Thanksgiving Feast

     Tomorrow we are inviting our 2nd grade neighbors over for a Thanksgiving feast.  We will bake corn bread, serve grapes and apple juice.  Last week we made Native American headdresses (or turkey hats) to wear on this joyous occasion.  A special thank you to a mom, who came in to help us.  She also helped us make ornaments to hang on the Woburn center Wyman tree for the Festival on the Common and read us a super cute Thanksgiving story.

     Last week the other second grade class put on a Thanksgiving play for us.  It was FANTASTIC.  They clearly put a lot of work into this production and it was just wonderful.  We wrote well thought out letters thanking them for inviting us.  We highlighted what we enjoyed most about the performance.  I was a quite impressed by our letters.

     Inspired by their play, we had our own little play.  We didn't actually act anything out but we did read parts from a script.  It was about cooperation.  The Thanksgiving dinner was arguing about who was most important to the meal.  We had so much fun, we read through it twice, switching our parts each time.  My part stayed the same.  I was Sparky.  I think I nailed my "woof, woof".

      We also read some Native American legends.  We learned a bit about the Native Americans that lived right here in Woburn.  Did you know that Horn Pond Mountain was called Mount Towanda by the Abergonian Indians that lived there?  The island in the pond was called Wabisi, which means swan, because of a Indian legend.

     Here are some other fun things we did.

We unscrambled sentences and added the proper punctuation.

We sorted fall fact/opinion sentences.

     We are still reading Scaredy Squirrel stories and playing comprehension games to go with them.  In one story, Scaredy finally made a friend.  Not the friend he tried to make, but still a friend.  In another, he got some much needed rest.

     Here are links for two YouTube videos we checked out School House Rock Pronouns and this fun one from Ohio State Marching Band.

     Remember, Wednesday is half day and dismissal will be at 12:00.  No lunch will be served.  I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

Three Day Weekends

     I think three days is just the right amount of time for a weekend.  It gives you time to have fun, be productive and rest up.  It makes it easy to start the week fresh.

     I have been slacking a little on my blog and I apologize for that.  As I say to the kids almost every morning "BUSY BUSY BUSY".  Term one ended on Friday.  I've spent wayyyyyy to much time working on report cards, which go home on Friday, and I THINK they are finally done.  I'll be able to review them in school tomorrow.

     We have been super productive in class.  We are studying pronouns and verbs.  We are working on the water cycle.  I told the class to notice what happens to the mirror in the bathroom after a hot shower.  CONDENSATION-water vapor turning back into water droplets-very exciting stuff.  Our math lessons are picking up, adding two digit numbers without regrouping-whoo hoo.  We are all using BOLD BEGINNINGS in our writing.    The students ROCK at this.  Best of all, we got postcards from our South Carolina pen pals.

     Here are some pictures to enjoy!

We wrote what we were thankful for (I threatened NO video games)

Created in art

Bold beginnings anchor chart.

More place value practice

Pronouns

     Reminder, Thursday is a half day. Dismissal will be at 12:30.  I will be having parent/teacher conferences then as well as on Thursday evening.  If you want a time slot and haven't signed up, you can do so here or contact me.
   

Report Cards-DONE!!

     PHEW, that is my sigh of relief.  I have submitted our report cards.  I'm telling you it is no easy feat.  I agonize over every bit of it.  I love to celebrate successes.  I'm your child's biggest cheerleader, besides you of course, and the way the report cards are set up don't always allow for that and it pains me.  But they are DONE and I feel a weight lifted.

     We have started reading Native American/Thanksgiving stories.  On Friday we read The Legend of Bluebonnet right before dismissal.  One student was so moved by the story that she was talking about it as soon as she came into class TODAY, four days later, and just HAD to read it again.  I even saw her writing about it WITHOUT BEING TOLD.  I'm telling you it's a teacher's dream.  Another student illustrated Scaredy Squirrel for me over the weekend.  They are motivated-LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.

     We will be continuing with the Thanksgiving theme straight on to next week.  We will even be reading some legends from the Aberjonian Indians about Horn Pond and Rag Rock.  Here is our bulletin board about what we are thankful for.  FYI, I threatened "no being thankful for video games" before they started.

     Wednesday is fitness day.  I'm not 100% sure what that means but I know that the WHOLE school is going to be active from 11-11:30.  I guess I'll HAVE to wear sneakers and gym pants.  YIPPEE.

    A special CONGRATS to the Redskin flag football team for winning the Super Bowl over the weekend.  The team was fantastic and they deserved to win.  YAY REDSKINS