We have been writing poetry in 2nd grade.  Students have been writing about “little treasures.” They have been practicing writing about small items using a “poet’s eye” and thinking of  ordinary things in new and unique ways.  Recently, we have started  learning to write about big ideas and feeling using a small object to focus the poem. I love how they are beginning to use poetic language and rhythm in their writing rather than just short nursery-rhymes.

Today several students read poetry that they wrote in front of the whole student body of Boscawen Elementary.  I am so proud of these students who not only took on a challenge to write about such a serious topic on short notice, but for  being risk-takers and standing up in front of the school to read their work. Below are the poems that were read.

Memorial Day

by Izzy

Memorial Day

a holiday

honor the dead

first known as Decoration Day

The graves

of Civil War soldiers

were decorated with flowers

A large number of soldiers

were buried

for honor

we celebrate

for their trust and freedom

 

Memorial Day

by Jasmyn

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Its the time

to thank and remember

all of the dead.

I think

its

sad

that they are gone.

That’s why we are here

and free.

 

Memorial Day

by Tyler

Honor the dead

Celebrated since Civil War

Every last Monday of May

Decoration Day

Now Memorial Day

The time to honor

The departed

And leisure

And relaxation

 

Memorial Day

by Katie

Soldiers of the past

have died

trying to save us.

We remember them.

We celebrate Memorial Day

We honor the dead

of the Civil War.

 

Memorial Day

by Beatrice

I can not see the light in it

for remembrance.

But, sometimes I do

and this fact

will be true.

I honor this day

in every way.

In friendship and

love and youth.

This is the time to be happy.

 

American Flag

by Elizabeth

The American flag has all kinds of colors,

Red, white, and blue.

It stands for our land

and all of our people.

So you should respect the flag too.

 

Memorial Day

by Marshall

On Memorial Day

we honor the dead.

We see the twinkle in the soldier’s eyes.

Ceremonies

to celebrate soldiers who fought

to save our lives.

If we thank them

luck will be brought to us.

Union

Confederate

Who will win?

Union.

We honor those people who fought

On Memorial Day.

The last Monday of May

the day to celebrate and remember

people who fought

is Memorial Day.

It is hard to believe that it is April already!!!! Where has the year gone? Here is an update of what we have been doing and learning in second grade.

International Baccalaureate

We received news on Thursday that we have been authorized as an official IB school.  This is exciting news! As far as instruction and our school, we will continue to teach your children with the same diligence and effort as always meeting national Common Core Standards and Grade-level expectation for NH and MV.

Where We Are In Place and Time

Our current IB planner is about how communication technologies have changed society over time and how each invention is connected to one another.

Students are inquiring about why people communicate, How communication technologies have changed the world, and the responsibilities of communication.  As we have more and more access to information and social media it is ever so important to discuss what should and and should not be shared and to consider the audience that you are sharing with.  I encourage you to have these conversations with your child.

Student-Led Conferences and Portfolio Share Nights

Thank you to all the families that came to the Student-Led conferences.  Students were so proud and excited about sharing their work with you and put in a lot of effort into preparing.  As may of you know, some of the students were quite nervous because they knew that their learning and progress is important.  After all, that is why we are here.  They reflected on how they are doing and where they have made the most progress as well as areas to improve.  This also gave them a chance to practice speaking and presenting to an authentic audience-you! They will be reflecting on their conference this week and be making spring goals based on your feedback (2 stars and a wish).

Dressing for the Weather

Just a friendly reminder that the weather is always changing in NH and students go outside every day.  Please make sure that they have boots, mittens, and appropriate jackets for the weather on that day.  Our playground can get quite muddy during the rainy springtime and the nurse does not have footwear and clothing to accommodate the whole school population.  Thank you for your help.

Reading

We have been reading How to… books and learning about reading non-fiction features when following directions.  Each reading group is reading a different book and working on a variety of projects.  The titles are: How To Grow Crystals, Science-Just Add Salt,  Making Make Pop-Ups, and Six Things to Make. Students are using questioning and backing-up-to-read strategies to better understand the directions and then following the directions.  We are then reflecting on how the project or experiment turned out and how their reading comprehension was important to the overall success of the project.  The students are really enthusiastic about this unit.  Be sure to ask your son or daughter which book he/she is reading and what he/she is learning.  (Students are learning about steps in a process, the importance of getting supplies, ingredients, and materials ready, measurement, the scientific process, crafts from around the world, ways to add creativity to other projects and presentations, as well as communication and cooperation skills).

Writing

As well as reading How to..books, students are writing their own How to pieces.  We created a checklist of features that a good How to.. should have and are using it as our criteria to write their own pieces.  Students are in the process of typing them on the computers, saving them to their flash drives, and will be printing them out to add pictures and diagrams to help others understand the directions.  They final copies will be made into a class How to… book and each student will get a copy.  The typed version without pictures will be uploaded onto their Learning Blogs.  We will be writing poetry next.

Math

We have begun Unit 9 which focuses on measurement. Students are learning about the importance of using a standard unit of measurement and reviewing how to measure accurately.  This week, students are going to work in teams to write directions of how to use a ruler, tape measure, yard stick correctly and teach it to the kindergarten students.  Another chance to show what they know and present it to an authentic audience. Students will now if they did it well if they can teach it to a younger student.

