sentences to make a short movie. Hopefully, you will be able to view it somewhere online.

A great day. Mrs. S. and kids

Tuesday Afternoon

2009-11-03T14:27:00.002-06:00

Today we got our Stone Soup Scripts - we found out how many lines we have and when we will sing. We're very excited!!

Today we also had gym and played Dollar Rummy in math!

It was a good day, but went by fast! We're trying to sneak in some Sharing time!

All for today~

2009-11-02T15:59:00.003-06:00

Today we used the Smart Board to play a new math game with basic addition facts. We also played a game called "build a number." Both were lots of fun.

We learned some of the songs to Stone Soup and talked about the play. Tomorrow or Wednesday we might get our parts to begin practice.

We learned that the Woodland Indians would talk around their campfires and could only talk if they were holding the "talking stick!" :) (Maybe 2nd grade needs one of those?)

Good night from Munchkinland

Native American Projects Letter home today

2009-10-26T14:43:00.002-05:00

We learned that we can do a native american project on any tribe or group that we learned about. The project letter is coming home tonight and the project is due in 2 weeks, on Monday, November 9th.

We will be having a fall celebration on Wednesday afternoon. We need toilet paper tubes for an art project we will be creating at our celebration.

We are tired of rain - indoor recess is getting BORING! If you have extra board games or card games you are readying for Goodwill - please consider donating them to our room!

Conferences tomorrow night for some of you ~ lots of illness here. Please feel free to reschedule your conference time if you are not feeling well.

Mrs. S. and the Munchkins

Wear Red Tomorrow

2009-10-22T15:02:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow we are being encouraged to wear red to support the high school's program on safe behaviors. The HS students came today at lunchtime and handed out stickers to the children. The slogan is "Keep your head, wear RED," meaning to think before we act in an unsafe manner.

We studied spelling and had library today. We went to Mrs. Jordan's room for more on the Northwest Indians and have made our Totem Poles! We have a great display outside our room on the bulletin board.

It was a gloomy, but fun day!

Love, Munchkinland Peoples

Tuesday/Wednesday

2009-10-21T12:10:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday we created acrostic poems about LEAVES!

Lovely lacey multi-color tidbits
Ever blowing in the wind
Always crunching beneath us as they drop,
Verify that fall is upon us.
Excitement builds as
Snow approaches.
by Mrs. Swenson

On Wednesday we typed our poems in the computer lab. Mrs. Holmes let us print them on transparencies! We will display them on top of some of our fall drawings!

to be continued...

Monday, Monday

2009-10-19T15:12:00.002-05:00

Dear Parents,

Today we went to Mrs. Jordan's room for Social Studies and began learning about the Northwest Indian tribes. They were the only ones who made totem poles. They also lived in plank houses.

We are nearly up to 50 marbles earned! That means a little over 50 more and we'll be having a special party. We'd better start thinking about it. The children have been very well behaved!

Mrs. S., Mrs. J. and the Munchkins

Thursday

2009-10-15T15:35:00.002-05:00

Dear Parents - Even though it was a gloomy day outside, it was fun and cheerful inside our room! We had indoor recess for both lunchtime and afternoon recess. That's hard, because we need time to RUN and JUMP and PLAY hard! Instead we had to choose indoor games, arts and crafts or legos!

Today we learned another Native American legend about a pot, a girl and a snake! Ask us when we get home today! Did you know that Southwest Indian Pueblos did NOT have doors? YIKES!

We reviewed frames and arrows in math! Math homework is due tomorrow.

DONT FORGET that we go to the Oregon Manor Nursing Home tomorrow. We'll leave by 8:55 if you want to join us. We'll be reading to the residents. Send umbrellas, hats, hoods, etc. if it's supposed to rain!

Early release tomorrow - 1:00. Love from Munchkinland

Tuesday

2009-10-13T14:00:00.003-05:00

Dear Parents,

Today we learned that we will be practicing reading our picture books so we can read to the residents at Oregon Manor on Friday morning @ 9:00. We will use a LOT of EXPRESSION! We'll introduce ourselves by our first names and ask if we may read to them. We'll be in partners for this.

We will be sandpainting in Ms. Lucas' class tomorrow. We learned about kivas today in Native Americans.

In Math we learned how to play Birds Nests which actually will be the beginning of multiplication! We also played Math Around the World!

