Country Presentation Photos

Short Week in November

Hope everyone had a fun Trick-or Treat weekend! I’ve been out of the classroom now for two days due to a PYP training at Einstein High School. It was a great training and I learned the “ins-and-outs” of the PYP curriculum, plus I got to network with the other international teachers here in Quito.

This week will be a short week, just two days. In Language Arts, we’ll continue our study of cause and effect.

In math, we’re working on honing our addition strategies in order to add quickly basic facts 0-18.

In writing, we’ll continue to work on the trait of “Word Choice”, incorporating what we’ve learned into a writing piece on how it feels to be a migrant.

It’s a short week! We’ll enjoy being in school for two days and then I’d love to hear from your children about their travels over the November holiday.

Enjoy J

Ms. Rachel

Greetings from Room B-6!

Halloween:

Halloween parties will be Friday October 27 from 2-3pm. Your child will bring their costume in a bag and change into it in the classroom. (I unfortunately will be absent on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at a PYP International Baccalaureate Training at Einstein High School, but I’m sure the substitute will be wonderful! And Mrs. Valeria and other moms have been planning some fun and engaging Halloween activities for the children). After the party the high school kids have been planning a haunted house with all proceeds going towards Habitat for Humanity. I believe their festivities begin at 5:00PM. Also, on Friday there are NO extra curricular activities.

Inquiry:

The students have made a list of questions they want to ask other classes here at AC about migration. They are surveying the other classes in small groups and then we will compile all the answers onto an appropriate data display (bar graph or pie chart). Interviewing skills are being practiced a lot by your children and they’re doing a great job.

Math:

We’re moving into Addition and subtraction facts 0-18 and using strategies to solve the math problems that make sense. We’ve also working on simple addition with regrouping problems. Many of the children are struggling with this in school. It’s a difficult concept. Please be patient with your children at home. I explain that the double digit number has 2 places (TENS and ONES). The ones must always go into the ones house and the tens up above in the tens house. We’ll get it with lots of practice in the classroom.

Writer’s Workshop:

We’re working on increasing our vocabulary in WORD CHOICE. We’re making a list of smile words that kids can use as a resource for writing. We’re also writing our country reports having to do with Migration.

Guided Reading:

As our focus is migration, kids are reading books that have to do with people migrating, what they leave behind and what they maintain. Kids are also learning a lot about history as many of the books are in the genre of Historical Fiction.

Language Arts:

Our focus this week is on Cause/Effect. We’re reading the “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie” series of books and then the kids are generating their own examples of cause and effect.

Happy Halloween!

Ms. Rachel

Migration Newsletter

News from Ms. Rachel’s Grade 2 Class:

MIGRATION Unit of Inquiry

We are now at the start of our second Unit of Inquiry…Where we are in Place and Time (Migration)! 

Read on to find out all that’s going on:

I.        Unit of Inquiry

The main focus of this, our second Unit of Inquiry out of six, is as follows:

·    Central idea: When People Migrate they Adapt to a Changing World

·    Transdisciplinary theme: Where we are in Place and Time

·    PYP Attributes (from the PYP Profile): Balanced and Open-Minded

·    PYP Attitudes: Tolerance and Empathy

·    PYP Skills: Social skills (i.e. respect, cooperation, resolving conflict, etc)

·    An inquiry into: How to maintain one’s original culture while adapting to a new one, our roles and responsibilities as hosts and migrants, why people immigrate, and the effects of immigration.

·    Some of the student’s inquiry questions: Why do people migrate? What kinds of transportation do people use to migrate?

Throughout this unit we will utilize various read-aloud books, graphic organizers, software (such as the 3-D World Atlas), cooperative group projects (involving SMART Board presentations to peers), library research, interviews, acts of kindness, classroom role-plays and more in order to get an in-depth understanding of the topic of migration.  In the end, it is our hope that each of the students will have a first-hand appreciation of what it feels like to be an immigrant, how they each can help those around them to transition well to a new home, as well as have an appreciation for what new cultures have to offer all of us!  

