Mrs. Baier's 2nd Grade Blog

Busy as bees are the second grade students. Almost everyone has finished his/her animal research. All second grade animal research papers are being displayed on a table outside the second grade classrooms. Take a look if you are in the building.

Tomorrow is track and field day. Second grade students are to wear yellow shirts on top and shorts or sweatpants (depending on the weather) on the bottom. No jeans or other bottoms that will impede running and jumping. If you would like to take your child home directly from the field please be sure to have your child check-out with me before you go. I need to keep track of everyone who leaves early so I don't miss anyone. Generally, Ms. Rossbach sends home art work after track and field day so be sure to stop by your child's locker if you are going home early to pick up the bag of beautiful artwork.

Students are working on their stories for our Oak Meadows Assisted Living field trip at the end of the year. On Friday, some employees from Oak Meadows are coming to MPA to help the students understand what it is like to age. It is always a wonderful learning experience for the students. The field trip is scheduled for Wednesday, June 9th in the afternoon. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Friday, June 4th is the second grade garage sale. Students can bring their bag of goodies to sell to school at anytime. Please make sure the goods are priced and nothing should be higher than 25 cents.

Notes/Reminders
-Guest reader on Friday, May 28th at 2:45 is Alison Schell.
-Next week will be the last week for paw logs. Thanks for your help with at-home reading and recording. It really does benefit the students to read at home regularly.
-Please send two handled bags (like brown paper grocery bags) to school with your child next week. They will be stored in their lockers for desk and locker clean-out the last week of school.

Have a great week and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!
Mrs. Baier

Thank you for all of your help with the animal research proofreading last week. The students started writing their animal research papers today. They will learn some paragraph writing skills and work on those dreaded topic sentences. Their finished products will include a table of contents, bibliography and some other supporting materials. It is a great project that could not be completed without your help. Thanks again!

Last week the students began a study of aging. They are brainstorming a list of things that happen to a person as he/she gets older. It is quite an interesting list. They read a Tomie dePaola story called Now One Foot, Now the Other. We are also reading various picture books in class where the main character is a senior citizen. Some of these stories are funny and some are serious.

In math, the students are working in small groups to increase their knowledge of money. Some groups are identifying coins and counting money while others will be starting to work on making change. I enjoy the opportunity to work with small groups of students.

In science we have started several different experiments. They are trying to grow a potato plant from a piece of potato (no success, of course) and seeing if seeds will sprout without dirt. This week they will be planting seeds in cups to see if they can grow something.

Notes and Reminders
-Library day is on Wednesday.
-Guest Reader on Friday is Ellen Lavery at 2:45.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Baier

Yellow animal research folders have come home along with an orange note explaining the proofreading portion of the animal research paper. If you have any questions about this at-home section please let me know as soon as possible.

The art and music show on Thursday was a huge success. I am so proud of the 2nd graders and their performance. They seemed to have a great time. Their beautiful art work is still on display if you didn't get a chance to see it before the music show.  Here are some pictures from the music show rehearsal and performance.

On Friday, the students were treated to special guests. Tori, a golden retriever trained by the Helping Paws organization came to visit. Tori was trained to help disabled individuals and is currently doing the educational tour circuit for Helping Paws. The students were amazed at her abilities. Watch out if you have dogs they may start to try to train them. This activity was planned on the heels of our Helen Keller unit and discussion of disabled people.

This week the students will begin their unit on aging leading up to our visit to Oak Meadows Assisted Living in June. They will read various pieces of literature to learn more about senior citizens. Be prepared for some questions about getting older. Those blunt second grade questions are always fun.

In math, the students have taken their pretest on money and will start working in their money groups this week. This unit will lead up to our second grade garage sale, which is tentatively scheduled for Friday, June 4th. More information will be posted on the blog as the time gets closer.

Notes:
-Library day is on Thursday this week.
-Animal research proofreading is due on Friday, May 7th.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Baier

Another beautiful spring week has passed and the second graders have been hard at work. The students looked lovely in their "prom" attire today. There was a much higher participation rate for girls who discovered that fancy shoes are not necessarily fun to wear all day long. Here are some highlights from the week:

Language Arts:

The students finished reading the biography of Helen Keller. They read some of the early letters Helen wrote and on Friday they watched a production of The Miracle Worker.

The class is finishing up their note taking for animal research. They are using their information sheet of questions to see if they have found enough information for their papers. Next week they will begin to label their notes according to the topics they will be writing about in their research papers.

