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!