SUMMER FUN

     Hi!   I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.  We should have some new followers, families from our upcoming second grade class.  I welcome you and hope that you click follow me by email to sign up to receive an email each time I update this blog.  That way you won't miss a thing.  I post about  happenings in class so when your child comes home and you ask "What did you do in school today?"  and they reply "nothing", you have some conversation starters and you'll be kept in the loop.

     This is what our classroom looked like on the last day of school.

 

     Today I went in and started to get our room ready for September.  I moved some furniture, set up some desks and even started a bulletin board.  There is still a longgggg way to go and I promise to post some pictures when it's closer to finished.  I also gathered some books from the school guided reading library to spruce up some of my lessons this year.  The guided reading library is loaded with multiple copies of lots of different titles so throughout the year we can have various book groups going.  This is just a sample of some that I plan to review.

     I've had a wonderful summer so far and I certainly hope that continues.  Here are some pictures of my adventures.

monster truck

Maine beach

Fenway Park with family and friends

Ice cream in Vermont YUMMY!

Hot air balloon festival

      I saw this sign on the way to Vermont!  I was so excited and REALLY wanted to see a bear but no luck.  Maybe next time.

       

Thomas Edison

     On Monday, we had an all school assembly.  "Thomas Edison" was our guest.  He was great, both informative and super entertaining.  Did you know Thomas was practically deaf as an adult?  Ask your child to tell you all about him.  How did he loose his hearing?  How did he "hear" his children play the piano?  How is he connected to the Yankees?   How much schooling did he have?  We learned some great facts.

     We finished reading Amber Brown is Feeling Blue today.  This was our second Amber book.  She had a super tough decision to make.  It was causing her to worry a lot.  She finally made it and everything worked out just fine.  She also make a new friend, Kelly.

     Here is a picture of my friend Wally.  He was just hanging out at my doctor's office and I had to take a snapshot to share.  Does he look comfy or what?

     Only 9 days of school left.  EXCITING!!!!!!

   

Half day

Tuesday is a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:30.

Homework

     Today the children had to write persuasive letters convincing me to stop homework packets for the year.  We had some very convincing arguments as to why it should end.  My favorite was, "you need a break from all the correcting".  That was an excellent point.  We shared letters and voted if each one was good enough to end packets.  Everyone's letter was convincing enough.  I reminded the students that DOES NOT mean there is no homework.  They are still expected to complete xtramath four times a week, unless they already completed subtraction.  They must also read every night.

     Thursday is litterless lunch day.  Let's all pitch in to help the environment by packing reusable water bottles, tupperware and lunch boxes.

     If you have not returned your child's field day permission slip, please do so ASAP.  Field day will be June 18, which will be here in a flash.

Excitement!

     There are so many exciting things going on in class, I just don't know where to begin.  Not one, but TWO students completed subtraction in xtramath TODAY.  Whoo hoo!  They were both so proud of themselves, as they should be.

     We started presenting our famous person projects and they have been fantastic.  I'll post pictures to edline this weekend, so watch for that.

     The school Memorial Day program is this Friday at 9.  I'll tell you this, BRING TISSUES!  One second grade song is sung beautifully and is a real tear jerker.  The other will make you want to jump out of your seat and clap along.

     Muggie Maggie is finished.  She was finally tricked into learning cursive.  Teachers can be so clever.  We are now reading about octopuses and Sue.  Did you know Sue's head is the size of a refrigerator?  It's true.

     Math word problems continue to be the nemesis of some students.  The good news is that I'm seeing great improvement.  Let's keep that up.

     We've been using GoNoodle in class.  It's a free website with classroom brain breaks.  There are videos to wake us up and others to calm us down.  I'm thinking we will be needing more of the calming videos in the weeks to come.  The children are loving it.

     We are almost through the year but need just a few last minute supplies.  Allergy season is getting the best of us.  We could use a few boxes of tissues.  We could also use some Lysol Wipes to wash away all those sneezy germs.

     Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  Let summer begin!!!

National Apraxia Awareness Day

     Today, May 14th is National Apraxia Awareness Day.  To keep us informed, we were lucky enough to have a student share a story about Apraxia and she even made us all ribbons to wear.  It's fantastic when students can teach others (teachers included) things they know lots about.

This Week

     WOW!  The weather has really taken a turn.  It's been gorgeous out but the allergens are getting the best of some of us.  A lot of itchy eyes and sneezing today.  Tonight's homework was to get outside and soak up the sun.  You never know how long it will last.

     We finished reading Amber Brown and will start Muggie Maggie this week.  Maggie is a girl who refuses to learn cursive writing.  Let's see if she finally gives in.

     We started writing our biography reports today.  The plan is to finish them by Friday so we can practice reading them over the weekend.  Next week we will "dress up" and present our famous people to the class.