Miss Prucha's Class: 2008

Me in a nutshell:

My name is Arden Prucha and I will be teaching 2nd grade at J.A. Hargrave in the 2008-2009 school year. I graduated in the spring of 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education -Magna Cum Laude! I have taught 3rd grade for the past two years at Hargrave and am excited to teach a new grade! When I was younger I realized how much I loved children and my childhood friends would tell you I was a teacher then; always bossing the younger ones around. I had another passion when I was young that has been hidden until recently and that is photography. I love being able to capture blessed and pertinent moments in other's lives. It is my gift that I use to tell stories through art by capturing hearts onto a piece of glossy or matte paper. I am a mother to a beautiful and kind soul. His name is Pierson and he will be five in November. His gifts are compassion and unconditional love that he gives generously to all he comes in contact with. I would say that I am doing everything I ever dreamed of as a child: teaching, photography, and motherhood. I am a very lucky and blessed young woman.
A few cool things about my job are:
1. I am able to work with children everyday and can often act like one myself (woohoo).
2. I am so fortunate to work with the best sister and "Teacher of the Year," Nicole Tomme.
3. Our day flies by because we have so much fun in the classroom - I truly feel that being called "weird" is an honor and I use that as a key teaching tool in our classroom.
4. My school has an amazing staff who is supportive, funny, and friendly.
5. I learn just as much as my students learn, if not more, each day.

12/16/08

Week 16:

Woohoo for our 1st semester coming to an end! This week's spelling words are a lot more fun and each child was able to submit a word that reminds them of holidays, winter, or Christmas. Here is what our class came up with:

holiday, snow, snowman, present, tree, Santa, gingerbread, Christmas, Rudolph, angel, snowball, party, winter, reindeer, sleigh, Comet (reindeer), travel, stockings, North Pole, cookies

We are learning about shapes this week. Here are great websites to help enforce their knowledge:
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/shape.htm#Shapes
http://www.interactivestuff.org/match/maker.phtml?featured=1&id=15
http://www.computerlabkids.com/shapes.htm

Also we are still focusing on temperature, so be sure to help them read thermometers!
This week in reading we are studying Holiday books and will read THE POLAR EXPRESS and watch the movie for a compare and contrast lesson.

12/10/08

Great Website:

Brainpop Jr. and Brainpop are great websites with videos made just for childre to explain many things they will learn in school. You have to have a membership to watch the videos, unless you sign up for the free 2 week trial.

Now for the reason I am posting... Brainpopjr.com has a word wall with the spelling, saying, and definition for tons of words broken up by category! They also have lots of games that go over much of the stuff we learn about. This is a great website for them to PLAY on and learn all at the same time!

brainpopjr.com

and for more advanced

brainpop.com

12/9/08

Door Decorating Contest:

You all participated in our "College Door Decorating Contest." I received all of the stars that your children wrote on and decorated on why college is important and what it means to them. I began school as Texas Tech and graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of Texas at Arlington. I cannot stress to them how badly I want them to go to college.

Let's help that be their goal in life!

We didn't win the contest, but everytime we walk in our room they see a reminder of how I became their teacher and how they can be whatever they want by furthering their education!

Holiday Party:

I sent a note home today about the Holiday Party on Friday, December 19th. I am asking you to donate a certain item that will go with our holiday party schedule. It is going to be a hectic day, but we are going to have fun! We have a choir perfrom for us right at 8:00 and then the children are dismissed at 10:15 - so somewhere in between our celebration will be in full swing!

Please let me know if you would like to volunteer, send extra items, cannot send your item, or if you have any other questions!
arden.prucha@crowley.k12.tx.us

This Week...

We are learning about:

CAPACITY; the amount a container can hold. Have your child help you cook at home. Bring out a can of tuna and a can of soup - ask them questions about the amount of food inside. You can use mearsuing cups, gallons, pints, liters, measuring spoons, medicine cups, bottles, and anything else that can hold a liquid to help.

Weight; tells how heavy an object is.

Mass; the amount of matter in an object (that amount never changes)

If you have a scale for people or food at home have them compare weight of objects. Have them estimate with their hands at first - which one is heavier? Then have them use an accurate tool, or a scale, to figure out the answer. As far as mass talk to them about how a marble is heavier than a tiny bouncy ball because the glass if heavier than rubber. A beach ball may look bigger than a basketball, but the basket ball is heavier because of it's mass.

"OO" Sound - using -ew new, -ou soup, -u_e dude, -oo cool

have them list as many words using the letter combos above that make the OO sound!

