Weekly News for Feb. 15th

What a busy February it has been in our classroom! This week, we have more special events, and we are starting new units in math and writing. A reminder that next week is vacation and students will return on Tuesday, March 1st. 

In math, we are wrapping up our unit on measurement and will be starting a unit focused on place value to 1,000. Using a variety of manipulatives, students will create and count bundles (or groups) in 10s and 100s. They will practice adding and subtracting in multiples of 10 and 100, both on and off the decade. Money will be a focus, giving students opportunities to count by 5 and 10 and to consider 25 cents or a quarter as a unit. 

In writing, we are starting our unit on opinion writing. This week, as an introduction to opinion writing, students will write about something important to them. We will then move into writing opinions about the books we read, including Red Clover nominees.

In honor of February being I love to read month, all of the second grade classes will be having a read-a-thon this Thursday. On this day, your child can wear pajamas, bring a small stuffed animal and a small flashlight, head lamp or small lantern.  We’ll make tents in our classroom with sheets to make some comfy reading spots. This should be a great day focused on a love of reading books.

On Friday afternoon, we will participate in the ski/snowshoe/walk-a-thon sponsored by the sixth graders to benefit the Bissonette Field Project. If your child has collected donations, please send those in by Wednesday. The sixth grade team has lots of fun activities planned for snow--or grass--depending on what mother nature has in store. As part of this event, an adult from our school will  be kissing a farm animal that students have voted for. All February long, students have received special stars when exhibiting positive behaviors (showing belonging, caring, trust, accepting responsibility and respect) that they use to vote for a favorite farm animal in the cafeteria . Pig is by far the favorite among our class--and it seems the school as a whole.   

Miss Becca, a junior at UVM, has joined our classroom on Tuesday mornings and all day on Thursday. We are lucky to have her with us. She will be doing a lesson on the recorders with kids on Thursday, so please make sure recorders are returned by Wednesday. As always, let us know if you have any questions. 

Reader's Theater

Engineering a coat

Go Noodle body break

Monday News for Feb. 8th

What a busy week we had!  The children had a great time on Global Play Day having time to play their games, work on puzzles, draw, etc.  The children needed no intervention by adults and thoroughly enjoyed playing among themselves!  It was a nice opportunity for Mrs. Driver and myself to watch and observe the children to see how they problem solved, shared and directed their own activities.  The children were wonderful!  On Friday, the 100th Day the children displayed their projects and shared with one another and then paraded through the wing to view other projects. It is always amazing to view the creativity involved with some of these projects!  Please check out our photos!  

We are wrapping up our unit on Animals in Winter.  The children are putting the finishing touches on their poems about the animals they researched. Their poems will be displayed along with their paintings of their animals from Art class.  We hope to have these displayed in the very near future, so if stopping by, please be on the look-out for them!  As part of an engineering task for this unit, the children were challenged to design a coat for an animal to protect it from the cold.  The children used thermometers as their animals and had to dress them in different materials to simulate a coat.  The children then tested their coats to see which insulated their animals the best by taking them outside timing them for 5 minutes and then checking the temperature on their thermometers.  The children will be looking at the properties of the different materials and re-designing another coat with the goal of improving on their original design.  During the month of February and March, we will be reading all the Red Clover Books.  The Red Clover Award is a Vermont children's book award that is awarded to an author by the children of Vermont.  After reading all 10 books, each child votes for their favorite and the author who is selected is awarded the Red Clover Award.  We are beginning a writing unit on Opinion Writing that  will integrate these books into our writing unit.  If you are looking for ways to support your child with math at home, telling time is an area you can focus on.  This month the children will work on reading analog clocks and telling time.  Math facts to twenty in both addition and subtraction are another way to support your child at home.  Thank you for all you do to support us at home!  Have a great week ahead!

 Creating a chain of 1,000 paperclips to celebrate the 100th day of school times 10