Weekly News for March 28th

We enjoyed meeting with many of you last week to talk about your child and their accomplishments, and we look forward to more conferences this week. It is amazing to reflect on the growth that has occurred since the beginning of second grade!

On Monday, students will take the spring district writing prompt. This allows us to measure how children have grown as writers since the fall district writing prompt and also allows us to see areas to focus on for the remainder of the school year. Many students have begun reading biographies about important individuals from history. We have been learning about character traits and how we can support our opinions of the person we are reading about with evidence from the text.

Last Wednesday, our class had our first workshop with Tracy Martin, a Flynn performing artist. With her, we created movements for scenes from the book Blizzard, one of the 2015-2016 Red Clover nominees. We then put these movements to music. Thanks to a grant we received, Tracy will be working with us to make "Words Come Alive" on Wednesday afternoons for the remainder of the school year! She will work with us to bring movement to our science and literacy curriculum, enhancing student learning.

In math, we are wrapping up our unit on place value to one thousand that has also focused on money. Students will take the post-assessment for the unit this week. We will then move into a unit on geometry.

Last week, information about the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser was sent home. This fun event will take place after school on Wednesday, April 13th, ending at 4pm. Let us know if you have any questions about the event.

Have a great week!

Monday News for March 21st

Last Thursday, we saw "The Orchestra Sings" performance at the Flynn. We had been practicing songs for the performance for many weeks, so it was exciting to finally play and sing them with a larger audience and full Orchestra. Your children really enjoyed being part of the show, and we were impressed with their focus when learning the recorders in class.  We worked on a whole class opinion writing piece in which we recommended this field trip to other classes. We focused on elaboration of details of our reasons for the recommendation. The recorder is your child's to keep. A book from the Link Up program was also sent home which includes the songs from the performance as well as tips for singing and playing the recorder.  It is our hope that your child will continue to show interest in music and will possibly consider playing an instrument in the future!  Here is the opinion piece the class wrote together:

Our class got to see a performance at the Flynn theater where we got to be part of the show! We would recommend the orchestra sings field trip to your class too. The first reason is the song Oye. We really liked it because the singing was really good, we got to sing and dance too, and they even had a special dancer in a sparkly dress! The second reason was the song Simple Gifts. This song was really great to sing with the full orchestra and we were able to watch the conductor.  The third reason we recommend the show is that big kids play in the Orchestra. We liked this because we got to see many different instruments and the kids all did a great job. Now you know why we think you should see this performance!

This week we begin parent-teacher conferences. We are looking forward to sharing your child's progress with you! If for some reason, you need to reschedule your child's conference, please feel free to go to the sign-up and pick another time that works for you. We still have other times available. We welcome you to bring your child with you. It is great to have your child as a participant. However, we leave this up to your discretion.

Spelling this week will be review of the suffixes ed, ing and s. Since we have a short week with no school on Friday, we are using this time to reinforce previous skills taught so far. We will review trick words as well.

Just a reminder that all second graders should have mastered their addition and subtraction facts by the end of second grade. Second graders are expected to complete twenty addition and subtraction facts in one minute by the end of second grade. On the nights your child does not have math homework, we recommend these facts be practiced. We have suggestions for how this can be done and will suggest ideas at conferences.


Thank you so much for the wonderful donations to our class basket for the PIE raffle! We hope you can make the Family Dance and Basket Raffle on April 1st! It should be a fun family night out.

Have a great week ahead and we look forward to meeting with you soon!

Weekly News for Monday, March 14th

Last Friday, Miss Vermont Outstanding Teen winner, Sophia Parker, came in to talk about her love of animals, and what she does to help them. She is certified in animal rehabilitation and shared her stories and photos of how she started rescuing animals, and where she is today.  The students sat fully engrossed for an hour.  We wouldn't be surprised if your children end up trying to find an animal to help after listening to Sophia's presentation. 

On Thursday, we'll be taking part in the Vermont Symphony Orchestra performance at the Flynn. The children have been busy preparing by singing and playing the recorders in our classroom and in music class. Please make sure your child's recorder is returned to school on Monday, and that you send in the permission slip if you haven't done so already. It should be a great performance, especially since we will be part of the show! 

