Scaredy Squirrel

     This week was Scaredy Squirrel week. Scaredy is one of my favorite storybook characters.  He's afraid of everything.  He creates emergency plans that never work, plays dead, then realizes there is nothing to be afraid of.

     Students have started studying habitats.  We sorted living things from both a pond and rain forest habitat.  Next week we will explore desert and arctic habitats.

     We have been measuring and estimating measurements all week.   This week's focus was on inches, and feet.  We will be measuring in centimeters and meters soon.

     Today, I played the music for our holiday program for the first time in class.  The children have been practicing for weeks in music class, but I hadn't watched.   SUCH FUN.   The kids were having the best time singing and dancing.  It's going to be a spectacular program.

     Next Friday we will have a test on locating continents and oceans on a map.  A study guide will be sent home on Monday, so be sure to watch for it.

Halloween

     Halloween seems like so long ago.  Students had lots of fun Trick or Trek-ing around the school.  My understanding is over $15,000 was raised by the PTO.  That's just amazing.

     We have been reading one of my favorite stories ever this week, The Rough-Faced Girl.  I cry every time I read the happy ending.   Today, we focused on the main idea of the beginning, middle and end.  Earlier this week, we compared and contrasted the story to another very famous fairytale.  Ask your child which one?  Let your student compare and contrast the two stories for you.

Describing with adjectives.

    Students have worked hard turning their heritage homework into a narrative.  I'm looking forward to having the students share them next week.  Thank you for all your help at home with this assignment.  If you'd like to come into class to share even more about your family's heritage or traditions, we'd love to have you.

     In math, we've been solving word problems, one of the trickiest things for second graders.  I encourage students to underline the question to ensure they know what is being asked of them.  Students should then circle the numbers in the problem that they will use to solve it.  When they have an answer, students should go back to the question to be sure their answer makes sense.  VERY TRICKY STUFF and we will practice all year long.

     We have finished growing our plants and learning about what plants need and have moved on to animal/plant dependence.  Today we used craft materials to try to spread pollen and seeds like insects and other animals do.  It was fun.  

     Lucky us had TWO mystery readers today.  I encourage all families to participate, so let me know if you are ready to set up a time.  It takes ten minutes and students are thrilled to share both their worlds, home and school, with each other.   You can bring in your favorite story, or I can have one ready for you.

   

Crankenstein

     Crankenstein is such a fun story which led us to lots of fun activities.  We read Crankenstein and Crankenstein Valentines by Samantha Berger.  Crankenstein is a boy who is very cranky until he meets a cranky friend.  We used this mentor text to brainstorm adjective describing Crankenstein and illustrated him.  Students did their best writing of the year, describing what makes both themselves and Crankenstein cranky.  We used macaroni to appropriately add quotation marks to sentences that related to the text.

     Thank you to the Woburn Fire Department for bringing their smoke house and teaching us about fire safety.  Hopefully, you have all checked the batteries on your smoke detectors and mapped out two different exits in case of an emergency.  Don't forget to pick a meeting place for the family to gather outside your home.

     We've been tracking the effect of both water and sunlight on our lima bean plants.   There are some changes happening.  Be sure to ask your child about it.

     It was wonderful to see how enthusiastic students were to make a heart for David, a little boy that they have never met, who is awaiting a new heart.  Our fingers are crossed for David and I heard he LOVED the hearts he received.

     Of course, I could not let this week pass without a little baseball in class.  Here are some stories the children read.  

GO SOX!!!!

Monsters and Bats

     These past few weeks have been fun.  We read lots of great stories.  The children loved I Need My Monster, a story about a boy whose monster went fishing and left him with substitutes that just weren't good enough.  Students then created their own monsters and wrote about them.  We also started a little unit on bats.  We've read both fiction and nonfiction books on this fun creature.  We haven't finished yet and will be going "batty" next week as well.  

     Our class completed another chapter book, Ready Freddy, and have moved on to The Haunted Library, which is one of my absolute favorites.

     We had TWO mystery readers, Miss Ginger and Mrs. Crampton.  We'd love to have parents come read to.  Let me know if you are interested and we will set up a time.  SHHHH!  Have the fun is the anticipation and guessing of who our mystery reader could be.

     Our lima beans have grown enough for us to start our experiments.  We will be collecting data on plants with varied amounts of light and water.  Student made predictions on what they THOUGHT might happen.  Stay tuned!!

A Bad Case of Stripes

     This week FLEW by.  Our mentor text was A Bad Case of Stripes.   It's a story about Camilla Cream, who LOVES lima beans.  She learns to be herself the hard way.  We also read about Poppleton who hated grapefruit but ate it because the man on TV said it would help him live longer.  I love when Poppleton's lips turn outside-in.  Some children have never tried lima beans or grapefruit.  Consider adding both items to your shopping list this week for a taste test.

     A Bad Case of Stripes was the perfect book to segway into our first science lesson on what plants need to grow.   We planted lima beans on Friday afternoon and predicted if we thought they would sprout by Monday morning.  The class was pretty evenly split.   Once they sprout, we will alter the amount of sunlight and water they each receive and keep record of our results.

