VACATION

  I'm super excited for winter break and I hope you are too.  Although I don't have big plans, it will be great to hang out with my family.

     Today we "played" in quite a few learning centers.

Sentence sort

wrote silly sentences

abc order

made plural

matched synonyms

mischievous fella

     We finished up reading Amber Brown is Not A Crayon.  Be sure to have your child tell you all about Amber and Justin.  Have them tell you about their class field trip to China as well.

     Tuesday is a half day and pajama day.  Dismissal will be at 12:30.  Your child may pack a fun party snack and we will have a little celebration during snack time.  FUN!!

     Thank you all for the class gift stuffed with my favorites!  I can't wait to get myself a new outfit and take Mr. Potamis out on a dinner date!  It was very generous of you!

     Best wishes for a fun holiday, wonderful break and New Year full of love and laughter!

 

Gingerbread

     We had fun this past week with gingerbread.  We wrote stories about how we eat them and did an experiment on what would happen if a gingerbread man got wet.  The students were really excited about that.  Mrs. Connors let us borrow her collection of gingerbread books.  Ask your child to tell you about some of them.

     We practiced counting coins.  Please keep practicing at home.

      I missed the Winter Program on Friday but was told that it was fantastic.  In fact, I was told that this years show was the best yet.  I knew our class would steal the show after performing on Thursday for the school.  Those second grader sure can sing.  Their voices are beautiful. 


     Please contact me if you would like to make up your missed conference time. 


     This week will be jammed packed.  We will be writing about a time we spent with someone special, on Thursday we will shop at the school Holiday Workshop, and on Friday we will be walking to the movies.  What fun!


     Your child's school supplies are probably running low.  This time of year is a good time to replenish.  Glue sticks dry out, pencils have been sharpened to stubs, crayons break, folders rip and markers dry out.
   

December

     Can you believe it's December already?   The first trimester has ended and report cards will be sent home next week.  It's important to remember that report cards have changed A LOT.  Grades are related to the Common Core Standards and reflect EVERYTHING that we will learn in second grade not just what was taught thus far.  It's impossible to master a skill that hasn't even been introduced yet.


     Most of you have already signed up for a conference.  Tues. is a half day for conferences and there are conferences on Thursday evening as well.  If you haven't set up a time yet and want to, just let me know. 


     The Wyman Holiday show will be next Friday, Dec. 12, at 9:00.  We have a lot of practicing to do before then but I don't doubt that we will be fantastic.


     On Monday, we had Wingmasters come into school with a show about birds and Native Americans.  It was awesome.  Check out these pictures.

     Have you heard the exciting news yet?  Our class won Walking Wednesday again!  WHOOOHOOO!!!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Hi everyone.  Log into Edline to get directions on how to sign up for a conference.  I'll send a notice, with direction, home tomorrow on how to book a time if you can't log into Edline.

Fun Day

     Today was super fun.  I actually heard more than one student say it was the best day ever.  We started our day baking cornbread.  During recess we set up our desks into tables, put on our Native American headbands and invited Ms. Cotter's class over.  We shared what we were thankful for and feasted on grapes, apple juice and the best cornbread I've ever tasted.  It was delicious and super fun.  Hop over to Edline to check out some great photos.

     Mrs. Carabello visited our class and talked about respecting others.  We made this colorful contract to hang on our classroom door with "keys" to being a good friend.

     After lunch Mrs. Zwicker came to tell us all about her ancestor who was a Pilgrim and came to America on the Mayflower.  How cool is that?  She then brought enough supplies for each child to make an awesome Thanksgiving craft.  I don't want to ruin any surprises, so I'll just let you know that they had to dry therefore they didn't come home today.  We were so thankful to have a family member come and visit our class.  Haley thought it was pretty cool to.  Our door is always open it anyone is feeling inspired!!

     Remember that Wednesday is a half day with dismissal at 12:00.

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

KINDNESS

     Kindness is OUR word!   It seemed like we needed a quick refresher of this.  I made it perfectly clear to everyone that KINDNESS is expected at all times.  We gave examples of how to handle situations where students are around someone not being kind and how being unkind can be really hurtful.  I've even asked Mrs. Carabello, our school councilor, to come chat with our class when she gets a chance.  It never hurts to follow-up with different sources.  I know the students 'got it' and I'm expecting nothing but kindness from here on out.

     We have continued with our Native American legends.  As a class, we are reading a book about Native Americans from different regions of the United States and writing notes on them.  So far we have finished the Northwestern and Southwestern tribes.  Ask you child if they can tell you a fact or two about them.

