Thank You!

Dear Families,
Thank you for an unforgettable year. 

The kiddos brainstormed what they learned in 2nd grade....they were excited about how the list kept growing and growing

The greatest group of kids I know!

News Cast

After reading Hill of Fire and learning a little about volcanoes, Natalie, Tanner, Jacob, Aniya, Lola, Ethan, and Isaac decided to do a news cast as their culminating project.  They wrote their scripts, made the backdrops and filmed the news cast. Enjoy!

Animal Research

Some of the students decided to take their animal reports one step farther.  They were worried that some people might read their reports and want even more information about their animal.  So, they decided to find websites with extra information about their animals and post it on the blog. 

Make sure you come to FAMILY NIGHT tomorrow to see your students' reports.  There will also be performances by the hip-hop club and students displaying their art work from this semester!

Chalaya and Blake found these great sites about sharks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_white_shark
www.kidzone.ws/sharks/
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/hammerhead-shark/

Camille found these informational sites about penguins as well as a fun game:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/penguin
www.kidzone.ws/animals/penguins/facts.HTM
http://www.clubpenguin.com/

Noah researched the gorilla and found these sites:
www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/apes/gorilla/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla
www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-gorilla.html

Important Updates!

Dear Families,

IMPORTANT UPDATE for Coronado Fieldtrip:
On Friday, June 10th we will be meeting at the Grantville Trolley Station (not at school).  Please arrive at the station NO LATER than 8:40am.  We are catching the 8:50 trolley to the Coronado Ferry.  DO NOT BE LATE!

Dee Dee and I will be gathering the before care students at 8:35 and driving to meet you all by 8:40 at the Trolley station.  We will have the trolley and ferry passes for everyone.

Please send your students with swimsuits if they plan to go in the water and towels as well as a sack lunch, sunscreen, and a hat.

*If you do miss the trolley you can meet us at the Ferry Station at 10:00am. 

We will return to school at 3:00 and students can be picked up in the classrooms.



Innovations Academy Field Day:
The 2nd grade has no volunteers for field day!  We need parents to drive students to Allied Gardens Rec. Center and to be in charge of our game, the 3-legged race.  Please sign up outside of the classroom if you are available on Monday, June 13th.

June

Dear Families,

The year is quickly coming to an end and we have a lot of exciting things happening in the 2nd grade.
Upcoming Events:

IA Family Night is June 7th.  There will be an optional pizza dinner at 5:00pm.  Please order your pizza with Donna in the office.  From 6:00-7:00 the students of IA will be showcasing their work, dance, and art from throughout the year.

IA Field Day is Monday, June 13th at the Allied Garden Rec. Center.  The festivities begin at 10:00am and we will return to school at 2:00pm.  The 2nd grade is putting on the 3-legged race.  We need volunteers to drive students to and from the park, as well as parents to man our game. Sign-ups are posted outside of the class.  
*If possible please send in old pillow cases with your students for the 3-legged race game.

Field trip to the Del Mar Fair is Tuesday June 14th.  Entry is free for all students and chaperones.  The students will be bringing their radishes to be judged.  Then we will spend the day exploring the exhibits and have a nice picnic lunch.

 YEARBOOKS: The yearbooks are awesome!  Donna has a copy in the front office if you would like to check one out. Order one soon as they are running out quickly.

The students have been working on two research projects.  One was a pond ecosystem project.  The students wanted to know more about where Swimmy and Tad would live if they were in the wild.  The students came up with all of the living and non-living things in a pond ecosystem and paired up to research and create a pond with the animals and plants that live in the pond.  Students also researched the water cycle and the frog life cycle.

Our pond ecosystem lives right behind Swimmy and Tad so that they can feel at home in our classroom.  Come in and check it out!  