II.      Language Arts

In order to practice the writing process and 6+1 Writing Traits, students are learning each of the writing traits by experiencing them with a Read-Aloud. We read Leo Leoni’s A Busy Year to get familiar with and practice the trait of Organization. Now we are moving on to Word Choice, another important writing trait. We’ll be reading some books that show great words and kids will be making lots of resource lists of smile words, angry words, funny words that they can draw on as they write their own pieces. We share our stories each Friday in an Author’s Chair. I will invite parents to come to one of these informal events so that you all can see the excellent work your children are doing in the classroom!

In grammar, students learn and practice punctuation, capitalization, contractions, and comma use daily in Daily Oral Language (DOL). We’re working on consistently applying these grammar rules in our writing. In Spelling, we do Words Their Way each week for students to explore vowel patterns, endings of words, etc. It’s a researched based program proven to help students internalize the rules of English spelling which can by quite tricky.

Regarding reading, one of our reading group books for this unit is titled, When Africa was Home, by Karen Williams.  It is a beautiful book that addresses many migration issues that our students are familiar with and, in addition, uses very colorful language to describe and elicit questions related to empathy. 

As part of our inquiry into this unit, the students will form cooperative groups that will research countries that are among those that the students have identified as places where others from our school have migrated from.  Through the use of interviews, the internet and library resources, the students will learn specific information regarding their particular country of study. More importantly, they will also be able to identify three important inquiry topics for this unit: Reasons for migrating, adaptations that migrants make to better assimilate to a new environment, and what aspects migrants have chosen to maintain from their native countries.  In the end, the students will present their findings informally to one of the other second grade classes, and visa versa.

III.   Math

     We are transitioning to our next math unit, Unit 3 which is addition and subtraction computation. The students will be generating strategies to solve facts 0-18. I will need your support from home to practice math facts flash cards which I’ll send home. Thanks for your support! We’ll also learn: properties of operations, probability and graphing.  

Also, in terms of telling time, you might consider buying your child an analog watch. Telling time is a concept that most 2^nd graders are very interested in…imagine having a clock on your very own wrist to practice time with! (It makes the practicing the skill of telling time immediate and rewarding)

IV.   Miscellaneous –

·    Halloween – This class party will take place on Friday, October 28^th from 2:00 to 3:00, and is an informal celebration that will be happening in each of the classrooms. Students should come to school in their usual clothes, and bring their costumes in a bag. Please be sure that the students don’t bring anything that would be considered violent (toy weapons) or gory (bloody, etc).

As you can see, there’s lot of learning going on in Grade 2! Thanks again, for all your home support. It truly makes a difference.

Your partner in learning,

 Ms. Rachel

This week has been a great week of learning! Kids are really becoming the experts on their states. Yesterday, the students shared all their findings with their classmates. Today, they'll share their findings with other 2nd grade classes. Don't forget, States Day for parents is coming up this Thursday, June 9 from 1:30-3:00pm. I'd like for the students to wear costumes that show their famous person's characteristics. (Although if you don't have anything at home, please do not go out and buy something just for this occasion!)

Spring Fair is Saturday, June 11 from 2-5pm. If you'd like to contribute beauty products for our Spring Fair basket, bring those in asap.

2nd grade picnic is Monday, June 13. It will be all day games, water games and we'll even have an ice cream sundae bar in the afternoon. If you'd like to help with set up/serving/clean up of the ice cream bar, please let me know. We could use your help from 1:30-3pm.

Thanks so much for all your help and support!

Ms. Howard

The Final Stretch

Dear Parents,

-The final stretch of 2nd grade is upon us! We're busy compiling artifacts for our States Day on June 7. I'm amazed at the growth I've seen in the students. Now they're writing long paragraphs, synthesizing information from websites, atlases and other media and really showing their creativity! 

-Yesterday, we released our butterflies. The children wrote farewell poems and letters to their tiny creatures. They were all very heartfelt. The students understood that although they were sad to let them go, butterflies really do belong in nature. Thanks to Mrs. Hudson for taking wonderful pictures of the kids with the butterflies.

