Sunday, November 30, 2014

So much to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving, Owl Families!!!
This time of year is always such a nice time to slow down and reflect on all that we have in our lives to be thankful for. These second graders quickly realized just how much they truly were thankful for!

Wonderful job to all on our family homework assignment. I can proudly say that all turkeys have been saved! I can't seem to find a single turkey in the bunch....job well done!
    
Since the start of the school year, I have realized just how lucky and thankful I am to be a member of the SMS community. Thank you all for sharing your amazing children with me each day and for your support and collaboration during this second grade year! I couldn't do it without you!! As if all this wasn't enough, I was surprised with the most thoughtful "thankful" bouquet on Wednesday! Thank YOU all for this wonderful gift (and an extra special thanks to Lisa Anderson for putting it all together!). It is something I will cherish forever! Thank you, thank you, thank you!


************************************************************************
Coming Up:
-SMS Book Fair Preview Date: Tuesday, Dec. 2nd
-SMS Book Fair Shopping Date: Wednesday, Dec. 3rd
-PTO Pancake Breakfast: Saturday, Dec. 6th, 8:00am-10:00am


*December Related ArtsSchedule:

Sun
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
30
1
PE
2
STEM
3
Library
4
Music
5
PE
6
7
8
Art
9
PE
10
STEM
11
Library
12
Music
13
14
15
PE
16
Art
17
PE
18
STEM
19
Library
20
21
22
Music
23
PE
24
NO SCHOOL
25
NO SCHOOL
26
NO SCHOOL
27
28
29
NO SCHOOL

30
NO SCHOOL

31
NO SCHOOL

1
NO SCHOOL

2
NO SCHOOL

3

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Owl Pellet Dissection!

On Friday, our scientists put their skills to the test by dissecting owl pellets (a HUGE hit among our owl class!)!
Each student received their very own owl pellet to dissect. They quickly got to work digging out the bones!
 The room sure was buzzing as each scientist discovered more and more bones in their owl pellets! Collaboration was at its finest :)
=

After they finished their dissection, the real work began! They were challenged to identify the type of animal the owl had eaten based on the bones they uncovered. It was hard work, but these scientists drew some excellent conclusions!

Check out this AMAZING website, Kidwings-Virtual Pellet, to learn all about owl pellets and to complete a virtual dissection experience with your child!

We love science!!
                                       


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Nov. 16th News

*****************************************************************************************************
Ms. Arnold’s Classroom News (11/16/14)
*****************************************************************************************************
What We've Been Up To:
It may have been short, but our week sure was productive!

*Publishing Party: On Friday we had a BLAST celebrating our Kevin Henkes-inspired stories! Students demonstrated their ability to learn from illustrator mentors in their animal diaries, and this time around they demonstrated their ability to write like our mentor author! Bravo, writers! Their amazing stories were sent home on Friday. I hope you enjoy reading them!
   
Check out a sample story, courtesy of Destiny!
 
 
The end of this fabulous writing unit lends itself nicely into our next unit: realistic fiction. Afterall, Kevin Henkes' stories are all realistic fiction (well, except for the whole mouse thing!). Students began exploring this genre this past week and will begin developing complex characters this upcoming week.
*Science: This week, the owl class was empowered to see themselves as scientists. 
 
  
After lots of discussion as to what is science, what is a scientist, and what do scientists do, they were ready to begin the work of scientists! On Thursday, Mr. Goldsmith came to observe them (and me!) in action. We looked closely at how scientists always begin with a question: something they want to understand or prove. First, we brainstormed a lot of questions. They quickly learned that some questions can be considered "research questions"--questions we could look up in a book, on the internet, or interview someone to find an answer; whereas other questions could be experimental. Next, they took the time to explore the question: What makes a ball bounce well? Working in table teams, each student received a different ball, and they went to town trying to answer that question! What they learned: they had a lot more questions! 
We will continue this great science work for the next several weeks---and then apply these skills for life!
*Report Card Envelopes: Report cards were sent home on Friday. Please return the envelopes, with your signature, on Monday, Nov. 17th. You should have received a copy of your child's progress notes when we met for parent conferences. If you need another copy of this document, or have any questions, please just let me know!
*Recess: Students go outside for recess everyday unless it is raining or dangerously cold. Please be sure your child has appropriate clothing to stay warm. As always, please make sure all clothing has your child’s name in it so we can help keep things from getting lost.

Have a great week!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Nov. 9th News

*****************************************************************************************************
Ms. Arnold’s Classroom News (11/9/14)
*****************************************************************************************************
What We've Been Up To:
Happy November!

