Family Writing Project 2015

Today was such a great day! We had our first Family Writing Project after school. Second grade families were invited to participate in a Writer's Workshop and we had such a great time! Meet our families:

We started with snacks (thank you, PTA!)

And then heard a Read Aloud:

And then we were ready to draw and write!

At the end of our time together, we shared our stories...

Such great stories of family traditions, family gatherings, and all things family!

We will be meeting for the next five Wednesdays, so stay tuned for more details! I hope everyone had as much a fun as I did!

Until next time!
Ms. Brezek

Tiger Tips for Parents!

Good afternoon! Hope this blog posts finds you doing well!

Are you like everyone else who uses text messaging as an easy way to communicate with your loved ones? Well, beginning next week, we will be sending out parent tips (we're calling them "Tiger Tips for Parents") via text message to share information about school-related topics with families. There will be various accounts for the messages, and all are facilitated through a website called Remind.

Remind is a great way to stay in touch because then teachers can text parents without sharing personal cell phone numbers. Mrs. Jantz and Ms. Brezek will be sending out texts once a week on a variety of topics all under the umbrella of supporting your child at school. Tips might be about helping your child with homework, information on assessments we use to check your child's progress at school, or their general well-being. All messages have to be 140 characters or less, so sometimes, we might send a web link as well for parents to look at.

Tiger Tips for Parents are going to be set up by grade level and language. Some messages will be different depending on the grade level,  and other messages might apply across a grade span or all grades, so we might send the same to a few grade levels. There will also be an account where Spanish-speaking parents can sign up to receive the text messages in Spanish. The groups are as follows:

• Kindergarten Parents
• 1st Grade Parents
• 2nd Grade Parents
• 3rd Grade Parents
• 4th Grade Parents
• 5th Grade Parents
• Spanish-Speaking Parents

To sign up for these messages, find the image below that matches the group you'd like to join and follow the directions. (You can join more than one group!) After you send the initial text message, you'll be prompted to reply with the parent name. Please include the parent name AND YOUR CHILD'S NAME (see pink bubble below!) so we're aware of which students at each grade level have their parents receiving the messages.

If you have any questions, please email Ms. Brezek at mbrezek@bsd100.org to get more information about signing up!

And now on to the directions....

Kinder Parents: Remember to send the parent name and student name when you reply to the text that asks you who is joining!

1st Grade Parents: Remember to send the parent name and student name when you reply to the text that asks you who is joining!

Second Grade Parents: Remember to send the parent name and student name when you reply to the text that asks you who is joining!

Third Grade Parents: Remember to send the parent name and student name when you reply to the text that asks you who is joining!

Fourth Grade Parents: Remember to send the parent name and student name when you reply to the text that asks you who is joining!

Fifth Grade Parents: Remember to send the parent name and student name when you reply to the text that asks you who is joining!

We are looking forward to getting Tiger Tips for Parents going!

Ms. Brezek & Mrs. Jantz

currently 2015

Happy 2015 everyone! I'm so excited for a new year and for our Blogging Club to continue to learn and grow as writers and bloggers! Today I am sharing CURRENTLY for the Classroom, but a great teacher-blogger named Farley!

To participate in this linky, grab a screen shot of the worksheet below, fill it out, post it to your blog and link up! Then, don't forget to leave comments for the other bloggers!

And without further ado - here's my Currently for January, 2015!

Listening to...Taylor Swift Mash-Up
It's no secret that I love Taylor Swift (I just got tickets to her concert with one of my bff's yesterday!) but now there's a mashup of Blank Space and Style that is awesome. Taylor even tweeted to them that she was obsessed with it - how cool would that be, to have Taylor tweet to you? So amazing! Anyways, here's the video:

Loving....sleeping in!
I don't need to sleep in really late, but if I can not wake up to an alarm that would be awesome! I've been waking up around 8am and that is perfect for me!

Thinking...it was too cold for New Year's Eve!
I think it is supposed to be 0 today and for tonight! We have plans about two blocks from our home, so at least it's a quick walk over there, but to be this cold...with no snow? It seems almost mean! My mom and I skyped today and she said I could come down to West Palm Beach and put some sun tan lotion on, but that's not going to fly since I'm not rich :-) Anyways, I'm bundling up tonight when we go out, because Chicago weather be like:

Wanting...to write a book
One day I will do this. Today is not the day, but you know....got to put the things you want out into the world to make them happen, right? :-)

Needing...my cold to be gone!
It's been three days of sneezing and headaches and feeling bad. Must be on it's way soon!

One Little Word = tenacity
I was going to go with perseverance but when I googled synonyms, tenacity came up and that's better, right? I just want to really stick with my goals this year...like keep on going even when I think I may not be making progress. Tenacity. Sounds good.

Okay Kiddos, it's your turn! Grab this image below (take a screen shot), put it in Power Point, add your ideas with text boxes, and then write a blog post. Don't forget to link it to this post! Looking forward to reading your posts!

Also: One Little Word: What word will guide you through 2015?

(The linky will open on New Years Day!)

An InLinkz Link-up

Christmas Posts

My Tiger Bloggers are so excited for Christmas! Last week I asked them what they want their new link-up to be and they wanted to share their posts about Christmas. Look below this one to check them out, and remember, we always love comments!

An InLinkz Link-up

We are thankful!

Posted by: Ms. Brezek

Thanksgiving is near and it's a great time to think about all the things we are thankful for! Last week, I asked the students in the Tiger Blogging Club to share about a few things they are thankful for. So, please click through the blogs below and see what they have to say! I know I, for one, am so thankful for all the hard work they are putting into their blogs!

An InLinkz Link-up

So Proud of Tiger Bloggers!

Posted by: Ms. Brezek

Good Morning! I hope you are enjoying your long weekend as much as I am! I just have to brag a little bit about our student bloggers - I met with them for 30 minutes on Friday and showed them how to write a post. Over the weekend, not only have they written posts, but they've been commenting on one another's blogs, they have changed the themes of their blogs, and some have even figured out how to make an avatar!

I am so excited for what is to come! Currently I'm looking for other fourth and fifth grade bloggers so they can start to build their network by reading and commenting on one another's blogs!

Parents, teachers, community members - please check out their posts off to the left hand side of this blog (Meet the Tiger Bloggers!) and leave them a comment. Nothing like a comment for a brand new blogger!

Tiger Blogging Club

posted by Ms. Brezek

We have just begun our Tiger Blogging Club here at Emerson! Today 13 students came to our meeting and are underway writing their first blog. You can find all of our blogs listed along the left hand side of the Emerson Community Collaborative Blog! As soon as the kiddos publish their first post, I know they would love feedback from our community - leave them some love in the form of a comment!

Have a great weekend!
Ms. Brezek