Wow! March has flown by. Here are some highlights of what to look forward to in April:

• April 2nd: Kindergarten registration from 12:30 to 3:00 at South.

• April 11th: Play "Pirates of Penzance" through the Utah Shakespearean Theater. If at all possible,

     please send in $1 for your child's ticket.

• April 16th through 18th: Spring Break

• April 25th: Bard's Birthday Bash in the morning at the college and the Fire Safety House in the

     afternoon.

• May 1st: Our spring field to the St. George Children's Museum and the Gubler farm in St. George.

CURRICULUM:

reading - Keep those reading times coming in. Reading at home is so important!!!!!

language: This week we will be delving into plurals.

spelling: I retested all the first and second grade words to make sure the kids remembered all

     they had passes off. If some words look familiar and you could swear your child has had them

     before, they must have forgotten them. So we'll review those words so there is a firm base for

     third grade.

science: So far in our animal unit we have covered five of the six vertebrate animal families. We will

     begin fish on Thursday. From there we will learn about habitats, migration, hibernation, and

     adaptation.

math: We are beginning our unit of study on money and time. It would be great if you could get a

     pocket full of coins for the kids to practice counting. Also, have them tell you the time from and

     analog clock instead of a digital one.

writing: We will be writing a narrative story about a fish adventure. They always turn out adorable.

Have a marvelous beginning of spring!

-- 

February 4

Dear families,

Here are a few dates you should know about:

• January 17th is Presidents Day. There will be no school.

• February 28th will be the school spelling bee. Next week the teachers will be giving the preliminary spelling bee qualification test in each individual classroom. The two highest spellers in each class will move on to be in the school spelling bee.

• March 3-6th is parent teacher conference. About a week prior to that, I will send around a blank sign-up sheet. Please consider when your other children's appointments are, what your work schedule is, and when would be most convenient to visit with me. You can have your child come or not. That is your choice. We will discuss anything you have questions or concerns about, work habits, academic levels, etc. Please do not ask me to name a teacher that would be best for next year. You simply can't go wrong with any of them. They work so closely together that  the curriculum is all taught at the same time in all the classes. It would be much better for you to consider who your child works best with or has the most trouble with. (Best friends are not usually the best choice to have together.)

• March 17th is Arts Night. The PTA has a great plan for extending kids knowledge in the different art fields with fun activities interspersed with mini talent show. A note will be sent home soon.

• March 21st is the science fair. Again a letter of explanation will be coming home with the kids soon. Then you will be able to plan for the event. I know the kids who have entered before are so excited to be a part of it again. I hope other kids will feel the spirit and join also!

CURRICULUM:

I hope you are enjoying the weather homework-in-a-baggie activities with your children. When kids experience their learning, they fly higher. More will be coming!

Keep reading with your child. 20 minutes per night is what the state requires. These second graders are capable of that and more. It is exciting to see the extra progress home reading brings.

Thank you for letting me work with your children.
Carolyn Olenslager

January 25

Dear Families,

Attached to the weekly progress update this week is the second term progress report. It is on a blue paper. Please go through it with your child. If you have concerns , please, please, please get in touch with me through email so we can set up a meeting time to discuss concerns and put our heads together to make a plan so your child can be successful! These meetings are so helpful to both home and school.

Yesterday we discussed three essential things in our lives:
     Do your best
     Follow directions
     Think
We talked about scenarios in the home, school, and even when visiting grandma.
I'll keep bringing out our chart as needed to help ingrain these in the children's schema.

That's all for now. Have a great week.

January 15

Dear parents,
     The blog is back up thanks to Mark with the district tech department. Way to know your stuff, Mark!

     FYI better come first:
• This Friday for the Michael Ballam concert, be sure your child is here on time. We will load the busses at 9:00 sharp.

• January 27th, a Monday: PTA Family Movie Night will be at the downtown theater. There will be two sessions. One at 4:30 and one at either 7:00 or 7:30. This is free for South Elementary families.
Keep an eye open for a note from the PTA to see what the movie(s) will be.

• Arts Night will be on March 17th if your child is interested in performing or creating an art piece.

