This year I will be using Remind as an easy way to communicate quick reminders or information to the class. It's similar to using the "Parent Alert" system the district uses for district-wide info, but will be specifically for our classroom. If you'd like to subscribe to these messages, please click here and follow the directions. You can choose either text message or email.
Safety note: Remind is a one-way text messaging and email system. With Remind, all personal information remains completely confidential. I will never see your phone number, nor will you see mine. Visit remind.com to learn more.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
Welcome, new friends!
Dear Second
Grader and Family:
Welcome to 2nd grade at Parkway Elementary School, friends!
My name is Mrs. Howell, and I will be
your second grade teacher. I am so
excited to learn together with you this year!
I look forward to building a community of learners in our classroom.
Here’s a
little bit of my background as an educator and a learner. I graduated from Missouri Western State
University (College, at the time!) in 2004 with a Bachelor's Degree in
Education. I graduated in the summer of 2010 from Northwest Missouri
State University, where I received my Masters' Degree in Elementary Education
Administration. Before coming to 2nd
grade at Parkway in the fall of 2012, I taught for seven years at Lake Contrary
Elementary, in 3rd grade, 2nd grade, and music K-6. I am thrilled to be back in 2nd
grade at Parkway again this year- it is such an exciting time to watch students
grow as learners.
I know we will
get to know each other this year, but here are just a few more fun facts about
me. My family and I live with three silly cats named Poppy, Posie, and
Periwinkle, and last year we added a Chinese Crested powderpuff (dog) named
Maxwell to our household. In my spare time, I love to read, have coffee with
friends, and do some painting. I also enjoy traveling, and hope to someday
visit Italy. My husband and I are also adult sponsors of a local musical organization
called The New Generation Singers, and we enjoyed touring with them this past
summer!
If you ever
have a question or concern, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can reach me by email at emily.howell@sjsd.k12.mo.us, or call me at school at 671-4310 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Parkway
updates and class information will come home periodically in our classroom
newsletter.
I love
learning, and look forward to seeing our class continuously grow and learn
together this year! I look forward to meeting you and
seeing all of your smiling faces at Back to School Night, and beginning a great
year of learning!
Enjoy your
summer! Welcome to second grade, friends!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Howell
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Honoring Our Veterans
We invite you and your
families to join us at Parkway next Monday morning, November 11th,
at 9:30 a.m. for a very special assembly to honor veterans and active military
as we recognize Veterans’ Day. Our class made a “thank you, veterans” display
for the hallway, and we are looking forward to having several of our military
friends visit the classroom on Monday following the assembly. We’ve had some
great class discussions about the many freedoms we have in our country- I hope
you can also take this time to have some family discussions about the many
blessings we have in the United States, and all of the men and women who have
defended those freedoms!
~ Mrs. Howell (proud
Army wife)
Sunday, November 3, 2013
News and notes...
A new month has begun,
which means another opportunity to earn a Book-it certificate for a free
personal pan pizza! The new calendar is coming home today.
Thank you so much to all
the parents and friends who helped out at the Halloween party! We all had a
great time. Special thanks to Mrs. Parsons for coordinating all the
festivities!
It’s the time of year
when the weather is very tricky for dressing, but please help your child make a
wise choice about what to wear to school. We will always have outside recess as
long as it is not raining/snowing and the weather is above 32 degrees.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Updates!
Parkway tutoring ended
this week. Huffman tutoring will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Parent-teacher
conferences are next Tuesday and Wednesday. Please do your best to be on time
for your appointment. I look forward to meeting with each of you next week!
Panther Paws…Our
class had a great time this week going to Bartlett Park to celebrate earning 100 Panther Paws! Be sure
to ask your child how he or she is helping our class earn some “paws” toward
our next celebration!
Monday, October 7, 2013
News and Notes...
If you have not yet returned the parent-teacher conference form, please send yours back to school as soon as possible. I will try to accommodate requests as much as possible, and the sooner you request a time, the better.
Book-its!!! You will
notice that I will no longer send a nightly reading log as part of the
homework. You and your child can keep track of their minutes on the Book-it
calendar I sent home earlier this week, and at the end of the month they can
return the completed calendar in exchange for a Book-it certificate for a free
personal-pan pizza.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Daily 5
In second grade, we use the Daily 5 during
Readers' Workshop as a structure to make sure all students are engaged
and actively learning. We are busy in second grade learning strategies
for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary as we
read, and we are spending time building stamina to be able to read
independently for a length of time! Today we practiced rotating through the different components of Daily 5, including Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, and Word Work. These are great structures for helping students be productive learners during independent and partner work time, while a small group of students is doing Guided Reading with the teacher. Here are some pictures of our class practicing the Daily 5 during Readers' Workshop!
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| Read to Self |
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| Word Work |
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| Read to Someone |
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| Read to Someone |
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| Work on Writing |
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| Read to Self |
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| Read to Someone |
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| Read to Someone |
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| Read to Someone |
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| Word Work |
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| Word Work |
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| Read to Self |
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| Read to Self |
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| Read to Self |
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