Fun, fast day - XXOO, Mrs. S., Mrs. J. and the Munchkins

Everyone's tired today!

2009-10-12T14:51:00.002-05:00

Dear Parents,

Today we went to Ms. Lucas' room to learn about Southwestern Native American Tribes! We learned they lived in Pueblos. They were made out of water, mud and sticks or hay. They used ladders to get the top. And then they could pull the ladders up if some bad people were coming.

We worked with fact triangles in math and played 2 math games. We earned all our marbles today and were extremely well behaved!

Happy Monday ~ Mrs. S and Mrs. J and Munchkins

Today We Learned...

2009-10-08T13:57:00.002-05:00

Today we learned how to decorate warrior shields. Indians told their stories by mouth or with symbols. We decorated the shields with our "stories" done in symbols!

Sitting Bull was a Plains Indian Chief. We studied the timeline of his life. He was about 60 yrs. old when he died. He traveled in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He was known for promoting peace between the Indians and White Man.

We learned about "turn around" facts in math.
We had Guidance at the end of the day and practiced different strategies for stopping bullying.

We learned that we will be presenting a play called, "Stone Soup," on Thursday, December 10th @ approx. 10:45 a.m. There's a possibility of a little luncheon to follow in our room - Stay tuned for details, but mark the date on your calendars!

Monday your child will be moving to Ms. Lucas' room during the social studies block of 1:45-2:45 to learn about the Southwestern Indians!

Hope you have a nice weekend in spite of the chilly forecast! I will be going to a 60th anniversary/reunion at my former grade school, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Madison. Should be fun to see old classmates and maybe their parents!

Mrs. S. and Mrs. J. and the Munchkins

Legends

2009-10-07T13:53:00.002-05:00

Dear Parents,

Today we learned that Native Americans tell legends. We read the story of the Indian Paintbrush. Ask your child about it!

We had a hearing screening today!

We learned a new math game called Domino Top-It!

We had computer lab at the end of the day ~ Happy Wednesday,

Mrs. S. (and Mrs. J.) and the Munchkins

Mo Willems/Buffalo Jump

2009-10-06T14:48:00.002-05:00

Today we were lucky to join 200 other schools across America including a school in Hawaii, to watch Mo Willems do a simulcast. He is the author of books like, Piggy and Elephant and Frog Can't Fit. He has 2 new books that came out today!

He was very entertaining and funny. We sat in the Little Theatre with 7 other classes to watch. It was a fun hour!

Also, today we read the book Buffalo Jump by Peter Roop. It tells a story of 2 native american boys who earn new names by being brave in helping with the Buffalo Hunt.

The sun is out as we write this! Rain, rain, stay away! Mrs. S. and the Munchkins

Bloggin...bloggin...bloggin...

2009-10-05T18:36:00.003-05:00

I apologize for not attending to our blog last week - I guess I am packing a lot of material into our newsletters and wonder if you all still are finding the blog helpful?

In any event...Today we had a lovely kick-off to our Native American Unit. We watched a video in the Little Theatre with all 4 second grade classrooms. The video gave a very nice introduction to the 4 different regions of Native American Indians. Eastern Woodlands, Northwestern, Southwestern and Plains...

We are already deep into buffalo/bison...trading posts, tipees and geography of the Plains! The children are already beginning to develop ideas that could potentially turn into projects. Let me emphasize that the project may be collaborative with parents - most of the children do need some help with research, buying or finding materials, putting it altogether, BUT, the main focus will be the PRESENTATION of the project in the classroom. I will be videotaping the children and will try to share these with you. The letters regarding the project will not come home for several weeks because we want the children to learn about the different regions before they decide on a project. I just know there will be some very excited kiddies tonight - hopefully, they'll be talking about the Unit with you.

I was gone this afternoon, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Kurtz ( a new sub) did a good job. After a very long stint at cosmetology school, my daughter PASSED her final exam this afternoon by cutting my hair! Now, it will be onto the State Boards!

If you are interested in the game, I hope you get to watch it. If not, I hope you don't have to!

More soon - Mrs. S.

All RIght Packers!

2009-09-27T21:32:00.007-05:00

I am working on some changes to our blog courtesy of a technology class I'm taking through the school district. I would love to put some of the homecoming parade pictures up. I'll be working to get approval from a few more parents before doing so.

