First Day

Wow, we survived the first day!!  It was a little bumpy (the red class is VERY talkative), but went smoothly for the most part.  It was a long day, and I'm sure they will sleep well tonight  We had a few tears after school - please make sure that you have set up a meeting place outside the school for your child to meet their siblings or caregiver.  Also, please remember that homework folders need to come to school every day.

Happy Summer!

I hope that everyone is having a happy summer, and keeping up on your reading, of course!  I saw a student at the store last week, and I asked him what he had been doing for fun.  He paused, smiled a huge smile, and said, "I've been reading!"  It made my day, no . . . make that, my year!
School will start on Thursday, August 20th at 8:10 AM.  We will have back-to-school night on Wednesday, August 19th at 6 PM.
Before you spend too much on school supplies, please know that you do not need to buy anything to bring to school.  We will provide everything that your child needs at school, but it is convenient (and sometimes necessary) for your child to have certain things (pencils, erasers, crayons, scissors, glue) available to them at home.  And if you are feeling generous, there are some things that we can always use at school: tissues hand sanitizer single-subject spiral bound notebooks 2 pocket folders with prongs Crayola markers
Thanks and see you soon!

May 26 & 27

We have successfully made it to the end of the school year!  Looking through our end of year data, I am pleased to see so much growth.  We had two students that increased their reading rates by over 80 words per minutes, and another six that increased more than 50 words per minute.  The average word per minute gain was 29 words per minute, and almost ninety percent of DLI students reached the reading comprehension benchmark for the end of second grade!

That brings me to a worrisome topic for teachers at this time of year; the summer slide.  Summer slide occurs when young minds sit idle for three months.  Students that do not read over the summer can lose up to three months worth of reading growth.  I see it at the beginning of every school year when I compare their end of first grade scores to their beginning second grade scores.  The saddest part for teachers is that it is entirely preventable!

Here are some suggestions for preventing the summer slide:

• the Logan Library has a summer reading program - students can earn prizes while maintaining valuable reading skills.  Program begins June 1st.
• write letters - there is nothing better than receiving a hand-written letter in the mail!  Here is a link to some fun printable stationary.
• Reflex Math - all Bridger students have access to their Reflex Math accounts over the summer (username: DLI, password: student's lunch number).  If they master addition and subtraction, I can change their access to multiplication and division.  Forgot how to log on?  Click here!
• Bridger's Lending Library will be open 11-12 every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from June 2nd - August 6th (it's in the gym).  Bring a book - get a book!
• Play games - there are tons of dice and card games that help children practice math skills.  Click here to find some!
• Games like Apples to Apples, Bananagrams, Scattergories, and Tapple build vocabulary and spelling skills and require children to read while they play.  Educational games and activities can be borrowed (for free) from the Logan Family Center.
• Cook together!  Cooking requires a myriad of math skills, and you get to eat the results!
• Go on a field trip!  Here are some places in Logan (or nearby) that will keep your student's mind active this summer:
• The American West Heritage Center
• Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
• Willow Park Zoo
• Utah Daughters of the Pioneers Museums
• The Golden Spike
• The National Oregon/California Trail Center
• USU Museum of Anthropology

It doesn't take much to help maintain the important skills your child has learned this year, and it can be part of your summer fun.  Please make your child's continued education a priority this summer.

May 18-22

Here's what we will be working on in English class this week:

• 
  
• Monday - walking field trip to Sam's Club and the DI
• pulling information from text
• phonics: conjunctions
• phonics: double consonants
• Thursday - field day
• Friday - meet our pen pals from Heritage
• Friday - plant trees with Home Depot
• math: measurement
• phonics: decoding skill #2
• Daily 5/Power Hour: continued practice to become better readers, spellers, and comprehenders

Summer Programs

Click here to see the programs that the Logan City School District is offering over the summer.

May 11-15

We had a great time on our field trip today! The weather was perfect for a visit to the Willow Park Zoo, and the Mariachi Divas were awesome!  Click on the video to see second graders on stage having fun with the Divas.

Here is what we will be doing with the rest of our week in English class:

• reading informational text and making thinking maps related to the information in the text
• phonics: determiners
• phonics: y sounds (again)
• phonics: decoding skill #2 (if there are two guardian consonants following a vowel in the middle of a multi-syllabic word, the consonants split to make a syllable break)
• end-of-year assessments: DIBELS testing (Friday), addition and subtraction math facts (goal-121 in 5 minutes), core phonics for students that are below grade-level on DIBELS testing, 107 Zeno words for students that below grade-level on DIBELS testing, and spelling inventory
• Daily 5/Power Hour - continuing to practice the skills necessary to become better readers, spellers, and comprehenders
• math: measurement

May 4 - 8

Our field trip is coming up next Monday.  It costs $2 per child to go to the Willow Park Zoo.  If you have already sent in your child's money, thank you!  If not, we need it as soon as possible so we can get a headcount to the zoo.
Here is what we will be working on this week in English class:

• reading non-fiction passages and determining what type of map to use to help pull information from the text
• phonics: decoding skill 1 (if there is just one guardian consonant following a vowel in a multi-syllabic word, the consonant will move on to be with the vowel in the next syllable - "one must run")
• phonics: common word list 15 - large, must, big, even, such, because, turn, here, why, ask, went, men, read, need, land
• phonics: the schwa
• phonics: determiners
• math: partitioning (cutting into equal parts) and fractions
• power hour/daily 5: continuing to practice important reading, spelling, and comprehension skills