Our second research project is an animal report.  The students chose animals to write a report about.  The students started by reading books about the different animals to make an educated decision on which animal they wanted to focus on.  The class also used our trip to the zoo as a way to do research on their animals.  They were to visit their animal and observe its physical features and behavior.  Then the students used the resources to fill out a web.  The web was a way to organize their information based on physical features, habitat, diet, predators/protection, and other interesting facts.  The students then used the web to write the report.  Some of the students were worried that their reports would leave the reader wanting more information so the class has decided to find other resources such as books and websites.  They will bring their findings into class and we will post them on this blog within the next few days.

A few months ago the class wrote letters to President Obama to express their concerns about the environment.  Some students asked Obama what he was doing to protect our resources ad others shared their ideas with the President.  Today we got a letter back!  The students were so excited to hear his letter and see the photos that he enclosed.  A copy of the President's letter will be in your student's portfolio for him/her to keep.

 

May 16th

Families & Friends,

This week is packed full!  We are going to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow...keep your fingers crossed that it won't rain!  The students are excited to visit the animals that they will be writing their animal reports about. 

Wednesday is the IA Talent Show.  It will take place in the 3,4,5 area from 10:30-11:30.  We have a few acts from 2nd grade.  It is open to all families and friends.

Thursday & Friday I will begin giving students the WRAT.  This is the end of the year assessment that IA uses.  It is important that your student is here on these days because this data will be used by their teacher next year and I will also want to go over it with you during conferences next week.

Thursday afternoon is the 2nd grade Birthday Celebration.  It will begin at 2:30 and go through the end of the school day.

This weeks words of the week are Zoo words:
animal, habitat, nature, captivity, offspring

NEXT WEEK:
Monday - Thursday are half days for conferences and presentations of learning.  The students will be focusing on their animal reports this week so even though it is half day, it is important that your child is at school.  We will also be working on our Pond Ecosystem this week and your student is part of a partnership.  Hopefully, they came home and told you what part of the ecosystem they are in charge of.  If not, ask them!

Friday there is no school for professional development...and the following Monday there is no school for Memorial Day.  Enjoy your long weekend! 

Thank you for reading,
Jenn

Thank You!

Dear 2nd graders and 2nd grade families,

THANK YOU for making Teacher Appreciate Week so special!  You have all been so supportive and generous throughout the year but this past week was above and beyond anything I could have imagined.  On Tuesday my desk looked like a garden had sprouted and the kind notes I recieved from you and your kiddos brightened my day on Wednesday.  I am also so appreciative of the thoughtful gifts of chocolates, books, and the Target gift card.  Not only were these such generous gifts but they were each so thoughtful.  I am so lucky to have families like yours and to be working with you and your students this year! 

We have started two new projects in our classroom.  The first was created by Esther (a big thank you to you!).  The students will be using their knowledge about money, adding, subtracting, measurement, writing, reading, and mapping skills to travel through magical lands.  They will have budgets to keep and adventure logs to record their travels within.  This is going to be a great project to have the students delving into their imaginations.  Ultimately we are hoping that the students will create their own magical lands for their friends to travel to.

The other project is based around Swimmy (our tadpole).  As Swimmy becomes a frog we are wondering what to do with him.  We are doing research on lakes, ponds, and streams to determine what frogs need to survive and what else is in their habitat.

In math we are continuing to explore addition, multiplication and division as well as their relationship to each other.  Today we played a game called "Left Overs."  The students played the game in pairs and used counters and dice to divide groups of objects.  Ask your student to teach you the rules!  Some students began to realize that division problems that had a remainder of 0 could also be turned into multiplication problems but division problems with a remainder were different.  This is something we are still discussing in class.

Broc is helping Ethan decide if he wants to place his role in the 10s column or the 1s column.

Javhi is adding up his total of the moment before he decided where he wanted to place his last role.

On Friday we played another great game called "101 and Out."  This is an addition game that is also played in pairs.  This game is about number sense and place value.  Again, all you need is a die and a sheet to record the scores on.  Please ask your student to play with you at home!  They can teach you the rules.

