Friday, November 22, 2013

Friday November 22

The second graders in room 13 are thankful....



For my family and my pet dog Sophie- Thomas
For my family and my pet dog Gyp- Jasper
For my family & my friends & house and food - Lola
My family my grandma because is really encourages me-Norah
My family and two pet cats- Kali
My food, water and family-Layton
My family and friends- Dah
My mommy daddy- Isabella
Animals and my family- Anders
My family and brother- Matthew
My family and my giant teddy bear because he is comfortable when I sleep- Miles
Food, water and and world because without the world we wouldn't be alive-Lauren
My mom and dad and my sister- Beckett
For God and what he made for us-Drew
For my dog Maxine because she is soft- Ezra
For my family and dog that died named Marvin- Copper
For my family and my dog- Sam
My family and food and water- Parker
My family and my hamster and two dogs that died- Ryder
My family and dogs because tell me when someone tries to break in my house- Cassidy
For Turkey my uncle's dog because he licks me!- Hensley
My family and my blanket because my blanket smells good to me!- Evalyn
My family and my two cats- Sophia

Your children are precious- enjoy your time together being thankful for every minute we have with them.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Thursday November 21- Many Pictures of ant projects

Hi everyone!  Thank you for visiting today- there was a wonderful energy in the class today as the students put the finishing touches on their ant projects and readied the room for your visits. 
First, we practiced our presenting with Mrs, Neff's third graders....









I took a few pictures of their projects so we could all see...


















 Then, all of the guests arrived and we began to present our projects and our books....








Wow!  I sensed that there was much sharing and learning going on!  The students are so excited to have you visit and we appreciate the time it takes to visit.  Keep learning about ants, you budding entomologists!  See you tomorrow!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Tuesday November 19

We had another busy day working on our own designs for ant projects.  There is a nice energy in the room as the students exchange ideas and develop them together into a "final project."  It is amazing the creativity that I witness watching them work.  Really amazing!

Ideas from the kids:

"I liked making a model of an anthill with Lauren." Cassidy
"It was nice that Ryder used his choice time to help with our project." Kali
"I enjoyed playing basketball with Beckett, Anders, Drew, and Sam because they all play fair." Jasper
"I really enjoyed designing my own ant projects." Beckett
"I liked playing 2 square with Layton because he is my friend and because he plays fair." Miles
"It was nice making a new friend Evalyn while we worked on an ant project together." Lola
"It was really nice of Matthew to help me with my project idea because it was was a really big project that needed more than one person to help!" Sam

Everyone was friendly and helpful as they worked on projects...
see you all tomorrow!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Monday November 18

Hi everyone.  Sorry I was gone on Friday, but it turns out I had strep throat...I'm on antibiotics and back on my feet, but just barely...I will have a very quiet voice for a few days.

We had a busy day...here is what the students had to say about their day:

"We really enjoyed creating the ant book!"  Beckett, Lola, Anders, Miles, Olivia, Evalyn & many others!
"Making the tissue paper turkeys was very fun because they really look like feathers on the turkey!"
Jasper, Anders, Cassidy & many others...

"It was great to play wall ball with Layton because he is so nice!"  Miles

Here are a few pictures of their ant book making:






Alex continues to have fun in Australia!  Here a picture of an interesting meal he had...
Yum?

And another from today!

Ok...see you tomorrow!



Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thursday November 14

We had another wonderful day learning more and more about ants!

Here are ideas from the students:

" I liked watching the documentary:  Planet Ant- Inside the Ant Colony" Becket and many others
(This documentary is free on YouTube...we only watched 25 minutes of a 90 minute program, so some may want to finish watching it at home.)

"I enjoyed the new game we learned during math called 'Cover Up'." Ezra
(Next week you will get to try this game at home)

"I liked learning a new song during music!" Norah

"I really liked making a poster about how ants are important to our world." Miles, Layton, Anders, and others.
(we spent time researching this question and we came up with some great ideas!)

That's all for now!  Have a great day!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Wednesday November 13

Hi everyone!

I will be out this afternoon, but I wanted to post these cool pictures that Alex sent from Australia!
This is a picture of ants taking care of ant larva Alex saw at a wilderness sanctuary.  I'm guessing the ant hill has a clear wall so people can see the action!

