This week we are ushering in another new month! I can barely believe it! We have a fun and exciting week coming up!
Announcements:

• This Tuesday and Thursday the students will be taking a computerized test, called the MAP test. We took it at the beginning of the year to get a baseline, and we will be taking it now to see where progress is being made, and where holes may need to be filled in! Students don't need to do anything to prepare other than sleep well and eat a great breakfast!
• Friday, February 3 is the Greek Festival! I will be running the Olympic games in the gym, and Mrs. Smith will be rotating from station to station with the students. If you'd like to volunteer from 1:00-2:30 please send me an email with your preference to travel with the class or help with the Olympics!
• Next Tuesday, February 14th,  we will be celebrating Great Hearts Day! Please remember that students will be making cards for other students in class, and purchased cards will not be permitted.
• Friday, February 17 - Athletic Field Day from 8:30-11. Each year classes are assigned a Greek City state for their team, this year we are Persia and our team color is BLUE! Please have your child wear a blue color t-shirt that day. Students can decorate their shirts with our team name, or the symbol of our Greek City State (pictured below). Students can wear athletic clothing free of pop culture references. Sports teams and brand logos are acceptable on clothing. Athletic shoes are mandatory, and hats and sunglasses may be worn. Sunscreen will need to be applied at home. If you'd like to sign up to help Coach Rubino and Coach Steinmann please click here. I would also like a donation of coolers, mini water bottles, and snacks for field day. I will be sending out a sign up genius for these things next week!

Our past week in snapshots:

Taking Literature time to the floor!

No one believed Mrs. Cook that the small intestine the same length as 7 second graders, so we PROVED it!

We did a DISGUSTING science experiment where we started with a peanut butter sandwich and ending with solid waste!

Math games!

Marshmallow Mouths!

Here is a look at our learning this week:

Language arts: We will read two more chapters in Cricket in Times Square and discuss new vocabulary terms, the students favorite from this last week is eavesdropping! In grammar we will review the writing process, play compound word Pictionary, and continue to classify sentences. Students will be introduced to the pronoun jingle and the subject pronoun jingle!

Our Spalding words for the week are:

• Monday - royal, objection, object, please, pleasure, measure, treasure, navy
• Tuesday - forty, fourteen, four, population, proper, judge, weather, whether, worth, contain, figure
• Wednesday - sudden, instead, throw, threw, personal, everything, rate, chief

Math: We will start a new unit on multiplying and dividing by 4 and 5! If you have a moment in the car, at the grocery store, or cleaning up from dinner have your mathematician practice counting by 4's!

Science: Next week we will learn about nutrients that help keep our bodies healthy and strong. We will create a well balanced meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

History: I hope that the scholars have enjoyed their journey through Ancient Greece. Please help your scholar prepare for the unit test on Friday by studying from the study guide for 5 minutes each evening next week. We are looking forward to the culmination of the exciting unit at Greek Fest on Friday! Thank you for donating items and contributing your time to make this wonderful event possible!

xoxo,

Mrs. Cook

Hello! We had quite the wet Friday! Indoor recess can make for crazy students and teachers, but I am so lucky to have a classroom full of positive thinkers! We made the most of this rainy day!

Announcements:

We are gearing up for a very busy few weeks! Below are a few announcements, sign ups, and "keep in minds"!

