Mississippi Children's Museum - Field Trip
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!!!
Classroom Fun!
Check out the awesome bulletin board we made!
"Oobleck. Solid or Liquid?" We have had such a wonderful start to a new year! Our greatest highlight of the week was Sci-Friday. We had our 4th Sci-Friday this week, and it has quickly become the most exciting part of the week. It is our time to make a mess and get our hands dirty while learning at the same time! Science is always an exciting subject to me. I really enjoy teaching it because there is so much to be discovered, and to witness 2nd graders discovering something for the first time is always priceless to me. This week, we wrapped up our study of solids, liquids, and gases, with a study of a more unique substance known as a Non-Newtonian fluid. We started out by watching this really cool video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GWhOLorDtw. This video really grabbed the student's attention. Could there really be a substance that can act as both a solid and a liquid? Yes! A simple mixture of cornstarch and water will do the trick. Throughout the remainder of the lesson, the students got to get their hands dirty while testing out the oobleck. Things became even more messy when they made their very own slime! That's right, they did this portion completely on their own. I simply walked them through the steps, which led them to produce 10 perfect batches of slime. They LOVED this. I could go on and on talking about what we did, but pictures speak louder than words, so go check them out!
Oobleck Recipe - Mix together 2 cups of cornstarch, 4 drops of food coloring, and 1 cup of water. Some recipes say that a 1:1 mixture is best.
Slime Recipe - Mix together one cup of water, and 1 tsp. of Borax. Set that mixture aside, and in another bowl, add 1 4 oz. bottle of Elmer's glue. Then, add 1/2 cup of water to the glue. Add about 8 drops of food coloring. You can even add glitter! Stir until the color is blended. Now add the Borax mixture from the other bowl. Here's the messy part - knead the mixture a little until it starts to clump together. Then pour the left over water out. Continue to knead the slime until it is no longer wet and gooey or sticks to your hands. After that you've got yourself some slime!!! You can store it in a ziploc bag to keep it from drying out.
Enjoy!
"Jambo!"
We have had yet another wonderful trip around the world. This week, we visited Mexico and Africa. We had a blast learning about these places. In the past week we have learned all kinds of Spanish and Swahili. A highlight for me was being able to tell them all about my trips to these two places. I promised them that I would show them some pictures from my time in Africa. We ran out of class time to look at them, so I am uploading them with our photos, be sure to check them out! J We are preparing for our last big trip around the world this week. Our big travel day will be on Thursday. The stops on our itinerary include Germany, France, Mexico, Africa, Italy, and the North Pole! In my classroom this week, we will be studying all about Italy. We will study the Christmas traditions of Italy, and the works of the famous Italian artist, Michelangelo. We are even planning to try to recreate some of his works. I will be taking pictures all week so you can see all that we are doing.
A few other highlights from our weeks were, MAP Testing, Sci-Friday, and Mystery Reader. For Sci-Friday, we took the things we had previously learned about the states of matter even further. This week, we studied the physical and chemical changes that matter goes through. We experimented using chocolate chips. We observed our chocolate chips as they changed from solid to liquid, and then back to a solid again. It was so much fun, and we were learning! We wrapped up Friday afternoon with a surprise visit from our December Mystery Reader - Leslie Edwards. They were so thrilled to have her come and read to them.
I also would like to say how incredibly proud I am of your kiddos! They did so well on their MAP test. It was so encouraging to see the improvements that they have made and to be able to share them with all of you. Your excitement and support is so motivating to me as a teacher. I can’t wait to see them go even further. They CAN do it! Keep up the hard work. J
We have had yet another wonderful trip around the world. This week, we visited Mexico and Africa. We had a blast learning about these places. In the past week we have learned all kinds of Spanish and Swahili. A highlight for me was being able to tell them all about my trips to these two places. I promised them that I would show them some pictures from my time in Africa. We ran out of class time to look at them, so I am uploading them with our photos, be sure to check them out! J We are preparing for our last big trip around the world this week. Our big travel day will be on Thursday. The stops on our itinerary include Germany, France, Mexico, Africa, Italy, and the North Pole! In my classroom this week, we will be studying all about Italy. We will study the Christmas traditions of Italy, and the works of the famous Italian artist, Michelangelo. We are even planning to try to recreate some of his works. I will be taking pictures all week so you can see all that we are doing.