-Just a reminder that our class’s PTA Spring Fair Basket items are due as soon as possible because the PTA will be raffling off the baskets on Saturday, June 11. Our class theme is Beauty Products. You can donate lotion, body wash, perfume or any other beauty product. Thanks so much for your support for the PTA.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Ms. Howard

States Day

States Day is coming! Thursday, June 9 from about 1-3pm. More details to follow!

I hope you will be able to join us!

It was great to see so many of you at the Book Festival yesterday. Wow! The weather couldn't have been more perfect. I got to meet several children's authors as I was escorting them from speaking tent to signing table.

This week, no TFK homework (the magazine is taking a publishing break!) The reading homework is just regular reading comprehension homework.

In math, we're learning capacity of solids (how to calculate it).

Social Studies is to continue our States Day research. States Day is tentatively scheduled for June 6 in the afternoon. However, I might need to change it to June 8. I'll send out a firm date once I know it.

Just a few updates from Room 9...

Science-Butterflies are about ready to hatch. Children have been observing the chrysalises and noticed the body parts of the butterfly, even though it is still forming. They've also been making detailed observations and practicing drawing these details.

Insect Field Trip-It was wonderful! Your children got to explore three habitats (pond, meadow, forest) and made observations about what insects live where and why! What a fantastic way to learn science by hands on experiences. We were very lucky with the weather too!

Math-Capacity. We've been doing hands on activities to reinforce concepts of capacity. For example, children were able to use droppers to fill a liter bottle. We realized that it takes 1,000 drops (roughly a milliliter) to fill a liter bottle.

Writing/Geography Project-Children have chosen one US state they want to research. We'll be working on this project for the next several weeks. Students will be honing their research skills both on-line and using book resources. At the end, students will present their findings.

Spring Fair Baskets-Beauty Supplies. These are due the beginning of June. If you'd like to participate, please send in a beauty product with your child. Then the PTA will raffle them off. Thanks for your support!

materials needed for measurement math unit

Hi Parents,
We are starting our last math unit of the year, capacity, weight, measurement.

I'd like for my students to get hands on experience with different capacity units, so if you have any clean, empty bottles, please send them in. I want the units of measurements to be on the bottles. Examples would be:
shampoo bottles, water bottles, lotion bottles, empty cereal boxes (with weight). Just send them in with your children.

Thanks so much!
Ms. Howard

International Night was a Success!

Thank you for all who came out for International Night! Your children did a wonderful job presenting their Country Reports. I had several comments like, "Wow, they are just 2nd graders?" I said, yes, when the teacher's expectations are HIGH, kids can do amazing things!

Remember, tomorrow (Monday, May 16) we go to the Smith Center for our insect field trip. Rain or Shine! The kids are very excited to be insect detectives. And they earned a class ice cream party, so I'm sure they will tell you all about that too :-)

This week in reading/language arts, we're reading a novel all together called "The Chalk Box Kid." We'll be analyzing the characters and how the setting affects their actions.

In Math, we're continuing our unit of study on measurement, capacity, weight, mass, temperature. Please send in any empty containers you have (see last post) so your kids can get hands on experiences with capacity.

In Science, the caterpillars are progressing right along! It's been so interesting to hear your children asking so many great questions. They are learning about life cycles right in front of their eyes. In a few days the caterpillars will begin to make a chrysalis and begin their final transformations. We're planning a butterfly release ceremony, but will let you know of the exact date when the time approaches.

If you'd like to attend, the Gaithersburg Book Festival is coming up this coming Saturday, May 21. It should be a great day of books, literacy, learning and fun!

Lots going on this time of year! Thanks for all your support!

Ms. Howard

May is in Full Swing

Poetry Afternoon
This afternoon (Friday, May 6) from 1:30-2:30. Hope to see you then!

Zoo Trip
It was a huge success! The kids got to see the animals, very active. The weather was beautiful and the kids experienced all they wanted to see. We plotted out their strategy before we went, so they got to use their map skills, too!