• Wednesday, February 25 - A camera crew will be filming in the classroom from 7:55-8:30. I am under the impression that the majority of the filming will be of me teaching, and the footage will be used internally. If you would prefer to NOT have your student in the class during filming please send me an email, I will have them sit in another second grade classroom, so they are not missing out on learning.
• Friday, February 27 - Excretory System model - We will be making a model of the excretory system in class. Please sign up here to donate some needed materials to make this fun model!
• Friday, February 3rd - Greek festival - Second grade will be celebrating our learning of the Ancient Greeks by having a festival from 1:00-2:30. Students will be rotating between making crafts, eating Greek food, and participating in a few classic Greek games, and having a great time! We will need volunteers as well as materials for this day. Please sign up here to contribute to this grade wide festival!
• Tuesday, February 14th - Great Hearts Day! We reserve this special day each year to focus on the virtue of friendship. The day will include an assembly in the morning, as well as reading a wonderful friendship centered story with 5th graders, and a celebration in the afternoon. We will be sipping on sweet friendship floats, and making a friendship necklace! We will be making friendship cards in class, and students will not be permitted to bring store bought valentines to school.  The class party will take place from 2:00-2:45! Sign up for volunteers and donations coming next week!
• Friday, February 17th - Field day! I am just getting this date on your radar. When I have more information about our team, and teams color I will communicate it out! Students will be permitted to dress in athletic wear, and need to bring a sack lunch. I will be asking for donations of waters, ice chests, and snacks for this day! Sign up will be coming out later.
• Reading groups for Cricket in Times Square will take place on Tuesday's and Friday's from 2:00-2:30. Please sign up here if you are able to help us during that time!
• Math centers take place each Wednesday from 9:15-10:00, if you are able to help during that time you can click here for that sign up as well!

We are having technical difficulties with pictures this week, stay tuned next week for extra, cute pictures!

Here is a look at our learning for next week:

Language arts: In literature next week we will read chapters 4-6 in Cricket in Times Square, answering comprehension questions after each chapter, as well as discussing adults in our lives and the special things they do for us! We will also use context clues to figure out meanings of unknown vocabulary words! In grammar we are revising and editing our paragraphs on our favorite colors.

Math: We will be review mental math strategies from chapter 7! The homework assigned on Thursday night will provide great practice for the test on Friday!

 History: We are excited to present the Great Thinkers of Ancient Greece, and discover the origins of many of our roots in the United States, and especially at Archway Arete. Students will connect our Socratic-style discussion to the man Socrates', himself. Challenge your scholars to differentiate facts between Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Alexander the Great.

Science: We will continue learning about the human body by studying the digestive system and excretory system (insert a lot of giggles and laughter from the students)! We will also be making a model of the excretory system using some common items! Please use this link to sign up to donate these items. We appreciate your generosity! Ask you scientist what they remember about cells, tissues, and organs!

Well, we are coming back from a wonderful winter break and heading right into a three day weekend! This schedule sure spoils us sometimes!

Announcements:

Chapter book sand a book report will be sent home with students on Tuesday. Assigned homework will be to read 20 minutes of the chapter book each night, and when the chapter book is completed students are to complete the book report. The book report is to be done by Monday 2/6, but if  your child finishes the book and completes the report they are able to turn it in early. The expectation is that students complete two book reports for the third quarter.

We are starting to run low on Expo Markers, if you have any extra at home, our classroom would really appreciate it! Thank you to those of you who heard your students complaints this week and sent some in!

Some pictures from this week:

Math game! Making 100!

Finding out if our sense of smell is related to our sense of taste!

French!

Here is a look at the upcoming week:

Language arts: This week in literature we will be reading from our new book, The Cricket in Times Square. If you have not already please send the book in with your child. We will discuss what it is like to move from one place to another. We will also have a group discussion about a time we wanted something really badly and our parents wouldn't let us have it. I will be asking the kids if they were able to talk their parents into it, or if they realized why their parents told them no. We will read chapters 1-3 in the book and continue to discuss the characters as they are introduced. Ask your student how Paul the shuttle conductor was nice to Mario! In grammar we will continue to diagram sentences. In writing we will use our prewriting map from last week to write a rough draft of a paragraph on our favorite colors!

Math: Next week we will continue our unit on mental math! The students are doing a wonderful job on this challenging unit! We had a great discussion and came to the conclusion that mistakes and challenges make our brains learn best! Next week we will be working on adding and subtraction two and three digit numbers mentally.

