April 2010 Archives

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