If you have not signed up for a conference, please do so at this link. If there is not a time available that works for you, please contact us and we'll figure something out.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-parentteacher4

This Friday, March 18th, is the last day to contribute to our kitchen gadget basket for the family dance basket raffle on April 1st. If you would like to contribute an item, please sign up at this link and send the item in by Friday. Thanks to all who have already contributed!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-rainy

This week in reading, we'll continue to focus on character traits. Students have been working to come up with describing words about a character, and then supporting the description with evidence from the text. This work ties to the opinion writing students are doing as well.

In math, we are currently focusing on coin values (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters), solving story problems and playing games with coins. Reinforcing the coin names and values is something great to do at home as well.

Last Monday, students earned extra recess/sledding. We hope you enjoy the pictures! Have a great week!

Weekly News for March 7th

It's hard to believe that March is upon us!  It also looks like we might be getting some springtime weather later in the week.  With the arrival of spring, we often have wet fields and mud.  Therefore, we'd love it if you can continue to send your children with boots and shoes to change into after recess so we can keep a mud free, dry classroom.  Thank you for your help with this!

Important Reminders:  

Field Trip to the Flynn on March 17th - Please make sure you sign and send in your child's permission slip.

Basket Raffle and Family Dance April 1st-  We appreciate any donations to our Kitchen Gadget Basket.  All donations are due by March 18th.  If you would like to make a donation, please click on the following link http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-rainy.  Money raised from this fundraiser go to classroom teachers to support academic programs.  Thank you in advance for your support!  

Parent-Teacher Conferences - Please be sure to sign-up for a conference time.  Please click on the following link:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090844afad2a1-parentteacher4.  If you do not see a date or time that works for you, please contact us and we will try to work something out.  We look forward to sharing your child's progress!

In class we are continuing with our unit on Opinion writing and will be branching out into writing our opinions about the books we are reading.  The children will be writing recommendations about books they have read and backing up their claims with evidence from the text.  Later in the month all second graders will be responding to a writing prompt and will be scored on their writing.  This is a district wide assessment given every year in March to see how students are progressing as writers.

The children continue to work with money and time during Number Corner and are also learning about 3D shapes.  The students are identifying mystery shapes by exploring clues that identify the number of edges, vertices and faces a shape may have.  During our Math lesson, the big focus is on place value and adding and subtracting larger numbers.  I have included the link to the Bridges Support Site for parents.  This web site will help you to support your child at home with their math homework and will give you a better idea of approaches that may be different from the way you were taught math in school.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

Have a wonderful week ahead!  

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

Weekly News for Feb. 1st

It is hard to believe that February is upon us! We have many exciting things going on in our classroom and school this month. For starters, it is food drive month at HCS. Students are excited about collecting food for the food shelf and for the possibility of earning an extra recess for the class that donates the most food. A reminder as well that on February 19th we will take part in the Ski/Snowshoe/Walk-A-Thon in support of the Bissonette Field Project.

                        Students hearing about the February food drive from a middle school student

This Wednesday, kindergarten, first and second grades will use a portion of the day for unstructured play time, taking part in Global School Play Day. We will begin by explaining the expectations for both students and teachers so that it’s a safe, fair and fun time for all. We will put out activities to begin and will occasionally come back together as a class to discuss how things are going, review the expectations and then resume. It is optional for your child to bring in a board or card game for this day, and anything that is sent in should be labeled. To help us plan, please let us know in advance if your child would like to bring in a game and what it is.

For more information visit: http://www.globalschoolplayday.com/

Last Thursday, we began learning some of the songs for recorder, voice and dance to prepare us for our field trip to the Flynn in March in which the audience is part of the show. This is part of the Carnegie Hall Link Up program. Make sure recorders are returned to school each week! We'll be working on the songs in the classroom as well as in music class.

This Friday, barring any freak snowstorms, will be the 100th Day of School! This is a day kids really look forward to. In second grade, we look at what happens when we count by 10s for each of the 100 days (getting up to 1,000). We are looking forward to seeing all the creative 100th Day projects on Friday that will be displayed throughout the primary grade classrooms. If you need any help or have any questions about this project, please let us know.

Last week, we began our measurement unit by using a teacher's foot and a giant's foot to measure things. We then started to measure with inches and feet--standard units of measure. This week, we'll continue to focus on inches and feet and will also learn about yards. During our Number Corner time in February, we'll be working on mastering addition facts up to 20, looking at models of two digit addition, exploring flags and story problems from around the world, and doing activities focused on learning how to tell time.

Students measuring with teacher feet

Students measuring with giant feet