Why do some volcanoes explode?

Yesterday we investigated the two types of lava and why some volcanoes explode. Ask your child about he different types of lava and the two kinds of volcanoes. 

Which type of volcano does explode? 

Moretown Field Trip

We had an awesome time visiting our pen pals and participating in their E.C.O day. The rain held off and we all enjoyed our adventures in the Moretown woods. Hopefully your child has shared with you all about our day. Check out some pictures from our trip! 

Look what we've been doing...

I'm not sure how it has gotten to be December 11th already, but time is just flying by! Our class has been hoping and wishing for snow to fall, so we are doing tons of winter related activities. We've been reading lots of great winter books, making snowflakes, writing about what it would be like to be trapped in a snow globe, making snowmen and much more. 

We have also been learning all about science writing and designing experiments as we learn about force and motion. Check out some of the ramps the kids built to test out how far their toy cars will go on different surfaces. 

Currently the kids have built catapults and are testing out which objects fly farther than others. 

Yesterday we spent time building and exploring with our buddies. 

Today a group of third and fourth graders shared their Reader's Theater skit with our class. 

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of just a few things that are happening in second grade! 

Crazy 8s Math Club

Good Morning! 
I know that sometimes it can be easy to miss something in the school bulletin, as it is filled with so many wonderful things each week. I wanted to make sure that you were aware of the awesome math club called Crazy 8s that Marie Schmukal and Laurie Jones are facilitating. It runs for 8 Tuesdays starting 1/6/16. The K-2 grade group will meet from 2:40-3:30.

This program is designed to bring math to life, make it hands on and fun and enrich the math program at school. I highly recommend it! 

You can sign up at WASP or by emailing Marie- kids@warrenlibrary.com

Conferences

The first trimester of school is quickly coming to a close. Report cards will be going home on Monday, November 23rd. I will be holding parent/teacher conferences on the evenings of November 23rd and 24th, as well as the morning of November 25th. This year conferences are all being scheduled online. Please go to the link below to pick a day and time that works best for you. If you have a difficulties scheduling online, just contact me or Heidi G. and we will schedule a time for you. 

https://www.canyoncreeksoftware.com/scheduler/vt/wwsu/

I'm looking forward to meeting with each of you and sharing all the great things your children have accomplished this marking period. I strongly believe teaching is a team effort between school and home. I value this opportunity to meet and discuss your child!  

Halloween Assembly

Our class has worked extremely hard over the past few weeks preparing an assembly to present to the school with our buddies. The purpose of assemblies are to bringing our school community together and for students to have the experience of presenting in front of an audience. 

This Friday, the kids did a great job running the assembly. They introduced the greeting, second graders shared Halloween safety tips and 5th/6th graders told about the history of Halloween. Each class then recited a poem. Our class worked hard to learn Halloween by Marie A. Lawson. Then, together with our buddies, we lead a Halloween carol sing-a-long. 

Second graders presenting Halloween safety tips! 

So much is happening!!

The past few weeks have just been whizzing by. I am always surprised when we get to the end of another week. I'm not sure where the time goes.

Our class has been working with our 5/6th grade buddies to put together a Halloween assembly. On Friday, October 30th at 7:50, we will be presenting to the school. The second graders are researching Halloween safety and will be sharing what they have learned with the school. We are also learning a Halloween poem to perform and we will help lead a Halloween sing-a-long. If you are available, you are welcome to come watch.

Although, the beginning of the year has included a lot of traveling around the school, we have also been learning about Washington D.C. Our focus has been on many of the monuments and memorials there. We studied George Washington and the Washington Memorial, Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. Students are now working in small groups to research these and other monuments. The groups will work together to produce a digital presentation using the iPad app. Book Creator.  My hope is that I will be able to share the finished products at conferences next month. Not all of the groups have started their research, but check with your child to see what they might be working on.

In math, we have start a unit on place value. The children are learning to count by 1s, 10s, and 100s up to 1, 000.  We will be focusing on writing three-digit numbers in unit, standard, expanded and word forms. A strong understanding of place value concepts is essential for students to be successful with future math concepts. If you ever have questions about math homework or would like additional activities to do with your child, please feel free to contact me. There are lots of games and simple activities you can do to reinforce what we are doing in class.

Here we are counting a large number of craft sticks by bundling the sticks into groups of tens and hundreds. The kids loved it. What a great way to start this unit on place value!

                                                         We ended up with 1,135 sticks!

In spelling, we are beginning a new unit. Please see the letter about math I have put in your child's home folder. Practicing Trick Words is a great way to help support what we are doing in class.

Finally, it looks like snow is here! When there is snow on the ground your child will need to have all their snow gear with them at school. In order for your child to participate in recess comfortably and safely, boots, snowpants, hat, jacket and gloves are important. If you are anything like my family, I know many of you may not have things that fit your child yet for this season, but as soon as you do make sure to send them in with your child everyday. Here are a pictures from recess today!

Have a great week!