Winter is fast approaching!

I cannot believe we are in the month of December! The year is going quickly and we have so much to accomplish. All of the second grade students just completed a unit on sequencing and transition words and how those help us in our reading and writing. Our reading detectives read passages and had to highlight the transition words, find text evidence, and answer questions by constructing complete sentences rephrasing the question into their response. They worked very hard and did a great job. In addition, we worked on higher order thinking while writing and using more descriptive words than "stuff" and "nice" so our audience can visualize what we (the authors) are trying to convey in our writing. 

We are moving into working with our new textbook adoption, " National Geographic-Reach" which integrates our four domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. We are focusing our efforts on vocabulary skills to help our understanding in reading and writing.

Please take the time to have conversations during family time about what your children are learning in school. Have them respond to you in complete sentences. For example you may ask,"What was one thing you learned today?" They should respond by rephrasing your question, " Today, I learned about......" It is so important the children know you are interested in what they are learning in school. I love teaching at Norton Park and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to teach and enjoy your sweet children!

Just a reminder: Tuesday, December 19 and Wednesday, December 20th are half days. The children will be released at 12:15! December 21st through January 3rd is our winter break. Your children will return Thursday, January 4th.

Fall is here and 2nd quarter has begun!

I cannot believe the first quarter is already over! Thank you to those of you whom I met at conference week. Your children are working very hard each and every day to become better scholars. 

This quarter, we are working on sequencing (putting things in order of the way they happen), transition words in our writing, finding text evidence to answer questions, and responding to questions in full sentences by rephrasing the question into our answers. For example, if the question is ,"What is the first stage in the Life Cycle of  a Pumpkin?" The answer would be written: The first stage in the life cycle of a pumpkin is the seed. 

We are reading passages following an UNRAVEL strategy where the students underline the title, predict what the passage will talk about, and share their prior knowledge of the topic before reading. Then, we read the questions first and highlight the key words. Next, discuss vocabulary that may be new to the children. After that, we read and then become reading detectives to find the text evidence to answer the questions. 

I am having a great time working with all of your sweet children. Thank you for making sure they are completing their homework every day and reading EVERY NIGHT! The only way to become better readers is to read as much as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me janet.donald@cobbk12.org

Vowels and Consonants

We are reviewing our alphabet and how we have two groups of letters called vowels and consonants. The children learned about these groups in kindergarten and first grade. The vowels are A,E,I,O,U and sometimes Y and the consonants are all of the other letters in the alphabet. In order for your children to be successful readers, they need to know all of the letter sounds and how vowels can change their sounds. It would help your children if you would allow them to sign onto Starfall.com and review their letters every day. Starfall also has fun activities and books to read. I am truly loving getting to know all of your children!

Great Beginning

Last week was a whirlwind during preplanning. I was very excited to meet many students during our community bus tour. Meet and Greet gave me the opportunity to meet more families and students at Norton Park. All of the families are warm and welcoming. I can definitely see that all stakeholders make this a loving community and I can't wait to work with all of my new little scholars in the 2nd grade!

Looking Forward to the 2017-2018 School Year

I am very excited to be a new member of the Norton Park Eagles family and can't wait to meet all of my new families and students! I look forward to a fabulous school year and know we will all work well together to help our children be productive and successful. If you have any questions or need to speak with me, please feel free to contact me at any time @ janet.donald@cobbk12.org.

Fun Facts About Me and My Family:

• My mother's family is French Canadian. She was the last of 14 children, and the first to graduate from high school.

• My father's family is from Lithuania. He served in the U.S. Air Force, and graduated from the University of Connecticut.

• Both of my parents were raised bilingual.

• I have two brothers, one sister, and was born and raised on Long Island, N.Y.  We moved to Michigan when I was 11 years old, and I moved to Georgia in 1989.

• My oldest brother graduated from Georgia Tech and earned his Master's Degree from Kennesaw State University, my second brother graduated from Arizona State University, and my sister graduated from Western Connecticut State University.

• My favorite vacation was in France, and we have also traveled to Scotland, Canada, and Mexico. I have vacationed in 21 out of the 50 United States.

• We love to fish, ride our 4 wheelers, hike, exercise and read. 

• I would love to hear all about you and your families and enjoy receiving letters from students!