I will be in an all-day team meeting tomorrow, Monday. Soon, I will be emailing you conference times. If you didn't get an opportunity to sign up at Open House, I will be contacting you soon to set a time.

I will be out of the classroom tomorrow, September 28th and at a math meeting on Wednesday a.m., Sept. 30th. I may not be able to get to my email during those times. If you have an urgent need, please call in instead...
Classroom: 835-4241 or office: 835-4291

Cooler weather - don't forget jackets - layer up, because I'm not sure how cool our room will be. It was pretty warm during most of the warmer weather, so maybe it will be cooler? I'll keep you posted.

Happy Monday ~ Mrs. S.

Beautiful Rain

2009-09-22T16:15:00.000-05:00

Today we were able to watch that beautiful rain come down outside from our window/door! Amazing how welcome it was to see that! NBC 15 blogged that we had 3.62 inches! WOW.

We have begun our reading groups - which I like to call Book Clubs. We are reading a wide variety and range of books - so far I have 5 groups! The children are doing really well practicing their reading - both to someone and to themselves! They spent an hour this morning reading while Mrs. J. and I took reading groups!

Reminder that Open House is on Thursday night. I will have sign-up sheets for volunteers for reading and parties. There may be more activities that I will need help with as the year progresses, so I promise to let you know and ask for more volunteers as needed.

The Homecoming Parade is on Friday @ about 2:00. Please let me know if you plan to join us and also if you are planning to take your child home with you directly from the parade.

Biggest Loser AND Dancing with the Stars AND Hell's Kitchen ---choices, choices!

Have a good evening - Mrs. S.

Last MAP for most of us!

2009-09-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

Today we finished our last MAP test! (unless your child missed one or more by being out sick)

cute story... I read aloud through the rules for the language test this afternoon after recess to the children. The kids were a little hot, some sweaty and obviously a few were not quite listening... I impressed upon the children to be respectfully quiet, that we teachers cannot read anything to them because this is a language test, so it is all about words, etc.
As we were lining up to go to the computer lab, a little guy stopped me and asked, "Mrs. Swenson, will they let you know WHICH language it's in?" :) How can you not love teaching children?!

We will be beginning our "word work" portion of the Daily Five - this will include phonics lessons and eventually our new spelling word sorts. We have been journaling every day and today we wrote "FACT or FICTION" short stories. As the children read them, we are trying to guess if their stories are true or not. It is great fun and a good way to practice the difference between fact and fiction. Ask your child what he or she wrote about today.

It's Friday eve - hang in there! Mrs. S.

Picture Re-take Tomorrow

2009-09-15T15:13:00.000-05:00

Dear Parents,

Today we began our butterfly/moth portion of our science unit. Next week we will exchange with Mrs. Sessler's class and she will teach about frogs and toads!

We had our Reading Map test this morning. It seemed to go very well for the children. They were very quiet and hard working! Tomorrow will be the math during our math block - 12-1.

Picture re-takes are tomorrow. If you want your child to have another picture taken, please send back the first set. Thanks!

Is anyone interested in sending in a treat of some kind for Friday afternoon? We will have had our first full week - very long with testing and lots of hard work. I used to do Friday treats when I taught 4th grade and wonder if there is an interest? Let me know if you would like to send something in for this week and I will make a sign-up sheet for Open House night so you can sign up to send in something on the Fridays!

Hope your week is going well so far. We learned that there are vampire moths that actually drink animals' blood - the boys loved that - yuck!

Mrs. Swenson

Friday, Sept. 11, 2009

2009-09-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,
Well, just now I found out I can't "cut and paste" my newsletter into the blog! I sent home a newsletter with each child, so hopefully you will get it by Sunday night out of the take-home folders. If you do not, email me and I will try to attach a copy to you.

I have a "Google Training" next week Wednesday, I believe. I hope to get all of your email addresses entered, so that I can send out an emailing each Friday in lieu of the paper copies. We'll see how that will work! :)

In the meantime, don't forget that Picture re-take day is next Wednesday also. That is Sept. 16th.

