With the first half of the year done, it is now time for parent-teacher conferences! We will not be having school on Tuesday because that is the day of conferences. Like last time, I would like the students to be at the conference. I look forward to seeing the parents and students on Tuesday, and I hope everyone enjoys their day off. By the way, be sure to bring in some spare change for our school-wide fundraiser to support the people in Haiti.
As for last week, we were busy as always. In reading we finished up the Harcourt story about William Joyce: a famous author and illustrator. Now we will spend this upcoming week reading Satchmo’s Blues. After reading the students’ extended responses from the last story, I have noticed a lot of improvement. However, there are some things that we can still get better at. We will take the time next week to continue working on the timed extended responses.
In writing, we spent a lot of time breaking down the extended responses, but now it is time to move on. I think the students know what needs to go into those. Now we will get back to the prompt writing we started a few weeks back. We have already learned the AB & C of the steps to prompt writing, but now we will move onto actually writing the prompt and completing step D. Throughout the year we have definitely developed into great young writers, so I am excited to see how we will progress the second half of the year.
In social studies, we had the test on the causes of the American Revolution. Like our last test from the 13 colonies, this was a very difficult test. The students were required to recall what they learned from the other student presentations, and use it to answer some higher level, short-answer questions. Now that we are done learning about the causes, we are going to delve into the actual revolution itself. Each student has been assigned a partner, and they will work together to research a specific part of the war. Then after a few days of research, they will put together a presentation and deliver it to the class. I am excited to see what the students come up with, and hopefully I will learn something new like I did last time.
Celebrations
-100% on Unit 19 Spelling Test
Aimen, Kara, Hannah C., Hannah F., Dominic, Gabby, Max, & Landon
-100% on Shakespeare test
Brenna, Victoria, & Megan
-Max completed all the levels in Otter Creek!
-Gabby qualified for a national competition in swimming!
-Julia spent the weekend in Indiana for a big swim meet!
About Mr. Johnson
- 2J Brooks Blog
- This is my second year as a 2nd grade teacher at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School. I spent my first two years at Brooks as a 5th grade teacher, but I am excited for the change. I graduated from North Central College in June of 2008 and I spent the following few years as a TA and substitute in District 204. My wife is also a teacher! She teaches 4th grade in Yorkville. Outside of school, I spent the last four years as a wrestling coach at North Central College. However, I recently accepted a coaching position at Waubonsie Valley High School, and I will be coaching there this year. I also spend a lot of time furthering my own education. I am currently completing a masters program at Aurora Univeristy in Educational Leadership. I am so excited to start back up this year, and I am looking forward to watching my class grow as students, children, and soon-to-be 3rd graders!
5th Grade Dream Team
Ms. Horst, Ms. Henderson, Mrs. Duval, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Morgan
My Wife!!!
She is also a teacher. She teaches 4th grade in Yorkville. We are actually buying a house in Yorkville, and we will be all moved in after Spring Break!!!
NCC Wrestling Team
Click on the picture to go to our website. This is a picture from the wrestling team that I coach for. Since I have been there, we have gone 50-17-1 in duals and won 3 straight conference titles. We have had 11 national qualifiers, 8 All-Americans, and finished in top 20 every year at nationals. We are starting to wrap up the season and things are getting crazy. While we are ranked pretty high this year, I am still getting a little nervous for the post season. We have conference coming up on February 10th, our national qualifier February 29th, and then nationals! It has been a crazy season, and I'm anxious to see how we will do when it counts.
