Author Visit!

Today we had Jon Coy come to visit!  He had many interesting things to say. 

He shared with us how his first book, Night Driving, was published.  It took 6 years from start to finish!  That was much longer than any of us thought.  

He gave us some good advice about how to approach writing.  He said don't think writing to too hard and not even try, if you start writing you will write more and more, just get started.  Don't ask your teacher how to spell words and don't fall in love with your eraser.  He also told us that we all have a story to tell.  

This is a rough copy of Night Driving.

He explained that authors have to work on their writing, over and ovER and OVER.  It is a continual process of revising and changing it to get it just right.

He read Two Old Potatoes and Me.  He asked us to participate as he read certain words.

Then, he explained how Vroomaloom Zoom was published.  He showed us an example of sloppy work. 

We were very impressed with him and his books.  When we came back to class, we wrote about our experience in our Special Times in Second Grade.

We had our very own "Crazy Sock" day.  Here are the samples of crazy socks.

Crazy Socks and Tops

Today we took time to design our own crazy socks.  Student thought about making a pattern along with a special design to make their sock look unique.  Once they colored our sock, they got to design a shoe.  Some students coordinated their sock and shoe.  We did this to get ready for our own Crazy Sock Day!  

This afternoon we did another experiment in our Balance and Motion unit.  Ask your child how they used these material to create a stable, fast spinning top.

Science - Zoomers

Today we went and learned about motion with Mrs. Kath.  Ask your child about how they used these tools to experiment with motion.

We also read another new book in our class, Creature Features.  It is a book that asked 25 different animals why they look the way they do.  We learned some cool facts!

We also read a book by Jon Coy. the author who is coming to visit on Friday, January 30th.  Ask your child about the book and what the theme is of the book.

Science - Rolling Cups

Today the students went to learn about rolling cups with Miss Olson.  Ask your child how they used these materials to conduct a science experiment.  What did they learn?

Science Wheels and Axles

Today we switched for science at the end of the day.  We did an experiment with Mrs. Hinderer using wheels and axles.    Ask your child what they learned and how they modified their wheel and axle set to change the direction it rolled.

New Book Week

Starting last week and continuing this week we have been reading new books in our classroom!   It has been so much fun and since we read right after recess, it has helped the kids to get in and ready to learn more quickly.

We finished Leroy Ninker Saddles Up.  It had a surprise ending that no one expected!  Ask your child about it.

Wednesday we read  The Incredible Book Eating Boy.  We enjoyed listening and talking with each other about the book.  Ask your child what is the same about reading books and eating books.  The back cover even has a bite mark!

Yesterday we read Take Away the A.  It was a clever play on words that worked its way through the alphabet.  For example, if you take away the "T" the BOATS are carrying BOAS or without the "P" the PLATE is LATE. 

Today we read  The OK Book.  The theme of the book is a good reminder for kids and adults. 

Next week we will read more new books including Once Upon an Alphabet.  This book is long so we will take a few days reading it.

Concert and Caldecott

Today we went to the Fifth Grade Concert.  We were very excited to see our buddies sing and dance.  They did a very good job!  One dance they made up themselves!  Amazing!

We also went to Library today.  Ms. Z was gone, but we had Mrs. Rolnitzky for a sub.  She was a Second grade teacher and she taught in our very room, 109!  She is amazing!

She talked with us about the Caldecott Medal.  We learned about the medal it self, who it is named after, why the award is given and looked a some of the books that have received the award.

This year, the award will be given on February 2.  She shared with us some of the books that have Caldecott buzz this year.  She read Sam and Dave Dig a Hole.  Ask your child what they thought it was about.  

Books with Caledcott Buzz.

More contenders for the award!

Moose

Today, Krista from the Wargo Nature Center in Anoka County came and did a presentation to us about the moose.  It was fantastic!


 Top Ten Things You Need to Know About the Moose:

10.  At their shoulder, they are 6 feet tall.  With their head up, they are even taller!

9.  They eat plants and are herbivores.

8.  Males use their large antlers to fight for females.

7.  In the winter, the moose grow an extra, fuzzy layer of fur to keep them warm.

6.  The moose lives in parts of North America, Asia and Europe.  They are common in Scandinavia.

5.  They weight about 1,000 pounds!

4.  In the winter, the moose eat twigs and bark.

3.  Moose have very long legs, even as a baby.

2.  When the calf is born, it weighs 30 pounds.  It will stay with its mother for about one year.

1.  They have a velvety covering over their antlers that carries blood and delivers nutrients to help the antlers grow.  They grow a new pair of antlers every year!

This represents the size of a moose - very tall!

Moose!

A sample moose skull.

Moose up close!

Examining moose parts.

New Book Week in 2A

This week we will be reading new books to our classroom.  We are working on writing a good solid paragraph.  We will read various books, takes notes as we listen then write a paragraph telling about our favorite one.  Our paragraph will have 5 quality sentences, including a topic sentence, 3 detail sentences and a closing sentence.

Which will be your favorite?

Friday Fun Day!

Today was a really great day in 2nd Grade!  We had so much learning and fun going on it was hard to capture it all!

Today was and Brimhall Spelling bee for kids in grades 3-6.  They invited the whole school to participate by wearing black and yellow.

Black and Yellow!

We also had a new student join our class.  It is wonderful to see students being so kind to the new students and welcoming them in to our classroom.  There is no shortage of helpers.  Everyone wants to do their part to be sure the first days go well for the new students.

Reading together.

We read more of our new favorite book by Kate DiCamillo.  This is the first book in this series about Leroy Ninker and character from the Mercy Watson series.  Ask your child about this book and what they like best.

Yippeeee-I-Ohhhh!

We ended the day with an experiment using these tools to create twirlers.  We talked about the scientific process and applied it to this experiment.  We even wrote our results in our Balance and Motion lab books.

Which on will fly better?

New Book Week

Today in Library we got to preview some of the new books that have been purchased for our library!  There were so many books to look at.  Ms. Zbacnik had them out on tables and we rotated to all the tables in about 20 minutes.  We did not get to read them but just preview or look at quickly.  We noticed some of them had beautiful illustrations.

It was so fun to look at the new books and think about which ones we would like to checkout.  They will be available next week for us to checkout. 

Bengal Pride With Buddies

In these first few weeks of January, the PBIS team has asked us to review Bengal Pride expectations at Brimhall.  We need to do four activities and report to the team. 

Today we met with our buddies to watch a video, discuss and create a TOP TEN list of ways to show Bengal Pride in different areas of the school. 

It was lots of fun and the students came up with very good ideas.  At the end, Mrs. B taught us a cheer and a song.  Thanks so much Buddies!