MAP testing begins Tuesday. (First Graders do not take the MAP tests.) Second Graders will be tested in the areas of Reading, Language and Math. The tests are administered in the computer lab. Children are given an entire hour (or longer if they need it), but most finish in 30-45 min. The children are shown how to read the question and click the mouse on the correct multiple choice answer. They will not know if the answer is correct, but the computer will automatically give them a new question with the difficulty based on the correct/incorrect answer from the previous question. In other words, if you get it right, the questions will progressively get more challenging. If you get it wrong, the next question will be slightly easier and so on. Final scores are given and will be shared with you all at parent/teacher conference time. :) Good sleep and healthy food may help your child to be more attentive during the testing.

Here's the schedule:

Monday - Tutorial @ 2:15
Tuesday - Reading - 8:30-9:30
Wednesday- Math - 12:15-1:15
Thursday - Language - 1:45-2:45

Happy Weekend - more soon, Mrs. Swenson

Thank you for the Donations!

2009-09-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for all the donations of ziplocs, hand sanitizers, snacks and Clorox wipes! We should be set for some time, now!

We have already been able to implement our Daily Five framework for Literacy. We have been reading to self, reading to someone and journaling. Your children are good directon-followers!

Thank you for helping your child with his/her Memory Box! We will continue to share some each day until everyone has had a chance. They are an interesting and fun way to learn about each student!

Mrs. Johnson and I are taking our Memory Boxes and rotating through the other second grades. That way all the kids will know all the teachers and vice versa!

We are into our second week of math and will be reviewing for awhile. It's fun to see how much the children have learned in first grade and K and see how that will build this year in second!

All for today - Love, Mrs. Swenson

Wednesday Night

2009-09-02T22:26:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

We had another good day in Munchkinland. I cannot believe how well behaved everyone was on the second day of school! Maybe everyone is tired!? :) This is a very respectful group of children so far!

Today we were able to choose some good fit books. Mrs. Johnson and I picked out some books that should fit the level your child was at last June. I will begin the testing process by next week. Our testing window is the month of Sept., but the sooner I can get everyone tested, the quicker we can move on and up!

Tonight you should find in the "Star" take-home folders, a "Memory Box" handout. Next week your child should bring a box with 5-6 items in it to share with the class. These items can be anything that fits in the box that tells something about your child or your family! You can be elaborate and decorate the box, or just send the items in a plain box or even a bag if you cannot locate a box. I'd love them to come in on Monday if possible - and we will be sharing them throughout the week!

Today Mrs. Johnson and I shared our items with the class. One little guy informed us that we didn't look old enough to be grandmas! That made our day!

We had Phy Ed and Spanish today for our special. 1/2 hour each in a one-hour block of time. Tomorrow will be our first library class of the year and art.

Have a good day ~ Mrs. Swenson and the Munchkins

First Day Cheers!

2009-09-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

We had a very calm and happy first day of school! Everyone participated in some way. I love second grade.

We began reading the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We filled out a Sept. Calendar. We had 3 recesses! We played Name Ball. We started our Time Capsule - we take the writing we did and the pictures Mrs. Swenson took, and seal them up in a box to be opened the last day of school! What fun!

We learned the word "fragile" means breakable, and that china teacups and china rabbits are fragile!

No one skinned a knee or got stung by a bee! No one got sick.

We finished the day with a reflection sheet so we will remember something we learned today. We are going to try to "reflect" every day. You will get those sheets home on Fridays or Mondays.

I have snack for tomorrow a.m. and p.m. I may have enough to finish out the week with fishy crackers and graham crackers. After that, I need your help. Please either send a snack (or 2) with your child each day. We also appreciate any contributions to our classroom snack cupboard - for the days kids forget or feel extra hungry.

All for today - this teacher's feet are tired! I bet your children will sleep well tonight!

Mrs. Swenson and all

AAAARRRRRGGGG! Phone Number ERRORS!

2009-08-30T15:53:00.000-05:00

Please forgive me - first mistake of the new year - (Lesson Learned - wear your reading glasses at all times and ask someone else to proof read!)

Our classroom phone number is 835-4241 (NOT 4221!)
Our office phone number is 835-4291 (NOT my old extension of 4248!)

I apologize profusely for this error!

On the upside - the voicemail is now set up, so you can leave me a message at 835-4241. (I am practicing. 4241, 4241...)

This is Sunday, so that is 2 days of vacation left and the 3rd day will be school! The weather is looking great for the coming week - might even need jackets. We will be having a morning recess for at least the first 2 weeks of school, maybe until wintertime.