Words of the Week:  plural nouns where we drop the y and add ies

city - cities

party - parties

family - families

story - stories

baby - babies

END OF THE YEAR CONFERENCES AND POLs:  May 23rd-26th

Please sign up under the class bulletin board for your choice of date and time.  So far I only have 4 families that have signed up.  If any of the times do not work for you please let me know and we can schedule something before school or I can stay later to meet your needs.

SD ZOO FILEDTRIP:

If you have volunteered to chaperone for the Zoo Trip, thank you!  The students will have small assignments while they walk around the zoo so I will get a list of your group members as well as what their assignment at the zoo will be on Friday.  You will only have about 3 students in each group and I will probably be doubling up chaperones.  If you or your student has a preference of who they would like to be with please let me know by Thursday.

Thank you all again for a wonderful week last week!  I am blessed to be working with your students and to have the support of families like you!

Jennifer

May!

Dear Families and Friends,

Happy May!  Can you believe how quickly this year has flown?  There are many important upcoming events for this month:

Tuesday, May 17th Fieldtrip to the SD Zoo.  We will leave IA at 9:00am and return at 3:00pm.  We still need one or two more chaperones.  If you are interested please let me know.  The cost os $10 per adult.  The students are all free.

Wednesday, May 18th IA is putting on a Talent Show.  More details to come.

Thursday, May 19th will be our classroom Birthday Celebration for the month of May.  If your child has a birthday in May please coordinate treats on the sign up sheet on the door.

Monday, May 23 - Thursday, May 26th are half days.  In the afternoon your student will be assigned a time for a Presentation of Learning.  There is a sign-up sheet on the wall to schedule your conference time.

Friday, May 27th there is NO SCHOOL for professional development.

Monday, May 30th there is NO SCHOOL for Memorial Day

Thank you to all of the families that brought treats for the teachers today.  You truly brightened our day with a great breakfast and lunch.  We are so proud and honored to be your students' teachers!

Exciting news from the classroom - Swimmy is a froglet.  His tail has almost diappeared and he spends some time out of the water.  The kids were SO excited this morning when they saw him.

Most of the class has finished their personal narratives.  Please come by the room and read these great memories.

In math we are continuing to work on multiplication and division.  Some of the students are learning what to do with remainders.  Last week I gave the following problem:  There are 8 cookies that need to be divided equally by three friends.  Many of the students were stumped but a few came up with very creative ways to solve the problem.  Here is an example:

Isaac solved 8 divided by 3 by drawing plates for each of the three friends.  Then he gave them each an equal amount of cookies until there were not enough left to distribute equally.  The extra 2 cookies he split into three pieces because there were three friends to share with.  In the end each friend got 2 whole cookies and 2/3.

 In Social Studies the class is still learning about the economy and all the roles that people play within the economy.  Today with Kimberly, our Junior Achievement helper, we learned about campaigning and voting.  The class had an empty real estate location for rent.  Each group was given a business that they had to campaign for, to fill the space.  The class came up with the pros and cons for a pet shelter, skate park, and toy store.  They presented these pros and cons to the class and then the class voted, by ballot, on which business they would like in their community.  The pet shelter won.



Preparing a list of pros and cons to present to the class



Voting





End of April

Dear Families and Friends,

Over the past few weeks the students have begun to really grasp the concepts of multiplication and division.  The class has been answering word problems that relate to the real world, thus understanding why division and multiplication are important tools to have throughout life.  The past week and this week we are focusing on division.  The students have been using lots of visuals to help them solve the problems.  Below are two examples:

Here Giovanni is solving 20 divided by 10 and Chalaya is showing the class how she solved 20 divided by 5.  The great thing about the way the class is developing their understanding of these concepts is that to the students the symbols and equations come second.  They are more concerned with going deeper into what multiplication and division really mean.

Here is a pattern that Noah observed after working on the division problems for the day.  It was interesting to listen to him explain his observation to the class.  He explained that although there were different numbers of books or shelves, depending on the problem, they were still being grouped with the same values.  So if there are 4 groups of 5 or 5 groups of 4, you still get the same total which he then related back to multiplication.

