May 13th News

Wishing all you wonderful mothers a very special day! Thank you for sharing your fabulous children with me each and everyday. You've done a great job! I hope you enjoy the special presents they created for you!

Highlights from our week:

*Wellness Walk: What beautiful weather we had for our Wellness Walk this week! In honor of Physical Fitness and Sports Month, the Wellness Committee planned this wonderful event to help promote walking as a fitness activity. It was a great afternoon to get our bodies moving! We enjoyed walking with our buddies as well as several parents, grandparents, and siblings! Thanks to all who were able to join us :)

 *Science: We had a TON of fun designing and building our hand pollinators this week! I'm (as always!) continually impressed by their ability to plan, build, test, and improve their designs. We definitely have many future engineers in our classroom! Ask you child about the pollinator they designed.

As we celebrated the end of our Plant Unit, it was time to do a final check on our seed experiments.

The results were certainly interesting and surprising to say the least!

*Dyson Foundation: Ideas Box! Our highlight of the week, without question, has been the arrival of our "Ideas Box". The James Dyson Foundation partners with educators throughout the world to help bring engineering into the classroom. "By the time today's students graduate from college, the U.S. will need 1.65 million engineers!" The "Ideas Box" challenges students to find inspiration in everyday objects and develop ideas.

To begin, they were challenged to match famous (but lesser known) design engineers with their inventions and the time period of when it was invented. This took a lot of great thinking and conversation (no, windshield wipers couldn't have just been invented in 2009!)

 After this preliminary work, it was time to discover just what was in the Ideas Box. We were told it was one of James Dyson's inventions and we were sent a video clip showing the invention being used in an unusual way...

...which led to a great science talk filled with discovery!

 Jame Dyson and his team improved the everyday fan by creating this blade-less air multiplier! He evaluated typical fans and didn't like how the blades made them dangerous and how they also collected a lot of dust. His new invention is very safe and easy to clean! With that information in mind, next week our design engineers will travel around the room evaluating current products and weighing the good and the bad for each.

*Math: The final unit in our second grade math curriculum has us exploring geometry and introducing fractions! These concepts are all very hands on which has been quite engaging. We had fun this week exploring 2D shapes and paying careful attention to their attributes.

For additional practice at home check out these sites:
Kangaroo Hop - Recognizing Shapes

Shape Jeopardy

IXL (T.3 Count Sides & Vertices; T.4 Compare Sides & Vertices)

*Teacher Appreciation Week: A huge THANK YOU for the amazing luncheon on Tuesday. The food was INCREDIBLE and it was so nice to enjoy it with friends we don't see as often as we like. Mrs. Nash and I had a great time, felt VERY appreciated, and LOVED reading all of the beautiful notes and pictures from the students! Thank YOU for all you do! It is truly a gift to be a part of the SMS community :)

Have a great week!

********************************************************************************

Questions to promote "School Talk":

-What invention did the James Dyson Foundation send us?

-After exploring the playground as design engineers, what could be improved?

-What materials did you use to build your hand pollinator? Was it successful?

-What is your favorite song from our musical? Can you sing some of it?

-How many sides does a quadrilateral have? How many angles? How many vertices?

-What is something you have uploaded to Seesaw? (We've had a busy week uploading, so please check out their amazing accounts!)

-What did you play in PE?

*********************************************************************************

Coming Up (Lots, and lots and lots of things!):

-SMS Maker Fest & Spring Art Show: Thursday, May 17th, 5:30 pm (*This is a change from the previous "Important Dates" email)

-Sidewalk "Shel-ebration!": Friday, May 18th, 2:15pm

-Early Release: Wednesday, May 23rd

-Memorial Day, No School: Monday, May 28th

-PTO 1-2-3 Fun Run: Friday, June 1, 5:30pm

-Grand Luncheon: Monday, June 4th

-Great Bay Field Trip: Tuesday, June 5th.

-Musical Dress Rehearsal: Wednesday, June 6th (school performance)

-Plant Musical: Thursday, June 7th, 6:30pm

-Field Day: Friday, June 8th

-Stratham Hill Park End of Year Grade 2 Picnic: Thursday, June 14th
-Last Day of School: Monday, June 18th

May 5th News

Welcome back!! Coming off the vacation week, the Owls settled right back into their 2H routine! With only 35 days left (now 30!), we got right to work!