A few other highlights from our weeks were, MAP Testing, Sci-Friday, and Mystery Reader. For Sci-Friday, we took the things we had previously learned about the states of matter even further. This week, we studied the physical and chemical changes that matter goes through. We experimented using chocolate chips. We observed our chocolate chips as they changed from solid to liquid, and then back to a solid again. It was so much fun, and we were learning! We wrapped up Friday afternoon with a surprise visit from our December Mystery Reader - Leslie Edwards. They were so thrilled to have her come and read to them.
I also would like to say how incredibly proud I am of your kiddos! They did so well on their MAP test. It was so encouraging to see the improvements that they have made and to be able to share them with all of you. Your excitement and support is so motivating to me as a teacher. I can’t wait to see them go even further. They CAN do it! Keep up the hard work. J
"Bonjour and Guten Tag"
What a fun week we had last week as we traveled around the world visiting other countries for Christmas. This week, we visited France and Germany. We took flight on Reindeer Airlines, and explore both places using Google Earth. It was so neat! We even got to stand on the Eiffel Tower. I am sure that many of you have heard all about it. We learned lots of fun facts about how Christmas is celebrated in other cultures. We found while there are many differences, we did have some things in common with the France and Germany Christmas celebrations.
One highlight of our week was learning about adjectives. Who knew adjectives could be so much fun! We set a goal for the week that our class could earn 50 awesome adjectives by Friday, and they did it!!! They were amazing this week. They worked so hard, and their behavior was off the charts. I was one proud teacher. :) This week, we also started "Sci-Fridays". The students were convinced that these had something to do with Si Robertson, but they quickly learned that "Sci" stood for "Science". We will start doing "Sci-Fridays" every Friday afternoon. This is a time were we will learn all about science through hands-on Science lessons. This week, we kicked off our "Sci-Friday" with a lesson on the three states of matter. The students experimented to find out whether or not air took up space. Check out the pics to see their discoveries. Next week we will learn about the Physical and Chemical Changes of Matter. I can't wait for you so see what is in store for this lesson. One Hint - CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!!! :)
What a fun week we had last week as we traveled around the world visiting other countries for Christmas. This week, we visited France and Germany. We took flight on Reindeer Airlines, and explore both places using Google Earth. It was so neat! We even got to stand on the Eiffel Tower. I am sure that many of you have heard all about it. We learned lots of fun facts about how Christmas is celebrated in other cultures. We found while there are many differences, we did have some things in common with the France and Germany Christmas celebrations.
One highlight of our week was learning about adjectives. Who knew adjectives could be so much fun! We set a goal for the week that our class could earn 50 awesome adjectives by Friday, and they did it!!! They were amazing this week. They worked so hard, and their behavior was off the charts. I was one proud teacher. :) This week, we also started "Sci-Fridays". The students were convinced that these had something to do with Si Robertson, but they quickly learned that "Sci" stood for "Science". We will start doing "Sci-Fridays" every Friday afternoon. This is a time were we will learn all about science through hands-on Science lessons. This week, we kicked off our "Sci-Friday" with a lesson on the three states of matter. The students experimented to find out whether or not air took up space. Check out the pics to see their discoveries. Next week we will learn about the Physical and Chemical Changes of Matter. I can't wait for you so see what is in store for this lesson. One Hint - CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!!! :)
"A Turkey for Thanksgiving"
Thanksgiving Break has come and gone, and I am anxious to see your little ones back in the classroom tomorrow! I hope that you have all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. I certainly enjoyed it. :) I want to congratulate you guys on how awesome you did on your turkey projects!!!! They were amazing, and quite a hit at the Thanksgiving dinner. Farmer Brown would have never found those sneaky turkeys! I got pictures of nearly all of them, so be sure to check them out. I can hardly remember the week before Thanksgiving, isn't that a shame? But I do want to tell you about our in-class charity project we worked on! This year our class participated in Operation Christmas Child. For those of you who are new to this, "because of Operation Christmas Child, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have experienced God's love through the power of simple shoebox gifts. Samaritan's Purse works with local churches and ministry partners to deliver the gifts and share the life-changing good news of Jesus Christ." This year we participated with my church in packing our own boxes. Our class sent out a total of six boxes. The children loved packing them, and were so excited to have the opportunity to share such wonderful gifts with children in need. We also placed tracking labels on our boxes so that we will know which country each box traveled to. National Collection Week has ended, but it is not too late to send a box of your own if you are interested. Follow this link to check out the "Build a Shoebox Online" feature. https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/
Check back for updates on our boxes!