     We sponged painted leaves today for a beautiful keepsake that will be sent home next week and we made our Native American headdresses for our feast.  On Monday, we will bake cornbread, set a beautiful table and invite Ms. Cotter's class over for a 'feast'.  Apple juice, grapes and cornbread will be on our menu.  (Ms. Cotter's class is baking cornbread too)  It's always lots of fun.  Watch Edline next week for pictures.

     Ms. Cotter's class invited us to their Thanksgiving play yesterday.  WHOOO WHEEE did they do a fabulous job.  We wrote them letters afterward thanking them and shared what we enjoyed most about the production.

     In math, we will be starting money.  DREAD.  Yes I said it, teaching money is DREADFUL.  It seems students either have some experience with it and do fine or have none and struggle.   PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give your child opportunities to practice with money at home.  Students will be super successful if they have some experience.  By second grade, they should already be able to identify coins and know their worth.  We are ready to count it.  Empty out pockets and let them add up your change,  have them count out their piggy banks.  Encourage them to show you different way to make a dollar.  I thank you in advance for your cooperation with this.  (I'll be writing almost the same thing with telling time so be warned)

     Next Wednesday is a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:00 and no lunch will be served.

Veteran's Day

     Hi everyone!  I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather we are having today.  It's a perfect day to have the day off and play OUTSIDE.  Last Friday, the third, fourth and fifth graders put on a Veteran's Day program.  Mr.  Larry Guiseppe was our Veteran speaker.  It was a great program and everyone did a wonderful job.  Mr. Guiseppe talked a bit about Veterans being our real heroes.  We headed back to class and talked more about real heroes, people who do outstanding things to protect us, not just athletes or music stars.  The children then wrote about who they thought were heroes and why.  They have already been sent home and boy did they do a good job.

     We have been reading some Native American legends this week and will continue to do so.  Some of the legends are from the Aberjonian Tribe that lived right here in Woburn.  So far, we've read about a spider who stole the sun and a how a muskrat helped form land on Earth.

     Yesterday, we practiced a little revising.  We took a few boring sentence and "revised" them to make them better.  We did some together and revised this one on our own.  I told the students that I would post some of them for all to enjoy.

The book was good. (original sentence)

The Minecraft book was awesome, interesting and good.

The apple book was so good that I took it home to read every night.

The book about animals was very cute.

I'm reading a book about (Native Americans) and it's great!

I read a book and it was a blast.  

I read a book and it was amazing.

The book is very interesting and amazing!

The red book was wonderful to read!

I read an amazing (Native American) book.

This book was magical and creative. 

I read a book about a super-duper funny ghost!

The car book was the best book in the world!

The dinosaur book was the most interesting thing I've ever read!

     This is the last week to send in can donations for the food pantry castle being created by high school students.

     The student council has started a new "bead" initiative.  We kicked it off with an all school assembly.  Mrs. Carabello read How Full is Your Bucket? and student council members explained about the beads.  Each teacher will be given a bag of beads and if they catch a student doing something amazing, they will give one to him/her.  Once a second grader has earned 8 beads, they can turn them into a bracelet.  It works very much like the Gold Book but now we'll have beautiful bracelets to wear.  

     Every Thanksgiving, the two second grade classes come together for a feast.  We bake corn bread and have some juice and grapes.  VERY FUN.  In the past we've asked for parents to send in supplies needed for our gathering.  This year we thought it would be easier to shop ourselves and ask families to send a bit in to off set the costs.  Be watching for that note to come home.  We haven't done any calculating yet but I'm not expecting it to be much at all.  More on this will follow.  

     

Exciting Week

     We've had the funnest week in school.  Students are CRAZY excited for Halloween every year.  This COULD make for a very long week with lots of frustration but this isn't my first rodeo and I've mastered how to channel that energy into learning FUN.

     To start off the week, our class was BOO'd.  Halloween pencils and erasers were left on our desks.  It was quite a mystery as to who left them and we had lots of suspects (stay tuned this story continues later in post).

     We've finished our unit on spiders.  The children had fun, learned a lot and most importantly, were MOTIVATED.  What's better than that?  Here is our spider bulletin board.

      Miss Kaitlyn, who is Mr. Peter's substitute, was very impressed and left us this note.

     Many children then thought that Miss Kaitlyn was our prime BOO suspect because she's in the school when we are gone and may have seen something.  I told her she was under suspicion and she left us this note the next day. 