Alex and his sister petting a kangaroo!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Tuesday October 12 11-12-13

Hi everyone!  I hope you enjoyed some quality time this weekend with your families.  The weather was beautiful yesterday!

We jumped right into work today, learning the story of the Ants and the Grasshopper, a classic Aesop fable that reminds us "do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today."

I am sure your conversations about school over the past month have included talking about ants.  We had a class meeting, and the students decided that they would like to open the classroom up again for you to visit so you can see all of the interesting learning about ants we have been doing. 

I will send an email as well, but mark your calendars for Thursday, November 21, 2:30-3:00.  The students will show you their final ant projects as well as all of the ant artifacts around the room.  Attendance is completely voluntary and you can visit any part during the 30 minute time frame.  We won't have formal "presentations" of our projects.  The kids are just very excited to show you all of their good work and learning from the past five weeks!

Here are some ideas from today:
"I enjoyed making the ant fact flip book!" Ryder (and others)
"I really like quiet reading because I am reading a chapter book about dragons and I made it to chapter 2!" Cassidy
"I enjoyed using the iPad during math with Jasper."  Beckett
"I enjoyed learning more at the Poetry center during our literacy block." Matthew
"During literacy centers, I learned alot about honeypot ants!" Jasper
"I liked learning about the story The Ants and the Grasshopper." Anders and others...

That's all for today!  See you tomorrow...

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Thursday November 7

We had another whirlwind of a day.  We began with independent reading and writing work, then moved into math where we learned a new game.  After lunch, we had choice reading and writing, then completed a small project to show our understanding of ant predators.  We even had an afternoon recess because the clouds parted long enough for the rain to stop! 
During the week, the students created ants out of egg cartons.  They will be bringing these creations home to you, but I thought it would be fun to have a picture of our "ant army".
It was fun to watch what they created with no instructions, just pipe cleaners, google eyes and egg cartons!


  I cherish these long weekends because the hurrying and running here and there to errands doesn't seem so urgent, and we just have time in our little to relax and play (and in my case, write a paper or two).  I hope you enjoy some wonderful family time this weekend!  See you Tuesday!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Wednesday November 6

Just a quick post today.  We learned a new math game called "make the sum" this morning. along with our reading and writing work.  This afternoon we had a wonderful guest from the Oregon Humane Society, Barb and Abbie the dog.  We learned about how to act around strange dogs and a little about the Humane Society.




This afternoon, we worked together to research ideas to answer this question:  What are ant predators? and How do ants protect themselves?  The class books gave us many answers and here is the poster we made:
We used the arrows to connect the insects and animals that eat each other AND also eat ants.  We found that these living things are all connected in some way.

That's all for now...see you tomorrow!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Tuesday November 5

Hi Everyone!  I'm sorry there was no blog post yesterday.  On Mondays I rush off to a staff meeting and on Wednesdays I rush off to class, so I am sorry if I can't get a post ready.

We were very busy yesterday and today.  Yesterday we completed a lovely watercolor art project which makes our room look like falling leaves!  Today we were also very busy partially because in addition to our regular work, we are helping with the school Book Drive.  We have made posters and will present speeches to a kindergarten and first grade classroom about why they should donate books!

Here are some ideas from today:

"I liked the two ant projects we made today."  Alex, Matthew, Anders, Cassidy and others.
"I liked the new add & spin game we learned during math." Beckett
"Writing was fun because I finished a story." Anders
"I liked calendar because we sang the 4's song." Olivia
"I enjoyed using the math game on the computer because it was challenging."  Sam
"I enjoyed writing a summary of our story of the week, 'Little Red Ant'." Jasper

It is 3:45 now and almost dark...welcome November!
See you tomorrow!


Friday, November 1, 2013

El Dia de los Muertos- November 1

What a wonderful day we had!  We had reading, writing, and math of course, but at the end of the day, Norah's mom Dawn brought us music, crafts, and treats to celebrate the Day of the Dead!
We had a great time hearing stories about Norah's great-grandpa and celebrating the day together.  Here are the pictures...enjoy!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Norah gave a great report!


What a great mask!













pan de muerto-  YUMMY





I think I can speak for the kids and say it was a GREAT celebration!  Thanks again Dawn and Norah!