Thanksgiving Break has come and gone, and I am anxious to see your little ones back in the classroom tomorrow! I hope that you have all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. I certainly enjoyed it. :) I want to congratulate you guys on how awesome you did on your turkey projects!!!! They were amazing, and quite a hit at the Thanksgiving dinner. Farmer Brown would have never found those sneaky turkeys! I got pictures of nearly all of them, so be sure to check them out. I can hardly remember the week before Thanksgiving, isn't that a shame? But I do want to tell you about our in-class charity project we worked on! This year our class participated in Operation Christmas Child. For those of you who are new to this, "because of Operation Christmas Child, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have experienced God's love through the power of simple shoebox gifts. Samaritan's Purse works with local churches and ministry partners to deliver the gifts and share the life-changing good news of Jesus Christ." This year we participated with my church in packing our own boxes. Our class sent out a total of six boxes. The children loved packing them, and were so excited to have the opportunity to share such wonderful gifts with children in need. We also placed tracking labels on our boxes so that we will know which country each box traveled to. National Collection Week has ended, but it is not too late to send a box of your own if you are interested. Follow this link to check out the "Build a Shoebox Online" feature. https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/
Check back for updates on our boxes!
"Peanuts, Contractions, Balloons, and Inventions"
The title may seem a bit odd, but these were just a FEW words that highlight our amazing week in 2nd grade. We wrapped up the last week of our inventors unit with a story of a very well-known, creative scientist - George Washington Carver. We learned so much about his life, and the many obstacles he faced growing up. One of the most valuable lessons we learned from him, was that he never gave up on his dreams. It was because he never gave up that we are still learned about him today. To close our inventors unit, the students made their own inventions from recycled items they brought from him. Our classroom has been overflowing with egg cartons, milk jugs, and cereal boxes! :) Wait till you see the things they came up with.
Another highlight of our week, was the fact that we all graduated "Med School". That's right, your children are now doctors. On Monday, we began preparing for our med school graduation and our new employment at "Contraction General Hospital". At "Contraction General Hospital" we magically transformed the lives of two words, by making them into a new, shorter word. We suited up in our masks and gloves, gathered our materials (gurney, scalpels, and sutures), and got right to work. Each student had the chance to operate on several patients. Wait till you see the end product! We definitely created a learning memory that will last forever!
In Language this week, we incorporated lots of movement into our learning! To help us practice verb tenses, we made human sentences. The students received their word cards and created sentences. The "audience" had to determine which verb tense belonged in each sentence. Another fun way we practiced, was through a game called "Balloon Pop". Each student received their own inflated balloon, with a verb tense card hiding inside. The students had to pop their balloons and take their card to the appropriate chart in the classroom. This was a great way for the students to practice sorting their verbs! It was lots of fun, but I am still trying to catch my breath from blowing up all of those balloons. :)
We had a wonderful week in 2nd grade. I truly enjoy the opportunity of creating fun and engaging learning experiences for your children. Go check out the pics to experience that fun with us!
The title may seem a bit odd, but these were just a FEW words that highlight our amazing week in 2nd grade. We wrapped up the last week of our inventors unit with a story of a very well-known, creative scientist - George Washington Carver. We learned so much about his life, and the many obstacles he faced growing up. One of the most valuable lessons we learned from him, was that he never gave up on his dreams. It was because he never gave up that we are still learned about him today. To close our inventors unit, the students made their own inventions from recycled items they brought from him. Our classroom has been overflowing with egg cartons, milk jugs, and cereal boxes! :) Wait till you see the things they came up with.
Another highlight of our week, was the fact that we all graduated "Med School". That's right, your children are now doctors. On Monday, we began preparing for our med school graduation and our new employment at "Contraction General Hospital". At "Contraction General Hospital" we magically transformed the lives of two words, by making them into a new, shorter word. We suited up in our masks and gloves, gathered our materials (gurney, scalpels, and sutures), and got right to work. Each student had the chance to operate on several patients. Wait till you see the end product! We definitely created a learning memory that will last forever!