As last week was Earth week the class talked a lot about what we could all do to help heal our planet and how we can get our great ideas across to others.  The kiddos made posters expressing their ideas of what or what not to do to help the planet.  As we discussed other ways to get the word out about recycling, reusing, and reducing Chalaya came up with an idea to write to the President to see what he was doing to help the Earth.  The kids loved the idea so we are currently in the process of writing letters to President Obama.  Some students are asking him what he is doing and some are telling him what they are doing.  We are all hoping very much that he will write us back!

This week's words come from something that I have observed in the classroom.  Often students use the past tense of irregular verbs inccorectly.  Many students say "I drawed..." or "It growed...," so this week we will be focusing on irregular past tense:

know - knew

draw - drew

take -took

go -went

make - made

get - got

grow - grew

UPCOMING EVENTS:

CSTs continue this week.  We will be testing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Please make sure your student gets plenty of sleep and a nice healthy breakfast.  We finished part I of the math last week and will be trading off; math, language arts, math language arts.  This will hopefully help the kids not burn out on any one subject. 

May 17th we are going to the San Diego Zoo.  If you would like to chaperone there is a sign up sheet outside of the classroom.  The first 6 volunteers will get in for free, after that it is $10 per chaperone.  If you have a Zoo Pass it will also be free.  There is no cost for the students.

April Update

Dear Families and Friends,

As April comes to a close, CST testing begins!  This Thursday the 21st through May 4th the students at IA will be taking the CST each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00 - 11:00am.  Please make sure that your child is ON TIME to school.  If they arrive after testing begins they will not be allowed into the classrooms until after 11:00.  Also, it is important that your student gets a good nights rest, has a healthy dinner, and a healthy breakfast each day.  This will give them a chance to perform to their best ability on the test.  The California Standardized Test is a statewide test that the state and districts use to assess the abilities of each school in California.

Last week the 2nd grade took a fieldtrip to the Water Conservation Gardens.  I want to thank those of you who came as chaperones.  Like with any field trip, it would not be possible without your help and support.  The students spent the morning learning about plants and animals that are native to San Diego.  Mrs. Smarty Plants explained to the students how planting gardens full of native plants helps to conserve water.  The students also had a mini-lesson on the water cycle, which many of them remembered from our meteorology project.  Lastly, the students all got to plant a succulent that they took home.  

Playing in the garden sprinklers

The class outside of the garden



Mulch keeps water in & heat out



Planting their succulents



Zoey found tadpoles.  She observed that they were much
 smaller and darker than ours.





Many of the students have been inspired by their trip to the garden and are painting flowers and plants that they saw on the trip.  Feel free to come into the classroom and enjoy their work.  It is interesting to see how the students are mixing colors and using water to get their desired effects.  

This week's words of the week are a review of prefixes & suffixes.  We are working on in-, un-, -ly, and -ful

incomplete, incorrect, unkind, untrue, slowly, quietly, careful, joyful

Thank you for reading!

Welcome Back from Break!

Hi All,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Spring Break.  It was so nice to come to school today and see all of your students excited to be back and ready to learn.



Javhi working on a multiplication problem. 
He drew the 3 groups first and then the 6 lines
inside each group to show 6 x 3



The week before break was filled with lots of exciting learning.  The students began multiplication and it was great to see the lightbulb go on for so many of them.  I think that multiplication was some scary math concept to many of the students previously.  So when they worked on problems and found that through drawing pictures and repeated addition that it was actually quite simple they were ecstatic.  It was also really interesting to see how so many students could solve one problem in different ways and still find the same product.

Last week was also full of students taking over the teaching

role.  Giovannia had a great lesson on implied texture that he wanted to share with the class.  Come see the final results hanging outside of our classroom.

We showed implied texture in marker and then
replicated that on tin foil to show actual texture.

Chalaya took charge of a music lesson.  She saw musical instruments that I had lying around the class, unused, and asked if she could teach music.  The class discussed the different families of instruments and then played percussion instruments we have in the class.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

FIELDTRIP to the water conservation garden is Thursday the 14th.  If you can drive please sign up on the sheet outside of the classroom.  We need 5 more drivers!  We will leave IA at 8:45am and return at 1:00.  We will be having lunch at the gardens.  The cost is $5 per person.  This covers entery and a plant that the students get to take home.

