Pumpkin Practice

Today I tested out a no bake pumpkin pie recipe! Just to make sure our cooking on  Wednesday won't be a flop. :) Needless to say it turned out great!  I'm so excited to practice using our reading skills in a real life situation!  What better way to practice strategies than with a yummy end result? With Thanksgiving break right around the corner there will be a few fun activities on Wednesday.  The second grade will be taking a tour around the classrooms to participate in Colonial activities as an extension to our current Social Studies unit.  This week is going to fly by!

Catching Up

 I would like to apologize for taking so long to put up any new posts!  It seems as though the month of October got the best of me and time slipped away.  Can you believe that Thanksgiving break is only a week away?  To start this post I am going to update with some photos that have been taken this past month.

 We got to take a ride on the Fire Truck for Fire Safety Week!  Everyone had a great time riding around the square.

 We had the Volunteer Fire Fighters come to teach us about how to be safe in a fire.  It was a fantastic demonstration and we are so lucky to have these guys take time off work to come present for us.  It is a good idea to talk with your kids about what their address and phone number is in case of an emergency.

 For our fall party we cut open some pumpkins and really dug in.  We counted out how many seeds were in each pumpkin and ways we can tell how many seeds would be in the pumpkin. 

 After cleaning up our pumpkin mess we had some yummy treats and watched a quick video.

Midterms will be sent home this Wednesday the 19th.   Thanksgiving break will kick off on Wednesday the 26th and we won't return to school until the first of December.  This year is flying by but there is much more to do!  Keep warm and enjoy the snow!

Skype with Australia

Here is what it looks like to have two classes invade our room!  Mrs. Kampf's class came to join us on our Skype Adventure!  While everything did not go as smoothly as hoped, we had a fantastic finish! 

Homecoming and Australia

Hey all!  Homecoming was fantastic!  The kiddos had a blast at the carnival and I can't wait to show you all that we did!  As of this moment I have received four permission slips back that will allow me to post pictures of the kids.  I need more slips back so that I can show more of the pictures I took!

Second Grade Teachers Unite!

 The assembly was a great kickoff to the day that flew by so fast!  It was a great experience and I hope the kids had a blast!

This week we have some exciting news, we will be Skyping with a class from Australia!  This is going to be such an amazing experience!  Be talking with your child about what it is about Iowa that makes us special and questions that they may have for our new friends across the pond. :)

Habitat Pictures

Last week we finished up with out habitat unit.  Following are the pictures of the posters that were presented. The kids had a blast making and presenting these.  Our principal Mrs. Cranston even stopped by to check out the hard work!

The last picture is one of our new tables!  It is much easier to keep things organized and ensure that papers are getting home with tables.  The first few days may take some getting used to but with more space to work I'm sure the kids will learn to love them as I do!

Reminder : picture day is Wednesday.   Please have your students ready to smile big!  :)

Habitats to Homes

Greetings all!  This week we are finishing up our Habitats unit.  We have spent time learning what animals live in which type of environment, as well as what makes these environments come together so that the animals may thrive.  Starting next week we will begin to learn about communities.  This will include where we live, what we need to survive, and much, much, more!

Today we had our naturalist come in.  The kiddos enjoyed learning about some of the trees that are found in our area.  They also were given the chance to make a leaf print! :)

In math we are finishing up with Unit 1.  In this we have been focusing on different counting strategies, as well as problem solving strategies.  It is always a good idea to work on math facts with your kids at home!  We have a good concept of how to tell the hour and up to a half hour on the analog clock at the moment.  Now we are talking about five minute time intervals.  Soon we will start to look at elapsed time. 

Our reading is finally back to a normal schedule!  Expect books to come be coming home much more frequently now.  I try to fit as many as my groups in every day but there are times that I might not be able to get to everyone.  If you do not see a book home on Wednesday do not be alarmed!  This day we have Library and Computers right in the middle of our reading block, which cuts into our group time.

Writers workshop is going very well!  We have some friends in class who are preparing to have a published piece in the near future!

This year is going wonderfully so far and I cannot wait to see what is in store for us next! 

Back in the Swing of Things

Greetings all!  It seems as though these past few weeks have simply flown by!  This week we are starting our MAPS Testing.  This is to give us an idea of where each child currently is in math and reading.  Unfortunately our test times fall at the same time as our guided reading.  What this means for you is that the reading folders may not be coming home this week.  I will be trying to get as many turned out as possible but I do not want to send a book home that we have not spent time reading in our groups.  We will have testing one day next week but hope to have our schedule back to normal as soon as possible.

In case anyone is wondering what is going on with our behavior system here is a chart of what it looks like.

 

Every child starts on green and throughout the day student's clips may move up or down according to the choices they make.  Students who are constantly on task are able to move their clip up.  Students moving up will first hit blue (Good Day) and then move to purple (Great Day).  When a student hits the purple then you will receive a positive note home the following day (I wait until the next day to send the note to ensure that students know their choices for the entire day decide upon their rewards).  If a student gets to pink (outstanding) then I have rewards coupons that they are able to choose from.  Rewards include things such as: wear your hat in class for the day, bring a stuffed animal to school for the day, use the special supplies, bring show and tell (Friday only), or bring a book to read to the class (Friday only).  These rewards are to reinforce the positive choices that they make throughout the day.  If a child is having trouble making positive choices then they may be asked to move their clip down.  If a clip is moved to orange that is the warning to make a better choice.  If the student's clip moves to gold then they will spend time at recess practicing making a better choice.  Should a student continue to struggle throughout the day I will be contacting you so that we can work on a plan to help make the learning environment more productive for all.  With this system there is always room for improvement.  I believe firmly that we all make mistakes and deserve second chances.  A negative choice in the morning does not equal to a terrible day.  Your child has the chance to change the day around and make better choices that will move their clip back up.  If you have any questions about this system please let me know!

On another note we have been hard at work with our writing this year.  The writing process is one that is important for every student and we as a second grade team are working hard to ensure that students are getting the chance to write every day.  In our class we have a writing space (check out the picture :) ) that holds all of our supplies.  For the first term we are working on narratives.  The small moments that happen in every day life can make the best stories!  If you can talk with your child about how the little things in life can sometimes be the most important things!

 

Now that we have gotten back into the swing of things at school the days are just flying by.  In math we have started to look at money (coins) and make the connections of value to the coin.  In our Science unit we are starting our projects on Habitats.  As soon as we finish our projects I will be posting pictures of what they look like!