In Language this week, we incorporated lots of movement into our learning! To help us practice verb tenses, we made human sentences. The students received their word cards and created sentences. The "audience" had to determine which verb tense belonged in each sentence. Another fun way we practiced, was through a game called "Balloon Pop". Each student received their own inflated balloon, with a verb tense card hiding inside. The students had to pop their balloons and take their card to the appropriate chart in the classroom. This was a great way for the students to practice sorting their verbs! It was lots of fun, but I am still trying to catch my breath from blowing up all of those balloons. :)
We had a wonderful week in 2nd grade. I truly enjoy the opportunity of creating fun and engaging learning experiences for your children. Go check out the pics to experience that fun with us!
"Henry Ford"
This week, we studied the life of Henry Ford. We learned so much about the way that automobiles have changed over time. They have certainly came a long way! With their new knowledge of Henry Ford, we practice being authors by writing our own informational text about Henry Ford. We have been learning about the informative writing and the steps of the writing process. They did such an awesome job on their writing! They are filling up their learning portfolios with all kind of incredible work! Aside from our writing, we had many students do their own research projects of Henry Ford. Some students researched his life, his inventions, and even made comparisons about automobiles then and now. They did a wonderful job presenting their work to the class.
We also learned new sounds in phonics this week, and I thought it appropriate to dress the part! To introduce the "ar" sound, I dressed as a pirate on Monday! Throughout the rest of the week, the students passed around the eye patch and shouted out their best "Arggghhh" sound all week long! Be sure to check out a few pics from the week.
***Reminder: We are in our last week of our inventors unit, and are working on our group inventions project. Don't forget to send recycled items from home!
This week, we studied the life of Henry Ford. We learned so much about the way that automobiles have changed over time. They have certainly came a long way! With their new knowledge of Henry Ford, we practice being authors by writing our own informational text about Henry Ford. We have been learning about the informative writing and the steps of the writing process. They did such an awesome job on their writing! They are filling up their learning portfolios with all kind of incredible work! Aside from our writing, we had many students do their own research projects of Henry Ford. Some students researched his life, his inventions, and even made comparisons about automobiles then and now. They did a wonderful job presenting their work to the class.
We also learned new sounds in phonics this week, and I thought it appropriate to dress the part! To introduce the "ar" sound, I dressed as a pirate on Monday! Throughout the rest of the week, the students passed around the eye patch and shouted out their best "Arggghhh" sound all week long! Be sure to check out a few pics from the week.
***Reminder: We are in our last week of our inventors unit, and are working on our group inventions project. Don't forget to send recycled items from home!
"Thomas Edison"
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” This week we learned how Thomas Edison lived by these wisely spoken words. There was a problem with the first light bulb in that it only lasted a few hours, then burned out. Thomas Edison was determined to find a solution to this problem. With much time and dedication, he did just that. He created a more cost effective bulb lasting 1500 hours. Throughout his life, he is known for a variety of things, from his countless inventions, 14 different companies, to his 1,093 US patents, he soared. His life is a huge lesson to us. From him we can learn that hard work does pay off. I hope that we will always remember the things we learned from him this week. Even though 2nd grade may be a little bit tough right now, if we keep working, we WILL get better! :)
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” This week we learned how Thomas Edison lived by these wisely spoken words. There was a problem with the first light bulb in that it only lasted a few hours, then burned out. Thomas Edison was determined to find a solution to this problem. With much time and dedication, he did just that. He created a more cost effective bulb lasting 1500 hours. Throughout his life, he is known for a variety of things, from his countless inventions, 14 different companies, to his 1,093 US patents, he soared. His life is a huge lesson to us. From him we can learn that hard work does pay off. I hope that we will always remember the things we learned from him this week. Even though 2nd grade may be a little bit tough right now, if we keep working, we WILL get better! :)
"Benjamin Franklin"
Last week, we learned about another famous inventor named - Benjamin Franklin. We learned that without him, we wouldn't have things like bifocal, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, etc. While reading about Ben Franklin this week, we learned to identify the author's viewpoint, nonfiction text features, and we used our context clues to expand our vocabulary. Two of our favorite activities from the week were our nonfiction text features scavenger hunt, and out context clues detective work. In both activities, the students worked with a partner to locate things in a nonfiction text, and to determine the meaning of words within a text. We learned lots of new words! Those weren't the only exciting parts of our week - we had a Mystery Reader!!!! Mystery Reader has become a HUGE deal in our classroom. They get SOOO excited and love to try and solve the "mystery". This week, they were convinced the Mystery Reader was Ms. Mitchell (1st grade teacher last year). But to their great surprise, it was Ms. Vic. Ms. Vic is the aunt of Landon and Lauren. She read two seasonal books to us, and brought the most delicious cupcakes. She was a big hit! Be sure to check out the pics from this week. :)
This week, we will be learning about Thomas Edison. Do you know what he invented? I'll give you a clue - "He helps to brighten our homes". Bring your best guesses to class on Monday!