CST testing is coming up at the end of the month.  It is very important that your student is ON TIME each and every day.  If they arrive late they will not be able to take the test and will have to make it up at another time.

WORDS OF THE WEEK:  past tense verbs with a double consonant

planned  tapped  clapped  trapped  mapped  shipped  dipped  ripped  zipped  hopped  stopped

Updates for the 2011-2012 School Year

Hi Families,

To those of you who came out to Family Night, thank you!  It is so great having you all in the classroom, working with your students, and letting them show you their magnificent work.  Tonight we wrote family narratives.  The students are working on personal narratives in writers workshop, so I thought it would be fun to collaborate as a family about a great memory you all share.  I will display the narratives and illustrations after break.  If over break you would like to write a family narrative and bring it in when we get back to school that would be really fun!

Christine gave her 2011-2012 school year update tonight.  Next year Bill and Patrick will be co-teaching 4th & 5th grade.  It will resemble the middle school model where Patrick will teach humanities and Bill will teach math and science.  Kim will be your 3rd grade teacher next year.

School sites:  There is a survey that will be available at the front desk about school sites.  If you would like to let Christine and the board your opinion on sites please fill out a survey ASAP.  The 3 options are to stay here, go to Adams where we will share a site, or move to Scripps Ranch.  Please see the survey for more information.  There is still no difinitive date for when we will know which site we will use but we have to renew our lease here by May 1st.  So at that point if there is no news, we will be here next year.  Christine informed us that she has a meeting with the district tomorrow morning and will send out more information as she gets it.

Have a great Spring Break!

March 28th Update

Hi Readers,

This week the 2nd graders are working on antonyms.  We've been having fun mixing grammar & spelling in the past few weeks.
quiet/loud      asleep/awake     left/right     backward/forward     absent/present

In math this week we will begin multiplication.  The first week of multiplication will be understanding that multiplication is just repeated addition.  When the students understand the concept of multiplication we will move on and focus on the 2s, 5s, and 10s multiplication facts.

This Thursday night is FAMILY NIGHT!  Please come to IA at 5:30pm.  We will spend the first hour in the classroom and then from 6:30-7:30 Christine will talk about the future of IA and the changes planned for next year.
There will be no school the following Friday & then it is Spring Break!  Enjoy a week off with your students and we will see you back at school on Monday, April 11th.

March 21st

Dear Readers,

     This week the class is moving from plane shapes onto solid figures.  We have been going on scavenger hunts in the classroom and around the school for solid figures such as cones, spheres, pyramids, etc.  This is a fun activity that you can also do at home or around town with your children.  It is important that they use the correct terminology...a cube is not a square.  The class spent a lot of time correcting themselves on terminology use today.
     In writing we are beginning a writer's workshop all about personal narratives.  Today the students discussed what personal narratives are; a story told from beginning to end about an event that happened to me.  Then we discussed how many events from our lives that we remember have strong emotions tied to them.  The students brainstormed emotions and came up with a great long list.  Then they thought about events in their lives that they remember vividly and matched emotions they felt to the event.  Tomorrow we will make a list of characters in the story, the setting, and the events that occurred.  From there we will turn these memories into personal narratives.  I am very excited to hear what your students have to say about themselves!
     In science we are patiently waiting for Swimmy and Tad to grow their legs and grow into frogs.  This week I am ordering caterpillars that we will be able to observe as they grow and morph into butterflies.  The life cycle is such a fascinating topic for the students.

Word of the Week: synonyms
This week the class is focusing on synonyms and next week the focus will be antonyms.  Although these are our spelling words for the week, this does not mean these are the only synonyms we are discussing in class.  Please feel free to bring up lots of synonyms as you talk with your students throughout the week!

big - large     small - tiny     happy - joyful     mad - angry     many - lots

I know I must sound like a broken record but PLEASE send your child to school with their Go Home Folder.  Also, many students are running out of pages in their writing journals.  Please send a new spiral notebook to school with your student this week.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Our March birthday celebration will happen this Thursday the 24th.

