Insects and Things

Our butterflies are arriving this week. Have your children squealed with excitement as they share their enthusiasm with you? We will watch the "metamorphosis" of a caterpillar into a butterfly. This observation is timely and a fabulous way to learn more about life cycles. This process is beautiful in its own way and leads into more learning of the insect community which the children love. There will be an enrichment program and a culminating project in June so stay tuned for more information.

The committee for Understanding Disabilities will presenting a workshop for all second graders on Friday of this week. There will be an hour long workshop with hands and participatory activities for each class. This will be followed up with a discussion of what the children learned from the workshop on understanding disabilities. Students will be put in situations to make them aware of what it might be like to live without sight or hearing. They also will get to experience using crutches and a wheel chair. Understanding Disabilities gives students the opportunity to learn what it might be like to live in someone elses shoes. Thank you to all parents who have volunteered to bring this progam to us.


Thank you for those who particiapated in making "Teacher Appreciation" Week so wonderful. Thank you for the flowers, notes and treats. The luncheon was fabulous and to win a raffle prize was a total surprise. Please know that it has been such a pleasure to work with your students this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in second grade. Your children have grown and matured so much this year. You should all be proud of their accomplishments. I thank you for all you do! With your continued support, my job is so much easier.

Beginning Monday, the students will be bringing home Writing Portfolios. Each portfolio is stocked with writing supplies and suggestions of writing ideas. All portfolios will rotate through out the classroom till the end of the year. There are four and hopefully every child will get to each one. The portfolio can stay at home for TWO days. I will not send them home on the weekend. The kids seemed excited and are so interested in writing. I hope you get caught up in their enthusiasm!

With 22 days of learning to go, I look forward to more exciting and funfilled days!
I hope the sun comes out this week and may you all have an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend!

Thirty Days and Counting

Well can you believe the year is coming to a close. Your children have worked so hard and have learned so much this year. As I relflect on the year I see a group of amazing readers, writers, scientist, and mathematicians. These kiddos have grown and experienced presenting native american and biography projects. They have worked in partnership to explore, discover and problem solve. In the weeks ahead we will complete our heritage projects and witness the life cycle of a butterfly. You should be very proud of your second graders!

In the final weeks we will be learning about life cycles and insects. The children are always very excited about this unit. Each child will harvest and observe the cycle transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly. As I stated earlier, we will be working to complete our heritage projects and the children will share what they learned about their country of heritage with their classmates. During our library media time the class has been exploring websites to assist with the project such as National Geographic and Time for Kids. Everyone is learning a lot about the capitals, important landforms, population, language, currency and celebrations of their country. It is an interesting social studies project that connects with what they've learned about the continents.


In math, second graders have begun unit 11 and have two more units after that. We will be pushing to get them done by the end of the year. Please remember that your students may be learning and teaching you new strategies to help solve problems. Use these straegies to support them in their learning and with their homework. Counting change continues to be a challenge for many so practice with them when you can. Fact power should always be practiced. Students should have facts to 20 down. Please keep the "fever" going! Play these online math games for fun!

April was poetry month and many kiddos are still trying their skills at poetry. We have written cinquain and acrostic poems so far. Next week we will attempt haiku which is a poem about nature. Have your children share some with you.

We our down to our final two lessons of Fundations. Last week we did unit 16. New spelling words will come home this week. The skill is still double vowels as you know (au, aw). Next week our last unit will be on words with _ble, _le, _dle endings. Words such as table, cradle, little will be learned. In grammer, we are learning about tenses of verbs. Spelling is an important part of grammar in the next few weeks as students must learn when to change the "y" to "i" and add es, or double the consonant in a short vowel word such as running, batted, or when to drop the e and add ed like in smiled.

I hope eveyone had a great Mother's Day weekend. I know there are lots of First Communion celebrations and dance recitals as well. It is a busy time for all when you have to fit in a T-ball or soccer game as well. Spring is full of busy schedules but please try to keep routines and bed times consistent. There's still learning much to do!