Sunday, November 21, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Webinar: Polar Bears and Climate Change

Today we experienced our first webinar using Discovery Education Network. It was truly intriguing! We saw live footage from Hudson Bay. One of our questions was answered and the kids were so excited to hear Rummel Creek being referenced!
Q: How do you study a polar bear?
A: We estimate the size that they are. We look at their teeth. We have satellite collars to help us see where they are anytime of the year (especially winter). We watch the cubs. The feet of a polar bear is like snow shoes. the density of the fur helps keep them warm. The Polar bear is the top predator in the Arctic. The mother bear stays with their cubs for a few weeks.
Q: What is a tundra?
A: It is flat, and white.
You may view what was learned!
Q: What can students do to make an impact?
A: Students have taken a pledge to reduce the garbage in their lunch. Schools have taken an oath to reduce the garbage and recycle. Some schools have even created a "no idle" zone at parent pick up to help reduce emissions.

10,000 students were taking part of this webinar!









To see more webinars, please visit the archive section.

To learn more about Polar Bears, you may go to Polar Bears International.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Regrouping Using Manipulatives

Parents,
Here is another way to regroup. For homework, your child will demonstrate how to use their manipulatives and regrouping chart.



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

Addition w/ Regrouping using Tally Marks

Body Works

Today, we had a special Science presentation that featured how our heart, lungs, kidneys & lung function. The kids loved participating and learned a great deal! This video clip was filmed today at the Kindergarten time. While it isn't of your child, you can still get the gist of how exciting it all was!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Melting Crayons

Today the class watched an experiment where the matter changed from a solid to a liquid, then back to a solid. It was extrememly fun to watch as the broken crayons bubbled and then formed back into a heart shaped crayon. Some of the names that they made up for the colors were unique.

We had: Scrambled Eggs (Yellow and White); Rummel Creek (Orange and Blue); Earth (Blue and Green); Lagoon Green (Green with a touch of Brown); Lightening in the Sky (Blue with a touch of yellow); Pumpkin (Orange and other colors); Dirt (Green, Orange, Grey, Purple, Brown & Blue)Lava (Orange and Red); and Fire (Red). Here is what they had to say:


Friday, October 8, 2010

Gumdrops & Toothpicks Tower Building

This past week, students built a tower by combining materials and justifying the selection of those materials based on their physical properties. Here are few observations that the kids made:



Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Changes in Matter

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing what Matter is. We have also been concentrating on the 3 different forms: solid, liquid, & gas. Today, we observed liquid changing into a gas as we participated in "Blowing up a Balloon".

1. Place 1 tsp of baking soda in a balloon.
2. Place 4 Tbsp of vinegar in an empty water bottle.
3. Stretch the balloon over the mouth of the wter bottle and let the soda fall into the vinegar.

Ask your child:
What happened when the baking soda and vinegar mixed together?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Back To School

How Parents Help

Many things that you do at home on a daily basis will help your children the most. Here are a few activities to try:

Set aside a special reading time. Tell your child you look forward to and enjoy your reading time together. Children who are read to – read.
Listen to your child. Oral language experience is also a foundation for literacy.
Talk to your child.
Make time to play with your child.
Solve problems with your child, instead of for him / her.
Have your child count everything and anything.
Write stories out as your child dictates them. Children love to see their ideas in print.
Praise your child whenever possible.
Talk with your child about school and everyday events.
Supervise homework. Give your child a quiet place to work, and check that assignments are completed.
Encourage exercise and good nutrition.
Encourage your child to write.
Broaden your child’s horizons by taking him / her to parks, museums, libraries, zoos, and historical sites. All of these places offer fun learning experiences.
Tell your child education is important, and encourage him / her to do well in school.
Children do not know intuitively how to behave: kindly but firmly teach your children.
Help your child get a library card from the public library. Take your child to the library as often as possible.
Help your child pick out interesting books to read.
Talk to your child about subjects that interest him / her.
Give your child his / her own place to keep books.
Write notes to your child. Leave them to be found in special places – under pillows, in lunches, or in favorite books.
Encourage your child to keep a scrapbook about a subject that interests him / her (ie. stamps, dogs, birds, trucks, photos of family activities).
Limit your child’s television watching. Turn the television on for a specific show, and turn it off immediately after the show is over.
Read and discuss schoolwork with your child.
Provide materials for creative projects (ie. crayons, pencils, paper, paint, scissors).
Help your child make a telephone directory with the names and telephone numbers of his / her friends.
Ask your child to write or dictate a sentence or two for letters you write to faraway relatives.
Give your child specific duties at home to perform on a regular basis.
Invite your child to help you prepare dinner.
Subscribe to a children’s magazine in your child’s name.
Bring books for your child to read in the car.
Look up words in the dictionary with your child.
Encourage your child to show hi / her schoolwork to your friends and relatives.
When traveling, read road signs with your child. Discuss what they mean.
Show your child how to use a yardstick, ruler, or tape measure to measure things around the house.
Give your child a special place to keep items he / she must regularly take to school.
Show your child how to tell time.
Hug your child daily.

