Scaredy Squirrel

     We have been having lots of fun with Scaredy Squirrel.  Scaredy is afraid of EVERYTHING and we've been reading stories about his adventures.  We created our own squirrels this week and wrote about them today.  I expected at least three sentences that had proper punctuation and capitalization.  I was very please with how they came out.  I hope you had a chance to read about your student's squirrel today.

presents for Scaredy

class of squirrels

     In science we have been learning about living and non-living things and what all living things need to survive.  We also read about the life cycle of frogs.

     Social studies has been lots of fun.  Mr. Larry Guiseppe did an excellent job speaking with our students at the Veteran's Day program.  We have also been comparing and contrasting our lives to that of Pilgrim children long ago.  Ms.  Cotter has invited us to her Thanksgiving play next week which is always a smash hit.  I'm looking forward to that.

     Math is getting tricky.  Finding unknown addends is hard stuff:  ex 5+___=9.  If you are noticing your child struggling,  please give them a little extra support at home.

dice math game

     This week, I had a sight word game focusing on long vowels.  We haven't formally studied them yet but have touched on them a bit, mostly v-e words like "cake".  I knew it would be hard but the students told me they were up for the challenge.  I paired the students up and off they went to play.  They rocked it.  Yes, many were tricked on words like boat (they wanted to make a sound for "a") but after a quick mini-lesson they had it.  I even heard a student who doesn't particularly like new, challenging things say "this is actually fun".  WHOO HOOO.......way to make a teacher's day!!!!!

tricky long vowel fun

     Head over to our edline account to see pictures of our Halloween party.  Freeze dance......so fun!!!

Halloween Fun

     We are having lots of fun spreading the Halloween fun throughout our curriculum.  We can't get enough.  We have been writing up a storm and I'm seeing improvement with each piece.  Children should know what a sentence is, start them with capital letters, and end them with punctuation.  We will be working more on when to use a question mark in the upcoming weeks.

     We played lots of math games.  Smash it subtraction was a huge hit.  Students walked around the room looking for subtraction sentences.  They then used play-doh to build and smash to find the answer.  Super fun.

     We played both an addition and subtraction game with these fun erasers.

     We have also been making fun fact families with halloween cards.

     Bats have been a hot topic this week.  We painted bats using some of our million paper plates.  We will make pumpkins with more plates tomorrow.  We charted our opinions of bats and read both non-fiction and fiction books about bats.  We even gave Miss Sarah and her dad homework tonight.  After reading Stellaluna, Miss Sarah told us that she and her dad LOVE that book.  The students were writing whether or not they thought the birds and bats would remain friends so we asked Miss Sarah and her dad to write their opinions as well.  I can't wait for everyone to share their thoughts tomorrow.  

     Here is a photo I wanted to share last week of our class being invaded by Creepy Carrots.  

  

   I promised the students I would post these pictures from last summer.  They can explain.  What do you think about this bad?  Creepy or cute?

     We will be having our Halloween party/parade on Friday.  Remember to send an extra snack for  your child and his/her costume to school.  Next Tuesday, Nov. 3rd is election day and NO SCHOOL. Please mark your calendars.  

     

     HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Moving Along

     Middle of October already!  Can you believe it?  We are moving right along in first grade. (I  know the title of this blog still says second grade, I'm going to leave it that way for a while simply because it's a lot of work to figure out how to change it and I just do not have the time.  I'm sure you all hear that.)

     I haven't had a chance to introduce to Miss Sarah.  Sarah Kenton is a high school senior/track star who helps out in our class from 11:30 to 12:30 each day.  It's fantastic to have an extra set of hands and she's invaluable in giving students a little extra help they may need to get through a lesson.  How lucky are we?  She is awesome.

     We have been reading up a storm and I cannot believe how far we've grown already.  I hope you are taking time each night to read with your child.  It makes a world of difference.  You reading aloud or him/her to you, it's all good.

     Students have been super busy.  We've been adding by counting up.  Ask your child to explain how they circle the largest number and use their fingers to count from there.  It's working like a dream.   Next stop, subtraction.  I hope it goes as beautifully.

     We learned about Christopher Columbus and made maps of our wing of the school.  Students made fact webs in groups of an animal and have been doing lots of writing.  I'm so proud of them.

     Halloween is sneaking up on us.  What is more fun than Halloween to a child?  The excitement is exhausting contagious and I will tap into it to motivate our little ghosts and goblins.

     Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

reading CVC words (consonant, vowel, consonant)

sorting short vowel words

reading CVC words with a friend

dice rhyming game
(rhyme at home)

-at word search

     I hope to write again soon......BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Pete and Clark

     We've had lots of fun with literature this past week.  We continued reading Pete the Cat books.  Do students ever get sick of Pete?  "Goodness, No!!!"  That quote is from Pete himself.  We also looked up some fun Pete videos and songs on line.  Click HERE for Pete's website.   You will find some fun stuff to check out.

     Clark the Shark was a class favorite too.  He's a BIG shark that has started school and wants to do good but sometimes he's just not sure how.  We had fun reading about some of his adventures.

     In math, students have been making lots of partners.  The partners of 6 are 1+5, 2+4, 3+3, 4+2, and 5+1.  We have also been doing some simple addition and subtraction problems.  Practice with your child at home you can use small object (like cereal, paperclips etc) as counters if you need to.

     We also have been writing and reading!  Very exciting stuff.  Children have been writing sentences every day and they just keep getting better and better, longer and longer.  Whoo hoo!

     Reminder, Tuesday is picture day and Thursday is a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:30.

First Full Week

   
      The first full week was lots of fun and I think we are all getting  into the new routine.      We did a lot of reading.  We read the big book Lunch by Denise Flemming and completed lots of activities to go along with it.    In this story, a hungry mouse does a lot of eating.  We created a chart sequencing the foods Mouse ate and their colors.  We created charts of foods that are specific colors.   On another day, we identified the nouns from the story.  We extended that by creating a noun chart of our favorite things.  Mrs. Maloney even added her favorite person~Mr. Maloney.  We then created a favorite thing noun book.

     I started to read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.  It is the MOST ADORABLE story of a raccoon, Chester, who is nervous about starting school so his mom kisses his hand and it spreads love all he way to the whiskers on his mask.  This book is so cute that my heart just fills with so much love that my eyes tear up when I read it (that how explained it to the kids~I'm such a softie) so I stopped reading and Ms. Smith our classroom neighbor and ELL teacher came over and finished it.  Well, it seems I'm not the only softie.  We passed around the tissue box as Mrs. Smith finished the story.  Later in the week, we read A Pocket Full of Kisses by the same author.

     We also read Pete the Cat.  He is one groovy cat who was "rocking in his school shoes".  We will read more stories about him.  They are lots of fun.

     We have been practicing correct letter formation and identifying consonants, vowels and the sounds they make.  We played some "games" with popsicle stick sight words.  We wrote about ourselves and have been making partners of 10 (1+9, 2+8, 3+7 etc).  Ask your child about the rainbow I drew and the colored number on the bottom.   I brought in some shoes and used them to encourage picking a book that is the perfect fit, a book that interests you and you can successfully read.  I used shoes of different sizes and purposes to demonstrate not every shoe "book" is the perfect fit for everybody and that it A-OK.

looks a little like my bedroom floor :-(

ten partner game

thought football fans would like this picture from my son's soccer tourney

   

First Day

     We did it, we made it through the first day.  I think it was a huge success.  I'm basing that solely on the fact that nobody (including me) cried!

     Our day was jam packed.  As soon as students entered, they chose a desk and completed a coloring page as we all got settled.  Then we unpacked our backpacks.  The kids were so excited for DESKS!!!  Who knew that would be so cool?  I never dreamed desks of your own could be so exciting........they loved them and I LOVED their enthusiasm for them.  We then met on the rug to read First Day Jitters.  It's a story about Sarah's first day of school with a surprise ending.  Ask your child to tell you about it.  We also made a class chart of first graders.

     We then played a game to get to know each other.  It was lots of fun.  That lead us to snack and recess.  After recess, we made a book and practiced reading it to ourselves and a partner.
Be sure to have your child read it to you.

     We then wrote our names and ABC's on a special paper that will go in "their" folder.  I told them this is a special folder for them that I will give them on the last day of school so they can see how much they have grown and learned.

     After that, it was time for lunch.  We practiced a fire drill and emphasized how important it is to be quiet during one to ensure we hear any directions from the firefighters.  To end the day, we completed an apple core project where we wrote our opinions of the first day.

     All in all, it was a super fun day with a terrific group of kids.  I enjoyed every minute of it (although I could have done without the heat).   Ask your child how I helped them cool down.
   
     FYI:  This Friday is gym, dress appropriately.

   

Sweet Dreams

     This is it.  The first day of school is tomorrow.  It's so hard to sleep with all the nerves excitement.  The classroom is ready and first grade is going to be lots of fun.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning.  Be ready to tell me all about your summer and be sure to bring a water bottle to keep at your desk.  It's going to be hot.  SWEET DREAMS.

Summer Fun

     Hi everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your summer.  I am but I don't love how it goes by so quickly.  I've been "busy" reading books, hanging out with friends, going to Red Sox games and just relaxing.   I will tell you that Fenway is a tad more fun when the team is WINNING.

