Publishing!!

We are presently wrapping up our first session in Writer's Workshop. We have been busily writing personal narratives based on our life experiences. The students have produced many wonderful pieces and I have learned quite a bit about everyone's interests. From the many pieces each has developed, only one can be published since authors do not publish every piece they create. After carefully rereading every piece s/he created, each student selected one to "fancy" up and publish. Not only did the selected piece have to be what the student thought was his/her best, it also had to be one the audience would (in this case fellow classmates) like. For this publication, the children are "typing" their texts into the Microsoft Publisher program. The text will be printed out and illustrated by hand. The students must decide how many pages to use to tell the story with both illustrations and words. As the students finish, I will publish the text of each on the blog. I will only use each child's first name and will let the child's family know when it has been published. Please help by leaving positive comments about the piece. Everyone has worked incredibly hard and a tremendous amount of writing has taken place. I am extremely proud of all the children! Way to go!

Weekly Update 9/11/06-9/15/06

Each week I will try to update the blog with news and sites that pertain to what we are learning in class. I will try to provide links to games and nifty information to accompany the topics we are focusing on during the day. :0)

Monday night is the first PTA program of the year. According to the flier, it begins at 6pm. The fifth grade is performing. As the parent of a fifth grader, I'll believe they will be performing patriotic tunes as a tribute to the catastrophe of 9/11. Hope to see you there.

I am also sending home a Scholastic Book Order on Monday. It will be due on Tuesday, Sept. 19th. Please make your checks payable to Scholastic.

Tuesday evening at 6pm is Second Grade Parent Night. Please come to our classroom to see what we do each day. I will be explaining many of the daily procedures and highlighting tips for helping your child succeed in second grade.

Wednesday is an early dismissal day for Staff Development. Students will be released at 12:45. The teachers will remain at school for educational training.

In math we will continue to work on patterns. I have been checking out the web to find some simple activities to provide some additional practice with this skill. The first one is a game called Pattern Mania. It is a simple game that requires students to select which shape should come next in a pattern. The second site provides a video lesson of patterns. The practice sections are decent, but the vocabulary is different than what we use. For instance, the video refers to the pattern unit (as we call it) as the "core of the pattern". Overall, however, it is a good resource. If you stumble across any others, let me know. We will also begin ordering numbers. Basically, we will explore two digit numbers (for now) and put them in order from least to greatest. A good way to practice this skill can be found at AAAmath.com. In the section entitled Ordering Numbers, students can play a game where they must decide whether one number comes before, between, or after two other numbers. Next week we will begin testing how well the students know their addition facts with sums up to 10. AAAmath.com provides practice for this skill as well. You may want to begin refreshing your children's memories by having them visit this site.

In Science we will continue to observe life cycles of living creatures. We presently have tobacco hornworms, ladybugs, and painted lady butterflies in our classroom. We are on the lookout for tadpoles. If you can help us out by bringing some in, let me know. :0) The ants will arrive within the next few weeks.

In Social Studies we are going to begin learning how our families are alike and different. More to come on this later.

In language arts we are learning how to expand our writing using the program established by Lucy Calkins. This year the entire school has a Writers Block where everyone writes. The students love this time of day. We refer to every student as an author and show them what authors do and then provide them with opportunities to put the skills shown during the minilesson to work. This is my first year implementing this program and I am very pleased with the excitement and skill demonstrated by the students so far. Additionally, we are reading a variety of stories and discussing story elements: characters (the who), the setting (where/when), the problem, and the solution. During our read aloud time we have already completed Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion. The students loved hearing about Harry's escapades so much that they selected another book from the series for me to read during our read aloud.

Thanks for all you are doing to help your child adjust to second grade. Remember to check the homework folder daily. Once a book has been assigned as homework, it will come home every night to be read (except for the weekends). Have a super week!

Welcome!

Welcome to second grade! I am so glad to start the new year with such a wonderful group of students! We are going to have a fabulous year full of fun and learning. I hope you visit the blog often to find out neat sites to visit and information about our class. Please feel free to leave comments. Miss Kristin

** To leave a comment without joining E-Blogger, just use the "anonymous" option and sign your name at the bottom. :0)

Hurricanes 2006

Where do hurricanes get their names? Check out this information! I didn't know that the same list was used every six years. It just goes to show that there is something new to learn every day! Be the first to answer this question and you will get a trip to the "trash can" when we get back to school in August!

We already had a storm named Alberto. What will the next storm be named? Reply by leaving a comment or sending me an email.

If you liked that, check out this quiz. You can guess to see what names have been used to name hurricanes. This one is just for fun. I only got 19 out of 27. :0(
However, I did find out that certain letters of the alphabet are not used for naming hurricanes. Second question...same rules apply: What letters of the alphabet are not used to name hurricanes?

Hope you are having fun and enjoying the sun! Wear your sun lotion! :0)

Find the Sums

Solve the number sentences. Either post your answers in the comments or email them to me at graykr@dare.k12.nc.us.

