I hear from students and parents that sometimes ,”There just isn’t time.” or “We tried to read 4 short books on one day so we didn’t have to read every night.” Students should read everyday. It should be a habit and something that they learn to hopefully enjoy. I found a blog post that may be helpful-Reading Ideas for Frustrated Parents from The Tutor House blog. There are some good ideas and reasons behind the daily ritual of reading at home. I hope this is helpful.
It was a beautiful afternoon for snowshoeing! The p.e. class had fun today went snowshoeing in the school yard. Check out the pictures below. Click on them to view full screen. Pictures were taken by Mr. Ellis.
Hi Friends,
We’re halfway through the school year! I want to make sure my students have the materials they need to succeed. So I’ve created a classroom project request at DonorsChoose.org, an award-winning charity.
I’m asking for donations of any size to help my kids. Now through February 18, any donation you make to my project will be doubled! If you know anyone who is passionate about education, please pass this along. Your donation will brighten my students’ school year, and you’ll get photos and thank yous from our class.
Visit my page at http://www.donorschoose.org/mpike.
To have your donation matched dollar for dollar, enter the match code HEART on the payment screen. This awesome match offer lasts through February 18. Currently, we only need $35 more to meet our goal! Remember, your donation will be MATCHED! Yay!
My students and I greatly appreciate your support.
The Author’s Box is a homework assignment that my students have every week. It is simply a large craft box with a handle that students can take home. Inside it the real treat! There are lots of supplies for an author to get creative and inspired; scrapbook paper, crayons, scissors, colored pencils, glue stick, lined paper, etc. The assignment is to be an author and write! Students can choose what to write as long as they practice what good writers do in second grade. It follows the same idea that in order to become better readers, children should read more. Well, in order to become better writers, children should be writing more. I am frequently amazed at the things that students can produce when given time, supplies, and encouragement!
While sitting at home and checking my e-mail tonight, I received this poem from one of my students as her Author’s Box assignment.
Today in second grade we read, The Terrible Things by Eve Bunting and discussed what was fair and what our responsibilities are when there is conflict and unfairness around us. After some discussion, students used a reflection tool called “Chalk Talk.” Students used markers and paper rather than chalk to write down their ideas and thoughts about the book and our central idea. They were not allowed to talk, just write. Students practiced all of the 12 IB attitudes during this activity: appreciation, independence, integrity, commitment, curiosity, cooperation, confidence, empathy, enthusiasm, respect, and tolerance. This activity took about 10-15 minutes.
Here are some pictures of the activity and the final outcomes from our fabulous group of second graders.
Today we created 3-dimensional shapes using toothpicks and marshmallows. Oh, what FUN! Students worked with a partner to create different types of pyramids; triangular pyramid, rectangular pyramid, pentagonal pyramid, and hexagonal pyramid. Ask you child what the difference is (he/should be able to tell you that it has to do with the shape of the base. While creating the shapes, students were also identifying the different parts of the pyramid; base, faces, edges, and the apex or vertex. We came together as a group to discuss the connection between the number of each of these and look for patterns. Discuss with your child what he/she discovered.
Welcome back!
I trust that everyone had an enjoyable vacation. I definitely did, but am glad to get back to routine and see all the children! I would like to welcome Erin Marquis to our class! Miss Marquis is a student teacher from Southern New Hampshire University and will be with us until early May. This week, she has been learning our schedule and working with the students in small groups.
Recess
It is winter in Boscawen and students must have appropriate clothes to play outside in the snow. Please make sure that your child has a winter coat, snow pants, hat and mittens or gloves. They will not be allowed outside without these. Even when they borrow from the nurse, it takes a considerable amount of extra time to go get them and return them during instructional time.
International Baccalaureate
Theme: Sharing the Planet
Central Idea: Peaceful conflict resolution leads to better quality of human life.
Key Concepts: Change, Perspective, Responsibility
Lines of Inquiry:
In the first 2 weeks, students will be inquiring about different types of conflicts and what causes them. Then we will be learning about some different conflicts in history and how they have created change (example: Civil Rights movement). We will finish out unit discussing ways to solve conflicts peacefully. We will begin adding important events from history to our class time line.
Reading
Students continue to work on choosing “just-right” books to read independently. They are also in reading groups. The books that we are reading right now are connected to our new IB planner, Sharing the Planet. Some of the titles are: The Drinking Gourd, Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, My True Story, and Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Ask your child which book he or she is reading in class.
Writing
We are writing some fictional stories that are realistic. Stories should becoming more complex and longer. At this point, all stories should have a beginning, middle, and end, as well as a problem and solution. Students are including dialogue and more description when writing to help “paint a picture” in the reader’s mind. Remind and encourage your child to put effort into his or her spelling using sound-spelling strategies.