Thursday, March 31st is Family Night at IA.  There will be no school the following Friday and school will resume again on Monday, April 11th after Spring Break.

Please fill out an order form if your student would like a YEARBOOK for the 2010-2011 school year.  The school will receive money back for every yearbook purchased before the end of the month.  If you need another order form let me know!

Thank you for reading,
Jenn

March Update

Hi Families & Friends,

Last Friday Reyna came in to do another wonderful architecture lesson with the class.  She taught the    students about ancient Greece and the Parthenon.  The students learned about how the Greeks would build grand structures that were open and would use columns as the support systems instead of walls.  The class learned about the three types of columns that the Greek architects used; doric, ionic, and corinthean.  Each student was then assigned to create two columns of their own that will eventually support our class Parthenon.



Ethan & Issac displaying their Ionic columns

 

Greek Columns

The Parthenon in Greece

                                                                                     

 This week the class is learning about suffixes.  We are concentrating on the suffix -ly and the suffix -ful.  Have your children tell you about words that have these suffixes.  At morning meeting this morning, the students were coming up with words that had both -ly and -ful in one word.  They were also finding words that had our prefixes from last week and the suffixes from this week.  For example unfriendly, beautifully, unuseful, and many other words were thrown out.

This weeks spelling words are:

nicely, friendly, quickly, softly, bravely, careful, hopeful, colorful, thankful, and useful

Please practice these words at home with you children and work together to see how many words you can think of that have the suffixes -ly and -ful.

The class is in need of spiral notebooks.  The students use their spiral notebooks everyday for writing and many students are out of pages (or will soon be out of pages).  Please send a new spiral notebook to school with your student this week.

Also, many students no longer have their red, go home folder.  If your child has lost theirs please replace it and send it to school with them tomorrow.  I send home important notices, calendars, and work that your child has completed in these folders.

In math we are finishing up plane shapes this week and will be moving on to solid figures next week.  The students are learning about congruency and lines of symmetry.  They are also exploring the school to find shapes in every day objects.  The students will also be working on their spatial visualization abilities.  The will work on rotating, flipping, and sliding shapes that will help develop their spatial reasoning.

Using plane shapes to create other shapes and objects.

     We have an intern from Junior Achievement that will be coming into our class on Wednesdays.  She will be working with the students on our classroom economy project and helping them relate what we do in the classroom to the real world.  These lessons are designed to provide practical information about businesses and the many occupations found in those businesses in a typical city. There are five lessons and each lesson is about 30 to 45 minutes.  I am really looking forward to her time with us & will update you on the lessons as they happen. 

     Also on Wednesdays, beginning next week, I am going to begin helping the students prepare for the CST or state test that the kiddos will be taking at the end of April.  There is a math and language arts component to the test.  If you would like to prepare at home I have some test release questions from past years that I can send home with you. 

Have a wonderful week & thank you for reading!

Jenn

2nd Grade Update

Hi Families,

     We have two new friends in our class.  I want to welcome Isaac and David and their families.  We are so excited that you are part of our community now and you both have so much to add to the class.
    

Reading The Cat in the Hat dressed as Sally

     Last week was Dr. Seuss's birthday.  In his honor we spent Wednesday reading and rhyming.  The students came to school dressed in PJs or as their favorite Dr. Seuss character.  We discussed rhyming words as we read many of his classics such as, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Oh, the Places You Will Go, and The Cat in the Hat.  The students completed setting and character analyses based on their favorite Dr. Seuss book and also had fun doing crossword puzzles and word searches.  If you or your child would like to learn more about Theodor Geisel, the library at UCSD is named after him and has a whole room dedicated to his literature.  There are also gardens that have his statue which would be a fun place for a picnic.                                                           

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

   