Contrations - "hasn't" is HAS + NOT = HASN'T

I tell them to think of it as "a word" plus "a word" = the new word (with an ')

Temperature: keep practicing temperature at home! Texas weather is great because it can be cold one day and warm the next. This will help them read a thermometer that may differ from day to day!

Timelines and Transportation: have your child make a timeline of their life, year, week, day, etc. Describe to them the differences in transportation that you have experienced in your life!

12/8/08

Spelling Week 15

Mon- Write 3 times each
Tue- Use the words in a sentence.
Wed-Rainbow spelling
Thur- Write the word and a word that is opposite to that word.

List:
I'll, I'm, can't, didn't, she's, he's, best, sometimes, spoon, through, across, either, toward

Bonus Words:
*island
*J.A. Hargrave

12/2/08

Spelling Week 14 & Other Studies

Focus is a controlled R sound using -ar:
Arm - Farm - Park - Barn - Hard - Start - City - Place - Riding - Moving

Bonus (we are learning about measurement in math):
*Measurement *Thermometer

Please practice thermometer reading and using rulers for measurement. Thermometers can count by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's. They have a difficult time figuring out what each mark means on a thermometer and how to figure out what to count by. They should be able to tell the difference between centimeters and inches while using a ruler to measure.

11/20/08

We read stories about spiders this week. One of our stories was non fiction and taught the children about different types of spiders and how they are different from insects. The other story was a fictionaly story that was silly about a spider hiding in a melon. They really enjoy stories about crazy creatures. It is nice to have their focus in reading and you can tell what 2nd graders love to read and learn about! One of the focuses was sequencing so we created a "How to Make a Spider Web" paper and they were able to create their own uniqe web using black construction paper, a white crayon, Elmers Glue, and a fuzz ball spider. They turned out so cute. It was funny that the children who used TOO MUCH glue actually had the most detailed web in the end!

11/10/08

Sad News

I just wanted to inform you all that Miss Rhonda lost her battle with a brief illness. She joined the Lord on Saturday morning at home with her family by her side. She was a very dedicated worker and loved the children at Hargrave. She had a very witty, dry, and hilarious personality. Hargrave's cafe is not as bright with her absence.

We love and miss you Miss Rhonda!

Spelling Week 12

cage
face
huge
page
tease
twice
until
enough
teachers'
men's
call
full
heard
*government
*November

11/5/08

Don't Forget:

Our School Carnival is this Saturday - November 8th. It is from 11am-4pm and will include climbing walls, turkey legs, nachos, boy scout bridge, uniform sales, and bounce houses! Please join us. I am working the 1:30 -4? shift. Come celebrate and help our school raise money while enjoying great family fun!

p.s. the weather is too lovely to pass this up :)

Learning Manners:

Our dear cafe gal, Miss Rhonda, has been and is very ill. Our class made a book of get well notes for her that someone deliver for us. From what I heard it made Miss Rhonda happy and thankful. The children learned words to use and not use in get well notes and were able to understand why we send kind messages to people who are ill.

Alrighty I FINALLY am able to upload these little apple babies! Editing and shrinking of photos was not top priority the past month+. I finally had to just do it and here they are.

Introducing the PRUCHAPPLESEEDS:

9/29/08

Apples are the name Tasting was the game:

Well Happy Belated Johnny Appleseed Day! Let me start by thanking each family who contributed to a super duper successful celebration of our beloved apple man. We had a wild and crazy day full of everything apples. We began the day by starting our very own homemade batch of apple sauce! I have become an applesauce makin' machine and it is such an easy crock-pot recipe that is fast, tasty, and SAFE!

After the applesauce was well on its way, we made Johnny Appleseed puppets!

Then we made apple art patterns using cut up apples. They were able to create their very own pattern using whichever apple pieces and paint they desired.

Lastly we read about Johnny Appleseed while tasting multiple different apple snacks! We voted out of store-bought or homemade applesauce and woohoo our homemade came out on top! I also believe that the class voted the Sour Straws the class favorite of the apple snacks - hmm sugar anyone? Special thanks to Mrs. Dustin and Mrs. Hobbs who made it totally possible to have this crazy, wild, fun, and exhausting day. Here are some images that Mrs. Dustin took of my students as "Johnny Appleseed" who wore no shoes on his feet and a pot on his head: (they'll be posted soon)

9/23/08

Share Because YOU Care:

We read a poetry and story that were written about sharing. The students assignment was to write what they share and why it's important to share. I began by modeling how it is important for me to share my cooking skills - because neither Mr. Jenkins nor Pierson can cook. Without my meals they would either starve or become broke from spending money at restaurants.