• February 28th: Remember the spelling bee for our school. If you have misplaced the original list and are interested in working with your child, you can copy off another list by going to the school web page and downloading it. If it is the same as past years, we will be having a spell off in class first for those who want to compete. The two top spellers will represent our class in the school spelling bee.

• NO SCHOOL on Monday for the Martin Luther King recess.

Curriculum:
• reading - We are testing DIBELS, benchmarks, and progress monitoring so we can send home the latest and greatest scores on the progress report.

• language - The students are learning/reviewing contractions.

• math - Chapter 4 has the children learning different strategies for adding 2 and 3 digit numbers. For the last week we have been working on different bases using manipulatives to learn the process for regrouping/borrowing and carrying. We are now working strictly in base 10. Tomorrow will be our first day without using manipulatives. Cross your fingers for a great outcome!!!!!

• science - Friday we begin our unit on weather. It is wonderful and filled with homework-in-a-baggie things for the whole family to make and experiment with. I hope you enjoy it as much as the kids. We can't make simple weather instruments and leave them out here at school. Other kids would destroy them in two seconds flat. So the kids can make them and enjoy them at home.

• Spanish - We are just finishing up the days of the week. Then we'll begin weather words. Mrs. Whitney is working with them on reading in Spanish. She is GREAT!!!!!

• History - We will conclude our history lesson about the times of Martin Luther King, segregation, etc. on Friday. Hopefully the students leave this unit with the inherent desire to see equality and freedom reign in our country.

Have a marvelous week!
Carolyn Olenslager

October 28th

Happy Halloween!
The kids will bring home a book order tomorrow (Tuesday.) I want to get it sent off to insure delivery before Christmas. It will be due on Tuesday, November 5th. If you want the order to be kept a secret from your child, just shoot me an email. I'll keep it on the sly and email you when it gets here so we can make arrangements for the pick-up.

For all you veteran South Elementary parents, you already know about Halloween, but for the new parents, here is the skinny.
     • No costumes at school.
     • Keep all candy home the next day. Sugar highs with 22 kids are bad enough without encouraging
       more hyper activity.
     • This year our music teacher is having a Halloween sing at the end of the day, just for fun.

Keep up the home reading time. It is so-o-o-o important!!!!!

October 24th

Hello out there in cyber world.

Just a quick note. Your child's homework tonight is another pretest for math...chapter 2. Have your child do it alone. Then check to see if he/she understands everything. If not will you please help him/her? I've done my best to plug in holes in the kids' knowledge base while teaching the concepts.

Also, I'm taking the progress reports home tonight to start getting them ready to send out to you parents. I'll staple them to the spelling tests that will be coming home on Monday. Watch for them!

Have a great rest of the week.

October 11

It is with a heavy heart that I write this blog to inform you that POWER HOUR will no longer be a part of our curriculum. When I have good children boldly lie about doing their work just so they can participate, what does that tell me Power Hour is teaching them? When too many parents email and call telling me that their children don't want to come to school on Fridays because they don't get to come to Power Hour because they've been messing around and not completing assignments, that tells me Power Hour isn't worth it.  So-o-o-o POWER HOUR is no longer nor will it be the rest of the year. Friday afternoon will simply be a continuation of regular study.

For my more advanced children who need extra to continue their extended learning, I will start projects for them which they can work on any time they complete their regular core work early.

Many parents are worried that their children miss recess to finish work, even knowing that oodles of time is given to complete assignments. Please know that the children who are working at recess always take a lap around the playground and come huffing and puffing back into the room. THEY GET THEIR EXERCISE!!

Now on a lighter note:
• Remember that Harvest Holiday will be next Thursday, Friday, and Monday (17th, 18th, and 21st.) Tuesday school will resume.
• The students need an apple next Monday. We are going to be making shrunken-head witches.
• Thank you all for coming to parent teacher conference. It's always nice to get on the same page.
• Each Monday, attached to the spelling test, I will send home a bright pink paper informing you of the work that was accomplished the week before. The incomplete work will also be in your child's backpack. If you wish to keep your child current with the class, have your child complete the work at home.

I just know that next week will be better than today.
Carolyn Olenslager