Mark your Calendars! End of the Year Dates and Reminders

Hello, Owl Families!

Can you believe our fabulous year is approaching its end? As I ALWAYS tell our class---time sure flies when you're having fun! The end of the year is filled with many exciting "happenings". Here is a list of upcoming events and pertinent information to help keep our last weeks organized.

Tues. May 1st- Personal Safety Show: SMS Guidance Counselors welcome members from Haven to present a puppet show regarding personal body safety to each second grade classroom.

Wed. May 9th- Wellness Walk: We will have an all-school wellness walk up Gifford Farm Road at 1:30 pm. While we'll be walking with our 5th grade reading buddies, you're welcome to join us as well! Just meet us at the front of the school in the bus loop around 1:25.

Fri. May 11th- Bike to School Day: Students can walk, bike, scooter, skateboard, or roller blade to school! Want to avoid riding on a busy road? Families are welcome to park at Stratham Hill Park and ride the trails from there! Please be sure to return the permission slip if your child is planning on participating (it makes dismissal time much easier!)

Fri. May 11th- PTO Parent's Night Out/Spring Social: This Vegas Night themed event is one to be remembered! Held at the Portsmouth Harbor Events & Conference Center, join fellow SMS parents for an evening of food, dance music, and casino games!  Tickets can be purchased here.

Thurs. May 17th- MakerFest and Art Show: Everyone is welcome to join us for our annual MakerFest and Art Show in the Cafeteria from 3:30-6:30 pm. Projects can be brought in that morning by students or can be dropped off by parents after 1:30 pm. The MakerFest and Art Show will run through Friday morning.

Fri. May 18th- Sidewalk "Shel-ebration": Weather permitting, we are going to have a Shel Silverstein Sidewalk Shel-ebration on Friday, May 18th. Your child will “publish” their poetry “where the sidewalk ends” with sidewalk chalk! Join us at 2:15 pm in the school garden as the Owl Class performs Shel Silverstein poems and shares their own original poetry.

Wed. May 23rd- Early Release Day: students will be dismissed at 12:50 pm. 

Fri. June 1st- PTO 1-2-3 Fun Run: Teachers, parents, and students are welcome to run or walk 1,2, or 3 miles around SMS and Stratham Hill Park at 5:00 pm. Following the run, there will be a BBQ, Dunk Tank, Snow Cones, and a Dance Party! 

Monday, June 4th- Grand Luncheon: Grandparents and friends of SMS students are invited to join us for our annual Grand Luncheon. The lunch schedule is TBD.

Tuesday, June 5th- Field Trip to Great Bay Discovery Center: We will be going on our annual field trip to Great Bay Discovery Center. We will arrive at Great Bay at 9:00 am to spend the morning there. There are no limit on chaperons for this trip, so if you're interested, you're welcome to join us! We ask chaperons to meet us at the Discovery Center on Depot Rd. This field trip happens rain or shine, so please dress appropriately (including sunscreen and bug spray). Good walking shoes are a must! 

Wed. June 6th and Thurs. June 7th- "Can't Stop The Seedling" 2nd Grade Musical: Students will put on the dress rehearsal of our play during the school day on June 6th and will perform our play for families on June 7th starting at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria. Students should be dropped off in our classroom at 6:15 pm. More information will be coming home about the play over the next few days.

Friday, June 8th- Field Day: It's everyone's favorite day of the year! Students need to wear sneakers and may want to bring a change of clothes. The water games can leave them awfully wet!

Thurs., June 14th- End of Year Picnic at Stratham Hill Park: All second grade classrooms will be hiking through the trails from SMS to Stratham Hill Park for an end-of-the-year picnic and day of fun! We will arrive at the park around 10:00am and we will be leaving at 1:30pm. Our picnic and end-of-year "celebration" will be held from 12:00-1:00pm.  Families and Friends are welcome to join us for any and all parts of the day!

Mon., June 18th- Last Day of School: It is bittersweet to send these wonderful children off to third grade. I'm incredibly sad to see them go, but know they are more than ready. Each child has made remarkable growth, not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. I'm so proud of the little people they are growing up and becoming! We will enjoy this last and final day together as a class.

Please let me know if you have ANY questions. More information will be provided for each event as we get closer. 

Thanks!

The Owls Celebrate Earth Day!

