winter bulletin boards

Science-- Meal Worms

I'm sure you've already heard by now, but Mrs. Mueller's classroom had some special guests for a few months. MEAL WORMS! In science, we watched our meal worms grow and change. We recorded our observations and measured the meal worms in centimeters. The students had a great time checking out these little critters each day. They observed the meal worms as worms then watched them change into a pupa. After the pupa stage, they changed into a beetle. Here's a picture:

Spelling Tips!

Here are some helpful tips for studying spelling words:

Shaving cream finger writing: Have your child practice writing their spelling words by letting them write  in shaving cream. You can do this with a large cookie sheet so it doesn't cause too much of a mess. 

Mess free finger painting: Take a large Ziploc baggie and fill it with finger paint. Close the page carefully and tape the end to ensure it doesn't leak. Then have your child lay the Ziploc baggy flat on the table and spell out their words with their fingers. This can be used over and over again! 

Write a story using each spelling word! 

Draw a picture for each spelling word! 

Rainbow spelling.

Try writing the word in cursive. 

Spell out the spelling words using letter tiles. You can make letter tiles by cutting small squares from a big piece of paper. Have your child write one letter of the alphabet on each piece of paper. Then find the letters to spell your spelling word!  

Spelling tic tac toe— Instead of using X’s and O’s pick two spelling words write the words instead of X’s and O’s for the entirety of the game. Next game pick two different words. 

Make spelling fun! Come up with your own game—and please share if you have any other ideas! We'd love to hear them! 

Important Note!

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Many of the children’s supplies have been either lost or used up. If possible, please buy them new crayons, pencils, glue sticks, glue bottles, homework folder, and anything else they have lost or damaged. Some have even lost scissors which we use often.  A plastic folder for inside the binder works great!  Some students did not have all their supplies at the beginning of the year, therefore; this would be a good time to ensure they have all their supplies. The classroom is running low on baby wipes and Kleenex so if you could bring in one or two packages, that’d be great! 
THANK YOU!


(If you are unable to purchase supplies for your child, please let Mrs. Duffner or Mrs. Mueller know-- we have a family outreach program at Sahs and we can help supply these materials to your children)

Disguised Turkeys!

The 2nd graders did an amazing job with their disguised turkeys! Here are some pictures of our bulletin boards. We hope you had a great time doing this activity with your child.

Math & Money

The second graders are setting up shop during math class this week! The students were divided into groups of 4. Each member of the group had to take on the role of either the cashier, store manager,  banker or customer. Each role has a different task to complete: writing receipts, counting coins, recording the coins used, recounting the coins. The students had a great time with this and loved the real life experience of purchasing goods with (fake) money. This made learning how to count coins applicable to real life. They truly understand the importance  of why it's necessary to learn how to count money. The extra exposure to counting (and recounting) coins helps reinforce the previous lessons taught during math. Plus they get to hand actual coins (with play money). Still, the students have to work together to identify which coins they have and which they need in order to purchase a particular item. Overall, the students really enjoyed this opportunity  and had great time! Here are some picures of the students working in their cooperative  groups.

Art!

Last week the students learned about primary and secondary colors. They learned that the primary colors are red, yellow and blue and the secondary colors are purple, green and orange. They had fun learning that they can make secondary colors by mixing the primary colors. They actually got a chance to experiment blending the colors together to make new colors. They thought that was very neat!

We also discussed cool colors and warm colors. The warm colors are yellow, red and orange--like fire. The cool colors are purple, blue and green.  The students then did a project using the warm & cool colors. The students had to cut out leaves from paper the trace them on to a big watercolor paper. The students then traced the leaves with black crayon. Then we used watercolors! They had to use only warm colors for the leaves. For the background they had to use the cool colors. The students really  enjoyed this art  project.

Here's a picture:

We've also been working on some Halloween  projects! 

Reading update!

We are working on Author's Purpose! (Common Core Standard RI 2.6)

When reading with your child at home, try and determine the author's purpose.

