Earth Day Superheroes!!

Earth Day was Monday.  In celebration of this day we created Earth Day Superheroes.  We first completed a book called "Because of the Earth...".  We wrote about all the great things we have on Earth like animals, plants, the ocean, etc...  Then we created our superheroes.

This week in math we practiced the Trade-First Method of subtracting.  We have become experts at this since we practice often.  We also began multiplication and subtraction number stories.  The students have gotten very good at drawing pictures to help them solve these problems.  Next week multiplication facts will be introduced.

Our big question this week in reading was "How can we understand nature?"  We read several folktales that tried to explain how things in nature came to be.  Some students even wrote a folktale on their own trying to explain "How Bunnies Got Their Tails."

We started writing poetry this week.  We went outside and collected things such as leaves, dandelions, sticks, etc.  Then we wrote poems about them using a "poet's eyes."  Next week we will begin reading and writing more poetry.

In science, we also started to create our "model" rainforest. We created the four layers of the rainforest in our hallway.  Keep an eye out next week for photos of our rainforest after we have added the animals.  

Mrs. Fletcher, our guidance counselor, came in on Friday for a guidance lesson.  She talked about how to accept how people are different.

Have a nice weekend...

Testing is Over!!

Well, we survived out testing week!  As a reward for hard work, we watched "Finding Nemo."

Not much to report this week.  We did some math practice with a review packet and played some math games.

I started reading a new story to the class..."A Cricket in Times Square."  The students enjoy listening to the story and are intrigued about the cricket and how it traveled to the city of New York.

We continued to study the rainforest and began researching a rainforest animal in computer class.  The students have become experts on the layers of the rainforest.  There is a game on my "Websites" page that they can play to place the animals and plants into the correct layer.  Next week we will begin constructing our model of the rainforest.

In Social Studies, we have been learning about the city of San Francisco and how it changed from 1846 to the present.  We learned about an earthquake in 1906 and what happened to the city afterward.

I would like to take this time to thank all of you for attending our Best of Heights Night.  The students are so proud to show their work from throughout the year.


If you did not get a chance to see your child's president video......see it here.

April Showers...

Welcome back from Spring break...although this week felt more like summer. 

This week in Reading we discussed how kids around the world are alike and different.  We read stories about celebrating New Years in the United States and China.  We also read a story about two cousins, one from a city in the US and one from Mexico.  They wrote letters to each other and talked about the different things they like to do for fun.  The students got a kick out of Charlie break-dancing.  We learned about games that are played by kids around the world.  Ask your child to teach you how to play"Stick in the Mud" like in Australia or "Snail" like in France.

In Math, we are moving right along and have finished Unit 10.  (Only two units left!!)  We took another math test which will be coming home for you to see next week.  We started only one lesson in Unit 11 which was number stories and adding money amounts.  The students did great with this lesson.  I think the morning problems that they have been working on have helped! 

We started one of my favorite units in Science this week.  Rainforests!!  We viewed a powerpoint presentation that taught us about the four layers of the rainforest.  Eventually, we will be creating our own rainforest in our hallway!  Mrs. Moran has helped out in Art by having the students create beautiful butterflies to add to it.

In Social Studies, the students were introduced to the city of San Francisco.  They saw pictures of what it looks like now and what it looked like in 1846.  We will continue to study this city over the next week.

Of course, the most exciting thing we did this week was got a visit from a circus act.  We began with an assembly with Lulu the clown.  Then the performers showed us how to perform several circus acts.  We juggled (Mrs. Wells was a pro at this one), we balanced a feather, and twirled a lasso.  It was a lot of fun.  Thank you to the Home & School for a providing such a great assembly.

Next week will be our testing week.  Please remember a snack for your child, make them get a good night's rest and arrive to school on time. There will be no homework next week.

Also, Tuesday night is Best of Heights night.  We have many wonderful things for you to see.  Wait til you see our classroom door!!

Have a great weekend.  Hope to see you on Tuesday.

Spring Break is Here!!

Wow!! This year is flying by.  Can you believe it's spring already?  If only the weather would begin to cooperate.

This was week 2 of our new Reading program.  The students are loving the new informational stories. This week we read about ways the Earth changes.  We learned about beach erosion, volcanoes, forest fires and earthquakes. We have been practicing using the reread strategy.  The students discovered, after taking a practice test, that they must go back into the text and reread to understand the material.  This is not a skill that they are used to, so if you are reading with them at home, have they try this.

The students have been doing exceptionally well on their spelling words.  Thank you for your help with the new homework.  They have been learning new vocabulary as well and have even used some of the words in everyday conversation.

