Back to School

 

Stop by our classroom on Thursday, September 1 for a sneak peak at the room.

You are welcome to bring in your supplies and set up your desk that day too!

Room 205 will be open from 2:30 - 3:00 pm

 

Summer's not over yet! What's left on your bucket list?

I've found many little furry friends to snuggle with but I'm always on the lookout for new opportunities!

I've gotten lost in the pages of several great books this summer. I think there's time to squeeze in one more.

Can you spot the dragonfly?

Have you been watching the Olympic Games? Imagine what is must be like to have the title of the fastest man or woman in the world or to be the very best at your sport. Were you inspired to try anything new?

 

See you soon!

 

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Around the World Week

What a week we had! It all began with opening ceremonies Olympic style. We stamped our passports and headed for Brazil. After making visors and flags, we met our fellow second grade athletes down at the field and recited the Olympic Oath together. Festivities kicked off with an Olympic torch relay.

Later on we made rain sticks to represent the rainforests in South America then we were off to Australia.

We practiced some of the slang from down under and played a fun game called "Who's caught the roo?". After learning about the Aboriginal Art form of dot painting, we tried it out. Mr. Gansenburg showed us how to play a didgeridoo!

The next day we stamped our passports to enter China. We joined our fellow Olympians for a chopstick chicken relay. Back inside we practiced using chopsticks, made tangram pictures, painted fans with Chinese symbols and played Chinese Checkers.

The next day we explored Africa. We began in the northern region learning about the customs of Egypt. Decked out in gilded headdresses and collars, we worked on reading and writing hieroglyphics. In the afternoon we traveled south and explored the cultural tradition of African mask making and played Mancala.

Our last stop was India. Two first grade students visited to teach us traditional games they play. In the afternoon we had fun learning a tag game called Ko Ko. We learned about the art form of henna and practiced some designs. Later, we read a traditional tale and played snakes and ladders. Mrs. C. brought in hand carved wooden elephants from India. We listened to traditional music as we colored in mandala elephant designs.

Where can your imagination take you?

 

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Our trip to the Aquarium

Sorry for the delay with this post. We've been SO busy in class publishing books and finishing projects. I have posted a few recent pictures on Twitter lately. I hope you've seen them! @mrsholm2

 

We had a great time visiting the New England Aquarium in Boston. This trip supports our science curriculum as we study animal habitats and adaptations. Thank you to our chaperones for your help and time and for the great photos!

We saw a sea lion show upon arrival. This was a great demonstration of how intelligent animals are and how effectively humans and animals can work together.

There were several opportunities for hands on discovery including a new exhibit about turtle rescue and rehabilitation.

Some of the highlights of the trip were the penguin exhibit, the sting ray and tiger shark touch tank and the IMAX 3D show "Secrets of the Ocean".

 

 

 

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LANDMARKS REVEALED

Look what a little creativity and a lot of

Model Magic can do!

Now we're learning about fossils, roots, and shoots!

What did you learn today?

 

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Fun and Learning

There's never a dull moment around here! There is so much to learn and so many ways to do it. In social social studies we've been learning about famous landmarks in the US and around the world. Now that we know all the continents, it is interesting to learn about the natural and manmade structures that add to the history and culture of each place.

Since we're also learning about geometry and measurement, we worked in groups to build landmarks from base ten and attribute blocks.

Everyone chose one landmark to research then constructed it from model magic. Look for an upcoming post to see the results....they came out great! We learned many amazing facts.

In addition to academics, we're always working on showing HEART. We recently filled our HEART jar and celebrated with a games party.

Honesty Effort Acceptance Respect Take Responsibility

We've been very busy writing stories. Everyone has chosen a favorite story to make into a hard cover book. Recently two local authors visited the second graders.

Kristine Asselyn gave us great advice for writing and showed us some of her published fiction and non fiction books.

Erik Matson inspired us to try our hand at science fiction and signed our class copies of his books.

Be sure to ask your child what he or she is writing about!

 

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A week of celebrations!

Last week was a busy one...we needed a vacation! After a snow day Monday, we began the week learning about the Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Monkey.

For the 100th Day of School we had fun dressing up as 100 year olds! It was a little tricky for some old timers to make it through the 100 sign on their way in.

These were the best looking senior citizens

I've ever seen!

Some tried to tell me they were too old to do math. I told them they ought to be really good at it by now!

Then it was on to Valentine's Day. Thank you to the parents who sent in donations and came in to help.

Our heart rates were up and we were ready for vacation by the end!

 

 

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Biography Reports

Our biography unit is one of my favorites, I look forward to it every year. The posters and presentations are fantastic of course but the nuts and bolts of the unit are designed to meet second grade reading and social studies standards.

Every student chose a different biography so we could benefit from learning about 21 famous people during the presentations, rather than just a few. Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt thought it was cool that they were both carved into Mt. Rushmore!

One of our standards is: After reading or listening to a variety of true stories about individuals recognized for their achievements, describe and compare different ways people have achieved great distinction (e.g. Scientific, professional, political, religious, commercial, military, athletic, or artistic).

As you can see, we learned about a wide range of people from different eras and interests.

Did you know that Leonardo daVinci only finished one of his paintings or that Derek Jeter was in the Air Force?

Some are still living and some have left

their legacy behind.

Both Claude Monet and Claude Bunnet paid us a visit!!

Great job to all on the projects.

Maybe someday we'll read about you!

 

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