     Then guess what?  We got BOO'd again, spider rings, and the class was counting on Miss Kaitlyn to help us solve the mystery.  Let me tell you, she didn't disappoint.  She created a list of hidden clues scattered around the classroom, each with one letter of the culprits name.  Each clue led to a new clue.  What FUN we had searching for clues to solve the mystery.

   These post-its were the clues and look who the BOOer was!  We thank Miss Kaitlyn for making each morning SOOOOOO FUN.

     We also finished reading the Haunted Library.  I picked up a set of these books from Scholastic because they were a dollar.  WHOOO WHEEEE, what a find.  The story was great.  The kids loved it and I did too.  When we finished, I asked the kids to write in their journals about the story.  They could write anything they wanted; favorite part, their opinion, whatever.  Some wanted to continue the story and write more chapters.  Great idea I thought.  It got even better when they were begging me to bring their journals home to write more and asking to write in their free time.  YIPPEE!!!!

     We "played" quite a few Halloween themed learning centers.  We created graphs, sorted spooky nouns, and created ghostly fact families.  

     Creepy Carrots was our book of the week.  I was lucky enough to even have "creepy carrots" for show and tell from Mrs. McEleiney's garden.  We did lots of great activities with this story.  We played with vocabulary, sequenced events and found important story elements.  

     In math, we are still working on those PESKY word problems!!!!  We made it fun this week by scooting around the room to find word problems scattered about on cards to solve.  

     November has started, where does the time go?  REMINDER- NO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY (Election Day).  NO SCHOOL ON NOV. 11 (Veteran's Day).  There will be Veteran's Day Program on Nov. 7th but only 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are performing.   Thanksgiving will be here before you know it.  

Halloween Week

     We have so much going on this week.  Our spider research projects are all most done.  We still have many spider activities planned this week.  I hope we can fit them all in.

Venn diagrams comparing two spiders

One of many spider games

     We are still reading Scaredy Squirrel.  We may have to push him into next week so we can focus on those creepy spiders.  We used describing words last week to make this guessing game.

mystery presents for Scaredy's birthday

     Today we had a super cool science storyteller visit us.  She did some REALLY cool things with dry ice and fire.  The kids LOVED it, be sure to ask them about it.

      Last Friday's PTO Halloween party was a huge success.  The children had a blast and I love seeing them in costumes.  We will have our K-2 Halloween parade/party this Friday.   Have your child pack an extra snack for our party.  Remember, food can not be passed out or shared.  Students should also pack their costumes for the parade.  Make sure they're labeled, we'd hate to loose any pieces.  Please leave the swords, guns, axes etc at home.

     The Wyman is also collecting can goods that will be donated to those in need.  If you have any non-perishable items, send them in.  

Spiders

     We started learning about spiders this week.

     Today we read spider fact cards about nine different types of spiders.  We then broke into small groups to make a Venn Diagram comparing two different types.  Some students started sorting fact and opinion cards about spiders.  We will be working on that all week.  By the middle of next week, each student will have completed a paragraph full of information they've gathered on a specific type of spider and "play" lots of different spider learning centers.  FUN!

     Junie B. had to be returned to the library but not before we finished one more story.  In it, Junie B. thought her brother was a REAL monkey!  We started reading a new spooky story this week. 

We've finished two chapters and I'm excited to see what happens next.  

     Here are some other pictures I have to share. 

place value

syllable sort

even/odd

more place value

synonym matching

creepy spider spotted on board

Photos

     Ever feel like a hamster running on the wheel?  That's how I've been feeling lately.  I'm finally posting some pictures I've been promising.  I apologize for the wait.  Be sure to check out our edline site for some more pictures.

All the students took this pledge

find the missing addends

Is the answer even or odd?

adding three numbers

Our super cool Walking Wednesday trophy

witches fingers to follow along

more missing addends

cool place value dice

Walking Wednesday

     This Wednesday is walking Wednesday.  Children are encouraged to walk or carpool to school.  The class with the highest percentage of walkers get a super cool trophy.  My class didn't win the trophy once last year BOO HOO.  I hope we do this year.

     We have so many things going on in class.  We've been reading lots of stories.  We are currently reading a book titled Second Grade Rules.  Freddy made a new friend and they plan on trick or treating together.  They even thought of cool costumes.  I wonder what will happen next?

