Our Last Friday Blog Post of the Year

I cannot believe that this is going to be my last Friday Blog Post that I make this year!  This week has been super fun and full of a variety of things.

Math Journals and Supplies

• Math Journal 1 and 2 are coming home with your student today.  There are pages that are not complete as we completed some as a group and others we checked for understanding in other ways.  There is also no grading in the journal.  We looked through the journals and did reteaching as necessary.  Any pages that we did not complete in class would be great ways to keep the math they learned fresh in the mind over summer.
• They also cleaned out their cubby tubbies today.  They are bringing home their reading, writing and unfinished work folders and their supply boxes.

Field Trip to Runge Nature Center

If you have not already had an opportunity to look at all the pictures from our field trip you can click here.

Field Day

Field Day was a blast!  A HUGE thank you to Ms. Moore who makes it happen.  You can click here to see the pictures from Field Day.

Which is Better Writing Celebration & Lunch Bunch

I am SO super proud of the kiddos and ALL their hard work on their book and project!  They did an excellent job.  The kiddos had an opportunity to share with Mrs. Godier's kindergarten class, some first grade classes, and the other two second grade classrooms.  They loved the opportunity to be able to show what they did!

It was so fun to be able to see so many of you for our Lunch Bunch.  I know that the kiddos really appreciate you taking some time out of your super busy schedules to come eat with them & see their Which is Better projects!

You can click here for pictures.

Celebrations

We have had a few celebrations this week & you can click here to see some pictures.

Monday

• Rock Bridge State Park Hike
• Please make sure your child is wearing tennis shoes on Monday.
• We will be gone from school from about 8:30-10:30 a.m.
• We will walk to the park, enjoy popsicles and the playground, then return to school.

Tuesday

• Tuesday is the last day of school (crazy!).  We will dismiss at 12:10 p.m.  Please make sure your student knows how they are getting that day.
• If your student is going home a different way on Tuesday, please email us or let the office know by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday.  Early dismissals can be crazy, especially the last day of school, so we want to make sure everyone gets home the correct way. 
• We will be watching Matilda on Tuesday morning.  We will be comparing the movie to the book.  We are almost finished with the book.  
• We will be signing memory books and yearbooks on Tuesday.  If your student bought a yearbook and would like to have it signed, please send it in on Tuesday.
• We will also have a special treat for the students on Tuesday.  It's our balloon pop, so they don't know about it yet.  :)

We have had a wonderful year this year!  We are looking forward to our final two days with the students next week.  We are planning to shed some tears next week for sure!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Friday!

I hope that you have had a wonderful week!  One of my favorite times of the year is the Variety Show and it was so great to be able to see so many of the students today in their performances.

This time of year is so different with special events - please make sure that you have all the dates on your calendar.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, May 15: Runge Field Trip
• 7:20-8:15 - Pack coolers (if you selected that you will send a lunch with your child please pack it in a Ziploc bag with child's name on the bag - make sure everything is disposable) & review expectations
• 8:15 - Load Bus
• 8:30 - Leave RBE
• 9:15 - Arrive at Runge
• 9:15-11:00 - Walk the nature trails
• 11:00-12:00 - Food Chain Presentation
• 12:00-12:30 - Lunch
• 12:30-1:15 - Visit the Runge Center displays & restroom
• 1:15 - Load the bus
• 2:00 - Arrive back at school
• Wednesday, May 16: Field Day
• 10:45 - Eat lunch at the pavilion (no recess)
• 11:30-2:10 - Field Day
• 2:10-2:30 - Opportunity to change clothes (please send in a change of clothes for your child because there will be some water activities during Field Day).
• Friday, May 18: Lunch Bunch & Writing Celebration
• 11:00-11:30 - Lunch Bunch: We will at lunch in the pavilion.  If you are coming please check in at the office.  We understand that things happen, but please try to be on time, when a parent or special guest is late it puts a lot of stress on the students.
• 11:30-12:15 - Writing Celebration in the classroom.  This is an opportunity for all our kiddos to show off their hard work on their Which is Better book and project.  Please come and see what your child has done and then stay to see other students!
• Monday, May 21: Walk to Rock Bridge State Park
• 8:30-10:30 - We will walk to Rock Bridge State Park & enjoy the playground and a popsicle.  Then we will walk back!
• Tuesday, May 22: Last Day of School
• 12:10 - Early Dismissal - if your child is going home a different way than normal please let me know

Pictures From the Week

Working hard on Ame Dyckman inspired writing!