Math:
The students have still been working on 3 and 4-digit addition and subtraction. Next week I will pretest them on the knowledge of money. They will work in small groups with students of similar ability levels for the money unit.

Science:
The students have started to study seeds. They are examining seeds and will be learning the parts of seeds and how they become plants.

Next week is the annual art and music show. It is on Thursday, April 29th. Students are to wear any shade of blue top (with no design or printing) and khaki bottoms of some type that evening but not to school during the day. The art show opens at 5:30 and students should go to their classrooms at 6:45.

Notes/Reminders
-Library day is on Wednesday.
-Our guest reader is Tina Proctor on Friday at 2:45.

Have a fantastic weekend!
Mrs. Baier

What a productive week! The students have been working really hard on animal research this week. They have learned how to take notes from their sources and are using some topic guidelines I have given them to help them find the information they need. They have chosen some great animals to research...I am learning a lot! They will continue to take notes next week.

In reading, the students are continuing to learn and read about Helen Keller. They seem to really enjoy this biography. They are fascinated with the particulars of Helen's life and how she managed to learn things being both blind and deaf. They also seem to have a special interest in her relationship with her teacher, Miss Anne Sullivan. When they finish the biography I have a wonderful version of the Miracle Worker to show them.

In math, the class is still working with 3 and 4-digit addition. They spent quite a bit of time last week working on missing addends in 3-digit addition. It was a bit of a challenge but they worked with partners and seem to be getting the hang of it. They also began some 3-digit subtraction with no regrouping. Next week they will try some regrouping in their subtraction.

On Wednesday the 6th grade English classes of Mrs. Rossini and Ms. Wentzel brought down the children's books they had written and illustrated. They read them in small groups to the second grade students. Here are some pictures from the event.

Next Week
-No school for students on Monday. Panther Club is available.
-Library Day is on Wednesday.
-Volunteer Breakfast is on Friday at 8:30. Thanks for everything you do for MPA!

Have a great week!
Mrs. Baier

Welcome back to second grade. I hope everyone had an enjoyable spring break. The students came back ready to go but were a tired at the end of the week. We have lots of great second grade projects coming up throughout the rest of the year. The first is the animal research project. Students have chosen their animals and should be in the process of finding sources of information. Mrs. Lage will help them in the library and Ms. Gaida will help them in the computer lab. The goal is for every student to have at least two sources by Monday. If you have any questions about animal research let me know.

This week the students started reading a biography of Helen Keller in class. They have read a few chapters about her childhood and learned about the deaf blind alphabet on Friday. They will continue reading about Helen this week.

In math, we are starting to add some 3-digit numbers. We will spend a bit of time on 3-digit addition and subtraction before heading on to money.

In science, the students are presenting poster boards they made in class from some books called Start to Finish books. They use their poster boards to teach the rest of the class how one thing becomes another. They will also start learning about plants next week.

I am working on getting the videotapes of the students doing their storytelling in the classroom on the blog. Thank you to everyone who attended the storytelling tea and for your support in helping the students learn their stories. The students did a great job and were proud of their accomplishments.

Next week:
-Library day is on Thursday.
- Book orders are coming home on Monday. If you would like to order online let me know and I will send you the username and password. Book orders are due on Friday (April 16th).

Have a great week!
Mrs. Baier

Well, spring is in the air along with a whole lot of rain. Three indoor recesses in a row were not exactly ideal for second graders but they did a good job holding in the energy in the classroom. Hopefully next week will be full of those warmer temperatures and lots of sunshine leading up to spring break. I hope everyone enjoys the time off and any vacations you may be taking.

The students have been very busy getting ready for the upcoming storytelling tea on Wednesday. They have been practicing their stories in small groups each day and hopefully at home each night. If you are unable to make it Wednesday morning I have been recording the students telling their stories in the classroom and will be posting them on the blog during spring break.

In language arts the students have been reading different folktales and legends. Last week they read a story called The Great Ball Game. In this traditional Muskogee story, the birds and the animals quarrel over which group is better, those with wings or those with teeth. It is a delightful tale.

In math, the students are still working on fractions. They learned about fractions of groups as opposed to fractions as pieces of a whole this week. The will continue to study fractions until spring break. After break they will begin to work with money.