More soon ~ Love, Mrs. Swenson

Lovely to meet so many of you!

2009-08-28T19:01:00.000-05:00

It was lovely to meet so many of you today! My sincere apologies to those of you who came on Wednesday expecting to meet me. We teachers were unaware that the date had initally been sent out as August 26th - which I believe may have been last year's date. I know that it can be very challenging to alter work and appts. Thank you for all your efforts.

For those of you who could not be at school today, I will look forward to meeting you soon!

We will have a low-key start to the day on Tuesday, going over classroom rules and routines and just getting comfortable with each other. If anyone would like to volunteer to send in a snack/treat for our first day just shoot me an email. maureen.swenson@oregonsd.net or mas@oregonsd.net
(same email - just a little variation)

I saw lots of smiles today, but if at anytime your child rebels at the idea of coming to school (not the getting up, but the actual school part), please let me know. I bet we can fix it!

Happy Weekend to all - Mrs. Swenson

6 days...

2009-08-26T21:11:00.000-05:00

Dear Students and Parents!

I hope to get to meet most of you on Friday! There will be a couple things to look for when you come...

Students:
1. Hug your new teacher(s)Mrs. Swenson and Mrs. Johnson, our student teacher.
2. Pick out a desk that is the right size for you and put a little name tag on it. I will replace it later with a larger, permanent one.
3. Find your coat hooks. You get 2 of them this year!
4. Put your school supplies in either the appropriate bin/crate as marked OR put them in your desk until next week.
5. Ooh and Aahh over your new room! :)

Parents/Guardians:
1. Hug your new teacher(s) Mrs. Swenson and Mrs. Johnson- ok - it can be a handshake or a smile!
2. Take time to fill out the Information sheet on your child's desk. Turn it into the basket before you go and check off your name.
3. Take any extra information sheets/papers, etc. home with you, please! :)
4. Plan on enjoying this year! There's enough stress in life without any coming from 2nd grade! We'll have a wonderful year, no doubts!

See you Friday or Tuesday ~ or email me at mas@oregonsd.net (kids or grown-ups)

Mrs. Swenson

7 Days...

2009-08-25T21:44:00.000-05:00

New Phone Number is 835-4241. Voice Mail is NOT set up yet. Will try to do that tomorrow. Postcards are on their way! Room is looking good!

Mrs. Swenson

8 days and counting down...

2009-08-25T13:34:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! A week from today will be our first school day for the new year! I can't wait. I have been very busy moving my room next door to last year's room. We will have a big, bright window and door to the outside! Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz) is already waiting outside my room to greet you when you come!

Don't forget that you can drop off your school supplies on Friday from 2-3. I might put you to work if I don't get everything done before then! :)

Email me if you get a chance @ mas@oregonsd.net

I am very excited to meet you all ~ I still am unsure of the phone number of my new room - it is last year's guidance room, so I will try to post that next time.

Mrs. Swenson

Postcards

2009-08-22T19:55:00.000-05:00

Hopefully I will get your addresses on Monday so that I will be able to mail out postcards to welcome our Munchkins to 2nd grade! I know that sometimes the children get anxious between registration and that first day!

The time to drop off school supplies (Backpack Open House) is this coming Friday, August 28 between 2 and 3 o'clock. We teachers are in meetings nearly all day on the 27th and 28th, so alternative times would probably just be the first day of school, which is TUESDAY, Sept. 1st! Nice to have two 4-day weeks right off the bat! Gets us slowly into getting back!

Please don't worry if you cannot make the Friday time. Tuesday is just fine.

Onto watching the Packers play! What do you think about #4? I've ordered my purple jersey already. I just love watching him play, even if he does look goofy with those Viking Horns! :)

More soon - Mrs. Swenson

Welcome to Munchkinland - Grade 2

2009-08-19T21:14:00.000-05:00

We welcome you to Munchkinland, Tra lalalalala la la!

Can you believe it's the beginning of a new school year? And that you and your child are in Second Grade! Time and Children go and grow incredibly fast!

I am so excited to be able to share your children with you this year!

My name is Mrs. Swenson and I will be attempting to email and/or snail mail you all a "Hello" letter soon. Class lists are just about in place and soon I should be able to access your email addresses.

My email address is mas@oregonsd.net or maureen.swenson@oregonsd.net

Look for more blog entries and an email soon. I can't wait to meet you!