     We have been practicing our math facts like crazy.  Xtramath is an easy way to drill and practice those facts.  Students have already logged on in class.   If you didn't get the information on how to log in at home let me know.

    I was SUPER proud of how well the children did during our ALICE drill on Friday.  I reminded them that they are the role models for the first graders and boy did they live up to the task.

   

Math Fun

     This week we practiced our addition strategies.  I encourage you to practice math facts at home with your child.  Memorizing them will make math so much easier for many years to come.  Here are some of pictures of our math lessons.

Adding Nine

Even / Odd

      Our mentor text this week was the Invisible Boy.  Brian feels invisible in school, even to his teacher.  This changes when Justin moves in.  The illustrations in this book change as Brian's feelings change.  It's a great story and lead to wonderful discussions and role playing about being aware of others feelings and how our actions can effect others.

     We also read Frog and Toad stories and David books this week.  It's hard not to enjoy the characters in these stories.

 

     It's hard to believe that today is the first day of fall  We have so many fun units coming up.  In my opinion, October is one of the most fun school months.

     

Great Start

     We are off to a great start.  Our new school is AMAZING and the students are even MORE amazing.  I lucked out with a wonderful class and it's been fun getting to know the children.  I predict a wonderful year ahead.

     Speaking of predicting, we practiced that skill all week.  Our mentor text, which just means story that we use as a base for lessons, was Edward the Emu.  I love this rhyming story.  Edward lives at the zoo and decides being an Emu is a bore so tries being other animals.  By the end of the story, he realizes he should just be himself.   We followed that book up with Edwina the Emu.  She went out looking for a job.  Be sure to ask you child how her job search went.   In addition, we read a non-fiction text and watched videos of real Emus.  We took the new information and wrote a paragraph, then drew an emu.  Super fun.

     We played a noun sort game and "around the room" deciding whether or not each sentence was written correctly.  Pete the Cat is one of my favorite storybook characters.  We enjoyed lots of his adventures.  Who doesn't love singing and grooving along with Pete?  It's also fun to look for his little  bird friend in the illustrations.  

     Math was a hit this week.  We played two math games in small groups, shark attack and a popcorn math doubles game.  Great addition practice. 

     Important, this Thursday is a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:30.  Tune in next week, I promise to post some pictures of our class in action.  

     

Getting Ready

     Get excited everyone because the new Hurld Wyman is AMAZING.  It's big, bright and full of all NEW things.  There is nothing not to love about it.  The entire staff has been working hard these last two weeks of summer setting up their classrooms and it looks fabulous.  I'm super excited about the new technology.  It's not totally set up so I haven't been able to play around with it YET, but I can't wait to.  There is not one but TWO playgrounds and a gym that is the best gym I've ever seen.  I hope you had a chance to sign up for a tour on Friday.  I'll be there in the morning.

     I found this little guy hanging out in class.  He can't wait to meet everyone.

   

St. Patrick's Day fun

     We had lots of fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  We completed a few science experiments.  The students made a rainbow out of skittles and we watched the molecules of Irish Spring soap expand by putting the soap into the microwave.

     Students completed lots of learning centers with an Irish theme.  We sorted math problems, arranged sentences, ordered numbers and counted coins.

     In reading, we have lots of different stories going at the same time.  Students have been completing short summaries after each chapter they read.  As a class, we finished reading Flat Stanley.  He had quite and exciting African adventure, although it didn't turn out how Stanley had hoped.

     Our class has also been exploring the Earth's natural resources and how important they are to us.   
   
     Math experts, that's what we are.  The children are ROCKING subtraction with regrouping.  If you notice your child is still struggling please practice a little at home.

     Report cards will be posted online today, be sure to check.  Conferences are next Tuesday.  Next Friday is Good Friday and will be no school.

Marching Ahead

     It's hard to believe we are in March.  Students have been reading, reading, reading!  We have lots of different books going at the same time.  Some students have been reading a Magic Tree House story, others have been reading about a boy named Stink or dinosaurs.  Everyone has been reading Flat Stanley.  Stanley is in Africa, looking for the flat skull that has been discovered.  He has already had quite a few adventures.  He almost got eaten by a lion and jumped out of an airplane without a parachute.

     In math, we have been practicing our subtraction facts, shapes and word problems.  Word problems are VERY tricky for second graders.  It's important to remind your student to think about what the question is ASKING. 

     I'm excited for next week.  I have some fun St. Patrick's Day themed science experiments for us to complete.  Yippee! 

     Be sure to check Monday's homework for the link to sign up for parent/teacher conferences.  They are at the end of March. 

V-A-C-A-TION

     Whoo hoo for February vacation.   I hope everyone is looking forward to this break.   

     This week has been jam packed with holiday fun.  We learned about the presidents for Presidents' Day, celebrated Valentine's Day, and the 100th day of school.

     Students did an EXCELLENT job presenting their dioramas.  It so much fun learning things from each other. 

     We started subtraction with regrouping.  We took to it easily but it got a little tricky today when we mixed problems of addition and subtraction.  That's exactly what we will work on more after vacation. 

