Harlem Wizards!

Today we were lucky enough to have a member of the Harlem Wizards visit our school. He showed the students some fancy basketball tricks while talking about the importance of listening and doing well in school; having determination and persevering when tasks are difficult. The students really enjoyed the assembly and our very own Cam got to participate. Way to go Cam!

 

A Great Week in 2-O

This has been a busy week in 2-O. 

In math, we continue  to work on using skip counting by 2s, 5,s, and 10s to solve multiplication problems. To help us practice we played a fun game called Coin and Number Cube Game.

In Social Studies we have been learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the great work he did to make our country a better place for all Americans. 

First, we read a couple books and a weekly reader. After, the students played a game on the smartboard to see what they had learned. 

Both teams did a great job and the game ended in a tie!

Last, the students made a mini book. 

After reading about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream, the students were asked to think about a dream they have for the future. The students have quite the plans for their futures! Here are a few.

As you can see, the students had some very impressive dreams for the future and show a great deal of caring for others.

SL. 2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

L.2.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

It was a great week in 2-0!

Geography Game Show

On Friday, the second grade students attended an amazing and informative assembly called Geography Game Show. Mr. Neal Nichols, an artist, world traveler, and expert in world geography and history taught the students all about the world. It was an amazing show!

Later in the day, our class partnered with Mrs. Frey's class for a lesson in how artists draw. The students loved the small group lesson as much as the grade-level assembly. They were amazed that so many objects can be drawn from just 3 simple shapes.

Holiday Traditions

During the past  week we have been talking about how different  families celebrate the holidays. We have read several holiday books and discussed how the family's traditions are similar/different from our's. Please add one of your family's traditions to our padlet. 

Created with Padlet

Essential Question: What is a tradition that your family has? What does your family do to celebrate this tradition? >

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to think about all of the things you are thankful for. The students did several activities during the past couple of weeks related to Thanksgiving.  First, we read books to learn what it was like to live during the pilgrim times. 

Then we compared the students' lives now to childrens' lives during pilgrim times. We found out it was very different a long time ago. This is what we learned:

• The children had more chores than we do and didn't have much time to play.
• They had to wear a lot more clothes than we do.
• The boys had to hunt for food and work in the fields.
• The girls had to clean and cook.
• They didn't have all the different foods we have, just what they could grow.
• The houses were different and the children slept in one bed.
• They used grass or feathers in the pillows.
• Being a pilgrim or Wampanoag child was hard work and all of the students were quite thankful they do not live during pilgrim times.

** essential question: How is life different now compared to life during pilgrim times?

We also read a book called Thanks For Thanksgiving and answered the question: What are you thankful for?

For a fun project we created a fun Chatterpix video with the students beautifully decorated turkeys. Each student gave their turkey a name and pretending to be the turkey, described themselves and told why they wouldn't be a good turkey to eat on Thanksgiving. 

Here is the link so you can watch and enjoy :)

Please Don't Eat Me!

Halloween Fun!

This was an exciting week in 2-O.  To get ready for Halloween, the students created riddles about their costumes for their classmates to solve. First, the students drew themselves in their costumes with as much detail as they could. Next, they created riddles that provided a classmate with clues about their costume. Last, all of the pictures were put around the room and each student was given a peer's riddle. They had to use the clues in the riddle to find the matching picture. They had a lot of fun and did a great job.

Parents, can you solve the riddles as well as the students? See if you can match each student's picture with their riddle.

                                            

                                                 

                                                   

                                                   

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L.2.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.2.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.2.3  Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Friday's Halloween celebration was very exciting.. It began with a parade and ended with a classroom party. The students looked amazing in their Halloween costumes and had fun parading outside for the parents and families and inside for their peers. During our classroom party the students rotated between centers. They made paper cup mummies and pumpkins sitting on a wall, and pom pom spiders, They played pin the eye on the monster, and Halloween bingo. Thank you to Mrs. Braccia and Mrs. Bucchiere for planning and running the craft stations. 

A Giant Pumpkin!

On Thursday we had a very special visitor. Mr. Lancaster brought his giant pumpkin to school for the children to see. At 1,954 pounds it was the second place winner at the Topsfield Fair. The children had a chance to touch the pumpkin and ask Mr. Lancaster questions. 
Parents, ask your children what they learned about this giant pumpkin. I think you will be as amazed as we were :) 

After, the children wrote in their writing journals what they had learned about the pumpkin.