Happy Halloween 2013

Hi everyone!  Today was filled with excitement and many opportunities to use our math skills as we graphed, added, subtracted, and tallied up pieces of CANDY!  (um...I think they ate some too!)
Here are a few pictures...have a great night and try to get some sleep!

Very nice pumpkin patch!

Busy mathematicians!

Looks like alot to count!

Very festive shirts!

Happy Halloween shirt!  I'm told it glows in the dark!

Do they celebrate Halloween in Australia?

Wednesday October 30

There was an excitement in the air today as the countdown to CandyFest 2013!  At least half of the students informed me this morning that tomorrow was Halloween!   Good thing they reminded me!

Today we learned by:
 individual reading and writing assignments,
 solving more story problems written by other students,
hearing facts about the history of Halloween,
reading books of our own choosing,
writing down observations about the ants in our science journals,
and completing part 2 of our clay creations by adding the mineral paint!

It was a fun, busy day!
A reminder about tomorrow:
No costumes please, but it might be fun to wear black and orange! 
See you then! 

Tuesday October 29

Hi everyone!

This month has flown by and it hardly seems possible that November is just around the corner.  I think it's this amazing weather...it just doesn't seem like fall yet (but this chilly morning was a reminder!)

Here are some ideas from the students today:
"I enjoyed writing with Jasper because we are getting ready to publish our story!" Beckett
"I really like quiet reading because I am reading a chapter book." Cassidy
"I liked the ant project about ant jobs because it was fun to make!"  Cooper, Jasper, & many others
"Matthew helped me figure out a math program on the computer." Alex
"I like the new ant farm!" Dah
"I liked choice time because Anders and Drew were very nice!" Thomas
"I enjoyed reading to Alex during choice time."  Matthew
"I was very nice when Evelyn taught me how to climb really fast on the play structure." Norah

Here is a picture of the busy ants in the new ant farm:

See you tomorrow, ant scientists!!!

Monday October 28

We had another busy day.  We began by reading the book "Two Bad Ants", then learning a poem about army ants, then we solved the ant story problems that we wrote!  Later in the day, we created Halloween themed books using adjectives, verbs, and nouns. I will try to display these in the cafeteria!  Here are a few pictures of our creation time.  Have a great day and enjoy the last few moments of sun!

Thursday October 24

Happy Birthday Olivia!!!  :)

Here are the ideas from the students about our day:

"It was kind when Norah made me something nice during choice time." Lola
"I really liked the ant project." Olivia
"My favorite thing from today was when Lauren made me something during choice time." Cassidy
"I liked watching and helping Alex us the computer.  We were learning from Magic School Bus goes to Mars." Matthew
"I really liked music because we learned a fun game and I liked making the ant flip books" Norah
"I liked quiet reading because it is just a good time of the day." Cooper
"I like the story  'The Kitten in the Pumpkin Patch' that we heard during read aloud" Beckett & Jasper


Please bring library books and homework tomorrow and have a GREAT sunny afternoon!

Wednesday October 23-

Today our learning continued as we read and researched more about ants.  Today we created a flip book about ant anatomy and the students made a poster about the information they found.  Did you know that ants had two stomachs?  They would also be lost without their feelers.   Wow...

Please Help if you can!

We are very fortunate to have four iPads in the room, but I have written a mini-grant to receive two more for the classroom.  If you feel comfortable, post this link on your Facebook page or send it to your extended family.  All donations are tax-deductible and can be given from anywhere in the country.  We are very close to fulfilling the grant!  Thanks for helping!  Please click below to find the details of the grant!

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/ipads-to-learn-and-inspire/1084046/

Have a great day!  See you tomorrow!

Tuesday October 22

Today we kept busy learning, as usual!
 
During literacy block, the students were reading and writing many different things including a poem about Harvester ants, a diagram of an ant, and non-fiction books about ants. 

During math, we looked at and solved ant story problems. 

During writing, we wrote words we could use to describe the ants observations we have made by watching the anthill, and received a small observation journal to write our ideas in.

During science, we researched and wrote information about ant anatomy.

Of course, we also enjoyed music, lunch, and recess out in this beautiful weather!

Here are some ideas from the students:

"I liked quiet reading because Matthew and I read together." Alex
"I liked the new ant observation journal." Olivia
"I enjoyed making a building using only triangular prisms during math." Matthew
"I enjoyed learning new ant facts from the Magic School Bus video." Ezra and Anders
"I liked reading and solving clues on the ISpy game on the computer." Cooper
"I liked having a partner to read and write about ants with." Norah & Beckett
"I liked creating with Magnaforms during choice time." Miles
"I enjoyed solving the ant story problems during math." Jasper

Great ideas everyone!  See you tomorrow

Monday October 21

We were very busy today learning our book of the week and poem of the week.  Our poem had many interesting facts about harvester ants, which are the type of ants in our ant farm.