What did you do at school today?

Every day parents ask their children what they did at school. Every day students answer, “Oh, nothing.” Try asking these specific questions to get real answers.

What was something nice you said to a friend today?
What did you do in math?
What gook book did your teacher read to you today?
Who did you play with today?
What did you write about today?
What was your favorite part of the day?
How are you going to make tomorrow even better?
What centers did you go to?
Who did you sit beside at lunch?
What did you learn in science?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Meet The Teacher 2010 (26 photos), by theresa trevino


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Scholastic Book Orders

1. Go to www.scholastic.com
2. Create a login for yourself.
3. Class code: GQVZL

Homework Ideas

Word Study:
From time to time, we have different activities that we do to help the children become familiar with their words. One of those things is to sort their words. Each Monday, your child will receive a copy of their words to take home. I will also do my best to email them to you. If I forget, please just remind me!

Reading:
I’ve explained to the children that they can go to Tumblebooks (occasionally – maybe once a week) and listen to books at home. To get there, go to:

http://www.springbranchisd.com/

Click on Library Resources (it is located on the left hand side)

# 6 on that page is a link to Tumblebooks
The logon is: springbranch
Password: books

Primary Reading Program:
Don’t forget that their homework (reading every night for 15 – 20 minutes) can count for this! It would be awesome if I had 100% participation come October 31st! Unfortunately, listening to the books does not fit the criteria…

Math Facts:
Also, for math facts, they can visit my blog (I showed them today) and click on any of the links under my avatar w/ the bear. They need to at least practice their math facts, as well as read, every night!

Language Arts

The Daily 5 has been going very well! In fact, I'm wondering where this program has been in the past 9 years of teaching 2nd grade! At any rate, I've found it and LOVE it! This past week I introduced Working on Words. The kids helped to brainstorm things that we could add to the "I can..." anchor chart.

Read to self



Work on Writing & Read to Someone



Work on Words



This next week, the students will be introduced to Listening to Books. We will use the earbuds that were sent in and I will have some that they can purchase using their tickets.

In conjunction to the Daily 5, we are also using the CAFE. It is more of a curriculum based program that helps students with their Reading Strategies.

Singapore Math & Problem Solving Model

Here are a few examples that we worked on in class last week. My main goal this year, is to give the kids several different ways to solve problems.





For more information about Singapore Math (with details), please visit this website: http://www.teach-kids-math-by-model-method.com/part-whole-concept.html

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Terrific Thursday!

We had another successful day here in 2nd grade! This morning, we practiced exiting the cafeteria and walking to recess quietly in a single flie line. The kids did such a great job, we rewarded with an extra 10 minutes of recess while it was nice and cool! They also received an extra ticket for a job well done!

Also, we had our first fire drill. Everything went well!

During Language Arts, we continued working on our reading stamina. We made it all teh way to 14 minutes. Our minilesson for the day included Reading to Someone. We discussed why it was important for us to read to a friend.



After we successfully practiced for 4 minutes, we debriefed as a group!



In math we took a break from the Problem Solving Model and discussed the number 10. Here is the web that the class constructed:



Lastly, we ended our day with the story: Officer Buckle and Gloria followed by a Scholastic News on classroom rules and safety!

I can't wait to share what safety tips the kids came up with!

Thanks again and have a wonderful evening!

Weekly News!

Parents,

We are working very hard establishing routines in the classroom. You can sign up to become a “follower” of this and receive updates when new things have been posted!

Next week, I will begin conducting the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) on all the students. These do take time, so I ask that you please be patient with me! Also, I will students will be given the Spelling Inventory (from Words Their Way) and placed into 3 different word study groups.

