Week of March 16th & 23rd

     I apologize for not posting last week. I am taking a Science class on the new NGSS standards so I had to leave directly after-school last Thursday and then I went to Texas for a long weekend so I did not get a chance to post.
      Last week we did a mini unit on Solids and Liquids to go along with what they have been doing in Mrs. KillKelley's science group. We talked about what happens to a popsicle when you leave it alone for awhile. The class discovered that it melted and we talked about what made it melt. On Thursday we looked at the ingredients for making ice cream and talked about which were solids and which were liquids and what each of those meant. We then made ice cream and got to eat it. Some students even turned our solid ice cream back into a liquid by stirring it over and over with a spoon and generating some heat.
      Last week we also did a Science Inquiry task where we investigated some rocks and sorted them into groups. We then labeled the groups based on their attributes. Finally they wrote a letter to ECHO about how they sorted their rocks and what the exhibit should be called. This week it was wonderful to meet with all of you and discuss your wonderful children. I am so excited to have them again for 2nd grade!
      They have begun a new unit on Recycling with Miss Colleen. She will continue this unit over the next 2 weeks while she is soloing.
      We worked hard this week finishing up our informational chapter books. The students were so excited to be able to share these today. Thank-you to those parents who were able to come to school today and listen to the children share their books. They did a really nice job on these. Those students whose parent(s) were unable to attend, I sent home their books in their Friday folders so they could share it with you. I have asked them to bring them back to school on Monday.
      Over the next two weeks, I will be at school but not in the classroom. Miss Colleen will be teaching the class. If you need to reach me, just send me an e-mail and I will get in touch with you.

 Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy

Week of March 9th

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox

On Tuesday we had Hands on Nature.  The focus for this month was:  White-tailed deer are big animals and require a lot of food to survive, so they can have a profound effect on the forests in which they live, and on the many other inhabitants as well. As plant-eaters, seed-planters and sometimes food for large predators, deer are connected in countless ways to the other living things in their woodland homes.  We saw a puppet show which taught us about some ways that deer and other inhabitants of the forest depend on each other.  We weighted some twigs to get an idea of how much a deer has to eat each day to survive the winter.  We got to see a real skull and lower jaw of a deer.  We saw what twigs look like after a deer eats from them.  We saw real antlers, a pelt from a deer and a thin leg and pointy hoof.  We ended the session with a slide show to learn how deer visit different parts of their home ranges as their needs change over the year.  The favorite slide was the one where it is difficult for the deer to be seen among the woods.  I'd like to thank Janet and Marcella for coming in and helping us to learn about deer!

In writing we learned about writing better introductions and conclusions.  We also learned how to fix our writing by being readers.  Our plan is to share our final products with our families in a little over a week.  Invitations went home today.

In math we continue to learn about addition and subtraction strategies while solving problems about penguins.

In science we wrapped up our second rotation of engineering units.  Next week we will be doing an inquiry based task for science and on March 24th we will start our final rotation for our engineering groups.

This is a note from Diana Burritt:

The April 7th Mixed Grade Level Concert with Mrs. Burritt will be postponed to a later date. Thank you.


Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy

Week of March 2nd

On Wednesday we had our Read Across America Day.  We attended an assembly with all of the pre-K to 5th grade classes.  At the assembly we said the Reader's Oath as a big group.  We listened to all of the teachers reading "Oh the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss with the pages projected on a big screen.  We watched a great video called, "Read All Day".  The assembly was a lot of fun!!  Throughout the day we had 3 Guest Readers visit our class.  Mrs. Spagnolo, Shannon Baird and Mrs. Hertz were our Guest Readers.  The class enjoyed listening to the stories they read.  Check out the photos below.

On Thursday, we had a visit from Skyler's Mom.  She came in to talk about Hungary.  This is where her grandparent's are originally from.  She prepared a wonderful chicken dish that we got to taste with bread.  It was a big hit!!!  Stay tuned for the recipe which I will post when she sends it to me.  There were a lot of requests for the recipe:)

In Reader's workshop we focused on retelling stories.  Our mini-lessons were practicing retelling stories as a whole group and retelling in partnerships.  Retelling focuses on what happened in the story and the order it happened.  Next week we are going to begin thinking beyond the text and what we can infer from what has been read in the story.

Have a great week,
Nancy