As hopefully you have heard, our Donor's Choose project was fully-funded and we've received our wonderful new technology materials!! We enjoyed using our new supplies this week and made sure to take the time to thank our VERY generous donors who made this all possible! (Thanks to another very generous donation from the McClellan family, and many other inquiries about donations, we will begin planning another project next week!  We can't wait! Stay tuned!)

Students creating their own math videos using our brand new iPad staging stand!

 Our new iPad cases are bright, durable, and easy for kids to independently store and charge!

Highlights from our week:

*Garden: This week's beautiful sunshine gave us a great reason to take our learning outside! After selecting cool weather crops, we mapped out available garden bed space and then got busy planting away! Ask your child about the seed they selected!

While outside, we took the time to stop & smell the [tulips] (AND collect dandelions AND find four-leaf clovers!)

*Science: As our in-class plants continue to grow (or not grow depending on their variable!), we spent the week looking more closely at pollination. Our young scientists also began partaking in their latest engineering challenge. Using a unit called The Best of Bugs: Designing Hand Pollinators, the Owls heard about the story Mariana Becomes a Butterfly. In this story, the main character has a plant that is not being pollinated. In attempt to solve this problem, the character then designs a hand pollinator so she can pollinate the plant, thus helping the plant reproduce. Working in partnerships, our second graders experimented with different materials to find out which ones picked up the most "pollen" AND dropped off the most "pollen". Using their results, this upcoming week, they will be challenged to design their own hand pollinators. Good luck, Engineers!

*Writing: Our poets continue exploring the genre of poetry. This week, we published our first poem to help turn our Owl tree in to a "Poet-tree" !!

Later in the week we experimented with haiku. After drafting a few more poems, the Owls will then pick which poem they'd like to publish in our classroom anthology. It's an exciting decision to make!

 

In addition, we have been working on our fluency by reading poetry (and to inspire our writing!) We've focused a lot of our energy on a class favorite poet: Shel Silverstein! Last week, your Owl took home information regarding our "Shel-ebration!". Each student selected a poem they are working hard to memorize. We will be practicing a lot in class as well, but please remind them to practice each night at home. Thank you for your help! Our celebration will be held on Friday, May 18th, at 2:15. We'd love to have you join us if you're available!

*Scholastic Book Order: May book orders were sent home last week. As always, Scholastic's full catalog is available online. Orders are due Monday, May 7th.

Have a wonderful weekend!

********************************************************************************

Questions to promote "School Talk":

-What seed did you plant in the garden? Who else planted seeds in your "seed square"?

-Explain Mariana's problem in the science story Mariana Becomes a Butterfly.

-Which materials worked well for picking up pollen AND dropping off pollen? Were you surprised by any of your results? What material will you select next week when you design your own hand pollinator?

-What's happening in our new read aloud, Appleblossom the Possum?

-What is a haiku?

-Which Shel Silverstein poem did you select for the Shel-ebration? How is practicing going?

-What did you start working on in music this week?

*********************************************************************************

Coming Up (Lots, and lots and lots of things!):

-Wellness Walk: Wednesday, May 9, 1:30pm (Feel free to meet us in the bus loop at 1:25 and join us on the walk! We also plan to join our 5L buddies!)

-Bike to School Day: Friday, May 11th

-PTO Spring Social: Friday, May 11th, 7pm

-SMS Maker Fest & Spring Art Show: Thursday, May 17th, 5:30 pm (*This is a change from the previous "Important Dates" email)

-Sidewalk "Shel-ebration!": Friday, May 18th, 2:15pm

-Early Release: Wednesday, May 23rd

-Memorial Day, No School: Monday, May 28th

-PTO 1-2-3 Fun Run: Friday, June 1, 5:30pm

-Grand Luncheon: Monday, June 4th

-Great Bay Field Trip: Tuesday, June 5th.

-Musical Dress Rehearsal: Wednesday, June 6th (school performance)

-Plant Musical: Thursday, June 7th, 6:30pm

-Field Day: Friday, June 8th

-Stratham Hill Park End of Year Grade 2 Picnic: Thursday, June 14th
-Last Day of School: Monday, June 18th

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!