I would like to reiterate how important it is for us to follow the “Peanut Free” zone here in school. An example of what could happen came up today when the children asked if they could eat snack while reading books from their browsing boxes. Since we do have a few “contact” allergies, I would greatly appreciate it if the children do not bring snacks with peanuts in them – as I do check books out from the library and that becomes a concern for those who are allergic. I plan on sending home a list of snacks home by Friday.

Next week, I am hoping to establish routines for “listening to books”. Please have your child bring a pair of headphones, or earbuds (I purchased mine at Target for about $7 and was just informed that Academy had them for $0.99) to class so that they can use the computers / iTouches for this activity. These will not be shared!

Lastly, I would like to ask that your child wear 1 Zany Band to class. Today, I had a few that were very distracting, especially during the instruction time.

PS. If you haven’t returned all the wonderful forms, please do so. I have to create a checklist of who has turned in what and will be sending emails starting Monday for missing forms. Thanks!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Making progress....

Today we discussed the ways that we select books to read and made anchor charts to refer to when "shopping for books".



Also, we had conversations about: Why readers abandon books...



After our wonderful discussion, we practiced building stamina in our reading. At first, we thought we could try to read for 11 minutes, but ended up stopping it 10.
We then debriefed about what went wrong:
-Children were sitting too close to their friends;
-Some kids were looking at pictures and while that is ok, it is not ok to do it for the entire time;
-A few children were making noises such as "laughing" and "humming". We discussed how that could be distracting to others.
So, after we debriefed, we tried to read again. They were successful for the entire time! I'm so proud of these kids!!! In math, we tried to solve a problem using the PSM. It had some extra information in it, that surprised a few!



Our special treat for today was being able to go to Art at 12:30.
We concluded with a short video on classroom community rules!



Here are some rules that they would like to follow this year:
-Take care of materials;
-Keep our hands & feet to ourselves;
-Show respect to everyone;
-Have good manners;
-Ask for permission before doing something;
Raise your hand if you have something to say;
Treat people the way you would like to be treated!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Second Day of School

We had another successful day! The children worked well with each other solving many different educational problems. This morning, we began the day "shopping" for books to add to our browsing boxes. Next, the class helped me with shared writing about a time when my brother blew out my birthday candals.
When we started asking some of the kids about what makes a great story, this is what they said: A good story is / has....
One that has a lot of details;
One that has facts stated in it;
One with illustrations;
Catchy title to make the reader want to find out more;
Great punctuation;&
Capital letters!

After the children read successfully for 7 minutes, we gathered our thoughts about ways to select books! Here is the chart that we made as a class:

Also, we had our visit to the library. Karen Harrell, our wonderful, ever talented librarian discussed what it what it meant to have "Digital Citizenship". This will be extrememly powerful when the children have their email accounts set up! Also, they had the opportunity to select "Just Right" books to check out!
Here is our problem solver that we constructed today! Have your child help explain what we discussed!

Finally, we ended our day with a T-Chart that named a scientist (such as a geologist) and what they studied (rocks & minerals). As a challenge, I am going to give each child who can list a variety of these tickets in the morning!
Thanks again for sharing your child with me! I'm really becoming attached - QUICKLY!

Monday, August 23, 2010

First Day of School

Today has been such a joy! The children had such wonderful manners and worked so hard! I am SO impressed!!!! I wanted to let everyone know that I feel so special to teach your child!
Here are a few reminders from today:
Children are allowed to eat a healthy snack at school.
Children are allowed & encouraged to bring a water bottle.

We also had 2 special visitors in our classroom:
Mrs. Schappell (Math / Science Specialist a.k.a. Prof. Wizard): She came and helped the kids with their discovery using their senses;
Ms. Roth (Literature / Social Studies Specialist): She came and helped the kids by discussing stamina (in regards to reading) and sharing a wonderful book!


Lastly, we jumped right into our math today by doing a Problem Solving Model. They all worked very hard and we discussed the different ways to solve the problem.