We continue on practicing math facts with sums to 20 for automaticity (know the answer in 3 seconds or less).  Please have your child practice their addition and subtraction facts at home.  Your child can go to Xtramath.com for quick 3-5 minute drill practice. This skill will help your child with number sense and help when learning more complex math skills in 3r grade such as multiplication, division and using multi-digit algorithms.

To access XtraMath: 1) go to XtraMath.com and click sign in. 2) Type in teachers e-mail (mike@ mv.k12.nh.us), 3) then student name and their pin #.  I wrote student’s pin numbers on the homework sheet last week and this week, though most students have already memorized theirs:) Daily practice is recommended.

 

 

Today in math, students were faced with the challenge of finding out how many different combinations could be made using 3 different shape crackers and 3 different colors of frosting.  They worked in groups of 3 to discuss a strategy and then to create the combinations.  Then, they used the Interwrite board to present their strategies to the class.  We discussed similarities and difference in the different approaches and how it was effective in answering the question, How many different combinations can we make? Finally, students wrote about the challenge and reflected on what went well and how their strategy was effective.  Below are some photos of the process. Click on the images to view them in full screen.

The Task: Students worked in their book groups to create a How to..writing piece explaining how to send a message using an assigned form of communication technology. Then, groups presented their information to the class.

Quality Criteria: All members shared the work equally, include some sort of visual to help the audience understand what you are talking about.

The communication devices that were presented were the telegraph, the internet/e-mail, telephone, post office, and the Pony Express.

 

Where We Are In Place and Time

Changes in in communication technology have changed the way we work, live, and play together.

We are inquiring about the various forms of communication technologies and how they have changed over the years. We are currently working on a challenge to share what we know about sending a message using different types of communication technologies.  groups will be presenting on Friday.

Reading

We have been focusing on being curious readers and asking questions about the books that we read.  We often wonder about things, but when reading, we can actually keep track of our questions and find the answers.  Ask you child about the questions that he/she has been wondering about while reading.

Writing

Students are writing “How to..” pieces about things that they know a lot about.  they are finding that writing directions for something has more to it than they originally thought.

Recently, students finished writing a story about a conflict that had a peaceful solution.  They posted them on their Learning Blogs and then gave feedback to their peers. Go to your child’s Learning blog and check out the story that he/she posted.  Leave a compliment and some constructive feedback.  Constructive feedback may take the form of a question.

Math

Students continue to practice their addition and subtraction facts for improved fluency and automaticity. We are learning about fractions as parts of a whole unit, object, or group of something. It is a lot of fun exploring and playing with fractions and is amazing how quickly students pick up and begin to understand how to manipulate and identify fractions.

Report Cards and Student-Led Conferences

Report cards will be issued next Friday.  The following week we will be having our student-led conferences.  A notice with sign-up times will go home this week as I arrange my schedule. These conferences are important to your child’s progress and confidence and hope that you will make every possible effort to make it.

Weather, Recess, and Clothing

The weather is still fairly unpredictable her in NH and would like to make sure that students are still coming to school prepared for outside recess.  This includes hat, mittens/gloves, and boots.  Our playground can get very muddy during the spring with thawing ice and rainy weather.  It is helpful if your child has some sort of boots for recess on those days. Thank you.

Today we finished the book, O’Sullivan’s Stew and made Irish Soda Bread. Check out the pictures!

 

I send home poems as part of homework each week for a few different reasons.  To expose children to a wide range of writing and reading material, improve reading comprehension, build reading fluency, and improve vocabulary.  Sometimes these poems might be difficult to read and/or understand.  this is where individual student reading strategies come in to play and students need to think critically and process what they are reading.  This is also a great place for parents to model how it is read and help their child to read and understand the poem.  This is the one piece of homework that I know students seem to either love or hate.  I love it when parents can help and make this a more enjoyable and less stressful assignment.  I believe that with some help, students can learn to love poetry and grow as both a reader and a writer.

 

Below are some helpful tips and links about poetry.

“Teaching the reading of poetry: tips from a poet

By Mandy Coe

Poetry plays a powerful role in increasing students’ literacy skills in schools. But unless literacy starts with goosebumps, laughter, or contemplation, none of us would bother to read anything but bills, instructions and road signs. When teaching the reading of poetry the guide words should be: immersion, leisure, enjoyment, fun.

As an art form, poetry has sustained and nourished us for thousands of years. Throughout recorded history people from all cultures have used poems to share the full range of human experience. By associating poetry with pleasure we allow young people to make a connection with the minds of these thinkers and continue this tradition.

Teacher/Adult as role model

Many adults have mixed feelings about poetry. Most of us were not raised being read Beowulf at bed time and at school poetry was too often presented as a dry and inaccessible subject. It is no wonder that some of us feel that poetry is like an optician’s eye chart: a jumble of text designed to test us. “I don’t get it,” is not an unfamiliar response. But poets are not deliberately hiding the ‘it’. A poem is more like a series of questions; a close up of a leaf, or a glimpse of a slightly familiar face. It takes a while for things to come into focus and each reader will find a different ‘it’ each time they revisit the poem. That is what reading poetry is about: you don’t get it – you discover it.

I visit schools as a guest author and like many poets have seen first-hand how a teacher’s attitude can influence their pupils. Young people are nearly always keen to write poetry whether their teacher’s approach to it is one of pleasure or indifference. But the teacher who ‘doesn’t get it’ passes on a reluctance that is hard to shift. This is the class where the word poetry brings a tiny shiver.” (PoetrySociety.org)

 

For a nice selection of poems about reading and books, go to the ReadingLady.com

 

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.