Insect Field Trip
We will go on May 16 to the Smith Center. Please send in your child's $6.00 as soon as possible. This ties in directly with our Life Cycle of the Butterfly Unit, which brings me to...

Science Updates
The caterpillars have arrived! We will start our unit on Monday, May 9. The kids will get to have their own caterpillar to observe as it morphs into a new creature. This is a very exciting time of year.

International Night-May 12 6-8pm

Thanks to those who have agreed to present their country day reports. This will be happening in the Media Center during International Night. Even if your child doesn't want to present, please come out for it! It will be a wonderful event celebrating all our diversity at GES.

Thanks for all your help and support!

Ms. Howard

Happy May

Happy May!

Just a few quick updates.

Math-We are computing 3 digit numbers using multiplication and division

Reading/Language Arts-Poetry

Science-Life Cycle of the Butterfly

Social Studies-Important Leaders both past and present

Many important dates are coming up...

May 3 is Science/College Night.

May 5 is our all day Zoo trip to DC

May 6 from 1:30-3:00 is our Poetry Afternoon. If you are able, please come out and hear your children read original poems.

May 12 is International Night

May 16 is our Insect Field Trip to the Smith Center (more info to follow)

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks as always for your home support!

Ms. Howard

It's Back to Work and School!

Dear Parents,
I hope you had a restful Spring Break. We're in the final stretch of 2nd grade. Lots of busy things going on:

-Our Zoo Trip is next Thursday, May 5.

-Our caterpillars will arrive soon!

-International Night will be Thursday, May 12 from 6-8pm. I am sending home a form tomorrow if you'd like your child to participate in presenting their Country Day reports from December.

-TFK (Time for Kids) is taking a publishing break for the next week. Therefore, our reading homework is a Reading Comprehension packet.

Check back often for more updates from Room 9.

Take care,
Ms. Howard

Happy Spring Break

Dear Parents,


I wish each of you a happy Spring Break!

Just to let you know what’s been going on in Room 9:

In Math, the students are learning a new way to multiply larger numbers called Lattice. Ask them to teach it to you! It’s a really fun way to multiply and it keeps the numbers organized much better than the traditional method. Next week (after break) we’ll be moving into long division.

In Reading/Language Arts, we’re into poetry. Yesterday, the kids explored onomatopoeia by creating a sound map of the construction site outside our classroom. We even colored the sound words with the colors the children saw in their heads. Students have been creating poems, reading poems and reciting poems.

In Science, we’re research the life cycle of the painted lady butterfly in anticipation of our very own caterpillars. Hopefully they will arrive soon!

Enjoy the break!

Ms. Howard

2nd grade updates

Dear Parents,
Next week, our last week before Spring Break, will again be very busy.

On Monday, all 2nd grades students will be presenting Science projects they've been working on with our science/technology teacher, Mrs. Henderson. It will be a great opportunity for the children to practice presentation, listening and questioning skills.

We will continue our poetry study by examining and writing poems with alliteration, personification, similes and onopatopoeia.

In math, we're learning decimals to the tenths, hundredths and thousandths place. We've been using money as an example to learn decimals. This is a challenging concept and we're using hands-on materials like hundreds blocks, pennies and dimes to make the decimals more "real." We'll also be moving on to various strategies for solving two-digit multiplication problems (algorithm, lattice, etc.)

We're hoping the caterpillars come soon to begin our study of the life cycle of the painted lady butterflies.

Friday will be a Spring Sing put on by the 4th and 5th grade chorus students.

Here's to learning!
Ms. Howard

TN2 Day 1

You should be very proud of your children! All had their thinking caps on and made a fantastic effort on Day 1 of Terra Nova Testing. Keep up the great work!

This week, we have only Time for Kids homework, no math homework. Our mornings will be interrupted by the Terra Nova test, so I'm not sure how much math we'll be able to cover. Math homework will resume next week.

Enjoy this beautiful Spring weather!