Last week, our Owl Class celebrated Earth Day with a fun-filled week learning about ways to protect our beautiful, wonderful Earth. We began our week by reading an Earth Day favorite: The Lorax! While many were familiar with the 2012 movie, I was shocked to learn that many had never heard the original Dr. Seuss tale!

The story's last line...

gave us a lot to think about for the week!

After hearing the story, students had a great time thinking about how they would help the Earth if they were the Lorax (although they quickly realized they needn't BE the Lorax in order to help our Earth :) ). They had an even greater time creating their very own Lorax mustaches!

Favorite Earth Day activities took place on Friday, when all of SMS celebrated in style with the help of our fabulous PTO and Garden Committee!

Our first activity had us witnessing the effects of an oil spill---and then trying to clean it up!

Using feathers to show what happens to birds when they encounter an oil spill.

The Owls quickly realized that it was nearly impossible to clean up the mess. They all agreed it'd be MUCH better if a spill never happened in the first place!

The BEST part of our day came next when we were presented with a Raptor Show (or as our class quickly renamed it the "Owl Show"! We were SO lucky to meet and learn about the amazing birds of Jane Kelly's On the Wing!

First up, we met a BLACK VULTURE. If you see a raptor flying, look for the V shaped wings to know that it's a vulture (as opposed to a straight lined wing shape indicating an eagle!). Vultures are scavengers and are responsible for eating dead things.

The vulture was neat, but the real WOW factor came when we got up close and personal with our very own classroom mascot! 

Jane introduced us to a grey morph phase WESTERN SCREECH OWL. Scout was unfortunately hit by car (as are many birds rescued by On the Wing). One way to help save these beautiful birds from this untimely fate is to not throw apple cores (or anything of course!) out of the car window. Food scraps bring rodents close to the road, which in turn brings owls and other birds of prey to the road.

Scout has great camouflage!

Next up was the SAW-WHET OWL . These owls are the smallest owl species on this side of the Mississippi river (the little guy we met is an adult!). These owls do not "hoot", but rather make the noise of a saw being wet.

The next beauty was the BARN OWL. Famous for their "Who cooks for you" call, this owl has the broadest range of vocalizations. Amazing hunters, they can hear the heartbeat of an animal who is three feet under snow!

The last raptor we met was a EURASIAN EAGLE OWL named Leela. Related to the great horned owl, this massive bird can eat prey as large as mule deer! Around here, they regularly feast on skunks.

Check out that wingspan!

While it was hard to top that amazing presentation, the Owls still had a blast with their next activity. Conducted by an SMS legend, Mrs. Gaudet worked with our class to REUSE and RECYCLE! Using old magazine strips, students created beautiful paper bead necklaces. 

Later in the day, we took the time to closely examine the plants we have been growing and analyzed our experiments.

Earlier in the week, we had planted radish seeds to learn about root growth. 

As one of the fastest sprouting seeds, within days those powerful roots started heading down in search of water and soil!

We were quite amazed by the power of plants as the plants we planted with "no air", in turn acted as a greenhouse and started growing quite well!

The most shocking discovery, however, was our plants that have received no sun! They looked quite different from the plants receiving sun (something we'll explore in more detail when we return), but grew nevertheless!

 I think I can speak for everyone when I say how much fun we had celebrating Earth Day. Our students are motivated and energized to do their part as they reduce, reuse, and recycle!

Jump, Jump, Jump! SMS Jump Ropes for Heart!

Last Friday, all of SMS headed outside to participate in the annual Jump Rope for Heart! With music blasting, students broke into relay teams (as practiced in PE) and jumped their hearts out! Take a look at our awesome relay teams!!

Our star jumpers sure have skills!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Owls were shocked to discover their teacher still had some jump roping skills :-P

When it wasn't their turn to jump, they had a lot of fun cheering on their teammates, hula hooping, and showing off some dance moves :)

 

 

After about a half an hour of relay jumping, it was time to break out the long ropes and show off some teamwork! 

 

While the fun was coming to an end, the Owls had a few last minutes to enjoy this great event! Time was spent playing jump rope games, showing off some tricks, or learning something new!

One-legged jump roping!

 

Two-Person Jump Roping!

Everyone had a BLAST while also supporting the American Heart Association. We haven't gotten the final figures yet, but Ms. Batchelder said SMS raised a TON of money! Way to go SMS! Thanks to all the families that donated. Your donations support important research for heart disease as well as educational incentives to teach others about keeping a healthy heart!