      We took the boys to Myrtle Beach to meet our besties from South Carolina for a week.  It was so much fun.  The ocean water is toasty warm and the waves are super fun.  We had a blast.  We even got to meet this handsome guy on our way to the beach.  

Okay.........so he wasn't very handsome but we were excited to see him.  

      Everyone knows that I am switching to first grade next year.  I'm very excited about that.  This does not mean I'm going to change the name of this blog.  I've decided to keep the Brilliant in 2nd Grade (at least for now) to make things easy on my faithful followers.   Also, please share this blog with any first grade families you may know.   I'd love to have them follow me as well.

     Woburn schools have switched to a new email system.  Staff will now be able to be contacted at username@woburnps.com.  Staff usernames will be the same as they were last year.  Typically first initial and last name.  I'm kpotamis.  Feel free to drop me a line.

       Starting to shop for back to school supplies?  Be sure to check out the Wyman page on EDLINE to find your supply list for each grade.  

     School starts on WEDNESDAY Sept. 9.  I'll see you then.  XOXO

     

Quick Update

     Hi everyone!  It's been so long and I've really missed blogging.  Current teacher contract negotiation actions have made it impossible to find time, within the work day, to blog.  I was determined though and have finally squeezed in this little note.
     There has been so much going on these last few weeks.  All of the city wide mandated testing is complete....phew.  Talk about no fun.  Now we are wrapping up second grade and thinking about SUMMER.  YIPPEE.  I absolutely love my job but, to be honest, I love NOT working even more.  Who wouldn't?
     This Friday is field day!  Super fun.....for the kids. ;)  We will walk to the Kennedy at 9ish and be back before lunch.  Be sure to have your child wear his/her green Wyman shirt, a hat and sunscreen for sun protection.  Hopefully the weather will be perfect.
    In case you haven't heard through the rumor mill.  There will only be one second grade next year.  The current first grade has only enough students for one class therefore only one class will be needed as they move up years.  I have been "demoted" to first grade-haha.  I'm really looking forward to the change. I have taught first grade before so I TOTALLY got this.
     Friday, June 26th is the last day.  Dismissal will be at 12:00.  In case I don't get back here before then, I wish you all a FANTASTIC summer and best of luck in life.  You know where to find me if you ever need me!  xoxo

Go Sox

     Today was a very exciting day.  First off, it was Red Sox/hat day.  I love seeing everyone wearing their red, white and blue and of course I was excited to wear my Ted Williams shirt.  Second, the weather is beautiful.  It's hard not to feel great on a day like today.  Third, we had a special presentation on pedestrian safety.  Thank you to the parents who volunteered to teach us how to be safe.  Head over to Edline for some pictures

     Last week we started poetry.  The students did an excellent job sharing poems.  We will continue with that this week.  Be sure your child has a poem to share by Friday.  We have plenty in class that the children know they can use.  We have been writing poems too.  Last week we wrote an acrostic poem of our names.  Today we wrote a poem about our emotions.  They came out GREAT.  I feel like I really got a chance to learn some things that I didn't know about my little lovebugs. 

     We have finished reading Anansi stories.  In some of them, he really was a mean trickster.  I'm glad I don't have any friends like him.  This week we will be reading a few different versions of Stone Soup. 

     On Saturday, I ran a 5k as preparation for the Boys and Girls Club race on May 3rd.  I did great.  I ran the WHOLE thing without stopping.  Whoo hooo. 

     This Friday is hat day again.  The $ collected will go toward fighting MS.  It's also our last day of school before VACATION.  I hope you all enjoy it.  I'm sure I will, especially if the weather is like today. 

 

They Got Me

     I swore they wouldn't trick me.  I thought I had brought my A game to school but I was tricked.  More than once, if you can believe that.  First, I was told by a student that she made me brownies.  Brownies are my very most favorite snack in the world so I was ecstatic!  My mouth instantly started to water.  Guess what?  Much to my dismay, the pan was filled with brown E's.  This was not the delicious baked good I was hoping for.  It was pretty funny though.  We spent the rest of the day tricking anyone and everyone we could with those brown E's.  I wasn't going to be the only one falling for that one.

      After that, there was a very creepy and large spider spotted in class.  To end the day, my sunglasses were held for ransom.  When I got back from lunch there was a note saying that they would not be returned unless there was "NO WORK".  This put me in a tough spot.  Mrs. Maloney would never allow "NO WORK" so I had to compromise.  I gave five minutes of quiet free time, we had to listen for Mrs. Maloney's heels coming down the hall, in return for my sunglasses.  It worked.  Everyone got what they wanted.  Except maybe Mrs. Maloney, so don't squeal on us.