Just a few reminders for April

Remember, no school tomorrow (March 31) for a teacher work day.
Quarter 4 begins Friday, April 1. Hard to believe!

Please send in the Book-It reading logs for March.

We have three days of Terra Nova testing beginning Monday, April 4-Wednesday April 6. Your children are very prepared for the test and I'm confident will do an excellent job on it! The testing will be just in the mornings. In the afternoons, we'll resume our normal schedule.

Report cards go home April 7.

I sent home Quarter 3 certificates today. Your children are doing an excellent job in 2nd grade! Keep up the great work.

We're excited in Room 9 because soon we start "The Life Cycle of the Butterfly." I'm sure you'll hear all about it once we start in a couple of weeks.

We're going to be starting our Poetry Unit in Literacy Block. Your children will be reading and writing poetry. We'll present this in an afternoon of poetry later in April...more details to follow!

In Math, we're starting decimals! This fits in nicely with our study of fractions and money.

Let me know of any questions. Thanks so much for your support from home.

Just 3 more days for Quarter 3! It's hard to believe 2nd grade is flying by so quickly (at least for me!)
Just a quick preview of next week...
In Math we'll be starting making change and counting large denominations of money. You can practice this at home with your child.
In Literacy we're wrapping up making inferences. The children have been creating the speech bubbles for comics and making their own stories looking at the illustrations of wordless picture books.
No school on Thursday, March 31 (it's a teacher work day).
Enjoy the weekend!
Ms. Howard

Hi Parents,
Just a few reminders. On Monday (March 21) we'll have individual and group photos. Please make sure your child is wearing something nice :-) We'll also preview the Spring Book Fair on Monday.

We had a great week of learning here in room 9! Ask your child how a whale stays warm...our hands-on-science experiement was fantastic! The children also learned about famous people by listening to their peers present themselves as a famous person from History.

Next week in math, we'll continue our fractions study (adding mixed numbers and exploring equivalent fractions using fraction bars).

In Reading, we'll be making inferences by reading many wordless picture books. Then the students will be making their own pages  of the book. We'll also make inferences using comic strips.

In Social Studies, we're going to explore all the steps a single grape takes to "turn into" a box of raisins. This hands on lesson will help the children understand goods, transportation and factories as well as trading.

Please send in the GT Global Screenings that were sent home. I've gotten many back, but am missing a few. IF you need another one, please just email me. I hope you enjoy the beautiful weekend with your family!

3-D Shape Villages

Just a quick update from Room 9...

Math...the 3-D villages have proven to be a great way to reinforce geometric concepts that 3-D shapes are made up of a variety of 2-D shapes. We also incorporated WRITING TO PERSUADE as the students had to persuade me why their village was the best (with 3 good reasons!) And of course, concepts of Social Studies were evident because some groups included government buildings, grocery stores, houses, etc. They really had to think what is essential in a great functioning community.

Literacy...we presented some biographies today. The kids spoke in the first person and the "audience" had to generate questions about the person's life. We're also continuing our cereal box book reports and main idea/details.

Science...tomorrow we're going to do a hands on experiment with crisco and plastic bags to show the students how whales blubber keeps them warm.

Next Monday (March 21) we'll have both group and individual pictures. We'll also preview the Book Fair as a class. Next Wednesday (March 23) is a Book Fair Fun Night. Come out with your families to this great event!

That's it for now from Room 9. Take care! Ms. Howard

Preview of Next Week

Math-We are going along with the 3rd graders who are currently review concepts for their MSA test, so we are too! On Monday, we’ll be learning about 3-D shapes and creating them using gumdrops and toothpicks. Fun! On Tuesday and Wednesday, children will be using nets (flat shapes) to make 3-D villages. Thursday and Friday will be adding mixed numbers and adding fractions.

Literacy-Our main focus this week is on main idea, details and summaries. We’re going to be focusing on WHALES. I’ve pulled several high-interest books on whales for students to find the main idea and write summaries. They’ll also be doing a mini-research project on WHALES.