During math, we wondered if there was a reason why the numbers, when counting by three, had this pattern:
3- odd
6- even
9 - odd
12- even
15- odd
18- even
21- odd
24- even
27- odd
30 - even

We tried out a few things and discovered a rule:

 Later in the day, we used pastels to create shaded pumpkins:

Check out our creations in the hall when you drop off!

Have a great day!  See you tomorrow!

Friday, October 18

We had another busy day.  This weather is so amazing, and since we do not have PE or music on Friday, we took a bonus morning recess-wonderful!  Big compliment to the kids because when we have a short afternoon recess, they always help collect all of the balls on the playground to return to the basket.  In addition, today we collected at least 10 lonely sweatshirts and returned them to the lost and found!

Here is what the kids said about the day:
"I enjoyed learning more about ants and learning math on the iPad." Layton
"I liked library time today." Beckett
"I'm glad it was my day to use the iPad!" Miles
"I really liked making the ant project about the different jobs of ants." Anders
"It was nice at recess when Beckett passed the ball to me during soccer." Jasper
"The book "The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln" was really funny!"  Hensley
"I enjoyed math time because we estimated and counted candy corn by 10's AND did some more measuring with centimeters." Jasper

Enjoy your beautiful weekend and I'll see you Monday!

Thursday October 17

Today we learned much about ants!  We discovered that army ants can fan out and strip an area as wide as 14 meters long when they are looking for food.  We went in the hall and measured that out, and it is longer than our whole class standing shoulder to shoulder!  Ask you child about it...

We also learned more about the three basic types of ants: queen, worker, and male...maybe a guard ant as well.  We looked up information in books and reported it back to the class.

Please remember homework and books tomorrow!  Have a great day!

Wednesday October 16

I cannot believe we are halfway through October!

There have been some questions about birthday celebrations this year.  Here's the scoop:

The second graders will celebrate their birthday's as a group so we can preserve class time for instruction.  We will have a celebration three times this year.  The first will be on October 25th beginning at 2pm.  We will celebrate all students with birthdays in July, August, September, and October.  We will provide a small "prize" to the students who have birthdays in those months, a small gluten- and dairy- free treat for all students, then enjoy a short, educational video together. 

Since all three second grade teachers are in the room, we are not in need of extra volunteers since all we really have to do is pass out a treat. 

I hope this clarifies our birthday celebrations this year!

Ideas about the day from the students:
" I loved choice time because Matthew and I worked on the iPads together!" Alex
"I liked using the new Magnetrons with Layton at Choice time." Miles
"I liked making the ant flip book about how an ant colony begins." Ryder, Jasper, Beckett and many others.
"I enjoyed creating structures with Geoblocks." Jasper
 "It was nice when Hensley gave me her turn on the iPad." Lola
Lauren and Hensley were kind to each other building houses out of paper.
"Hensley shared her iPad with me." Norah
" Ezra was very nice when we were using the LEGOs." Parker

Enjoy the sun! 

Tuesday October 8

Once again we had a busy day.  During math, we made and measured with centimeter rulers- army ant centimeter rulers.  We are working very hard on our stories during writing time.  Finally, we researched and shared information about where ants live- ant hills!

Here are some ideas from the students:


"When I accidentally wrote upside down on my paper, Norah offered to help me." Layton
"I enjoyed learning more about ants!" Beckett, Norah, Alex, Lola
"I enjoyed writing a long story during writing time." Jasper
"I really liked observing the ants in the ant hill!" Cassidy and Anders
"Hensley helped me figure out a new game on the iPad." Sophia
"I liked helping Isabella on the Monkey Bars." Norah
"I enjoyed the drums during music!"  Miles
"I was happy that I finished my story during writing." Lola



Remember, two hour late opening tomorrow!  See you at 10:45!

Monday October 14

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful 3 day weekend!

You may have heard from your child that we are launching into our study of ants! They are amazing little insects and we will be working together for the next six weeks to learn as much as we can about them.
 Here is how we decied we could learn more about ants:

Today, we learned a poem about ants, and saw our new ant farm! 