Last week, we learned about another famous inventor named - Benjamin Franklin. We learned that without him, we wouldn't have things like bifocal, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, etc. While reading about Ben Franklin this week, we learned to identify the author's viewpoint, nonfiction text features, and we used our context clues to expand our vocabulary. Two of our favorite activities from the week were our nonfiction text features scavenger hunt, and out context clues detective work. In both activities, the students worked with a partner to locate things in a nonfiction text, and to determine the meaning of words within a text. We learned lots of new words! Those weren't the only exciting parts of our week - we had a Mystery Reader!!!! Mystery Reader has become a HUGE deal in our classroom. They get SOOO excited and love to try and solve the "mystery". This week, they were convinced the Mystery Reader was Ms. Mitchell (1st grade teacher last year). But to their great surprise, it was Ms. Vic. Ms. Vic is the aunt of Landon and Lauren. She read two seasonal books to us, and brought the most delicious cupcakes. She was a big hit! Be sure to check out the pics from this week. :)
This week, we will be learning about Thomas Edison. Do you know what he invented? I'll give you a clue - "He helps to brighten our homes". Bring your best guesses to class on Monday!
"Watson, Come Here." -Alexander Graham Bell
What is it about short weeks that always seem so long? Anything that throws off our routine seems to make our week a little bit crazy. But it was still a great week! We kicked off the week with our first informational text unit - "How Inventive!" We studied Alexander Graham Bell and his most famous inventions. We learned about the ways he worked to help the deaf, and the invention of the telephone. How did people ever live without one? We learned that we are very thankful for him! :) In our readings about his life, we identified the main idea of main idea of an informational text and the authors purpose for writing. To help us remember authors purpose, we always say that it is "Easy as P.I.E.!" This helps us to remember that authors write to Persuade, Inform, and Entertain. We practiced this skill with so many passages. I was so proud of how well they did!
We also had a few pretty cool visitors to our classroom this week. On Tuesday, we had a visit from Duchess. Duchess is a seeing-eye dog for her beloved owner Ms. Chris. They came to our classroom to tell us all about her job and how important it is. We loved seeing her! Our second guess what Mrs. Liz Hill (our Mystery Reader). Mrs. Liz is the aunt of one our own - Brock! He was even surprised to see her. Mrs. Liz is a retired teacher from the district. The kids loved hearing her read. She read There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat, The Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything, and a baseball story. I think There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat was a class favorite. Be sure to check our photos from the week to see our special guest visits!
What is it about short weeks that always seem so long? Anything that throws off our routine seems to make our week a little bit crazy. But it was still a great week! We kicked off the week with our first informational text unit - "How Inventive!" We studied Alexander Graham Bell and his most famous inventions. We learned about the ways he worked to help the deaf, and the invention of the telephone. How did people ever live without one? We learned that we are very thankful for him! :) In our readings about his life, we identified the main idea of main idea of an informational text and the authors purpose for writing. To help us remember authors purpose, we always say that it is "Easy as P.I.E.!" This helps us to remember that authors write to Persuade, Inform, and Entertain. We practiced this skill with so many passages. I was so proud of how well they did!
We also had a few pretty cool visitors to our classroom this week. On Tuesday, we had a visit from Duchess. Duchess is a seeing-eye dog for her beloved owner Ms. Chris. They came to our classroom to tell us all about her job and how important it is. We loved seeing her! Our second guess what Mrs. Liz Hill (our Mystery Reader). Mrs. Liz is the aunt of one our own - Brock! He was even surprised to see her. Mrs. Liz is a retired teacher from the district. The kids loved hearing her read. She read There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat, The Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything, and a baseball story. I think There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat was a class favorite. Be sure to check our photos from the week to see our special guest visits!