Math
We are learning about geometry and geometry concepts this month. This week we have been working with lines, line segments, parallel lines, and 3-dimensional shapes. Students used a straightedge to connect end points and construct polygons with and without parallel lines. Tuesday, students worked with partners to compare and contrast various quadrangles. Wednesday, students worked in small groups creating polygons with their bodies. They learned that a hemisphere is 1/2 of a sphere and that we live in the Northern Hemishpere. Other important vocabulary words were vertex, vertices, faces, base, and edges. Checkout the pictures of the body shapes!
Activity idea for ongoing learning: Look for items at home that resemble 3-dimensional shapes and ask your child to identify the shape, edges, faces, base, and edges.
3-D Shapes: cylinder, cone, rectangular prism, pyramid, sphere, hexagonal prism, and triangular prism
Thank you to the families that ventured out during this busy holiday season to share in their child’s progress at school. It was so nice to see many of you and I hope that you found it informative. Your children were very proud and excited to have this opportunity to share. As always, feel free to check in any time on your child’s progress. Enjoy your Christmas and New Year!
Tonight is our first trimester portfolio share from 5-6:30. Many students are expected to be bringing their parents tonight and are looking forward to showing off their progress so far in 2nd grade. They have been looking over their goals and work to be sure to point out what they are most proud of. This is also a practice for the end-of-year student-led conference and portfolio share.
Hope to see you all tonight!
Central Idea: Cultural perspectives influence self-expression.
An inquiry into our appreciation of the aesthetic.
Key Concepts: Perspective, Connection, Reflection
Lines of Inquiry:
We have begun a new planner/unit of inquiry. This planner is about here we come from, how we view others and the world around us, and our appreciation for the arts (literature, art work, games, music, etc).
As part of our inquiry, students are asked to find out more about themselves, there family, and their community and to share what they have learned through author Box projects this month. This week, students will create or design a family coat of arms to tell about their families. Below are a few links that may help you.
*Here is a fun game to create your own Coat of Arms using a web-based program.
*For a list of pictures, symbols, and colors with the meaning of each, click here: The Meaning of Coats of Arms
Other news:
1st Grade Pet Food Drive
1st grade is still holding a Pet food and Supply Drive. Please send in pet food and supplies that will be donated to the SPCA.
Make-A-Wish Coin Drive
We are also hosting a coin drive for 2 weeks. a senior at MVHS is working on a Make-A-Wish project. She is raising money to grant a wish for a child who has a life threatening condition. for 2 weeks, we are collecting donations to help her meet this goal. I have a personal connection as one of my children has had cancer and was granted a wish through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. This was a very important part of her treatment and recovery. We are grateful that she is a survivor and healthy today after almost 5 years of being cancer free. So, please send in spare change that will help another child benefit from this program.
Student Teacher
We will be having a student teacher from Southern New Hampshire University join us in January. More information and introductions will be coming soon.
Report Cards & Portfolio Share
Report cards will be issued to students this Friday, December 7, 2012. If you would like an individual conference to go over your child’s progress, please e-mail me or call the school. Thank you.
We will be having a Portfolio share Night next Wednesday from 5:00-6:30. This will be an informal gathering where your child will be able to share his or her portfolio contents from the first trimester with you. Students have been very busy and making a lot of progress. You do not have to be here right at 5:00, but plan on about 15-30 minutes to review the contents. I will be circulating to answer any questions that you might have.
Math Web-Based Programs
Recently, a letter went home with information about 2 web-based programs for your child to access from home and from school. Students now have the option of completing an assignment on Ten Marks or the math worksheet in their homework packet. Please feel free to contact me regarding these if you have any questions or concerns. I welcome any feedback that you might have. A “report card” from Ten Marks will be going home tomorrow. you may access any of the information directly on your child’s account as well.
Here is a copy of the letter that went home: A note from your teacher_11_28_12
Spelling
We are continuing with the open Court phonics and spelling program. Students are focusing on understanding the importance of syllables in words. By breaking a word into the syllables, it is easier to spell longer words. We are also learning about suffixes (ending that get added to a word to change the meaning or how it is used like -ed, -es, -ing). The vowel sound that we practiced this week is the long o spelled, o, oa_, o_e, _ow, and _oe. Students need to be considering these different spellings of long vowel sounds to improve their spelling.
We just had a spelling assessment and everyone made wonderful progress. I was very proud of how well everyone did! These will be in your child’s portfolio under the writing section.
Reading and Writing
We are working on story elements in a fiction story; beginning, middle, end, problem, solution, characters, setting, and important events. We are charting the information from stories on a graphic organizer that we read. We are also using a graphic organizer to plan our stories to make sure that we have all of the important story elements before writing our own fictional story. The boys and girls are really enjoying writing these stories. I hope to get some posted on their blogs soon
Reminders:
PTA is presenting the Polar Express on Friday, December 7th at the school for families to enjoy!