Ask your kiddo what they learned about characteristics and adaptations they learned about pollinators!

Board Game Celebration

Variety Show 2018

May Already?!?!

Time has been flying by and I cannot believe that we are already to May!

Important Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, May 8: PTA Meeting - 6:00 in the Media Center
• Friday, May 11: Variety Show
• Tuesday, May 15: Runge Field Trip
• If you volunteered to chaperone, send water or a cooler, we will contact you next week.
• If you didn't sign up to chaperone, but your schedule allows you to come, let us know.  The more the merrier.  :)
• Wednesday, May 16: Field Day
• Please sunscreen your students before school.
• Please have them in comfortable clothes that can get wet (no swimsuits).
• We will be having Field Day in the afternoon.
• Friday, May 18: Lunch Bunch and Writing Celebration
• If you haven't returned the form, please do so next week.
• Lunch in the pavilion from 11-11:30 (please check in at the office first)
• Writing Celebration in the classroom from 11:30-12:15 p.m.
• Monday, May 21: Walk to Rock Bridge State Park
• The students don't know about this, so please keep it a secret.  :)
• If you signed up to bring popsicles or walk with us, we will be contacting you in the next two weeks.
• Tuesday, May 22: Last Day of School, dismiss at 12:10 p.m.

Last Week of School

If your student will not be here the last week of school, please let us know as soon as possible.

What's Been Happening in 2nd Grade

Reading

• We will continue studying poetry next week.  We will be looking at how they rhyme, repeat, have rhythm and create images in our head.  The students have enjoyed getting to read the poetry this week.
• We will then move onto plays.  The students will be in small groups and get to perform a play (using their scripts) for the class.  This will help them to learn about how characters and settings are introduced in plays.  

Math

• We will continue working our way through Unit 9.  This week, we worked on partitioning shapes.  The students were also introduced to measuring to the nearest half inch.  We discussed how an inch can be partitioned into smaller parts to make the measurement more precise.
• Next wee, we will introduce subtraction with regrouping.  They will learn how to use base-10 blocks for subtraction and then how to show the trades/regrouping with numbers.  Then we will work on find equivalent amounts of money being shown different ways.  We will wrap the week up with a re-engagement lesson that focuses on mental math.

Writing

• We finished up our Which is Better projects this week.  The students enjoyed being creative with their projects.  We talked about the importance of the project adding to their book.  
• Next week, we will working on our presentation for our Writing Celebration.  The students will write up a short "script" to practice.  They won't have to memorize their information, but we will practicing the presentation so they are comfortable with their presentations when parents come in.  
•  We will also be discussing opinion writing.  We will review the importance of valid reasons when supporting your opinion.,  The students will get an opportunity to write some short opinion pieces.  

Science

• This week, we did our final observation about what plants need to survive.  On Monday, when we did our observation we realized that the plants with water but without soil were actually looking better than the plants with water and soil.  This led to a conversation about hydroponics and the pros of this type of gardening.  We also finished up talking about food chains by making a food pyramids from different ecosystems.  We actually made these pyramids 3-D and they are displayed in our classroom - when you come in you should check them out!  
• Next week, we will talk about seed dispersion and flower pollination

Social Studies

• We talked about the what the Pledge of Allegiance means and today we illustrated the pledge.  We will be making a Pledge of Allegiance quilt.

Countdown to Summer

• Starting on Wednesday, we will be doing a Countdown to Summer in the classroom.  Each day, we will pop a balloon and it will have a small celebration/activity/treat for the students to enjoy.  If the students need to bring something for the activity from home (board games, art supplies) or need to wear something special (tennis shoes), we will pop the balloon the day before and send an email to parents.  

Review Expectations

• As the end of the year comes around, students often get bit by the "summer is almost here" bug.  We have been reviewing expectations at school. Please reinforce the expectations at home.  Students are expected to be safe, respectful, learners.  Some of the areas we are struggling are following directions, keeping our hands to ourselves and using a respectful tone and kind words with classmates. 

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and have an opportunity to enjoy this beautiful weather!