"And Remember...Don't Talk to Strangers!!!"
And that's a wrap! Our fairy tale unit has officially come to an end. Not only did my student's have a fun time learning this unit, but I had a fun time teaching this unit. We have been learning so much. We will make start this week with a very different unit. We will begin an informational text unit about inventions and their inventors! I am excited about starting this unit. We will kick this first week off with a study of the life and inventions of Alexander Graham Bell. Can you imagine a life with no telephones???? I am very thankful for his main invention. I wonder what he would think of the Smart Phones we have today? Our theme for the next 5 weeks will be based around these inventors, but we will place a huge focus on teaching a variety of comprehension skills. We will use several different books and passages to practice these skills and on Friday, we will test on these skills. We have been working our way up to testing this way, and we will make the transition this week. Rather than a test solely on the life of Alexander Graham Bell, we will use a cold read to test on the skills that have been taught. For this reason, it is very important that your child be reading a variety of material and answering questions that will help them practice our weekly skills. So please check the back of your newsletter weekly to know what types of questions you should be asking.
We have a busy week ahead, so here are a few reminders of what is ahead. Open house (Report Card Pick-up) will be this Thursday night from 5:30-6:30. Don't forget to send your hot dog donations for the Open House by tomorrow. Make plans now to attend. Hope to see you there!
"Too hot, Too cold, Just Right"
This week, we encountered a real-life crime!!! Someone broke into the home of the three bears! Not only did they break in, but they ate up all of their food, sat in their chairs, and slept in their beds. A little girl with bouncing blonde curls is the suspect. Further details will be provided as the investigation continues. Stay tuned!
What fun we had reading the two different versions of Goldilocks. I think the version titled Somebody and the Three Blairs was a HUGE hit. I just knew we weren't going to get some complains from the neighboring classrooms for our loud laughter. The students couldn't contain themselves when "Somebody" thought the toilet was a pond. You'll have to ask them about that one. We had a wonderful week reading about Goldilocks, finding proper nouns, and studying arrays. This week, we will close out our fairy tale unit with "Little Red Riding Hood". She is at it again and as you can expect that pesky old wolf isn't far behind! Only this Little Red Riding Hood is a bit different than the one you may have in mind. Tune in this week as we compare and contrast two different version of Little Red Riding Hood. Even better, we will also get to hear the Chinese version in our Listening Center! This story will wrap up our fairy tale unit. This has been a wonderful unit, but I can assure you, GREAT things are in store for the next one! Our reading comprehension skills this week will focus on comparing and contrasting, asking and answering who, what, when, where, why, and how questions, identifying characters, setting, and plot, and story sequencing. Check the back of your newsletter for study tips for this week's skills.
Have a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious week!
"I'll Huff and I'll Puff"
We have just completed our second week of our fairy tale unit. We started out our week with the folk tale classic, The Three Little Pigs. We were all familiar with the classic tale, but the best part was learning the true story....the wolf's side of the story. You see, everyone thinks of him as "the big, bad wolf", when in reality he is an innocent fellow taking care of his dear old, sweet granny. A combination of a bad cold and one less cup of sugar changed this wolf's life forever! We had so much fun reading both versions of the story and recognizing the similarities and differences between the two. This unit has helped us to become experts at analyzing stories.
Reading isn't all that we did last week; in language we learned all about nouns, and in math we continued learning strategies to use when we are subtracting. We are covering lots of new content in a lot of different ways! It is certainly more challenging, but your children will benefit greatly from it.
Tomorrow we will begin reading another classic, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Please continue reading with your children each night, this will help them tremendously! Have a great week!
We have just completed our second week of our fairy tale unit. We started out our week with the folk tale classic, The Three Little Pigs. We were all familiar with the classic tale, but the best part was learning the true story....the wolf's side of the story. You see, everyone thinks of him as "the big, bad wolf", when in reality he is an innocent fellow taking care of his dear old, sweet granny. A combination of a bad cold and one less cup of sugar changed this wolf's life forever! We had so much fun reading both versions of the story and recognizing the similarities and differences between the two. This unit has helped us to become experts at analyzing stories.