     We are also listening to a Junie B Jones story on CD.  Her books are a bit tricky to read because Junie uses baby talk but they are super fun to listen to.  I love Junie's voice.  She is currently hiding so she doesn't have to get on the stupid, smelly bus.

     We've been learning and reading about Christopher Columbus too.  Remember, no school on Monday.  I'm not sure if I'll ever use my pull down map again.  Ask your child to tell that story.  It's funny.

     We finished up our science unit on matter.  We did a few experiments along with it.  Today we placed rocks in water and watched the water rise.  It did this because each form of matter takes up space.  We also had a lot of fun last week trying to see which group could melt an ice cube faster.

     By now we should be experts on using proper punctuation at the end of sentences.  This week we will be writing about a friend.  Let's hope the students punctuate properly.

     If you aren't following the Wyman School on twitter you may be missing out.  Check out @wymanwoburn for the latest happenings.

   

Reading Challenge

     Monday kicked off our Reading Challenge fundraiser.  Mrs. Maloney had an assembly and read the whole school a wonderful story about characters in a book that come to life.  It was called Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook.  Children are asked to read every night and collect sponsor $ to donate to the school.  There are all sorts of activities this week to keep us motivated.  Today was READ ME DAY and students were encouraged to wear words on their clothing.  Wednesday is BRING IN A BOOK FOR SOCIAL CONCERN DAY.  Thursday is PJ DAY and Friday is PATRIOT or RED, WHITE AND BLUE DAY.

     Students have been loving science.  We are experts on solid, liquids and gasses.  We used a balance scale because all matter has mass.  We did an experiment where we put a paper towel into a bucket of water but it didn't get wet.  You can ask your child more about that.

     We did a little Horrible Harry writing.  I forgot the pictures so stay tuned.  We are also going to write a little Horrible Harry adventure of our own this week.

      You child need to know their addition and subtraction facts up to twenty off the top of their head. So while driving in their car ask what's 9+7.  Be sure they are doing extramath as well.  Math will be so much easier if they master those facts.

Horrible Harry

     This week we've been reading Horrible Harry in 2B by Suzy Kline.  We finished it today.  The children really seemed to enjoy it and were begging me to read each day.  Harry does some pretty horrible things but he does one or two good things as well.  Ask your child to tell you all about him.  We have other Horrible Harry books in our classroom library and I was pleased to see some students check them out of the school library today.  We are working on a little Harry writing project now so stay tuned.
     We've also been reading Poppleton stories.  I thought two of them were especially funny.  I liked the one when he was buying a new bed and the grapefruit story.  Poppleton has a funny problem when he eats grapefruit.  Has your child ever tried grapefruit before?  If not consider picking one up.  A taste would certainly explain what happened to Poppleton's lips.  
     We had an official fire drill this week.  The children executed it perfectly.  We were so very quiet, which is important because we need to be able to hear the firemen in case they have special instruction for us.
  On Monday, to kick off of our school reading fundraiser, the Wyman School will be having hat day.  Remind your child to wear his favorite hat to school.

Back to School Night

     This Thursday is Back to School Night for parents, 6-8.  This year is especially important for you to attend because elementary schools are getting an ALL NEW standards based report card.  It's totally different than what you are used to.  Want to learn more about it?  Then be sure to attend this Thursday.

     Student council applications are due Thursday.  One (or two) students from each class is chosen to meet during lunch, a few times throughout the year, and talk about improving our school.  Last year's student council decided to help an animal shelter and started collecting donations for animals.  I explained council to the children and invited anyone interested to take an application.  Mrs. Maloney and Mrs. C will be choosing representatives from each grade on Monday.

     Today we discussed the stages in the writing process and then read The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant.  We admired all the details she used when telling us about her relatives from Virginia.  Boy, did that family like to hug.  We decided to write about a time we may have visited with relatives or friends.  Children met with partners to talk about their experience (prewriting) then started writing (draft) on their own. Cynthia Rylant is also the author of Henry and Mudge books, which we have been reading and Poppleton books which we will be reading.

 
       A student wore this shirt today and I just LOVED it.  I HAD to snap a picture.  Did you know smiles are contagious!  Test that theory out and see.

 
 Mark your calendars.  Tuesday, Sept. 23 is picture day and next Wednesday is a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:30.

Pete The Cat

     We have been having lots of fun with Pete the Cat stories.  Pete is a groovy cat that likes to sing.  I love to sing too so I really enjoy reading his books.  We found a website with some Pete songs, videos and activities.  Click here to check that out.