History: This week, we will continue exploring Ancient Greece. The students will learn about famous Greek battles, as well as the golden age of Greece. Ask your child to tell you about the Athenian symposium.

Science: Next week students will learn how all living things are made up of microscopic cells. We will describe the relationship among cells, tissues, organs, and systems. Ask your scientist about the body systems at home! 

Hanging in there!

We are hanging in there these last few, exciting days before break!

Announcements:

Monday is a full, regular day of School. Tuesday and Wednesday are half days with release times of 11:45, 12:05, and 12:20. We will not have lunch on Tuesday or Wednesday so please back your sweet scholar an extra snack to hold them over!

Secret Student letters. Today in your child's red folder are instructions to write a secret student letter. Please have your child write a letter on the provided piece of paper, color the tree on the back, and put it in the envelope with the secret students name on it! These are due back on Monday 12/20.

The upcoming week is a short one, which is perfect to review some of the concepts we have learned!

Language arts: Students will review some challenging Spalding words from this year! We will also work on alphabetical order and use our phonemic awareness to make words from other words. How many new words do YOU think we will be able to make from the word gingerbread?

Math: We will use the week to review concepts learned in math! From arrays to addition and subtraction with renaming, we will working hard (and having fun)!

Science: We will take our insect unit test on Monday, and make corrections if needed on Tuesday. We will also talk about what we know about the human body to prepare for our next unit in January.

History: This week students will use what they have learned about the Greek gods in order to create their own mythical god/goddess. We will enjoy some Greek myths and create our own!

Week 18

Well this week sure flew by in a flash...here we are on Friday again!

Announcements:


Boxcar Holiday Party: Next Wednesday, December 21 we will celebrate the end of the semester with a fun Boxcar themed party! Please sign up here if you'd like to donate anything to our celebration.

Boxcar Project: The Boxcar Project is due Monday! Students are coming home with their books today, as well as a brainstorm list we made in class in their planners! Below are some idea's to gently guide your students towards if they are struggling, as well as some pictures from previous years projects.

Items inside the boxcar:

Beds made of pine needles

Table

Table cloth

Broom

Cup (pink for Benny)

Forks

Shelf

Dog

Outside the boxcar (can still be included in the project for points towards the 5 items)

Stump

River

Clothes line

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Here are some cute snaps of our learning last week:

Working on memorizing their stanza from The Night Before Christmas

 Team work makes dream work!

Mailing our letters! We've worked SO hard to write on envelopes, and learn how letters look!

P.E. is the BEST!

Here is a look at next week:

Language Arts: This week in language arts students will write a letter to a secret student! Your child will come home with a letter on Friday to work on over the weekend, they will be exchanging letters with their secret student on December 21! We will also continue to diagram and label parts of speech in sentences, and master our editing skills by finding mistakes in sentences. Students will practice reading a story with inflection and expression this week too!

Math: We will work hard in math this week to master our 3's times table. We will also dive into division facts and talk about fact families! A car trip is a great time to give your child a math problem (5x2) and ask them not only for the answer but for the fact family it belongs with (2x5, 10÷5, 10÷2)!

History: Students will experience the birth of Democracy in the heart of Ancient Greece, Athens! They will also learn the connection between the goddess Athena and the great city. Ask your scholar to explain the premise of the Trojan War as well as compare the lifestyles of ancient Greeks to our own!

Science: It is our last week learning about insects before we move on to our next unit: simple machines! We will meet an entomologist who will teach us about how insects can be friends or foes. On Monday a study guide will be sent home with your scholar. Please read and review it all week so they are ready for their test on Thursday. We will also be reviewing in class! Happy studying!

Week 17!

Hello!

Updates and Announcements:

Sweater Weather: Please make sure your child's name is written somewhere inside their uniform sweater! They are MUCH easier to track down if they are labeled!

Boxcar Project: Instructions went home this week! Here is a link to the rubric for your reference.