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful children with me! I can already tell that this is going to be a great class!
On a side note, would you please let me know ASAP if I cannot use your child’s photograph for our class blog! I have some really cute ones from today but I cannot share them until I find out if I have your permission to use their pictures.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Daily Schedule

Language Arts: 8:10 - 10:25
Social Studies: 10:25 - 11:00
Lunch: 11:00 - 11:30
Recess: 11:30 - 12:00
Math: 12:00 - 1:15
Specials: 1:15 - 2:00
Science: 2:00 - 2:50

Health Fitness: Monday, Wednesday & Thursday

Music w/ Ms. Jones: Tuesday & Friday

Monday

Computer Lab: 2:10 - 3

Wednesday

Library
Art: 12:30 - 1:15

Thursday

Counselor (bi-monthly): 12:15 - 12:45

Friday

Mystery Reader 9:00 - 9:30
Learning Buddies: 2:10 - 3:00 (5th Grade w/ Dr. Coolidge)

Cyber Bullies

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/protect-your-kid-from-cyber-bullies/6b3ak9f

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Heart group backs video games in obesity campaign


By JOEL SCHECTMAN AP Business Writer © 2010 The Associated Press
May 17, 2010, 5:42PM
NEW YORK — Talk about strange bedfellows. The American Heart Association and Nintendo Co. are teaming up to promote the popular Wii video game console, as the health advocacy group concedes that its campaign for traditional exercise isn't working.
The surprising partnership, announced Monday, comes amid growing concern about obesity among kids who spend much of their time watching television and playing video games.
Nintendo will be able to brand its Wii products with the AHA's iconic heart logo to let consumers know that the organization considers the items a healthy choice. Nintendo will donate $1.5 million to the Dallas-based AHA as part of the partnership.
"We can keep beating the drum on traditional exercise and make small changes to the obesity epidemic, or we can try something that is really provocative and new," Clyde Yancy, the AHA's president, said in an interview.
Numerous studies show a correlation between obesity and the amount of time children spend with television and video games. Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said the best solution is simply to cut the cord and encourage youths to spend less time in front of screens.
But the AHA said it is endorsing the Wii because it will encourage sedentary Americans to take the first step toward fitness. With 70 percent of Americans doing no regular physical activity at all, the AHA wants to find a way to reach out to people turned off by gyms and traditional sports.
The organization said its studies show that 40 percent of those who don't exercise say that it's not entertaining enough. The AHA says the Wii addresses the fun factor.
The Wii, which has sold more than 30 million consoles across the Americas, comes with a controller that encourages people to physically move as they play. Sports-style games such as baseball and boxing let players move their arms to simulate the pitching of a ball or the throwing of a punch. Nintendo also makes a foot pad accessory, the Wii Fit, that allows players to try dance steps or yoga.
The heart icon covers the Wii console itself along with two of its more active games, Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort.
Many of the Wii games are less physically demanding. Some puzzle titles, for instance, let players adjust shapes through small twists of the wrist.
Wii players say that the level of physical exertion varies greatly by player.
Maria Lambiris, an 18-year-old illustrations student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, said the game system recently helped her lose five pounds.
"You really get into it sometimes and you can use your whole body," Lambiris said.
But her classmate Maki Yang, 19, was quick to point out that sometimes it's easier and more fun to cheat.
"You can just do this with your wrist," Yang said while flicking her wrist slightly, "and you do even better in the game."
But while many of the games may not offer the same level of physical activity as traditional sports, they may help get some people started on a healthier lifestyle.
"It is a first step for someone who is entirely sedentary," Yancy said.
Yancy said that once that person becomes motivated, he or she can access a website Nintendo and the AHA are developing to help monitor exercise and diet plans.
Rival game console makers Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp., cognizant of the Wii's popularity, are also developing motion controllers. Microsoft's Natal, for instance, wouldn't require a physical controller; players would use their bodies to control their video game characters. The AHA said it wasn't currently in discussions with those companies.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Summer Reading Program


Sign up for the 2010 Summer Reading Program and earn a chance to win an HP mini netbook, board games, books, craft kits, coupons to cool restaurants, and more! This Year's Theme: From Fables to Fantasy!

The Summer Reading Program (SRP) is a free incentive program to encourage kids and teens to read.

The SRP includes many diverse free educational and fun programs including entertainers, storytimes, science activities, crafts and other fun programming for kids and teens up to 18 years of age.

PROGRAM DATES: June 1 - August 1, 2010

HOW TO REGISTER: Early online registration begins
May 1, 2010!

REGISTRATION CONTINUES THROUGH AUGUST 1: Visit any Houston Public Library location or register from your home computer, through August 1.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
Read or listen to books, enter book titles or time read on your online reading log either at home or with the help of your librarian, and come to your local Houston Public Library location to pick up your prize at 5, 10 and 20 book level.