561 + 249 =

754 + 47 =

456 + 108 =

328 + 99 =

567 + 122 =

Library Program

The Dare County Library kicked off its summer reading program this morning with a visit from the Balloon Lady. She made some nifty balloons! Dylan won a balloon that is called The Rocket. He can blow it up and let it go. While it is flying about, it makes a shrill noise. Of course he loves it! Bailey won a race car. There are plenty of other activities going on throughout the summer. Each Tuesday from 1-2 there is a program at the Hatteras Community Building next to the library. There are weekly challenges to complete. As each sheet is completed, you get a chance to be drawn for the big prize on August 4. The more sheets you complete, the better your chances. I hope all of you will take advantage of this program. It would also give you an opportunity to fill in your summer reading logs that you made with Mrs. Brown. Continue to enjoy your summer, but make time to read! :0)

Get Ready to Write

Hi, guys! Today is the last day that Miss Ainslie and I have to work so tomorrow is finally our first official day of Summer Vacation. The room is so bare and quiet without all of you to cheer it up. It looks like we are in for some nasty weather the next few days as Tropical Storm Alberto approaches. Put some of those writing skills to work and write about what you do to entertain yourself during the storm. Post your writing on the blog so we can all read it. Stay dry!

Last Day

Today was our last day of school. We had a nice, relaxing day. It was a bit sad since we knew that two of our classmates were not going to be at our school next year. Miss Kristin wrote a poem to remind everyone of our time together. Each student received a copy. Here is what it said...

It’s hard to believe that second grade is going to end

It’s exciting to think that third grade is around the bend.

Before you leave there’s one thing left to do

We must think about our memories of grade two.

Chandler bringing fresh flowers from her yard,

Matthew acing Fast Facts from studying so hard.

Fuller’s ideas show a creative mind,

Indica always thoughtful, quiet, and kind.

Cheering for Paloma when she nailed the test,

Ian never giving less than his best.

Mary, Paul, and Dakota didn’t stay very long,

Ryan tapping out the beat to a song.

Miranda volunteering to ALMOST shut the door,

Who IS that wiggling on the floor?

Josh liking stories with romance and comedy,

Bryan getting money daily from me.

Bennett making sure to spell everything right,

Kyle writing about a wild banana fight.

Emma’s face shining when telling a tale,

How much stuff is left in STUFF FOR SALE?

Summer is now here, glad you’re out of school?

Make sure you read some books since that’s what’s really cool.

Keep checking the blog for our final stories to be published and daily challenges. Have you read anything yet? If so, leave a comment. Tell us what story you are reading and what it's about.

More About Earthquakes

Help others know what to do in case there is an earthquake. Read the information on this link and then make a poster using Publisher.

Earthquake in the Early Morning

One of our reading groups has just begun another Magic Tree House book. It is the fourth in a set of missions for Jack and Annie. In this book they are looking for a special type of writing that demonstrates something to lend. This will end this series of missions that will help Camelot. The setting for this book is San Francisco in 1906. Can you guess what event they will encounter? The kids are really excited about this book! Today we looked at the Internet to see recent earthquake activity around San Francisco. This information is updated often and lets one know where earthquake activity is taking place and the strength of each earthquake. Another neat site shows where earthquakes are occuring around the world. Check it out!

Terrific!

It is April and that means another month for Terrific Kid! This month's awardees are Ryan and Bryan! Both were named because they are good friends and because they do their work. Way to go!

Welcome!

We are thrilled to have a new student in our class! His name is Dakota and we know he will make a fantastic addition to our group.

Twister on Tuesday

One of the second grade reading groups has been reading the story by Mary Pope Osborne entitled Twister on Tuesday. In this story Jack and Annie travel back in time to pioneer days. During their visit, they experience school in a one-room schoolhouse called a dugout and experience a "twister"! Check out this wonderful work of literature if you get the chance!

Celebrate!

Hurray! The class selected two new Terrific Kids for March! Paloma's classmates said that she was nice and a good friend. Matthew's fans said that he was a hard-worker and always tried to stay out of trouble. Congratulations! The assembly will be next Tuesday at 8:30 am. :0)

New Sites!

I know it has been a bit since I posted a weekly update. I am really sorry. Between my trip out of town and the ear infection, it has been difficult just keeping up! I do have new stories to post that were authored by Indica, Bennett, and Emma. I promise I will get them up by next Friday (which, by the way, is a teacher work day....no school for the students). Anyway, I will give you a quick update as to what we are doing and where on the web you can find fun and educational activities for your child.

We have begun working on time. In second grade the students are required to learn how to tell time at 5 minute intervals. Visit Clock Wise for practice with this skill.

As you know we have been using a new phonics program this year called Fundations. Some of the rules we have learned can be found on the Starfall website. We really like the video that talks about the double vowel rule! There are a variety of activities that will accommodate a variety of learners. Have fun checking it all out!

I am extremely proud of all the hard work that has gone on to learn the math facts! This is a skill that must be practiced often to keep the skills sharp. Visit Math Mastery to race against the clock while practicing these facts.

Enjoy!

The Chocolate Touch

Other students in our class are reading The Chocolate Touch.

Stone Fox

Some of our students are reading Stone Fox. Check out these vocabulary activities.

Bremen Town Musicians

Check out the matching game to practice vocabulary from The Bremen Town Musicians.

Magic Tree House author

The children are really interested in the Magic Tree House series written by Mary Pope Osborne. I refer to her often when discussing good writing. When we read her stories we always pick out wonderful words she has used to describe everything. The students are a bit reluctant at times to rewrite their "sloppy copy" editions. I try to make them see that authors write and rewrite MANY times before publishing a fabulous piece of work. During Author's Chair today I used Ms. Osborne again, citing her advice to rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. The students were interested in reading about her so if you click on her name above, you can visit her in cyberspace. :0)

February Terrific Kid

Congratulations to our February Terrific Kid: Fuller! He is well-deserving of this title. He is very considerate of his classmates and tries his best. Hurray for Fuller!