Writing-Our focus is “Writing to Persuade.” Children are writing letters to each other and to me, persuading the person to go along with them by giving three good reasons. We’re also reviewing how to correctly write addresses. This is a skill you can reinforce at home, perhaps by having your children write letters to relatives and addressing them, using the correct format.

Social Studies-Goods/Services continues to be our focus.

It will surely be a great week of learning! :-)

Our Field Trip :-)

Perseus Bayou was a great success! We had front row seats, the kids enjoyed the creative costumes and story. It's so wonderful that Imagination Stage can make a hard to understand Greek Myth come alive with song, dance and great acting! I heard some students are planning their own version of the play!

We're still hard at work learning about biographies of famous people. Some kids have been learning about Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, Roberto Clemente, Abraham Lincoln, among many others.

It was a great day of learning in Room 9! :-)

TFK Homework and Math Homework

Hi Parents,
TFK Homework for this week is actually the last issue from 2010 (we haven't gotten any new ones for a few weeks). I had to Xerox some of the students copies.

Math homework will be capacity and volume.

Our Wednesday field trip will be great! I've been talking about the Louisiana Swamp with them...tomorrow we'll talk about Perseus.

Thanks,
Ms. Howard

Great to See Everyone This Morning!

It was so great to see you all at our Author's Tea Celebration this morning. YOU should be proud of all the hard work your children have done! We have a class filled with excellent writers!

Next week, we'll continue our study of biographies. Students will be choosing one figure from history to research. Then we'll pretend we are the people from history and interview each other. This will give the children a chance to practice questioning and to become a historical figure. In math, we're going to be doing a brief unit on measuring units.

If you'd like to preview Perseus Bayou, the show we'll see on Wed. March 9, check out http://www.imaginationstage.com/. Remember to send in an empty cereal box.

Enjoy the beautiful weekend. See your children on Monday :-)

Author's Tea, Tomorrow!

Remember, if you are able, come to our Author's Tea, tomorrow (Friday) from 10-11:30am. Then you may stay for lunch from 11:30-12noon. We'll dismiss at 12:35pm.

Also, I'm the chair of the International Night Planning Committee. If you have any contacts with performing groups, please let me know (ie: Irish Step Dance groups, Bolivian dancers, Chinese dancers, etc, etc).

We started biographies yesterday, the kids seemed excited to learn about a variety of people both from the past and present by reading books about them.

Cereal Boxes Needed

Dear Parents,
Starting next week, we're going to be starting "cereal box" book reports in the classroom. Can you please send your child in to school with an empty cereal box, wrapped with plain white paper. I will need them by Monday, March 7. Thanks so much!
Ms. Howard

PJ Day

We had a great day of learning in room 9! It was great to see so many of your kid in their comfy, cozy PJ's. We started our day with elapsed time. This is a difficult concept, so you may need to reinforce this at home. For example: If I start cooking dinner at 4:45pm and we sit down to eat at 6:20pm, how long did I spend preparing dinner?

We also spent a large part of the day talking about and practicing presentation skills like standing up straight, looking at the audience, projecting your voice, etc. We're going to be SO ready for our Author's Tea on Friday!

TKF went home today...it's an older issue, but still very relevant. Math homework is all about TIME. Encourage your child to tell the time using an analog clock.

Remember tomorrow is dress the color of your favorite fruit.

Stay dry!
Ms. Howard

SOME OF MY FAVORITE WEBSITES FOR 2ND GRADERS

Dear Parents,

The following are some of my favorite websites for 2nd graders. If you have some suggestions of other educational websites, please let me know and I'll add them to the lists. I apologize in advance that you cannot click on the link. You'll have to copy and paste.

Happy learning!

