Today we usher in December and the flurry of one of my favorite seasons in and out of school! It is also the month we celebrate the Core Value of Gratitude! So fitting this year, as I am grateful for our smokeless skies, our safety, our good health, and our persevering spirit!
First off, thank you to all who donated their money, time, and energy to the success of our Olympic Triathlon! I do believe it was the best one we've had yet (and I've been around since the first one--I am so old!)! I love that the rain did not dampen our spirits as we represented the great South American country of Chile! We sure had fun painting kindness rocks, playing Spanish bingo, and competing in the obstacle courses. What a way to celebrate our Art, Spanish, and PE specialties--all make Westlake so special! [We even beat the 4th graders (Thailand) in tug of war--twice!! Viva la Chile!]
Wednesday Field Trip
This Wednesday, 12.5.18, we will be field tripping to the California Museum.
* Wear WCS spirit shirts and jeans or uniforms
* Bring a sack lunch (chaperones will be carrying these in a tote bag or backpack)
Our bus-riding chaperones will be: Chase's mom, Joseph's mom, Abby's mom, Treven's grandma, and Claudia's mom. Our chaperones meeting us there will be: Maddox and Mason S.'s dad, Mason T.'s dad, and Mykah's mom. Chaperones and other parents who would like to join us at the museum, please be prepared to pay $3.50 on Wednesday at the start of our tour. There will be a lead chaperone collecting all chaperone and adult guest money in 2nd grade. The tour is scheduled to start at 10:00 am and so a good time to come would be around 9:40 am. Thank you! It's going to be a great field lesson to kick off our People Who Make A Difference Unit!
Curriculum Highlights
Reading, Writing, and Thematic Unit--we have started our informational text and writing unit. We pre-wrote, drafted, and published on Google Slides instructional "How to" writing on a topic we are experts on. Fascinating topics included, "How to Make Chocolate Milk" by Joseph and "How to be Kind" by Asmara and "How to Read" by Mason S. We learned about the elements of a biography, another type of informational text and an example of a non-fiction narrative. Ms. Dora read aloud "Wilma Unlimited," the biography of Wilma Rudolph to kick off our biography/"Difference Makers" unit. We will be perusing other biographies of difference makers next week.
In Math, we are practicing double digit subtraction with regrouping. We practiced three different strategies: using base 10 drawings, decomposing subtrahends, and the traditional algorithm ("bottom, bigger, better, borrow"). We are also learning about money and created a table in our math notebooks that charted each coin, its value, who is on the front, what is on the back, and a fun fact. We also made wallets to hold our class money! Students get class coins for positive choices and need to pay me for negative choices. We would like to start a Friday class store next Friday! See wish list below!
We read and researched facts about Chile and created our Chilean flag. We sure enjoyed the Olympic Triathlon and our Friday time with our Big Buddies who helped us with our math and our slideshows!
Class Wish List:
We are opening up a class store during Fun Friday time! We could use some donations. Here are some ideas:
* stickers, bookmarks, pencils, erasers
* small, individually wrapped candy
* small toys (new or gently used)
* squishies
* original art or creations
* slime (individually wrapped, please!)
* books (gently used)
* small notebooks
* snacks like mini-boxes of raisins and long-lasting fruit
Consulting with your 2nd grade consumer is also a fine idea!
Class Party:
Great news! We made it to our goal of 250 class points yesterday which means we earned our 2nd class party! We will discuss what type of party we want at our subsequent Morning Meetings! Stay tuned!
School-wide News
Enrichment: Our winter session of AS Live: Enrichment will start Monday, January 7. Click HERE to see class offerings, prices, and links to sign up. Scholarships are available; there is a spot on the sign-up form to indicate that you would like a scholarship. Email [email protected] with questions.
Lottery Application Period: Our enrollment period for the 2019-20 Lottery is December 3, 2018 to January 31, 2019. The application process is digital this year. Visit joinwestlake.com to complete the application starting December 3rd. Please share this information with friends and family who are interested in attending Westlake Charter School. Current students do not need to fill out an application to continue their enrollment at WCS; however, siblings do need to fill out lottery applications to attend.
Parents go to School Night: Save the Date-January 30th, 2019 5:30-8:00-Parent’s Go to School Night. Our fantastic staff will be presenting on various topics during our annual Parent’s Go to School Night. Save the date to come learn about everything from Math and ELA to Social Emotional Skills. This your chance to learn more about how your student is learning at Westlake Charter & ways to help support them at home.
AS Live Clubs Volunteers: UPDATE: We have FOUR student-led clubs that simply need an adult supervisor. If you would like to jump on this opportunity (no prep required!!), email Allison Chavez. You can also Click HERE to sign up to lead your own club next session. It's fun and easy, and the kids love the experiences you offer! Email [email protected] with questions.
Call for Coaches: Families, we're recruiting BASKETBALL and DODGEBALL coaches and referees for our winter season of Explorer Athletics! Click HERE for more information, to sign up to help out, OR refer a coach! Click HERE for the link for teen coach sign-ups. Email Allison Chavez [email protected] with questions.
Barnes & Noble Bookfair: Our annual Barnes & Noble Bookfair and Family Night will be on Friday, December 7th. Purchase books all day in store and online. Come visit the store from 5:30 - 7:30 for gift wrapping, read alouds by Westlake staff and a holiday craft. If you would like to support the school by volunteering to gift wrap during the day on December 7th, please click HERE.
Second Grade Quote of the Week:
In preparation for the Olympic Triathlon and making our flag, we are researching fun facts on Chile on our chrome books. I instruct the 2nd graders, "When you google search, make sure you type in 'Chile facts for kids'." Students are finding great facts and they are busily recording them in their writing notebooks. After a time, Amir remarks, "All I'm getting is a bowl of stuff with tortilla chips."
That's all for now! Have a great weekend and week!
Mrs. A