*Bat Day: On Wednesday we culminated our animal science unit with a day devoted to BATS! Our bat experts were sent off to complete various bat activities in each of the second grade classrooms. For their first mission, they went next door to Mrs. Atherton's room to use unifex cubes to measure and compare macrobats and microbats. Following this math activity, 2AA headed to Mrs. Caporello's room to learn more facts about bats while completing a bat puzzle. After a quick snack break, they headed to the Dragon classroom with Mrs. Leonardto play a game comparing macro and micro bats. Next, they traveled to Ms. Riley's room to complete a beautiful art project of bats in the night. Students chose to illustrate their bats either at dawn, dusk, or in the black of night (all times when bats are active!) and were taught a crayon-resist art technique. Check out their beautiful art!

 Finally, it was time to head back to our classroom. In our class, we explored the way in which bats navigate: using echolocation! Working in teams of three, each student took the role of the bat, the insect, and the spotter. With their eyes closed, and under careful watch of the spotter, the bat began making their echo call and waited to hear their prey echo back. Then the hunt was on!
 We ended our activity with a fun song courtesy of "Batney Ears"!
                   
 With bat day complete, our next unit will launch us into science inquiry as we explore "What Scientists Do!
*Parent Conferences: A big thank you to all those who made it out to parent conferences over the past two weeks. The home-school connection is such a vital piece of a child’s education. I am committed to keeping you involved as we work together for the remainder of the school year. 
*Book Orders: November Scholastic Book Orders were sent home last week and are due Wednesday, Nov. 12th. If you’re interested in buying any books as holiday gifts, you can order online and send me an email letting me know to keep the books until we can work out a time for you to pick them up—just let me know! You can also send a paper order and check in an envelope if you prefer ordering that way. I will send home one more book order before the holiday (Scholastic is pretty good about getting books delivered quickly!).  
*Math: As we make our way through Unit 3, we continue to practice our addition and subtraction facts. We have been working hard on the relationship between addition and subtraction and building fact families (when you know one math fact, you really know four!). We have learned some fun games, such as Addition Top-It, Subtraction Top-It, and the class favorite: Salute!
Fun times playing Salute! 
 To continue the math learning at home, these IXL skills mirror the lessons being taught in class:
      -E.13: Complete the addition sentence: 1 digit
      -F.1: Review - subtract one-digit numbers - up to 10
      -L.1: Add and subtract numbers up to 20
      -K.3: Fact Families
*Literacy: In writer's workshop, our class has been working extremely hard to finish up their Keven Henkes-inspired stories as we complete our "Authors as Mentors" unit. First, their written pieces were sent off to the publisher to be typed, then they carefully added their illustrations, and finally they water-colored their covers (just like our mentor author!). We will celebrate these amazing pieces next week and jump right into our realistic fiction unit. During reader's workshop, we were lucky enough to have Mrs. Fitzgerald (SMS Reading Specialist) join as we begin looking carefully at how we can talk about books. She got us started by setting norms for "Accountable Talk". More to come on this next week!
*****************************************************************************************************
Coming Up:
- No School (Teacher In-Service Day): Monday, Nov. 10th

- No School (Veteran's Day): Tuesday, Nov. 11th
-Scholastic Book Orders Due: Wednesday, Nov. 12th
-PTO Spaghetti Dinner and BINGO: Friday, Nov. 14th, 6:00pm

November Related Arts Schedule:



Sun
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
2
3
Music
4
PE
5
Art
6
PE
7
Early Release
8
9
10
NO SCHOOL
11
NO SCHOOL
12
Library
13
Music
14
PE
15
16
17
Art
18
PE
19
STEM
20
Library
21
Music
22
23
24
PE
25
Art
26
NO SCHOOL
27
NO SCHOOL
28
NO SCHOOL
29

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Holey Pumpkin Day!

On Thursday, we celebrated Halloween with a very special "Holey Pumpkin Day!"
Adjective Pumpkins decorated our classroom!
Thank you all for sending in small pumpkins to make this day possible. The kids had a BLAST!! In the morning, we were joined by our 5H reading buddies. They were a huge help in completing our pumpkin investigation. Students had to draw and describe their pumpkins, estimate and count the number of seeds, compare the weight with seeds to the weight without seeds, and measure the height and circumference of their pumpkin. It was a lot of work, but everyone arrived at some great results!
After lunch, it was time to put the "holey" into Holey Pumpkin Day! After designing their holey pattern, it was off to the drills. A HUGE thank you to Mr. O'Kane, Mr. Forrest, and Mr. Vivenzio for their drilling techniques! We couldn't have done it without you!
Once all were drilled, it was time to celebrate! A big thank you goes out to our fabulous room mom, Lisa Anderson, for organizing our celebration. Another big thank you goes out to all the volunteers who sent in materials (from carving tools and spoons, to glow sticks for their pumpkins, to delicious snacks to eat--and of course for the festive paper goods to enjoy them on!), and to the many adults who were able to join us in our celebration. It was only through your help that any of this was possible. THANK YOU!

 
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!