Ms. Howard 
Math Sites:

http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/math-trainer-addition.html

· Spacey Math: http://www.learningplanet.com/sam/sm/index.asp

· Mathflash: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/thurgoodmarshalles/java-applets/Mathflash/Mathflash_small.html

· Speed Grid: http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Addition/urikares.html

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION-A wonderful collection of websites for kids!

http://www.ala.org/greatsites

www.pebblego.com

username: gaithersburg password: school

CULTURE GRAMS

www.proquestk12.com/myproducts

username: mcps password: mcps

WORLD BOOK

www.worldbookonline.com

username: gaithers password: mcpses

TIME FOR KIDS

www.timeforkids.com

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

www.kids.nationalgeographic.com

SCHOLASTIC

www.scholastic.com

BOOK-IT READING PROGRAM

www.bookitprogram.com


US MAP GAMES
www.yourchildlearns.com/us_map.htm
www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html


www.pbskids.org/games/music.html
(you can create your own symphony with different world beats)

What a Busy Week!!!

We had a great Friday, even though we lost power at the end of the day due to the high winds!

Our class is preparing for our Author's Tea on March 4. I sent the kids home today with their Author's Tea Folders. They are to practice reading their writing pieces many times, focusing on using a strong "teacher voice", looking up as they are reading, and reading like they speak (with expression!). If you could be an audience for them that would be wonderful! Some of them also need to finish up a piece so that it is ready by Friday, March 4.

Also, our 3-5 graders will soon be taking the MSA. So, next week is Spirit Week. Here's the schedule, if you'd like your child to participate:
Monday-PJ Day
Tuesday-Wear the color of your favorite fruits
Wednesday-Wear something backwards
Thursday-Hat Day
Friday-GES T-shirt, school colors or sports team

Have a fantastic weekend!
Ms. Howard

HOS forms

It was great to see so many of you all at Math/Nutrition Night! I hope you had a great evening (I know my eyes were opened to how much sugar is in everyday food products!)

Hands on Science forms went home in Thursday packets. IF you’d like to register your child, please send those in ASAP. Also, I haven’t gotten field trip permission forms from everyone yet. Please return those as soon as you are able for our March 9 excursion to Imagination Stage.

And, don’t forget about our special Author’s Tea coming up this Friday, March 4. Hope to see you all there!

Enjoy the weekend!

Ms. Howard

Math Night Tonight!

Come one, come all to Math/Nutrition Night! We've been working for many months to plan this event. It will kick off at 6:30 with kabobs. Then we'll have three sessions to learn about healthy cooking and math too! Hope to see you all there :-)

Invite to Author's Tea

You are cordially invited to:

 Ms. Howard’s 2^nd grade Author’s Tea

WHO-Parents and friends of Ms. Howard’s Students

WHAT-A Celebration of Writing! You will hear students read their favorite original writing pieces like Original Cinderella Stories, Original Tall Tale Stories, Animal Research, Original Plays, SMART board presentations, etc.

WHERE-Ms. Howard’s Classroom, Room 9

WHEN-Friday, March 4 10:00-11:30 (you are welcome to stay for lunch with your child from 11:30-12:00). Then we have an early release.

WHY-Because 2^nd grade students have been hard at work writing and would like an audience to read to!

TFK Homework

Dear Parents,
I hope you all are enjoying the new Time for Kids Homework. It's a way for families to connect over current events while your child improves reading comprehension. Plus, the format is very motivating! If your child happens to lose the magazine or the questions, you can always go to www.timeforkids.com and download past/current issues and follow-up activities for free.
Thanks,
Ms. Howard

Welcome to our Class Blog

Dear Parents,
Welcome to our new class blog! I will be posting very frequently about our adventures in learning in 2nd grade! Check frequently.
Here are some updates:

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Math/Nutrition Night is this coming Wednesday, February 23 at 6:30pm. Families will go home with goody bags from Whole Foods, will get yummy kabobs for dinner and will participate in three sessions about healthy eating, living, and how math is relevant in meal planning!
• Our field trip to Imagination Stage in Bethesda will be Wednesday, March 9 to see Perseus Bayou, a Cajun folktale. We are so excited that we got grant money so tickets are free! The $5.50 pays for the bus transportation.
• Hands on Science registration forms went home, but I understand all were in Spanish. I am working to get the English version sent home. If you are able, please sign your child up for this great extracurricular opportunity!
• Please continue to send in loose/spare change for Pennies for Patients.