The more books you read, the more prizes you are eligible to win. See YOU the summer!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Naglieri & Stanford 10 Debriefing

Mark your calendars for May 21 @ 9:30 am in the KIVA:

A 2nd Grade parent meeting will be held to assist you in interpreting your child’s test results on the Stanford 10 and Naglieri that were given during the weeks before and after Spring Break. After the meeting, you will receive your child’s test results. More details will follow. We hope to see you there!

Nutrition Survey

Parents,
Please take a moment to fill out this brief survey on how www.playnormous.com has impacted your child's life.

Click here to take survey

Shocking News - Childhood Obesity

Monday, April 12, 2010

Treats!

I have been so showered lately with wonderful goodies. Last week, I discovered someone had secretly dropped off a sweet "Sandcastle Scented" Yankee Reed Difuser attached with some note paper and a beautiful bookmark!

Then today, after receiving some sweet smelling flowers, someone secretly placed this in my box:


I have to tell you, it makes me feel so warm and happy to have your kids in my class. They are truely the neatest bunch I have ever had!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Walking / Running Log

For each day you participate in the Geography Running / Walking Club, you get a stamp worth 4 laps. Then, for each lap you run / walk, please put a tally mark in that day's box. Bring the passport / log into Coach Moore on Friday, and she will give you a sticker to place on the US Map in the Gym. For each lap, you will earn 100 miles on the map. Your sticker will show how far you have run / walked.

Walk / Run Geography

On Thursday, March 25, grab your running shoes and join your child on the RCE Track. We will begin our RCE Geography Running/Walking Club that will meet on Thursday’s from 3:10 p.m. until 3:45 p.m.

This is a parent-child activity and will meet for six weeks. At each session, we will enjoy a five minute fitness talk from Becca Howard or Elizabeth Snelling then enjoy running/walking around the track. For each lap, the children will get credit for 100 miles on a US Map. The children will mark their progress on the US Map that will be hung in the Gym. Help your child catch the wave and run/walk from coast to coast. Hope to see you on the track.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I don't normally do this, but this show caught my attention and I felt it was worth sharing. I do have a disclaimer: This is more for parents, than for children.

There is a new series on ABC. It is about childhood obesity and how we can prevent it. In this series, Jamie Oliver heads to West Virginia, where he investigates the state of cafeteria food and challenges a mother to rethink her family's diet for their health.

Here is a preview of what he is about. It was taken off of this website: http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html



His next production will be this Friday, on Channel 13, ABC at 8:00 pm.

If you would like to see yesterday's production, follow this website:
http://abc.go.com/watch/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/250784

Spring Break

Welcome back to school! Did you know that Saturday was the first day of Spring? To kick off this new season, I am joining our First Lady, Michelle Obama in her campain: Let's Move!


To learn more about her initiative, you may visit this link:
http://www.letsmove.gov/

1. What types of activities did you do over the break that included exercise?

2. What sport activities are you going to be joining before summer?

Friday, March 12, 2010

What can you write about as a reading response?

  • Any passage that puzzles you
  • Any passage that excites you
  • Anything you agree or disagree with
  • How the reading makes you feel
  • What you think will happen next
  • How this reading relates to your life
  • Anything this reading has in common with _____
  • What you think the author is like
  • What you think it would be like to live in _____(setting)_____
  • How you can use this knowldege in your own life
  • Something this reading reminds you of
  • What you would do if you were _____(character)_____
  • Why _____ was importnat
  • Anything you noticed in your reading

Question stems that could be used to teach reading:

Parents,
Here are some questions that are used to help children with their reading. If you can use this "language" with them - it will boost their confidence and familiarity for standardized tests.

Which of the following is the best summary?
In paragraph _____ the word _____ means:
Which word describes how _____ feels about _____?
Which words in paragraph _____ tell how _____?
_____ because _____.
Which best describes how _____ feels _____?
Why was _____?
Paragraphs 4-7 are most about _____.
Which definition is used to describe the word _____?

Monday, March 1, 2010

Problems Viewing Movies???