Thing 1 and Thing 2












       This week's word are words that have the prefixes un- and re-.  We have been discussing how prefixes change the meanings of the words they come before.  Un- means not and re- means again.
redo, reread, retold, repair, rewind, undo, unruly, untold, unlock, unknown
    
     As many of you know Tiny passed away this week.  When I returned to school after the weekend his tail was bent and he was not able to swim properly.  The students had a long discussion on Monday about what may have happened.  Then on Monday at pick-up time he finally could survive no longer.  On Tuesday morning we buried him and said our goodbyes.  The students had another discussion about Tiny but this time about the frog life cycle and how dying, although it is sad, is a part of the life cycle.
     This week in math we just finished our TIME unit.  Please talk to your students at home about time and let me know if you feel they still need more work.  I told the class that they can come to me and we can form a math club before or after school, or during free time if they ever feel like they need more help in a math area.  We will be moving on to plane shapes tomorrow and from there move into solid figures such as cones, cylinders, pyramids, etc.
     In LA the students are working on prefixes and suffixes.  Each reading group also started a new book this week.  Ask your student if they are reading Space Brat, Cam Jansen, or Mouse Tales.  The students have also been taking more ownership of Morning Meeting.  It has been fun to watch the students gain the courage to write the morning message and lead the class in finding the mistakes.
   

Into March

Dear Families,

Tomorrow is a very important SDUSD board meeting.  Please come to the meeting at 5:00pm with the IA staff and other families to show the district how important it is for us to have a school site next year.  Today during writing your students wrote letters to the board members explaining why we deserve a school site and what they think we are missing at our current location.  The students' letters included the want for an outdoor playground, a clean cafeteria to eat lunch in, and larger classrooms.  I will be bringing these letters to the board meeting to hand deliver to the board.  It would be great if the students could be there to deliver the letters themselves!

 Wednesday, March 2nd is Theodor Geisel's birthday.  To celebrate Dr. Seuss & his love of literature we are going to spend the day reading his books.  Please send your child to school dressed as their favorite Dr. Seuss character, or in their PJs. 







Our words of the week are past tense verbs where the silent e must be dropped before adding the -ed.
     hope - hoped
     time - timed
     care - cared
     like - liked
     bake - baked

President's Day Week

Hi Families,

Many exciting things are happening in 2nd grade this week! 
We finally go our tadpoles.  Many of the students have been asking about getting more class pets and since a 2nd grade standard is life cycles I thought it would be great to combine the two.  It is going to be so great to observe the tadpoles as they go through their changes.  In fact, one of the little guys already has his tiny hind legs.  This sparked a great discussion between the students.  Ethan commented that it was weird that the smallest tadpole has the legs and the other larger ones didn't which led into a discussion about age vs. size and how maybe they were different species and thats why they were different sizes.



We are excited to welcome Tiny, Swimmy, and Tad



Finished product

This afternoon Kim Blough came in to do another pottery lesson with the class.  Last time she introduced coil and pinch pots.  This time she had the students get a little more technical and introduced slab work.  The students had to use their knowledge of geometry, measurement, and fractions to create their boxes.  It was such a great way to show the students how math is incorporated into art.  Thank you Kim!

Using rulers to measure the right length and width
of each piece was very important.

 

Yesterday was our field trip to the Microsoft store.  The students learned how to make PowerPoint presentations.  The students worked in groups of 2 or 3 to create slides about famous athletes and singers. They went online to find facts and pictures.  They also learned how to save images to the computer and then add these images to their slide shows.  Thank you to all the parents who drove!  We could not have gone without you.

This weeks words of the week are verbs in the present tense form.  All of the verbs end in a silent e that must be dropped to add -ing.
hope - hoping
care - caring
share - sharing
take - taking
hike - hiking

A Great Family Day!

Dear Families,

Thank you so much for coming to our 2nd grade Family Day!  The students loved having you in the class to see how the classroom economy works.  I'm glad that you were able to see the students engaged in their jobs and really taking responsibility for their classroom. 
Also a big thank you to our room mom, Kim Carpenter, for another successful holiday party.  The Valentine's Day party was such fun with great food and valentine exchange.  Thank you to all the parents who came to volunteer their time and brought in goodies for the party!  We also had a surprise visit from Arwen, which your children were all very excited about, that added to the sweet celebration!

