Monday News for Dec. 21st

We all had a great time at Colonial Craft Day last Thursday. This was our culminating event for our Long Ago unit and a celebration of the season. Thanks again too all of you who sent in supplies and volunteered at the event. We hope you enjoy "the goods" your child brought home and the pictures below.

This week, we'll be working on story problems in math that use presents (units of 1) and parcels (groups of 10), and we'll continue this work after vacation. We'll be finishing up our writing prompts about our choice to live today or long ago and will be finishing up with holiday/long ago books in our reading groups.

On Tuesday, we'll participate in the Holiday Sing-Along and have a small Holiday celebration (popcorn and a movie) in the afternoon. We hope you have a wonderful break. Perhaps we'll actually have a stretch of winter weather when we return! We look forward to lots of new learning with your children in 2016.

Monday News for Dec. 14th

On Friday the class had an opportunity to participate in The Hour of Code.  The Hour of Code is a global movement to try an hour introduction to computer science, reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Our class learned the beginnings of how to write code.  The children could choose from working on computer websites or apps created for I pads.  I have included a link to the website for you and your child to continue to explore and learn about writing code.  https://code.org/learn

This week we are wrapping up our unit on Life Long Ago.  Our culminating activity will be Colonial Craft Day on Thursday.  Thank you so much for all your generous donations!  It is great to have such supportive parents!  The children will be responding to a prompt about whether they prefer life today compared to long ago or vice versa.  They will need to explain their ideas based on what they have learned during this unit.  

In math we continue to explore the number line and different strategies for adding and subtracting using the number line.  If you are supporting your child at home with their homework and have any questions of your own, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Please don't forget library books on Wednesday.  We will not have Library again until after the break, so Wednesday will be a time when your child can take books home for the holiday break.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.  Have a great week ahead and THINK SNOW!  

Monday News for December 7th

In writing, students are finishing up and sharing writing prompts they have worked on. These prompts focus on a favorite place. We worked on having three reasons it is a favorite place and supporting each reason with details. We also worked on having introductions and conclusions for our writing. This week, students will get to work on another prompt about whether they would rather live long ago or today and why.

We continue to read books and learn about Colonial times, this week focusing on a general introduction of the conflict between the American colonists and Great Britain. We'll also look at some famous Americans of the time including George Washington, Ben Franklin and Paul Revere. Next Thursday will be our Colonial Craft Day from 1:15-2:30. Thank you to all who have volunteered to come in and signed up to send in materials!

As part of our December Number Corner, we've been creating surveys. Last week, we looked at favorite colors and favorite books. This week, students will come up with ideas for another type of survey we can do as a class.

Have a great week!

Monday News for Nov. 30th

Performing a Readers' Theatre

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!  It is great to be back to school!  We will resume spelling this week with words coming home on Monday for the week.  We have also begun a new unit in Math so look for the Unit 3 parent letter in your child's homework folder.  Many of the concepts that the children will be working on in this unit will be explained.  Also, we would like to suggest that on the evenings when your child does not have math homework, that this would be a good evening to practice math facts for about 10 minutes.  If your child does not know their doubles facts this would be a great place to begin.  If your child has their doubles memorized, then move on to doubles plus or minus one facts. For example, 5+6=11.  They can use one of their doubles to help them solve this problem.  If they use the higher double they subtract one and if they use the smaller double they add one.  If you have any questions, please let us know!

We are continuing our unit on Long Ago.  We will be focusing on Colonial Times

 over the next few weeks.  The second grade team will be holding Colonial Craft Day on December 17th from 1:15 - 2:30, as a culminating activity to our unit.  In order to make this possible we will be looking for parent volunteers to help us out by running a craft center.  We will have it all organized and will show you what to do.  You don't have to be crafty to participate!  We will also be asking for donations of supplies and will have a sign-up genius where you can sign up to make a donation.  We will be sending further information with the link to the sign-up in an e-mail.  We should be sending it out in the next couple of days.  This is a great afternoon and we would love to have your help!

Have a great week ahead!

Monday News for Nov. 16th

Last Friday, students began using a computer program called "Kidspiration" to publish their personal timelines. Thanks for your help with coming up with important moments in your child's life to include on this. We will keep working on the timelines this week. We also have a long timeline that includes the past six centuries posted in our classroom. When we read a book from "long ago," we discuss the time period in which the book takes place and label it on our timeline. We have read and explored books including Nora's Ark by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock which takes place during the 1927 flood in Vermont and Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall which takes place in the 1800s. When delving into these texts, we focus on life then and now. In our reading groups, all students are reading books about long ago or what historians do. 

It has been wonderful making connections between our historical timelines and the number lines we have been using in math. We noticed how we can use some of our strategies to add on the number line to figure out how many years have passed between an event long ago and today. 

Last week, we were lucky enough to see and hear a trio from the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. This week, we will get to see HONK! The Musical, performed by our own middle school students. Library will be on Thursday this week.  There will be no school for students next week, and we hope you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving Holiday. As always, let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Classroom News for November 9th

On Friday the children participated in a writing celebration with Mrs. Stanton's class with both classes sharing their narratives. Please enjoy the photos!

 The children continue to work this week on their non-fiction books and are using many non-fiction features in their writing.  We are hoping to complete these books this week.  The children have really enjoyed learning about their topics as well as writing and illustrating their books.

Thank you for helping your child to complete their timeline homework.  Next steps will be for the class to visit the computer lab to create individual time lines using the Kidspiration program.

This week we will focus on Hinesburg Long Ago.  The children will be looking at slides of Hinesburg from the late 1800's and early 1900's to determine how our town has changed over time.  If you have a family member or friend who lived in Hinesburg over 50 years ago, we would love to have them come in and share any memories of school and other stories of how Hinesburg has changed through the years.

In Math, the children are learning how to use a number line for adding two amounts together.  The number line is an important tool that students will be using this year for adding and subtracting large numbers.  This is a strategy that most of us were not introduced to during our own school years.  If you have any questions as you are working with your child, please feel free to contact us.  
That's about all!  Have a great week ahead!

Monday News for Nov. 2nd

Last week was a very fun week with our visit to Shelburne Museum on Tuesday and Fun-O-Ween on Friday. Thanks to all the parents who joined us for these events! Enjoy the pictures below. This week, we will be starting our in school study of life long ago, including Hinesburg long ago. We'll be looking at timelines, seeing artifacts, exploring important events in history in Hinesburg and beyond, and comparing life then and now.

Students have been working hard on their non-fiction research reports. They have been organizing their notes into different categories/headings and have begun writing their reports on insects, owls, bats or spiders. They will be including maps, diagrams, pictures, and a table of contents as part of their report. During reading, students have continued to research their topic, trying to fill holes in the information they have gathered for their report.

Our November Calendar for Number Corner focuses on clocks and telling time. If you have analog clocks or watches at home, spend some time exploring these with your child. In other math news, we continue to become more flexible and efficient with adding and subtracting numbers. This week, we will be exploring number lines as a tool for this.

Have a great week!

Sitting in front of the General Store

 Some Pictures from Fun-O-Ween!

Don't we look great in our costumes!