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.