     Great news!  The Walking Wednesday trophy is staying right where it belongs.  In OUR classroom.  We won yet again.  Whoop whoop!!!

April Fools

     Oh no!   Tomorrow is the dreaded April Fools Day.  Kids just LOVE to try to trick their teacher.  Well, it just isn't going to happen.  I'm far to clever to fall for any of their shenanigans.  I wonder if I'll be able to fool them at all?  hmmmmmmm   We will have to wait and see.

     The students have started to present their biographies and boy-oh-boy are they doing a fabulous job.  Be sure to check out Edline this weekend.  I'll have some pictures of our famous second graders posted by then.

     We were super lucky to get a new student this week.  She is a lovely little girl and a fantastic addition to our classroom.

     We are reading all about 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  I think we've gotten to chapter 4.  This book is full of interesting facts about the White House.  Did you know that it wasn't always called that?   It was once burned down, too.  The only thing saved was a painting of George Washington and some walls.  We will keep reading all this week so be sure to ask your child for some more interesting facts.

     Tomorrow is Walking Wednesday.  We've had that trophy in our room all year.  I think everyone would be sad to see it go.

     My training for the Boys Club 5K was going great but has stalled slowed just a bit.  I've got to get right back at it.  Just over a month left.........I think I can, I think I can, I think  know I CAN!!!!

Math Word Problems and Goo

     UGH, math word problems.  They are soooooooooooo tricky.  We've been practicing all week and I'm definitely seeing improvement.  I have been encouraging the students to look carefully at the answer they get to see if it makes sense.  "If Timmy starts with 67 crayons and brakes 12 of them.  He couldn't possibly have 89 unbroken crayons."  Encourage your child to double check if their answer seems reasonable.   

     We have started writing our biography notes into a report.  Many students really know their famous person facts.  We wrote half yesterday, half today and the children think its FUN.  WHOO HOO.  How great is that?  Most reports are edited and ready for the final copy.  Presentations will start next week.  I'll send home your child's specific day by the end of this week.  Don't stress out about this......remember "fun". 

     We have lots of different things going on during reading block.  Everyone is reading non-fiction text.  Some students are reading about volcanoes, some Chinese New Year, and we all are reading about our government.  Today we used post-it notes to jot down facts that we thought were most interesting from our books.  

     Here are some of the learning centers we visited recently.

fact/opinion sort

sentence scramble

number ordering

missing addend

noun sort

snowman money

prefix/suffix sort

counting by 5, 10 or 100's

rhyming match

     I'm sure you are all aware that next Friday is a half day.  Well, I've been promising for months that we'd make goo in class.  It took me this long to get the main ingredient-Borax.  So we are finally ready.  I thought that we'd hold out until that half day, snow make up day, that wasn't REALLY supposed to be a school day and make it then.  Why not spend the day with learning fun?  Warning, there will be food coloring involved, so save that special spring outfit to wear a different day.  

     This is Petey.  He came in a junk mail catalog I received and I fell in love.  So here he is reminding us that goo is coming soon.

Biographies

     Happy almost St. Patrick's Day everyone.  We all got a taste of spring fever last week and boy did that feel good.  Looking forward to getting bit by that bug again.  Glancing at the calendar, we are so busy that it will be here  before you know it.

     Biography project directions went home last week.  Children are to pick a famous person from HISTORY (Tom Brady doesn't cut it) to research and present to the class.  This project is just like the animal one.  Notes will be completed at home (you should have those already), we will turn it into a report in class, then read our reports to the class.  Children are encouraged to dress up or bring in a prop representing their person.  This is supposed to be fun not stressful.  A simple construction paper hat for Abe Lincoln is enough.  Notes are due on Monday, March 23h.

     We have been testing like crazy last week.  We completed a city wide math, reading and writing assessment.  I was quite please with how well the children did but I'm glad it's over.  It's not very fun.

     If you haven't had a chance to meet Sprinkle or Sparkle yet get ready.  They are twin stuffed dragons that have been visiting homes with diaries this past week.  I cannot tell them apart but the students can.  One has a broken leg.  He fell out of bed but I bet he'll be back to himself in no time.   We read a story titled Missing: One Stuffed Rabbit and it inspired us to have a class pet just like the class in the story.   These little guys have been around for a few years and you'll be able to read about some of their past adventures in the diaries.