     Student's spent a lot of time playing games this week.  They played money games, subtraction games, 2D shape games, pronoun and contraction games to name a few.  Learning is so much more fun when it's a game. 

Kindness

      This week has been ALL ABOUT KINDNESS.  We started by watching a video, read aloud of a wonderful book titled Each Kindness.  It was not available at the library and I felt that this story couldn't wait.  It's about a girl who realizes the importance of being kind a little too late.  We have created two kindness books and started a kindness wall in the hall.  Mrs. J, the school counselor, visited on Monday and gave us a lesson on The Golden Rule and empathy.  She checked in again on Thursday to see how things were going.  We are making progress and will continue to emphasis the importance of being kind throughout the year. 





     Our dioramas look fantastic.  We have finished writing our reports and will start presenting next week.  This is a super exciting time in second grade.  Students are very proud of their work, as they should be. 

     In math, we have been learning about 2D shapes.  Have your student explain what a polygon is.  We have also started subtraction with regrouping.  Ask your child to explain this saying: More on the floor, go next door.

     This is the first year EVERY student got an A+ on their map quiz!  YIPPEE

     One more week until vacation. 

Persuasive Writing

     This week we wrote a persuasive writing piece on our favorite season.  They came out GREAT.  I have to say, I'm really impressed by the quality of the students' writing.  No doubt it stems from their experiences last year with Writer's Workshop.  I love it.

     Animal written reports are due on Monday.  We will start putting our information into a report in class.  Diorama's are due on Friday.  We won't be presenting until the following week so if you need a few extra days to complete it, that's okay.  Just be sure it's ready to go Monday morning.  Each student will read their report and share their projects with the class.  We will spread this out over a couple of days.

     Next week's mentor text will be all about kindness.  I tell the student's often that kind is the only thing you HAVE to be at all times.  Our class will start a kindness board to celebrate the kind things we notice every day.

     I hope everyone is cheering for the Patriots today.  Jason isn't, but I love him anyway.  I'm ready if anything happens and Coach Belichick needs to put me in!!

Anansi

     We have been reading Anansi stories.  He's usually a tricky little spider and not very good to his friends.  Anansi pretended to be a talking melon, tricked his friends with a magic moss covered rock, and flooded his neighborhood with a magic stick, but he couldn't trick turtle when they went fishing.  In one tale though, Anansi was clever enough to get African stories from the Sun God. 

     All the students have picked an animal for their diorama.  I'm excited that some students picked animals that I don't know much about.  I love to learn new things.  As soon as the "writing" part is complete, please return it to school.  Don't get carried away.  Be sure your child's answers are second grade friendly.   One student already has passed hers in.  Next weeks homework will be to work on the projects.   We started talking today about habitats.  There are four major ones we will explore: forests, rain forests, deserts, and tundras.  We've only tackled deserts and rain forests so far.  Ask you child to tell you about them.

     Today was fun!  We spent the morning playing "games" involving telling time.  We should be experts by now.  If your student is still struggling, keep on practicing at home.

     Mrs. Chisholm's class came to hear our finished penguin reports!  Students worked hard on them and they came out great.  The fifth graders were impressed.

Penguin-palooza

     It's been a while since my last post.  We are trying hard to get back into the swing of things but all these days off make it a bit tricky.

     We are pretty close to wrapping up our penguin fun.  We have read both fiction and non-fiction books about penguins.  We may be penguin experts.  Tacky has been the main character in many of our fiction read alouds.  He's "an odd bird but a nice bird to have around".  Tacky is nothing like his companions and he always seems to save the day.  I'm not sure which Tacky story is my favorite.  They are all so fun.  I think I like the cheerleading competition the best.  We also read a story titled, The Emperor's Cool Clothes.  It's very much like the story you know and love, except stars an emperor penguin.  Only cool people can he his fancy new duds.

     Mrs. Elin has been helping us write penguin reports.  They are almost done and coming along splendidly.  After this, students will be taking home instructions for their diorama projects.   Get ready and save a shoe box.  Remember this is a second grade project and does not need to be "museum quality".  It's supposed to be your child's work and fun.  Of course, he/she will need your help.

    Students have also been reading and learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.  I loved how their directed drawings came out.

     Money, money, money!  Who doesn't love money?  I will tell you, in my opinion, teaching it is not very fun, nightmare even.  Please,  play with money at home.  Students can group coins, sort coins by value, and add up change.  The more exposure the better.  This year I tried something new, hairy money.  It's working like a dream.  Each coin has "hair" which represents five cents.  For example, quarters have five strands of hair, dimes two strands, nickels one.  Students count the hair by fives and voila, they can easily count a handful of change.  It's brilliant!  Of course not always practical in the real world, but its a easy beginning step into the world of counting change.

     Remember to send in a half gallon milk container, cleaned with the top cut off.  We will use them to make our Valentine mailboxes.  Also, remember when buying valentines that candy cannot be shared.  I know many come with lollipops and sweet treats, be sure to skip those.

     Tuesday is a half day, please mark your calendars!