In Math, we practiced place value using a paper book as a tool.  The students are getting better at identifying place value up to the ten-thousands place.  When we come back from break, we will have an assessment.  Then we only have two units left!!

We met with our Book Buddies again this week and they helped us make the Easter baskets.  In keeping with our second grade tradition we dyed Easter eggs this week, too.  The students got some goodies in their baskets and got to take home their eggs as well.

We are starting to prepare the classroom for Best of Heights Night on Tuesday, April 16.  Save the Date!!

I hope to see many of at Opening Day of baseball!  Have a great break and enjoy spending the time with your family!!

Alaska & The Rain Forest

This week we started our new Reading program.  We read several stories about different regions of the world.  We learned about Alaska.  Did you know in the winter Alaska has more than 60 days of darkness and in the summer the sun doesn't set for more than 80 days?  We read about different types of rain forests and saw pictures of several animals that live there.  We will be studying rain forests in science when we come back from break.

We started writing a fictional story in Writing.  The students loved making up characters and telling a story.  We will continue to work on these stories in the coming week by revising and editing them and then hopefully typing them using our laptops.

You may have noticed from the homework, we practiced spelling words that have silent letters in them, such as wr, kn, gn, sc & mb.  We had a spelling test today and the students performed very well on it. 

In Math, we practiced using a calculator to enter money amounts.  We also practiced estimating money and counting change.  These are very beginning skills for second graders and also the most difficult.  You can help your child by having them try to figure out what your change is at a store.  Have them also estimate the cost of two items together.  The more they work on these skills the better they will become at them.

We finished up our Solids, Liquids and Gas unit this week.  After break we will begin our unit on Ecology beginning with our rain forest study.  In Social Studies, we continued discussing how communities change.  This week we focused on what happens to a community when things start to shut down and how it can them be built back up again. 

Please keep in mind that next week there are half days on Wednesday and Thursday for requested conferences and on Friday school is closed. 

Have a great weekend...

Despereaux & Leprechauns

This week the class earned a reward.  Since our reading "bed" was filled with monkeys, the class reward was to watch the movie, "The Tale of Despereaux."  The bed is filled when the students read a book and put a monkey on the bed with the title of the book.  The students were familiar with the story of Despereaux because the book was read to them by me.

In Writing we did one of my favorite activities of the year.  We wrote "How to Catch a Leprechaun in a Jar" stories.  The students are very inventive and use such things as gold coins, traps, shamrocks and one student even lured the leprechaun in the jar with Lucky Charms.  Great use of imagination!!  Look for these to be displayed on Best of Heights night.

This week we have been sharpening our money skills in Math.  We practiced writing money in dollars and cents notation.  We also practiced estimating to see if we had enough money to buy some groceries. 

In Social Studies, we started looking at how communities change.  Communities grow when more people move into them and then the community needs more things in it.  We created our own growing community called, Wellsville.

In Science, we are beginning to talk about the third state of matter, gas.  We had a quick experiment using baking soda, vinegar, a balloon and a water bottle.  The students were amazed to see that the gas from the baking soda and the vinegar was able to blow up the balloon.

Please look for the conference request form that will be coming home today.  If you would like to request a conference, please fill it out and return by Wednesday, March 20.  Also, just a reminder that Friday, March 22 is a half day for students.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

This week we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday in several ways.

In Writing we read Oh, The Places You'll Go.  We then brainstormed all different types of occupations.  The students then chose which occupation they would like to be when they grow up. 

We also read Horton Hatches an Egg.  In this story, the momma bird Mayzie asks Horton the elephant to sit on her egg while she flies away and never comes back.  Then when the egg cracks, Mayzie tries to get the egg back.  We wrote a letter to Dr. Seuss telling him who we thought should get the egg.

In Science, in keeping with the Dr. Seuss theme and our solids and liquids unit, we made oobleck!!  Was it a solid or a liquid?? It was surely a mess, but we had a lot of fun playing with it.   You can make it at home with 2 parts corn starch to 1 part water (and a little green food coloring.)

In Reading, we continued with our money theme.  We practiced learned about the prefix un and the suffixes ful, ly, less & er.  We read stories and poems about money.  We then took a reading test on Friday.

 This week in Math, we learned about area.  We find area in second grade by counting the blocks on the inside of a figure.  We also learned about capacity.  To help us remember we created Gallon Man or Gallon Girl.  Pay special attention to the arms and legs.

Next week is our annual fundraiser, Jump Rope for Heart.  This is a great fundraiser for our school.  The students will be participating on Tuesday, March 12.  Please keep in mind that this is not our regular gym day so the students will have to be dressed properly in order to participate.  If you would be interested in volunteering, you can email me.

Have a nice weekend...