Reading isn't all that we did last week; in language we learned all about nouns, and in math we continued learning strategies to use when we are subtracting. We are covering lots of new content in a lot of different ways! It is certainly more challenging, but your children will benefit greatly from it.
Tomorrow we will begin reading another classic, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Please continue reading with your children each night, this will help them tremendously! Have a great week!
"Bippity, Boppity, Boo!"
Last week we kicked off our fairy tale unit with one of my favorite childhood stories, Cinderella. We read the classic fairy tale Cinderella and the Native American version - The Rough Face Girl. We pretended to be fairy tale detectives as we checked each story for special fairy tale elements. We found the both versions of the story had many similarities and differences. On Friday, we took our learning outside to organize those similarities and differences. We used sidewalk chalk to create a life-sized Venn Diagram, and the students worked with a partner to arrange themselves with their sorting cards onto the correct area of the diagram. We ended up with all boys on "Team Cinderella"! The students did such a great job comparing and contrasting both versions of the story. This week, we will continue our fairy tale unit with the classic folk tale, The Three Little Pigs. Later on this week, we will read another version of the story, which is told from the Wolf's perspective. Check out this link for the book trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9UZTyrDRKc
Reminders: *We DO NOT have spelling of vocabulary this week.
*Homecoming Week starts tomorrow with Jersey Day!
Last week we kicked off our fairy tale unit with one of my favorite childhood stories, Cinderella. We read the classic fairy tale Cinderella and the Native American version - The Rough Face Girl. We pretended to be fairy tale detectives as we checked each story for special fairy tale elements. We found the both versions of the story had many similarities and differences. On Friday, we took our learning outside to organize those similarities and differences. We used sidewalk chalk to create a life-sized Venn Diagram, and the students worked with a partner to arrange themselves with their sorting cards onto the correct area of the diagram. We ended up with all boys on "Team Cinderella"! The students did such a great job comparing and contrasting both versions of the story. This week, we will continue our fairy tale unit with the classic folk tale, The Three Little Pigs. Later on this week, we will read another version of the story, which is told from the Wolf's perspective. Check out this link for the book trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9UZTyrDRKc
Reminders: *We DO NOT have spelling of vocabulary this week.
*Homecoming Week starts tomorrow with Jersey Day!
"A Walk in the Desert"
What an incredible journey we had in the desert last week! We learned all about the desert habitat and the plants and animals living there. The students loved talking about the desert and all of the things they were learning. We also began writing in cursive! I think this was their favorite part of the week. They used every spare moment they had to practice their handwriting and the sounds they were learning. Our phonics this week will be focused on those sounds. They will be excited to have time to practice their handwriting again.
In Math, we finished up Topic 2 and are ready for Topic 3. For the next two weeks, we will be learning all about "Subtraction Strategies". We are really enjoying our new Math curriculum so far. Log in to your child's Math account for extra practice at home. Sadly, I do not have any photos from the week! I am so sorry! This week was a bit more busy that normal and before I realized it, it was Friday afternoon and I did not have any pictures. I promise I will have some next week!
We have a very exciting week ahead of us! We are starting a new unit on Fairy Tales! For the next month, we will be comparing traditional fairy tales, with an alternate version of the fairy tale. This week, we will be reading and comparing Cinderella and The Rough Face Girl. I am very excited about these stories! Stay tuned for more updates on our Fairy Tale unit.
Reminder: 2nd grade Open House - Thursday, September 19th, 5:30-6:30. Please make plans to attend the open house. We will be explaining many changes we are making to our 2nd grade curriculum. I know changes may seem scary, but we are making a plan to meet your children where they are and give them the best education possible. If you are unable to attend, I encourage you to set up a conference! I hope to see all of you there!
"Camp Hollingsworth"
Last week may have been a shorter week, but we managed to cover so much! This week read Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night. With our friends Henry and Mudge, we went on a great camping adventure. We have explored so many wonderful things this week! In Reading, we learned about main idea and details, and we also practiced identifying consonant blends. Our favorite word work activity this week was our "sight word star gazing". On Thursday, the students brought their flashlights and we went on a star gazing adventure. We all found our spots under the "sky" and searched for words using our flashlights. The students LOVED doing this! It was a fun way for them to practice their high-frequency, spelling and vocabulary words. We focused on our words a lot this week and their test scores showed their hard work. I am so proud of them!