     Monday we used IXL in the computer room.  Clearly the children used IXL in first grade because they all knew exactly what to do.  We are scheduled to use the computer room Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays 2-2:30.

     Today we read Daddy, Can I Have an Elephant?.   The main character asks for some crazy pets. The students brainstormed other ridiculous pet choices and wrote about one of them.

     The students got into groups to play two different games this week.  In one game, they had to work with a partner to find rhyming words.  In another, they had to put school related words into sentences.  I had to remind almost every one of them that sentences need to begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation.   They shouldn't need reminders much longer.

     I super excited to tell you about our two fabulous new helpers.  Miss Fahey will be in our room 45 minutes a day to help out with reading.......whoo hoo!  Miss Nicole (Wackrow) is a high school senior who will come for an hour before lunch to help our class as well.  I feel so lucky to have them both on our team.

Full Week

     This week is our first full week of school.  I'm expecting that the students (and teachers) will be exhausted before the week is through.  Please try to get your child to bed early this week to help us all get through.

     Tuesday is Election Day.  Which means that only sandwiches will be served for school lunch and your child must order his/her lunch on MONDAY.  Before school, please discuss with your child whether or not they will be buying or bringing lunch on Tuesday so the lunchroom can prepare appropriately.

SUCCESS

     We did it!  We made it through the first day of school.  Everyone came in smiling and left at 2:40 still smiling.....EVEN ME.  It was a great day.
   
      Here's a little bit of our day.  We chose desks, unpacked supplies and colored a picture (there is a good chance that seats are going to be switched around next week).  We played a get to know each other game, practiced a fire drill and lock down.  The students brainstormed about 2nd graders.  We read two books, First Day Jitters and a Pete the Cat book.  Ask your child to tell you about the stories and sing you Pete's button song.  Our Fundation kits are set up and we started building words.  We wrote a bit about ourselves and shared something from our summer.  We even had a classroom scavenger hunt.  WHOOO WHEEEEE  all that plus snack, recess, lunch and a few bathroom breaks.  It was a jam packed day.

     We have recess at 10:20 and lunch at 12:40.  It is a long morning, so be sure to pack a snack to hold them until lunchtime.  Children are also allowed to keep water bottles at their desks.  This might be especially important to keep in mind as I've heard temps could reach 90 degrees tomorrow.

     You may have noticed I sent home some of the pencils and glue sticks.  I had the children keep a few at their desks and told them to bring the rest home and restock their pencil boxes as needed.

     Thank you to all those who returned the STACK of paperwork you received over the summer.  If you haven't done so yet please do ASAP.

     Here are some pictures of our exciting day!   Enjoy!

game

fundations

brainstorming

story (I wonder who had the jitters?)

Last week of summer

     Kids start school a week from TODAY.  Boy, does summer fly by quickly.  I'm sorry if I missed  you on Tuesday sneak peak into school day.  I was on vacation with the family trying to squeeze in as much fun as I could before school starts.  Today, I have to go to a workshop in the afternoon and then teachers "officially" start on Tuesday.  So my summer fun has just about ended, although there is still a long weekend ahead of me.

     I hope everyone has had a fantastic summer and is looking forward to second grade!!!!

WORK

     I admit it.  I don't like that word.  I REALLY like my summer care free life but all good things must come to an end.  And although I don't like 'work', I do love my job.  This week I have gone in every day to get things ready.  My kitchen table is overflowing with paper and my spare bedroom full of boxes.  Here are some pictures of the progress I've made.

     I've had a chance to meet some of the new Wyman staff..........fabulous people and we are lucky to have them on board.

    THIS is the most exciting school story I have so far.  There is a big window in the hallway outside of my classroom.  I noticed something stuck on the outside of it.  (OUTSIDE being the most important word of that sentence.)  Upon further investigation, it was a BAT.  Sound asleep in the  middle of the day on the window screen.  Here are some pictures.

From the inside looking out

From the outside looking in

     Miss Ginger our new, super awesome custodian took the outside picture.  I wasn't going to get that close.  Believe it or not, he was cute, about the size of a tennis ball.  Miss Ginger and I called him our pet and I named him Stellaluna.  If you haven't read that book yet, no worries we will this year.  The next day he was gone.  He must have found a darker, more appropriate place to sleep the day away.

      I'm off to school again this morning to cross more things off my to do list.  The weekend is supposed to be wonderful (and I've got Sox tickets) so I'll be back in my summer care free zone.