Harvester Ants

During math, we figured out how many ants would be in each row if there were 100 ants.  For example:
100 ants - 10 rows, how many in each row?
100 ants- 5 rows, how many in each row?
4 rows?  2 rows?

We also had a fun fall art project today where we learned a little bit more about owls (including wondering why they are part of Halloween so often) then created a folded paper owl...they are very festive hanging in the hall!

Have a great day...see you tomorrow!

Thursdsay October 10

Yesterday (and today) Isabella was our final Special Person and she told us about visiting Hawaii.  Sounds like fun!

Today we began to talk about our next area of study:  the amazing world of ants!  We discussed the different way we could learn about ants together at school.  The students had great ideas such as reading books, observing ants in the classroom (contained, of course) looking for ants in the neighborhood, watching ideas about ants on video, and maybe taking a field trip to see ants.  We will explore these ideas more over the next 6 weeks.  If you have a connection to an "ant expert", we would love to have them visit and share their ideas with us.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday October 8

Today Alex was our Special Person and he told us about when his family was coming back from Australia and his dad surprised them with a visit to Disneyland!  Soooo fun!

Here are some ideas from the kids today:

"I had fun writing and finishing a published story." Cassidy
"I was happy because I finally was Special Person." Alex
"My favorite part of the day today was choice time because I get to use LEGOs and I really love LEGOs." Drew
"I liked music because we got to play the triangle." Miles & Ryder
"Reading I SPY with Thomas and Ezra was fun!" Matthew
"I liked measuring objects with the yard string." Kali
"Math was fun!" Beckett
"Playing Count and Compare with Beckett was fun." Jasper
"Measuring was fun because Miles was still when I measured him." Layton
"I liked getting to know Hensley better." Norah
"I enjoyed figuring out the I SPY puzzles on the computer with Sam." Ezra

We were busy today!  Remember, tomorrow the students take a TAG screening test.  Try to be here on time.  Thanks...

Monday October 7

Hi everyone!  Sophia was our Special Person today and she told us a story about visiting her cousins and bouncing on their trampoline.  It turns out that the kids in our room love bouncing on trampoline's, so we had many ideas to write about.  Thanks Sophia!

Please let Sharon know by the end of the week if you are available for administrative volunteering to help the classroom.  Thanks!

If you think you may want to volunteer this year on field trips or in the school, please make sure you have filled out a background check.  If you want to drive, please keep your license and registration updated with the office. 


Have a great day!

Friday October 4

Today our Special Person is Anders and he told us about his trip to Brazil...wow!  That's amazing!

Just  reminder, get those on-line book orders in tonight!

We were very busy again today and your child should be bringing home their collection of independent literacy work from this week.  My favorite time today was when the students shared their personal narrative stories.  They form mini "study groups" to share their stories and were very kind a respectful to each other while they listened and asked questions.  Here are a few pictures:

It really is amazing to see how much they have growth as learners during the past 23 days of school.

Have a beautiful weekend!  Hopefully the sun will stay!

Thursday October 3

Today our Special Person was Thomas and he told us a story about visiting an alligator farm in Florida and watching his brother ride a zipline over the alligator pit!  Wow!

We were very busy today!  We spent the first hour engaged in individualized literacy learning.  During math, we took measurement data that each student gathered to create individual line plots.
We are learning a new song where we count by 2...ask your child if they can sing it for you!  We spent 45 minutes writing our own stories and stories for the Special Person- so much learning!

Here are some ideas about the day:
"I enjoyed writing my personal narrative story." Norah
"I'm glad we have new CD players because I enjoy using them during quiet reading." Matthew
"I enjoyed my work during morning Literacy Centers." Beckett
"Thomas' story sounded really interesting!" Miles
"I was happy to see my little sister on the playground during recess." Cassidy
"I really liked my iPad day." Olivia

Wonderful ideas everyone!

Reminders:
Library books, homework, and book orders are due tomorrow!  See you then!

Wednesday October 2

Parker was Special Person yesterday and he told us a story about visiting Seattle with his family.  Great story Parker


Ezra was Special Person today and he told us a story about sliding down a pool slide while he visited Sun River with his family!  Sounds great.


We began our clay totem animals today.  There will be a make-up day for students who were absent.  I took a few pictures of our great art time. It looked like lots of fun!

On a personal note: you may have noticed that I do not post when I am out for the day.  Thanks for all the well wishes (and chai tea Dawn!) and I feel like I am on the mend.  This has been a really nasty cold though, and I'm hoping it does not move to my lungs..  The students have been very kind and understanding, and our substitute said it was a really nice day yesterday.

See you tomorrow!