Our last and final activity of the week was our camp out! This was a major highlight of our week. We wore our pajamas and ate s'mores! The s'mores were delicious, but we also used them as a learning experience. I started the activity by having the students walk me through the steps of making s'mores. This was a blast! They had to really pay close attention to details when giving their directions. Once we had our first s'more made, the students began their "How to Make S'mores" writing activity. They did awesome! We enjoyed our yummy s'mores. Be sure to check out our weekly photos and their chocolate covered faces!
Last week may have been a shorter week, but we managed to cover so much! This week read Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night. With our friends Henry and Mudge, we went on a great camping adventure. We have explored so many wonderful things this week! In Reading, we learned about main idea and details, and we also practiced identifying consonant blends. Our favorite word work activity this week was our "sight word star gazing". On Thursday, the students brought their flashlights and we went on a star gazing adventure. We all found our spots under the "sky" and searched for words using our flashlights. The students LOVED doing this! It was a fun way for them to practice their high-frequency, spelling and vocabulary words. We focused on our words a lot this week and their test scores showed their hard work. I am so proud of them!
Our last and final activity of the week was our camp out! This was a major highlight of our week. We wore our pajamas and ate s'mores! The s'mores were delicious, but we also used them as a learning experience. I started the activity by having the students walk me through the steps of making s'mores. This was a blast! They had to really pay close attention to details when giving their directions. Once we had our first s'more made, the students began their "How to Make S'mores" writing activity. They did awesome! We enjoyed our yummy s'mores. Be sure to check out our weekly photos and their chocolate covered faces!
"3, 2, 1 Blast Off!!!"
What an awesome week we had together! On Monday, we launched our learning into a space exploration. We learned so many interesting things about our Solar System and the many astronauts who have helped us learn more about life in space. This story has always been a 2nd grade favorite. One of my favorite parts of the week was our science center. This week the students worked as a group to complete their first research project. I provided many different resources for each planet, and the students took charge from there. They decided their planets and began researching interesting facts about their planet. They LOVED doing their research and learning more about the planets. In our afternoon rotation, one group researched famous astronauts and presented their research to the class. They did such a great job! The students really enjoyed watching YouTube videos of space shuttle launches and Felix Baumgartner's skydive from the Stratosphere. I shared with the students my skydiving experience, and they were fascinated to hear about it. Be sure to look at a few photos from our week, as well as a few promised pics of me skydiving!
Stay tuned for next week's camp out at "Camp Hollingsworth." We are going to learn so much as we explore things in nature! Don't forget to bring your flashlights for Thursday's sight word star gazing and wear your PJs for our Friday camp out!
"Let's Go Exploring!"
A very wonderful week in 2nd grade has come to a close. This week, we traveled with Iris and Walter to explore a new neighborhood. We explored three different types of communities - urban, rural, and suburban. The students showed their understanding of these communities and their differences in many different ways. They made Venn Diagrams, wrote in their journals and created murals. Their murals turned out awesome! All in all, we had a great week together. My favorite part of the week was when we began our afternoon rotation. The students are doing such a wonderful job switching classes in the afternoon. I am sure they are enjoying getting to know Mrs. Rashea and Mrs. Wendy, and I am enjoying getting to know more students! I promised to take more pictures this week, so here they are. You can really tell that everyone is becoming much more comfortable, and letting their personalities shine! Thank you for sharing your sweet children with me.
A very wonderful week in 2nd grade has come to a close. This week, we traveled with Iris and Walter to explore a new neighborhood. We explored three different types of communities - urban, rural, and suburban. The students showed their understanding of these communities and their differences in many different ways. They made Venn Diagrams, wrote in their journals and created murals. Their murals turned out awesome! All in all, we had a great week together. My favorite part of the week was when we began our afternoon rotation. The students are doing such a wonderful job switching classes in the afternoon. I am sure they are enjoying getting to know Mrs. Rashea and Mrs. Wendy, and I am enjoying getting to know more students! I promised to take more pictures this week, so here they are. You can really tell that everyone is becoming much more comfortable, and letting their personalities shine! Thank you for sharing your sweet children with me.