Reading Party and Bunco!

Today we had our Reading Party!  We did many different activities as a part of our party!

I caught everyone reading with their special stuffed animals.  We had some special books to read as well.  It was a fun time.  Then, we had Hot Buttered Toast!  It was super delicious!  Next, we learned about the Subnivean Zone.  We read a book call Over and Under the Snow  by Kate Messner.  It was so fascinating!   The subnivean zone is the area under the snow that stays at about 32 degrees all winter.  Animals hibernate in this area.  We watched a very interesting video about a fox on top of the snow hunting a mouse under the snow.  If you would like to watch it click here.  We ended our morning by going to the Library to check out books.  Ms. Z even let us check out an extra book!

After Phy. Ed. this afternoon we played Bunco!  It was so much fun and everyone was very good at it. Thank you to the parent volunteers and Mr. DePrez for playing with us!  

We are readers!

Enjoying good books!

Read!

Reading is Awesome!

We love to READ!

Enjoying our morning reading!

Read!

Hot Buttered Toast!  Can you smell it?

Yum!  Toast!

Three great books for break!

Ready for Bunco!

Monday Fun!

This afternoon we started one more fun project for December.  We started working on our Snow People.  Today, we made hats, mittens and some people worked on their faces.  We will wrap up this project tomorrow.

After Phy. Ed. today we used the iPads to use the app called Dragon Shapes.  It is an app (free) that introduces the tangram concept and has students slide, flip or turn the shapes to make new designs and shapes.  As you progress through the levels it becomes harder and harder to manipulate the shapes and make them fit.  It was a good challenge.

Robot Cat and Synthesizing

Today we read Robot Cat from our Literacy by Design curriculum.  It is our book that goes with this theme.  We are working on reading fluently with good expression and rate.  We took turns reading with a partner who is not our desk partner. 

After we read we talked about a good summary.  To help us summarize, we used the frame "Somebody, wanted, but, so, then" to help us think through the story.  Each element represents a story element.  For example, the "Somebody"  represents the characters.  We came up with a great summary of the story.  Practice this with your child after they read a book or even a chapter in a book. 

6th Grade Concert

Today we attended the 6th Grade Concert.  This is the first in the concert series produced by Marina Liadova, our music teacher.  We will get to see all the other grade levels perform before we perform our concert in the spring.

The 6th grade did an excellent job singing, dancing and playing instruments.  The 2nd graders were an excellent audience and listened and watched attentively.   This afternoon we wrote about the concert in our Special Times in 2nd grade.  We are really becoming better writers and spellers.

Ask you child what they liked about the concert. 

Small Moment Stories and Socks!

Today we started writing our own Personal Narratives, or Small Moment Stories.  Each student has their own story map to use to get their ideas down for writing their own story.  Everyone worked very hard to get a good start!  Ask your child what story they are writing.

This afternoon we started our Crazy Sock art project.  Next Wednesday, December 23rd is Crazy Sock day!  We are designing our own crazy socks.  Each student worked very hard to create a design and most got started coloring their sock.  

It will be fun to see the finished products from both of these projects!

Books and Pyramids

The past few days have flown by with all of the learning going on in our room!  Here is a quick recap of a few activities:

1.  We are LOVING the Mercy Watson series!  We on currently reading book two and enjoy learning more about Mercy and her parents along with the neighbors and other community members.  Ask your child about their favorite parts.

2.  Personal Narratives

     We have read four books and practice writing personal narratives from the perspective of one of the characters.  Next, we will write our own personal narrative about one of these times: 1) at time I was brave  2) a time I solved a problem  3) a special time with a friend or  4) a special time with my family. 

3.  Geometry!

     We have been learning about 2 and 3 dimensional shapes.  Today we built pyramids with different polygons for the base.  We used simple materials, straws and twist ties, to make our pyramids.  It was a good experience in perseverance and trying our best even when it felt hard. 

4.  We previewed some apps that we will be using on Friday when we participate in the Hour of Code.  Ms. Zbacnik, our librarian, has done a blog post about The Hour of Code on her blog.  Please click here to be connected to her blog.

Chloe

Today we started talking about our Personal Narratives.  The Second grade is going to see The Wizard of Oz in January.  We decided to tie our writing in with the play by writing a narrative that represents one of the characters.  Students will write one narrative that focuses on 1) a special time with family (Dorothy) 2) a time your were kind or experienced kindness (Tin Man)  3) a time you were brave (Lion) or  4) at time you solved a problem (Scarecrow.) 

Today we read  Chole.  This story represents a special time with family.  We wrote a personal narrative from the perspective of Chloe.  Ask your child to tell you what the story was about. 

Geography and Mo Willems

Today we made maps during our Geography lesson.  One map is of the United States and we labeled specific features of the country such as the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains.  The other map we will use to draw pictures that represent an imaginary trip we take across the country.

We also finished our Author Study about Mo Willems.  We discussed how he writes such varied books.  We have enjoyed the silliness of the Pigeon and Elephant and Piggie books.  The book, City Dog and Country Frog was more serious and had a lesson.  We discussed how it also had many different endings/meanings and could easily have a sequel.  Ask your child about the book!