Fun Times in Second Grade!

Chase and Evan worked as engineers to build a house.  According to the boys, "it's a mansion!"  They even made a blueprint :)

The students researched the anatomy of a pumpkin, labeled the parts, and completed a venn diagram to compare/contrast two pumpkins

Luke made a snack which include marshmallows (ghost poop), candy corn (goblin teeth), cinnamon toast crunch (monster scabs), and chocolate chips (witch warts)!

Hutton and Graham completed a Halloween word search :)

Josh also made a special snack!

Tayla practiced place value (standard form, picture drawing, expanded form, and number word)  

The students enjoyed playing this game with book buddies!

Ada and James chose an adjective to describe a pumpkin and decorate!

Message from Mrs. Graf

"The Office of Magnet Programs is hosting its annual Magnet and Early College Fair on Saturday, November 1 at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High Schools 9am - 12pm. 5th and 8th grade families are encouraged to attend to explore their magnet middle and high school options. All early colleges including the new Vernon Malone College and Career Academy will also be in attendance. There will be staff and parents who can answer questions along with school tour schedules. For more information call the Office of Magnet Programs" Thank you, Mrs. Graf

Message from Ms. McCool

Parents, The Banks Road Book Fair will run from November 6th - 14th. During this time, all students will be given time to come through and preview the items available for purchase and make a wish list of items the would like to buy. Parents can then look over their students' wish lists and either come in to buy with them or send in money with their students so that they can come in and make their purchases on their own. If you send in a check, please make it payable to the Banks Road PTA and do NOT include sales tax. If you are interested in helping out at the Book Fair, please feel free to sign up at the following link, http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409044da4ae2ca46-banks. The signup will be updated shortly so that you can see when your student's class will be attending their preview. There is also access to our Book Fair online through Scholastic.com. The online fair is available from October 31st - November 20th. Also in regard to the Book Fair, there are a number of our students who are not able to afford to buy a book. During the Book Fair, we will be accepting financial donations for the "All For Books" program. These funds will be used to buy books for these students. If you want to contribute to this program, please send in these donations labeled "All For Books". These funds must be received by Thursday, November 13th so that the books can be purchased and delivered to these students on Friday, November 14th. Last year, we held a coin drive and we raised almost $1000 which enabled us to put one new book in every student's hands. Due to the timing of the Book Fair this year, we are unable to conduct the coin drive. Your donations to this program are greatly appreciated! Thank you very much for your help and participation in the Book Fair.

Additional Questions for Written Response Homework

Students may choose to continue using the question stems they have been using for homework or they may choose new questions from the list below. If your child is reading a chapter book, please focus on responding to one chapter only-not the entire book. As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Describe a character using details from the story. Describe the problem and solution. What was the cause and effect? What lesson does _____ teach? Using the picture on page ___, describe how _____ feels. Identify 3 text features used in the book. Explain the information you learned from the text features. What lesson does this story teach? Use details from the story in your answer. What could be another title for this book? The author says _____. Use information from the book to explain why this is true. Explain why _____ is a good title for this book. Use details from the story in your answer. Describe the main idea of this text. Use 3 key details to support your answer. What lesson did _____ learn from this story? Use details from the story to indicate the lesson learned. Describe the events at the end of the story that solved the problem. Identify 2 character traits and how those traits were related to the _____ in the story. Explain how _____feels at the end of the story. Use a detail from the story to explain. At first, how does ___ feel about ___? How does he/she feel about it later? Use a detail from the story in your answer. Write 2 reasons that _____ happened. Use details from the story to explain your answer. Explain why the author wrote this book. Use at least 2 key ideas from the book in your answer. Is _____ a good title for this story? Use details from the story to explain your answer. Describe the effects of ___. Use at least 2 key details from the book in your answer. Summarize the story and the lesson it teaches. The author says _____. What is another word to describe _____? Explain why you chose this word. Explain 2 key ideas from this book. Use a detail from the book to support each key idea.

Specials for October and November

Specials for October and November Monday-PLUS Tuesday-Media Wednesday-Art Thursday-PE Friday-Music

FYI-Volunteering for field trips and in the classroom

Volunteer Program-- Programs Closes to Mondays at the end of the Month Trailblazers, We have great volunteers at Banks and want to continue to have our parents and community stakeholders in our building and classrooms supporting students. In order to volunteer in our school, each person must go through the volunteer registration and reactivation process. Please see the information below regarding this process. Please call the school with any questions regarding reactivating your volunteer status or completing the initial volunteering process. Thank you, Mrs. Graf Reactivation for Continuing Volunteers • All continuing volunteers approved for the 2013-2014 school year MUST reactivate as a volunteer no later than 4:00 p.m. on October 31, 2014. Volunteers may go to any WCPSS site and register through the intranet. Access to the volunteer system is: WCPSS Intranet – Business Applications – Volunteer Registration. • After October 31, 2014, individuals previously approved may not volunteer without a new criminal record check. To avoid unnecessary costs to the school system, continuing volunteers are encouraged to reactivate early in the school year – and no later than October 31, 2013. • The volunteer system will be open daily for reactivation/registration from July 1, 2014, through October 31, 2014 for 24 hours a day. • From November 3, 2014, through May 18, 2014, the volunteer system will be open on Mondays only, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. However, during this time period, the volunteer system will be closed on the following Mondays: November 10, 2014, December 22, 2014, December 29, 2014, and January 19, 2015.

Message from Mrs. LaPlace

Celebrate in December! I am sure you have already heard the students singing at home about Las Posadas, Christmas, Kwanza, and Hanukah! Throughout the school, the students are working on a performance in December. Each grade level is learning about different celebrations and holidays in December. Every grade level will have a performance for their family members. Who- Grades k,1 and 2 Where- Multi purpose room When- Track 1 and 3 December 4 9:30 am -10:30 am Track 2 and 4 December 18 9:30 am -10:30 am Who – Grades 3,4 and 5 Where- Multi Purpose Room When- Track 1 and 3 December 4 6:30 pm Track 2 and 4 December 18 6:30 pm Please email me at lloftin@wcpss.net if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you, Lee Loftin LaPlace Music Specialist Banks Road Elementary

PTA Events

Our PTA has tentatively planned Movie Night for December 1st (time to be announced at a later date). October 23rd: Family Fitness Night: This night is co-sponsored by the Kraft YMCA. The event will be held from 5:30-7:30 in the MPR. There will be vendors including CrossFit, Jazzercise, The Strong Center, Jess Dance Fitness and more. Admission is FREE for our Trailblazer students and families. October 28th: Spirit Night at Interskate Rink on 401. This was our highest attended Spirit Night last year with a total of 477 Trailblazers students and families in attendance!!! The fun begins at 5:00 and you can skate the night away until 8:00 p.m. Last year the admission included pizza and a drink. I do not have the details about the admission fee or what it includes at this time. As soon as our PTA finalizes this event, I will be sure to share this information with you.