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

Class Economy & Fractions

Dear Families,

Last week the students began their classroom economy project.  They asked important guiding questions such as:
- What is an economy?
- What are goods/services?
- Why isn't everything free?
- How can I add & subtract money from my bank account?

These are the main topics that we will cover as a class over the next few weeks.  I am hoping that this project will last throughout the year in the sense that students will continue to complete their jobs and work as a community to keep the classroom running.
Please talk to your student about their role in the economy and why it is important that each person do his/her job.  Also when at the store or gas station discuss prices of items, where you get the money to pay for these goods/services, and why things are not free.

In math this week we are beginning our unit on fractions.  This week will begin with an introduction of terminology such as what a fraction means, what it looks like, when is a fraction a part of a whole or part of a set, etc.  We are also talking about numerators and denominators.  We will use the next few weeks to discuss fractions as decimals and how fractions and division are related.

Spelling words of the week:  the long e sound spelled with a y
penny   dizzy   puppy   very   only   many   baby   lady   candy   worry

Building City Hall

Last Friday Reyna's architecture lesson was centered around the idea of a community and their economy.  The class discussed what kinds of businesses and services a community needs to thrive and what kinds of bulding would be home to them.  The students came up with community made up of a town hall, school, bank, hospital, fire/police stations, and a store.  The students worked in small groups to construct the community from carsboard boxes and construction paper.  Come in and check out the intricate detail that the students added to each building.  Some buildings have doors that really open.  The hospital has a helipad and helicopter. The fire station has a truck out front and ready to respond to any emergency.


Little Town - a community created by the IA second graders





Creators of the Fire/Police Station

Little School for the children of Little Town

Little Town Bank where the community members keep their money safe.



January 18th

Dear Families,

Today we began to discuss POLs in class.  I gave an example presentation and they were able to ask questions.  Students are to choose 2 topics for their POL:
1.  Subject Area: math or reading or writing
2.  Project:  Meteorology or All About Me or Resolutions or Fables or Number Book
If you would like to help your student practice for their presentation at home please feel free.  We will also be working on them in class. 
Please look at last week's post for the schedule.  It is also posted outside of the classroom.

Words of the Week - CONTRACTIONS
let's  don't  can't  won't  didn't  we'll  couldn't   I'm  you're  shouldn't

Today was also the beginning of our classroom economy project.  We made a list of jobs & salaries last week and began to implement them today.  Ask your student about his/her job and why it is an important job in the classroom.  Thursday of each week will be pay day.  It will also be the day of the classroom store.  If you have any trinkets or knick-nacks you are thinking of giving/throwing away please consider donating them to the class store as I will be buying all of the goods.  There will be things like pencils, erasers, silly bands, etc.

This Thursday is the birthday celebration for January.  Kim Blough is in charge of this month's celebration.  If your student has a birthday in January please contact Kim to coordinate snacks for Thursday's 2:30 celebration.

Hope everyone has a great week!
Jenn

Upcoming Events in January

Dear Families,

There is so much going on this month!  Thank you for reading the blog to find out all of the excitement happening at IA in January.

- Wednesday, January 12th is IA night at Chili's. 
Time: 11am - 9pm
Address:  4252 Camino Del Rio N
               San Diego, CA
Bring in a flyer and 15% of your bill goes to our school!  Anyone can attend so bring lots of friends.

- Friday clubs begin on Friday, January 14th.  The 2nd graders get to choose between art, dance & music, leadership & team building, or story telling & puppetry.  These clubs will occur the last hour of each Friday.

- MLK Day is next Monday, January 17th.  There will be NO SCHOOL

-Presentations of Learning:  the last week in January will be the week that the 2nd graders have their presentations of learning.  Each day 5 students will present a project as well as classwork that they have been creating this semester.  I will send a schedule & flyer home in your student's red folder with more information.  I will also send home a copy of the rubric that your child will be graded on.  You are invited to school on the day of your child's POL to watch their presentation and share in their learning. Report cards will be sent home that Friday, January 28th.
Schedule is as follows:
Monday 11-12pm         Javhi, Belle, Leann, Zoey, Blake
Tuesday 2-3pm            Jared, Arwen, Chalaya, Elijah, Tiarra
Wednesday 11-12pm   Jacob, Natalie, Noah, William, Lola
Thursday 2-3pm           Camille, Broc, Ethan, Tanner

This weeks spelling words:
words ending in -tion
innovation, vacation, celebration, fraction, potion, action, motion * bonus word - expectation

Science Center Field Trip

Dear Families,

Last Friday was our field trip to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.  It was such an exciting day!  We spent the first hour and a half exploring the exhibits about weather, storms, magnetism, and light.  Then we had a lunch break with the first grade.  After lunch we went to our meteorology workshop.  One of the museum docents led the class in experiments about weather, tools meteorologists use, and the water cycle.
Thank you so much to all parent chaperones.  This trip would not have been possible without you!

The class outside of the museum

The computer program showed us what we will look like as we age.

                                

The students observed how tornadoes form

In this exhibit students observed how earthquakes change the earth's surface.



                                                          Learning about light & shadows

  

Using the skills and techniques Reyna taught us in Architecture to create.

Electricity

 

 Meteorology Workshop at the Science Center:

Using thermometers to measure temperature

                                                

                                                   

Creating our own clouds out of water and smoke

End of December

Dear Families,

I hope everyone had a joyful break but that you are all ready to come back to school!  I know that I am looking forward to it.  Thank you all for the birthday and holiday surprise.  As I said in my e-mail to everyone I feel so blessed and thankful to be working in a school like this and with families like you.

Here are some photographs from our winter party and some projects we have been working on:

A while ago Jacob and Zoey found a book in our library about crystals.  They both became very interested and wanted to grow crystals in the classroom.  This is a photograph of one of our "snowflakes crystals" beginning to form.  We used epsom salt and boiling water to create the crystals.


Below is an image of what the crystals looked like once they had formed.  We hung them on the window sill because when the light hits them they look like snow and ice. 

This is a fun project that you can do at home with your child.  Just boil water and keep adding epsom salt (or borax) until the water is so saturated that nothing else will dissolve.  Then let sit for a few hours and you should have crystals.  If you want you can even add food coloring to grow different colored crystals!

The week before vacation the students worked on writing from different points of view.  As a class we read The Mitten.  Then, each student chose a character from the story and re-wrote the story from that character's point of view.  The stories are hanging up outside of our classroom if you would like to read them.








HOLIDAY PARTY:  Thank you so much to all the families that made this party such a success.  It is so great having parents (and grandparents) in the classroom.

Making Ornaments                              Decorating Cookies

                 
    

 Gift Exchange

    Birthday Cake