This week's words: HOMOPHONES
pair    pear
flour   flower
ant     aunt
be      bee
rows  rose
red    read

We began a science unit on frogs and frog life cycles today.  The students are discussing what they know, what they want to know, and then will be reading books and doing research to find the answers to their questions.  I hope to get tadpoles for the class soon so that we can observe these amphibians as they go through their changes.

In math we are continuing on with fractions.  We will be working on word problems tomorrow and finish the week with fractions as decimals.

Social studies is centered around the economy.  Goods, services, supply and demand are key words.  An issue we will be discussing this week is why nothing is free.  This was a huge qualm the students have with our economy.  It is an interesting issue and would be a great discussion to have with your kids!

Don't forget...
Fieldtrip to the Microsoft Store in Fashion Valley is Tuesday, February 22nd from 1:00-2:00.  The students will be learning PowerPoint.

Thanks for reading!
Jenn

Family Day

Dear Families & Friends,

Don't forget that tomorrow is Family Day!  From 1:00-2:00 the students will be demonstrating how they do their classroom jobs, get paid, deposit or cash their money, and go to the class store.  They are excited to show you how the economy is working and how they have taken responsibility for their classroom community.
After the classroom economy is our Valentine's Day party from 2:00-3:00.  If you do want to bring Valentine's, please bring one for the whole class.  There is a class list on the back of last week's Weekly News.  We will be having snacks, making Valentine's crafts, and passing out Valentine cards.
There is no school on Friday, February 11th or Monday, February 14th.  Enjoy the long weekend!

This week we were working on homophones.  We learned that homo means same and phone means sound, so homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently & have different meanings.

ate eight
ball bawl
two too to
they're their there
hear here
blew blue
right write

As part of our fraction unit the class baked banana bread.  I accidently left my whole cup measuring cup at home on Friday so the students had to figure out how to make wholes from thirds, fourths, and halves.  It was a great activity for the students to work together and discuss their ideas about fractions.  It was great for the students to put the fraction concepts into a real-life situation....and it was an activity that was just as much fun to eat as it was to make!

banana mush

Deciding how many fourth cups of sugar they need to make 1 1/2 cups

Mash! Mash! Mash!

 

Enjoying the delicious banana bread!

Monday Monday

Hello Families & Friends,

As January turns into February the 2nd grade class has a lot going on.  Here are some upcoming dates to keep in mind:

February 11-14th No School for President's Day Weekend

*Instead of FAMILY NIGHT on Thursday, February 11th I am planning on having an afternoon for the parents to come in and watch the students as they do their jobs, get their paychecks, and use the store in our classroom economy.  Please come from 1:00 to 2:00 to see how the students run the classroom. Then there will be a Valentine's Day party to follow, from 2:00 to 3:00.


February 22nd Field Trip to the Microsoft Store in Fashion Valley
 - the students will be learning how to make their own PowerPoint presentations
- I will need 5 chaperones.  If you are interested please sign up on the sheet outside of the room.

February Birthday Celebration:  Thursday the 17th from 2:30-3:00.  Please contact Ardis if our student has a birthday in February!

Words of the Week:  irregulr plurals
man/men   woman/women   tooth/teeth   person/people   goose/geese  mouse/mice   foot/feet  
child/children   ox/oxen


Last week the students had their POLs.  I was so impressed with how well the presentations went.  The students were well prepared with their materials and information.  They also seemed poised and comfortable presenting in front of the audience.  It was fun watching the students talk about their favorite projects and subjects and to hear why they chose the ones they did.  I liked to hear what the students remembered most from each project, what they learned, and how they will use this knowledge in the immediate and distant future.

I took photos and some short video clips.  Check back soon and I will try to upload those!

Thank you for reading,
Jenn