Science time has been devoted to the students becoming experts on how one thing becomes another. They are each reading and creating a teaching poster board about a "Start to Finish" book. The books are either about how one type of matter becomes something else (another type) or how a piece of matter is changed to be something else. When they are finished with their poster boards they will present them to the class and "teach" us about their topic.

Next week
-Library day is on Wednesday.
-Storytelling Tea on Wednesday at 9:00. Please meet in the Kreischer Gym.

Have a nice week and a wonderful spring break!
Mrs. Baier

What a wonderful week of reading. The students really enjoyed the used book sale in the cafeteria each day at lunch and the reading assembly with their eighth grade buddies on Friday afternoon. I'm sure the highlight for many was the book festival family night on Friday evening. Check out the pictures of students reading on Friday!

The students are beginning to work on telling their stories to others. They have created storyboards to use to help them as they stop using their books. A letter about storytelling will be sent out be email on Monday. If you have any questions let me know.

This week the students read a wonderful Asian folktale called Two of Everything. Ask your child about the pot that doubles everything. Next week they will read some legends. They will start with The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie dePaola.

In math, the students started learning about fractions. They learned about unit fractions and also learned the terms numerator and denominator. They seem to be able to tell what a fraction is and enjoyed playing fraction bingo on Friday. Next week is more work with fractions.

Next week
-Library day is Wednesday.
-All school ice skating party at Aldridge Arena is on Wednesday at 4:00.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Baier

On Friday I sent home a save the date note for the second grade storytelling tea. It will be held on Wednesday, March 17th at 9:00. The event will start in the Kreischer Gym. All second grade students should have picked out the books they will learn for their storytelling presentation. Next week, they will begin to learn their stories to tell to others. It is a fun event and we hope you can make it.

This week the students read and listened to many different fables. They were really good at coming up with morals for the stories. They will do a bit more with fables at the beginning of the week and will move onto folktales and legends after that.

In math, the students will start to work with fractions next week. They will learn how to divide a whole into pieces to make a fraction and will eventually begin to compare fractions. They will also learn the words numerator and denominator next week.

In science the students did a bit of work with examining liquids. They identified the properties of liquids in bottles. The newest vocabulary word was viscous. They seemed to like the word and did a good job understanding how to apply it to liquids. Next week they will make some solutions and learn a bit more about substances that will and will not dissolve in water.

The students also got together with their birthday box partners from Mrs. Scalia's room to put together their birthday boxes. Here are a few pictures from the activity.

Next week
-The book festival is here! The gallery is set up and ready to go for the annual MPA book festival. Remember Friday night is the book festival family fun night at 5:00.
-Library day is on Thursday.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Baier

Thank you to everyone who has made it in for conferences this week. As I write this I still have a few more of you to visit with about your child and am looking forward to it. Please feel free to contact me if you reflect on something we talked about at conferences and want to explore it further.

Thank you again to all of the second grade parents who supported the Valentine's party on Wednesday. The students really enjoyed the time and were remarkably calm. I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day with those you love! Here are some student pictures from the day to get you in the mood.

I failed to mention to the students before they left on Wednesday that they can start looking for a story they would like to use for our storytelling event in March. So far the students have studied fairy tales and tall tales. Next week they will work with fables. The idea behind the storytelling event is for students to pick a story they would like to learn and will be able to retell (not word for word) to a small audience. They will be put into groups of students and their audience will be those students and any parents that attend our storytelling tea (more information to come) in March. If your child has a favorite story please send it to school in the next week or so and we will get started. If you aren't sure if the story is appropriate just send it to school and we can look at it. I have plenty of options in the classroom, as well. Ideally all stories will be at school by February 22nd. Any questions just contact me. Thanks!

As I mentioned above the students have been experiencing different tall tales over the last couple of weeks. They have read many tall tales and have identified facts and exaggerations in each. They are also writing their own tall tale about their own life. They should be quite fun to read.

In science the students have finished their experiments with floating and sinking. They tried putting various solids in water after making a prediction on whether it would float or sink based on their newfound knowledge. This week the students made their own boats out of aluminum foil. The idea was to make a boat that would hold as many marbles as possible prior to sinking. The design of the boat was key as many students quickly found out. It was a fun experiment. Next week the students will start to examine liquids a bit more.

Notes/Reminders
-Birthday box items are due at school on Wednesday, February 17th. Thanks for your support in this community service project.
-Library Day is on Wednesday.

Have a wonderful long weekend!
Mrs. Baier