We’ve had a good week, we’re beginning to get into the swing of learning in second grade. My expectations are HIGH and I am definitely tough on behaviors early in the year so that we can learn good habits and get ourselves in our best learning mode.

Classroom Store : The children are excited to be earning money to spend at our classroom store. We began earning our coins last week. We have our first shopping day TODAY! To find out more information abut this incentive/learning program, see the “Our Classroom Store” page of our website. This activity is always a HUGE hit in my classroom. We could DEFINITELY use some donations for our store.

I DO have some “store moms” and we’re all set for now to begin shopping! I know there are others of you interested in being parent helpers in my classroom. I will begin looking at that in October. There will be opportunities for coming in weekly, every other week, once a month or now and then. If you are interested in any of these scenarios, please send me a quick email with the subject Parent Helpers (so I can find them all easily) and let me know if you are interested and in what capacity. I will get back to you in a few weeks time with some options.

Book Orders : These should be done online, if at all possible (otherwise please send a check with your order made out to Scholastic Books. There is a link on the newsletter page of my

website with information about how to process orders online. Book Orders are due Sept. 28. Every dollar spent earns points that I can re- deem for books for our classroom. Go to https://clubs.scholastic.com/ and us our class class activation code: GZ26J

Friday Folders: I suggest that each weekend you look through your child’s Friday Folder with him/her. Tell them to “Give Me Five”, this means that they pick out 5 things in particular to share with you. Three that they are proud of (and they should be able to explain why) and three things they think they could have done better on, or need more work on.

“The more that you read, the more things that you’ll know. The more than you learn the more places you’ll go!” ~Dr.

News from the Milka Way SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 269.668.3361 X1642

Don't forget that students are responsible for their own healthy, afternoon snack. I have included a list of good, healthy, Mattawan EES approved snack ideas on my website. We are a NUT FREE CLASSROOM. Snacks should also be brought on all half-daysS N A C K

Class Facebook: 2019/20 ~ The Milka Way Website: www.milkaway.weebly.com Email: dmilka@mattawanschools.org

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sept. 20 Book Orders Due by 5pm Sept 27 Walk -a-Thon pledge sheets due Oct. 3 - Walk-a-Thon (Grade 2 - 10:20-11:05)

Fun Fact about Mrs. Milka: She reads nonstop during the summer. This past summer

she read over 20 books!

Computer Learning : In my classroom you will find that we don’t just ‘play computer games’ we do computer learning. Last week I introduced IXL and sent you an email with your child’s password and how to get into their account. Keep that log in information handy. If you have any trouble, let me know. I can usually troubleshoot via email pretty quickly. This week, on Thursday we learned how to log into Moby Max, which is where we practice math facts. (There are other components to Moby Max I will open up eventually, but right now the only option is Fact Fluency)I am also going to ask that you monitor to see that your child is working in the second grade level in IXL, (some like to sneak to lower and higher levels). If you have another child at Mattawan, they will eventually have usernames and passwords so children should not work on each other’s accounts. If you have a preK child who wants to work in IXL, please do not let them use your second grader’s account as this data follows your child. For children without accounts (or children who have not received their passwords yet) IXL lets a child do 20 free problems a day on any one device. This is the perfect amount, in my

opinion, for preK kids who want to see what it’s like to be a “big kid”.

Weekly Poems: I notice this week that many children are trying to memorize the poem during our 15 minute morning meet- ing each day. While this works for some, it does not work for most. I encourage you to spend just 5-10 minutes a night (beginning over the weekend) working on this with your child. Here is a good blog article about Ten Tips for Helping Kids Memorize that might help you help your child. Remember, there is a copy of the new poem in your child’s Friday Folder each week. Keep it at home for practice. If it gets lost, you can also find them on my website in the drop down under the Newsletters tab. Beginning next week I will expect that students try getting up in front of their peers to try the poem. Until now I have not insisted. So, practice, practice, practice! Beginning in October, the only way to earn a “poem sticker” is to at least try the poem as a “solo”. We will still have some fun group recitation times on most Fridays.

Enjoy your weekend with your child!

Little Wildcat Behavior“Little Wildcat Behavior” is Mattawan Early Elementary’s school-wide behavior

program. The students are expected and encouraged to remain at Level C behavior throughout the entire school day. Level C is defined as

“Cooperation”...actively listening, following directions, and caring for others. Level B is de- fined as “Bothering”...where a student’s behavior is bothersome to their peers and inhibiting their own, and their classmates’, learning. Level A is defined as “Alarming”...where a student’s behavior is unsafe to themselves and/or their classmates. Child-friendly posters are displayed in each classroom and

throughout the school as visual reminders of behavior expectations.

Alongside “Little Wildcat Behavior”, the students are taught eight different life-skills that will help them become successful students and

citizens. Ms. Moore will continue to celebrate with each grade level and acknowledge these children for their positive behavior with Lifeskill

Assemblies.