Remember it is as easy as P.I.E. (Persuade, Inform, Entertain)

If the author is talking the reader into something and trying to make them believe it, they are PERSUADING.

If the author is teaching the reader something new, they are INFORMING.

If the author is trying to make the reader feel something--like silly, sad, or scared they are ENTERTAINING.

Here are some pictures from our room and an activity we just completed:

Scholastic Book Orders!

Mrs. Duffner & Mrs. Mueller both have book orders due soon!

Mrs. Mueller's  are due October 16th.

Mrs. Duffner's are due October 20th.

If you would like to order online using your debit/credit card here's how:

Go to: www.scholastic.com/readingclub


It will bring you to a screen that looks like this:

If you already have an account, log in. If not, click where it says "First Time Here? Parents"

It will then ask you for a code.

Mrs. Mueller's code is: H6G8P
Mrs. Duffner's code is: MC7FJ


Thanks!!!

Highlights--What are we working on?

Math:
In math we have been working on measurement. The students have been measuring using different measuring tools: Meter stick, measuring tape, ruler, thermometer, scale, measuring cup, and yard stick.

Last week during math, we went outside and took turns tracing each other on the playground with chalk. After our bodies were traced, the students were able to use the measuring tape to measure how long they were from head to toe. Then, they traced and measured their hands and feet using rulers. They had a blast with this! They love being able to use their newly learned measuring skills for real life activities.

Just this week, we introduced interactive journals. We will be using a spiral notebook for our Reading and Math interactive journal. The first activity we added to our interactive journal was one on estimating measurement. The students learned that they could estimate measurements using their body! (inch=knuckle, centimeter=fingertip, yard=large step, foot=forearm) The students enjoyed a sorting activity. On the following page, they completed a scavenger hunt. The students love doing measuring scavenger hunts.

Science:

We just finished up our chapter on Plants! click here to check out our lima bean experiment!
This week we started animals. The students worked in groups to classify animals into groups. The could sort their animal cards by where they live, color of fur, what they eat, etc. Then, they learned about the two main animal groups-- animals with backbones and animals without. After that, we discussed the different sub-animal groups-- mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, & insects. Then they worked in groups to classify the animals according to their correct animal group! In the next few weeks the students will assigned an animal project where they will have to make a poster on a specific animal. Our classroom will have some "visitors" as well! Our meal worms will  be arriving on Wednesday (10/15). We will be making observations for a few weeks to see how animals grow and change. We will be tying math and measurement into their experiment as well!

Social Studies:
We just finished our Unit on learning about "Where We Live".  The second graders created amazing dioramas focusing on urban, suburban and rural communities.  Way to go Second Graders on a job well done!!  We are currently exploring our next unit which focuses on "Our Earth".  Students have been working with maps and viewing different types of land forms found on Earth.

Reading:
Check out our Stellaluna project here: click here!

We are working hard on Common Core Standards RL2.5 and RL 2.6. First we read aloud "Friend Frog" (fiction) and we compared the two characters, field mouse and frog. Next, we read Frog and Toad All Year. The students used a chart to compare Frog and Toad to help review the two characters and their different perspectives. Currently, we are working with Fractured Fairy Tales. We are comparing and contrasting different points of view. The students are having a blast with these fairy tales! 

Our October bulletin boards:

Thanks for stopping by!

Mrs. Mueller and Mrs. Duffner are starting an online newsletter for 2nd grade to help us communicate even more effectively with our students' parents.

Good parent teacher communication is essential for a child's success in school. Recent studies indicate that the more actively involved a parent is in his/her child's school life, the more the child excels. When parents and teachers work together, a child has a team of adults who are committed to bringing out his best. So please continue to visit our online newsletter often. Stay current with what's going on in our classroom and be sure to talk about these happenings with your child. 

If you haven't done so already, please head on over to remind and sign up. Or you can follow the instructions below to get important updates from Mrs. Mueller & Mrs. Duffner!