LITERACY UPDATES

• A week ago, students finished a genre study of "Cinderella Stories from Around the World." We studied Cinderella stories from Iran, Korea, France, USA (Native American Tribes) and Mexico. Students also researched these countries in the media center before we read the stories to build their background knowledge and created posters about the climate, foods, clothing and lifestyle in each country. Students were able to compare the similarities and differences between each Cinderella story (all include good vs. evil, a godmother figure, a missing "something", helpers in the form of animals, magic, 3's, etc.). Last, students wrote their OWN Cinderella stories. They chose the country, the characters, the problem, the solution. Then published them using Power Point. We will be working on their Cinderella Power Point presentations and may invite parents in for an informal presentation.
• This past week, Room 9 was filled with EXAGGERATIONS!!!!! Why? Because we read American Tall Tales, including the stories of Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill. Students really enjoyed identifying the characteristics of Tall Tales like exaggerations (who ever heard of a 156 pound baby born with a hammer in his hand?) Tall Tales are a great way to learn how our country was settled during the Westward Expansion in the 1800's. Students were able to create their own Tall Tale Heroes based on all the stories we read in the classroom. They also wrote letters to their favorite Tall Tale Hero. This made them think about themselves in the context of a historical figure. A great higher order thinking task!
• This coming week, we will be reading an old version of Jack and the Beanstalk with some tough vocabulary as part of the Junior Great Books series. We will be analyzing the characters and looking at good vs. evil and asking some tough questions like, "What does "desperation" mean?  Is Jack really a good character in this story? Why is the giant/ogre the bad guy, wasn't Jack stealing from him? It will be an interesting week of questioning! I'm looking forward to it.

MATH UPDATES

• Because the third graders will be taking MSA and we are doing third grade math, we have been revisiting some math concepts that may seem out of order! (We don't take MSA, don't worry!) This past week we learned fractions, then we'll be moving onto probability, then time, then measurement. It seems very disjointed and I apologize!!!
• The middle of March, we will go back to our Unit Curriculum to start a more indepth study of fractions.
• Please continue to practice basic multiplication and division flashcards with your child. (The dollar store has some great flashcards for cheap!)

SOCIAL STUDIES UPDATES

• We're starting our study of economics. This week, students will be making collages from magazine images to understand "needs versus wants" and "goods versus services." We'll read "If you give a mouse a cookie" to understand that our wants are unlimited and that's what drives the market. Later on in the unit we'll be studying how our world is related by trading by identifying key products that come from countries around the world. (Oil, agricultural products, factory goods, etc)

SCIENCE UPDATES

• Mrs. Henderson has been teaching Science in her weekly special. The kids have learned about the properties of liquids by doing many hands on experiments. 
• In mid-April we start the best Science unit of the year, the Life Cycle of the Butterfly...the kids will get their very own egg and observe it through its amazing metamorphosis...but more about that later!

OTHER UPDATES

• Our classroom was chosen as the proud recipient of a SMART board (we won the raffle!) This is an interactive white board. I am still learning the technology, but we have been using it to identify our place of the day on an interactive world atlas, doing some research using Pebblego and using it for math. I plan to continue learning how the thing works to best teach the kids.
• I have some exciting news...I was offered a 2nd grade position at Academia Cotopaxi an American International School in Quito, Ecuador for the 2011-12 school year. I've accepted the position, but with mixed emotions. I'm very excited for this great professional opportunity (the school follows the IB program (International Baccalaureate), has SMART boards in many classrooms, state of the art technology, beautiful campus) and Ecuador is a country I've lived in, worked in and visited many times. However, Gaithersburg ES is such a wonderful place to work and your children are such wonderful little people. I will greatly miss them! But, my plan is to do some technology projects like penpals through blogs and emails, Skype phone interviews and other ways to connect my new students with students at GES. So, even though I'll be thousands of miles away, technology is an amazing connector!