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!

Cinderella Week

     This was a super fun week, Cinderella Week. Cinderella "like" stories have been written from around the world and we had a great time reading, comparing and contrasting them.  Students made so many connections.  We read stories from China, Africa, Korea, Russia, Egypt and Native Americans.  I was very surprised that many students weren't familiar with the Disney version of Cinderella so Friday we watched it.  I just love this unit.  The stories are so simular and different at the same time.  Be sure to ask your child to tell you about them. 

    We have been measuring up a storm and will continue to do so next week.  Students will be familiar with inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters.  Next week, look around and talk about what unit of measure would be best for various objects in your home.  For example, I'd measure my phone in inches but my chair in feet.

     December is here already!  It's hard to believe.  There are lots of exciting things on our calendar this month.  Be sure to keep you eyes open for important dates on our homework packets. 

Where Does the Time Go?

     It's been too long since my last post.  My intentions are to blog every week but life keeps getting in the way..........busy, busy, busy.

     I'm thrilled to report that the students did an EXCELLENT job presenting their heritage projects.  I was very impressed with all the fun information the students shared. 

     We have been reading Turk and Runt in class.  I love this story.  It's about two very different turkey brothers and how they save each other's life.  Ask your child to tell you all about it. 

     We have also been reading Scaredy Squirrel stories.  He's the cutest little guy but he's afraid of EVERYTHING.  We are in the process of finishing our own Scaredy stories.  The fifth graders heard all about Scaredy from Ms. Elin and want to read our stories.  Hopefully they will be ready to share by Wednesday. 

     Mrs. W. came Friday with a Pete the Cat Thanksgiving story and a fun pine-cone turkey activity.  It was great. We love having mystery readers.  Please consider volunteering.

     Tomorrow is the big day, our Thanksgiving feast!  We made either Pilgrim or Native American hats/headbands today to wear.  I can't wait.  It is also black and orange day.  Try to wear something black and orange to show your Woburn pride. 

    I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with food, family and friends. 

Heritage Project

     I hope everyone has been working on their heritage projects.  I'm so excited to see them.  Each child will present his/her project next week.  It's great to be able to learn from each other.  It might be a good idea for students to practice presenting their information at home before they have to in class.



      It's been crazy these past few weeks in school.  Halloween is a HUGE deal to a second grader and the excitement is off the charts.  We got by with some super fun rabbit stories.  First, we read Creepy Carrots which is ALWAYS a class favorite. The carrots in Crackenhopper's Field tricked Jasper into solving their problem.  Our second story was Wanted Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar .  Even though Ralfy stole Arthur's favorite book, Arthur helped Ralfy solve his problem....legally.



     We also spent a week using Stellaluna as our mentor text.  I LOVE this story.  Even though the main characters are VERY different, they are still family.  We also read a Native American legend that "explained" why birds migrate every year.  Did you know it was because Bat helped the mammals win a lacrosse game?



     We are working hard solving math word problems.  They are so tricky.  Student really have to think about what the question is asking.  Then they have to decide whether or not their answer makes sense.  Our class is also testing a new online math program, at least new to us, Splashmath.  It seems to be a HUGE hit with our second graders.  Information went home last week on how your child can log in at home.  Be sure to check it out. 



     Matter is the science unit we are studying.  So far we have discussed the properties of solids, liquids and gases and have done some fun experiments along the way.

Monsters

      This week we have been all about monsters!  We read two great books.  One was titled I Need My Monster and Hey, That's MY Monster by Amanda Noll.  The children loved these books.  Ethan cannot sleep without his scary monster under his bed.  When that monster leaves, Ethan is not happy with the substitutes. 

     We wrote and shared some really great stories about monsters under OUR beds.  As students shared them with the class, we wrote some positive comments on their work. 

     Our class has finished reading The Haunted Library.  Kaz and Claire solved the mystery.  Be sure to ask who the ghost was. 

     A special thanks to Woburn Fire for taking the time to teach us about fire safety.  Be sure to check your fire alarm batteries and find a safe meeting place outside in case of an emergency.

      REMINDER:  Progress reports are in your child's folder.  Be sure to sign it and return to school on Monday.   Next Wednesday is a half day and parent/teacher conferences are on Thursday night.

Spiders and Crankenstein

     Things are getting SPOOKY in second grade.  Spooky may not be the...best word.  Neither our spider unit or Crankenstein were scary at all.  Students are now experts on spiders after reading Gail Gibbons' book Spiders along with a few other non-fiction spider books.  Spiders are pretty amazing creatures.  Did you know the biggest could be the size of a dinner plate?  I hope I never run into that one.

     Crankenstein is a little boy who is CRANKY.  Well at least he is until he meets another Crankenstein.  We talked about character traits and did a super fun directed drawing to go with this story.  Everyone gets cranky sometimes, so we read and talked about ways to calm ourselves down when it happens to us.  Some students had some super, great strategies to share.

     The Haunted Library is the chapter book were are reading in class.  The title may sound spooky and there are ghosts, but ye...not spooky.  Kaz is a ghost who was blown away from his family and is now living in a library.  He has made friends with a "solid" named Claire.  I can't wait to see what happens next.

    Students are becoming experts at place value and adding/subtracting 10 and 100 to numbers.  YIPPEE!!!

     Ms. Elin is rocking writers workshop with us.   Students practiced "show don't tell" writing.  This is when authors use describing words to show how a character is feeling instead of just telling us how.  The makes the story so much more enjoyable to read!  

    I cannot WAIT until Wednesday!!  Our first "mystery reader" is on the calendar.  Do you know anyone who'd like to be a mystery reader?  Just holler......we'd love to have them!!!