If you are unable to view the videos that were uploaded when Mrs. Howard came and spoke to our class, you may need to update your Adobe Flash. You can get the latest one at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

Mrs. Howard's Lesson on Nutrition









Mulitiplication & Division

Here is what we worked on in math today. This is the beginning stage of making equal groups (multiplication & division). One thing to consider when working with your child on multiplication is that the equation reads:
number of equal groups X amount in each group = answer
so,
4 X 3 = 12
Four groups of 3 = 12

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ladybugs

Here is a very, slow movie that was posted on You Tube. It shows the underwings of a ladybug - and how the ladybug uses their wings to fly.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Missing addend "mind reading" (Grades 1-3)

In this game for three players, one student is the leader and the other two are the players. The two players each draw a card and, without looking at it, hold it up to their foreheads so that everyone else can see it. The leader announces the sum of the two cards. Each player must figure out which card is on his or her own forehead.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Modeled Drawing


Here is another way to set up the unit bar to show the Part - to - Whole relationship. Have your child explain to you the way that they solved this problem today!

Happy Valentine's Day!



Class List
Paul
Guinndalyn
Noah
Sarah
Jennifer
Izzy
Michael
Ashley
Ola
Elise
Hana
Adam
Tetsuki
David
Dylan
Jackson P.
Elizabeth
Julia
Madisyn
Blake
Aidan
Jackson W.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Shared Writing


WOW! I can’t believe we did it! We won a Monster iMac for our classroom. Here is how we did it.
First, we played health and nutritional games on www.playnormous.com. Next, we blogged our comments, of what we learned, on our teacher’s blog. After that, we interviewed Cathy Pierson, our Cafeteria Manager about the Food Guide Pyramid. We learned that to be healthy, people need to have a well-balanced diet based on a 1,600 calories a day. After our research, we worked together to find pictures of healthy foods and uploaded them to www.Animoto.com. Some of us even made trading cards at www.bighugelabs.com to inform people of the different types of food groups: fruits, vegetables, proteins, dairy, grains, oils, and desserts. Lastly, we submitted our projects to www.playnormous.com.
We still enjoy every minute of playing their games. We even are making better choices of what we eat. Thank you Playnormous! We are living better because of your website!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

2nd Grade News, February 2, 2010


♥ Important Reminders:
Please send 5 pictures of your child to school by Friday, February 5th. We are learning about timelines in Social Studies. We would like for the pictures to go in a progression from birth/baby picture until now. The pictures will be returned to you.

♥ Please continue to send a warm jacket with your child each day. Often times our classrooms are chilly.

♥Social Studies - We are wrapping up our unit on hero’s and the characteristics of real hero’s. We will also be wrapping up our timelines with the photos that you send.

♥Science - We are continuing our unit on living and non-living. This will include both plants and animals. The kids are loving this!!!

♥Language Arts - We are moving into understanding about book reviews and what goes into critiquing a book effectively and constructively. We will consume LOTS of reviews before we branch out on our own. This takes practice.

♥Math – While we continue to get the hang of subtracting with regrouping, we are moving into fractions. Please remember to practice those math facts each evening for 5 minutes. Our goal is for the kids to be able to do 20 simple facts in a minute.

☺Thanks for sharing your children with us each day. They are treasured!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!

We WON!

I am SO excited to announce that we won the Playnormous challenge! Here is the email that I received yesterday:

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Playnormous Trading Cards

Students were taught about healthy and unhealthy foods. After playing some of the Playnormous games, they took the information that they had learned and created trading cards on www.bighugelabs.com. The excitement is contagious! Here is one example of what Adam created:



I am constantly AMAZED at how quickly children learn technology!

Animoto - Playnormous

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

2nd Grade News - January 25

Reminders:
* Mark your calendars: The Pre-K – 2nd grade science fair will be February 4th from 6:00 – 7:00.
* Please be sure to send a coat or jacket on cold days. If it is sunny outside, we do go to the playground.
* Please check your child’s take home folder each day. Empty out the contents that can stay home.

We are learning about:
Language Arts - We will be working on consuming and critiquing book reviews.
Writing - We are continuing to write about stories from our lives and moving into writing our own book reviews after we have had
lots of practice with this type of writing.
Math – We will continue with subtraction with regrouping and moving into learning about fractional parts of a whole.
Science – We are wrapping up our Balance and Motion FOSS Kit and moving into Living/Non Living,
Social Studies – Continue our study of Hero’s.

Have a great week!! ☺

Tuesday, January 19, 2010