2H Class Blog!: January 2019

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Jan. 27th News

Welcome to Ms. Atlee! This fabulous SST intern (whose sister was a former Owl student!) will be joining us each afternoon for the next few weks to get a little taste of what it's like being in a classroom! We SO look forward to working with her!

Highlights from our week:

*Biographies: Thank you to all who helped their children pick a biography choice and returned the planning paper to school. Our class was pleased to learn that EVERY student received one of their top three choices of a person! At the wax museum on Feb. 15th, the following historical heroes will be represented:

Alex	Albert Einstein
Alexa	Sally Ride
Alexandra	Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Caden	Barack Obama
Evelyn	Thomas Edison
Graham	Michael Jordan
Hugh	Alexander Fleming
Kayden	George Washington
Kayla	Helen Keller
Landon	Abraham Lincoln
Luke	Dwight Eisenhower
Madelyn	Ruby Bridges
Margaret	Marie Curie
Mia	Rosa Parks
Sam	Jackie Robinson
Sophie	Amelia Earhart
Timmy	Babe Ruth
Will	John Lennon

Much more information will be sent home over the next several weeks and much of the project will be completed in class. In the meantime, students can begin gathering materials for their costume. For example, Barack Obama could wear a suit and Jackie Robinson could wear a baseball jersey or shirt. Hopefully you can borrow an outfit, raid a dress up box, or piece it together from things you have at home. Let me know if you have any questions!
An exciting part of our week was beginning to research! Tapping into resources such as Epic, PebbleGo, and Brainpop, we began collecting important information about our own historical heroes.

Next week we will continue to delve deeper into our research and begin tracing our life-size posters!

*Writer's Workshop: With nearly all of our fiction books complete, we spent the week exploring the power of editing and revisiton. Hearing the story of Austin's Butterfly, our class saw how a first grade student created a drawing of a butterfly. After receviving some specific feedback from his peers, Austin created a second draft. This process went on and on, bringing Austing through SIX drafts before his final product. The Owls were amazed by his progress and improvement! Working with a partner, they worked on moving their good books into GREAT books!

We'll enjoy sharing these fabulous stories next week!

5th Grade Buddies: Moved by the kindness and compassion we learned about Dr. King showing, we worked hard with our reading buddies to create Valentine cards to those in need. We decided it would be a nice gesture to send these beautiful cards to some active military members overseas. It feels so good to be kind!

Have a great week!

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Questions to promote "School Talk":

-Which person will you be representing at our wax museum? What is something you have learned about them so far?

-How did our read aloud, Matilda, end?

-Who is Ms. Atlee? How has she helped in our class so far?

-What did you do outside in PE with Ms. Batchelder?

-What is the story of Austin's butterfly?

-What feedback did your partner give you on your writer's workshop story?

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Important Dates:

-Thursday, Feb. 14th: Early Release (12:50 dismissal)

-Thursday, Feb. 14th: Valentine's Day Celebration (kids only) (more information to come)

-Friday, Feb. 15th:, 9:00-9:45AM: 2nd Grade Wax Museum

Monday, January 21, 2019

Jan. 21st News

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Highlights from our week:

*Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: In order to prepare for the long, holiday weekend, our class spent the week discussing the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I was so impressed by the level of thoughtfulness your second graders displayed as they learned about Dr. King. As you can imagine, it was hard for them to believe that times in our country could be so different than they are now!

Watching Dr. King's famous speech was a MAJOR highlight from our study!

After reading many beautiful picture book biographies, we focused on what Martin thought, how he felt, and what actions he took. Check out these amazing tributes they made!

*Science: We continued discussing and exploring the three states of matter this week. To begin, we explored the science term property. After deciding upon a working definition, we played a fun game called "What's my property?" Working with a collection of items, one person thinks of a property (blue, magnetic, circle, etc.) and pulls out all objects that have that property. Other players have the task of trying to figure out what the mystery property is! Try playing at home---you'll be super impressed with all of the different properties they can come up with!

Later in the week, we conducted a Mystery Science experiment which had us exploring different properties of materials. Students had to consider the properties of various materials (paper towel, paper bag, paper plate, and aluminum foil) and then design a hat that would keep the sun off their head. We had a TON of fun testing, designing, and creating!!

*Reader's Workshop: This past week, second graders have been immersed in biographeis! All of their hard work is in preparation for their upcoming wax museum, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 15th. A HUGE part of this project is learning about tons and tons of people who have changed our world! Students have been read to, read independently, and have partner read numerous tales such as:

Thank you for helping your child select a historical hero and returning the sign up paper to school. This should be a person who has contributed to our world in some way. Your child will be notified of their biography assignment during the upcoming week!

I hope you all had a great, long weekend! Have a wonderful, short week!