    The teachers at the Linscott School have been training for the Boys Club 5K.  I decided to take the challenge and quite a few Wyman teachers have jumped on board to.  It's a walk/run 5K (3.2 miles) that starts at Library park on May 3rd.  I was very excited to join and told the kids all about it.  Of course now they are all excited for it.  I predicted that I may win but honestly I'm just hoping to run MOST of it.  Click here for a link with information about it if anyone is interested.  I've heard that it has been lots of fun in years past.

    The second trimester ends this Wednesday.  That means report cards will be coming home sometime the following week.  Here are some of the learning centers we've been "playing".

matching shapes

counting coins

snowmen fact families

word sort

      If you haven't heard yet.  We will have a half day of school on Good Friday, April 3rd.

What Time is It?

     You won't be hearing that much longer.  Your learner has started telling time today.  The good news is that most of the students already knew how......YIPPEE!  Practice reading clocks at home.  Hopefully you have an analog clock to practice with.  Don't forget to add A.M. and P.M.

     Yesterday was FUN.  We all got comfy and read quietly for 15 minutes before recess, after recess and after lunch.  On Friday, a student told me she was concerned that she may be teased because her comfy thing was "babyish".  We discussed this as a class and assured her that we all had favorite comfy things and teasing would never happen in our caring environment.  This led us to an excellent text connection when we started Monday morning reading Ira Sleeps Over.  Ira is invited to his first sleepover and has a big problem (mostly caused by his sister).  I tear up whenever I read this aloud.  It's not at ALL sad, just sooooooo darn cute.  It's definitely one of my favorites.  

     We had two guest readers, Mrs. Elin and Mrs. Mahoney.  They both read CRAZY books about pigeons.  One pigeon wanted to drive a bus and another wanted to stay up late.  Be sure to ask you child all about these stories.  

     Subtraction with regrouping is going SPLENDIDLY.  I'm so please with how hard the students are working.  In writing today, we wrote about getting ready for bed.  Students used their transition words (first, next, after that, finally etc) and added details.  

     

We're Back

     These past two days have been the most productive days in February.  No storms distracting us means we are back into the swing of things.  We were lucky enough to present our dioramas before vacation.  I didn't think we would be able to finish them but we did and they were AWESOME.  Be sure to check out our secure EDLINE site to see pictures.  They will be posted (hopefully today) by the end of the week.

     This Friday students will be tested on mountain ranges.  The ranges they are responsible for were in the homework packets.  We will be practicing in class but please practice at home as well.  Students will be given a map with no words and a list of ranges.  They will use the list to label the map.  Our very own Miss Nicole, just came back from a ski trip to the Alps.  How exciting.

     We have started reading about laws and how they are made.  Students brainstormed lists of laws we have that keep us safe and laws that ensure equality.

     The subtraction with regrouping is going beautifully.  We had to dust off some math cobwebs yesterday but today everyone remembered.  Please keep on XTRAMATH!  We are more than half way through the school year and by now students should be finished with addition.  Math fact fluency will make math for your child a MILLION times easier for the rest of their life and is graded on our report card.

     The Wyman School Talent show is this Friday night at 7:00 at the Kennedy Middle School.  Believe me you won't want to miss this.  It's my favorite night of the year.  I'm so proud of each and every student that gets on that stage.  This year we have quite a few students from our class performing.  I can't wait.

     Reminder:  Next Thursday is parent teacher conferences.  It's not to late to sign up if you are interested.  Friday is a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:30.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

     I love snow and love all these snow days.  I'm sure, in June, I'll regret that I said that but snow days are FUN!  The down side to all these snow days is the lack of consistency in class.  Students started learning subtraction with regrouping, which is a pretty big deal in second grade.  I had hoped to get a LOT more practice in before February vacation but time hasn't been on our side.

     We started writing our animal reports.  Dioramas were due on Monday so I hope everyone has them in school tomorrow.  We will continue writing our reports but may have to wait until after vacation to present our projects.

     We read a biography on George Washington last week and wrote an expository paragraph about him.  This week we will do the same for Abraham Lincoln.

     Valentine's Day will be celebrated on Friday.  Thank goodness we started making our mailboxes.  Your child should bring in a valentine for each classmate, remember no candy, and a special snack for  themselves to eat during our after lunch party.

     Mark you calendars, Thursday, March 5th will be parent teacher conferences.  A note will be sent home tomorrow with the information about signing up.  Friday, March 6th, will be a half day.  It is the make up half day for the one we missed because of snow.

     Next week is February vacation!   I hope everyone enjoys and for those going away somewhere sunny, please sneak me into your suitcase.  I love snow but love tropical sunshine too!

Thursday's Field Trip

     The theater company has cancelled Thursday's performance.  Our field trip will be rescheduled for a later date.  I hope everyone is enjoying the snow!

Old diorama photos