Boxcar Holiday Party: Our Boxcar Holiday Party will be on December 21! We will feast on things the Boxcar Children eat regularly, be thankful for what we have, do a book exchange, and do a fun train craft! Please sign up here if you'd like to help out!

Book Exchange: Please send in a gently loved book with your child by Monday December 21. We will be doing a really fun book exchange as a class!

Holiday Gift: Students will be making a gift for their sweet parents in class in a few weeks. If your student needs to make 2 gifts please send me an email before Friday December 16.

This is the one and only picture this crazy teacher took this week! Basketball in P.E.! I'll make up for it next week, I promise!

Here is a look at our learning this week:

Language arts: We are still working hard on prepositions, and objects of prepositions in grammar! Students also be introduced to direction quotations this week! In literature we will finish The Boxcar Children. We will have class discussions on assumptions and reputations. Students will write a journal reflection after each of these last 3 chapters from a perspective of one of the Alden children. We had a great brainstorming session about the differences between us and the Boxcar Children last week, ask you child about it!

Math: On Monday we will take a quiz covering the first five chapters we have covered this semester! On Tuesday we will move into Chapter 6, multiplication of 2's. This is a quick chapter, as most of the students are already showing master of the 2's times table! On Friday we will introduce the students to the 3's table!

Science: Our entomologists will continue their study of insects by learning about singing and glowing insects! Do you know which insects these are? See if you scholar can name them! We will also learn more about the largest group of insects on earth - armored insects: bees!

History: From China we will now journey into Ancient Greece! Students will learn many of the origins of western culture and influence. This week, we will introduce the geography of Greece and learn about the legendary Greek Gods and Goddesses! Ask your history expert to tell you a fun fact about one of the deities and areas of interest in Ancient Greece!

Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving week!

I am so thankful, today and everyday. I have the best job in the world. I have the privilege of helping to shape and mold amazing young humans every single day! Something that I do not take lightly! The fun crafts, jokes, and activities are just an added bonus :)

I hope you all have a great break, and eat lots of yummy foods! I cannot wait to hear about Thanksgiving from your children's perspective when we return!

Announcements: We will be having a Boxcar and Holiday celebration on December 22. Please donate one (gently used) book to our classroom, as well as a toilet paper or paper towel roll!

Boxcar Project: On Monday students will come home with a Boxcar Project. Students will be creating a diorama of the boxcar inside a shoe box! More instructions will be sent home Monday, just want to get this on your radar!

Address: Please email me your address, or write it down in your students planner. We will be addressing envelopes to ourselves next week!

Here are some pictures of our learning this week:

Students worked hard to make cards full of thanks!

Celebrating Chinese New Year with red lanterns! Ask your student why red is so important!

Our Thankful Bubble Map! Not pictured: Target, Legos, and cheese :]+

Here is a look at next week:

Language arts: In language arts next week we will introduce students to writing a friendly letter! This will tie in perfectly with a holiday activity we do where each students writes a letter to another student telling them how wonderful they are! Students will learn parts of a letter next week, including how to address an envelope! In literature we will be reading chapters 8-10 in The Boxcar Children, and having a class discussion about what makes our homes feel special, and what makes us homesick!

Math: In math we will continue to work on dividing things into equal groups. Students are ROCKING this! We will introduce what to do when things cannot be split into equal groups, and we have "leftovers." We will review all week, Friday nights homework will provide great practice for a test on the following Monday (12/5).

History: In history we will continue learning about China! We will learn about ancient Chinese inventions, and we make a cross-curricular connection between a silk worm and insects!

Science: Last week we spent time reviewing complete vs. incomplete metamorphosis. Next week our young (adorable) entomologists will continue their study of insects through learning about bees (honeybees, drones, and queens!), paper wasps, termites, and ants. Ask your scholar if they can describe the difference between a social and a solitary insect. Can they tell you what each bee must do in order to survive? Can they tell you how ants and termites are different from other insects?