Acts of Kindness

      Our bulletin board is filled with all the Acts of Kindness that kids did in the month of February! What a sweet class!

Gingerbread Stories

This last week, we had so much fun in class reading different versions of the Gingerbread Man story! The kids loved to see how the stories followed the same traditional version and how some of the authors retold the story in a new way! Lots of fun activities filled the week that followed the different versions. Ask your child which book was their favorite!

The last day before break was so enjoyable! There are some great bowlers in class! It was also fun to see some of the dance moves that they busted out when their favorite song was played at the bowling alley. Very entertaining!

I hope you all have a very delightful holiday break- I look forward to seeing the kids in the New Year!

Protesting Turkeys

Last Friday, the students created some protesting turkeys. The turkey signs are hard to see in the photo, but here are some of the kids' creative signs that they created:

"Eat more vegetables"
"Thanksgiving is over"
"Eat more ice cream"
"Don't eat turkey"
"Hey you- Eat more walleye"
"Eat more bacon and pancakes"

Poets

This week, we have been studying poetry in class. We have learned about rhyme, rhythm, stanzas, poem mood, and different kinds of poems. The students attempted some alliterations and acrostic poems this week. Here is a sampling of a few of the poems from Room 118!

 

ACROSTIC POEMS

 

Can run fast

Has a mom

Eats meat

Everyone thinks is cool

Teeth are sharp

All have spots

Has cubs

 

Feel that you love it

Apples fall from high above

Leave your homework undone

Leap into the leaves

 

Halloween is fun

All the candy for everyone

Lots of candy fills your bag

Left and right up and down streets

Oh my

Witches fly in the sky

Epic battles, mummies vs. zombies

Everyone loves Halloween

Ninjas, super heroes, and other costumes creep through the night

 

Fun forever

Rainbow smiles

I encourage others

Even when a friend is sad

Never let a friend down

Deep love for all

Special friends

Happiness to all

I am always nice and kind

Peace and love

 

 

 

 

ALLITERATIONS

 

 

Sammy the snake went somewhere one day.

He went in the sewer because he smelt a sock.

Sammy ate the sock to go with his sandwich.

 

 

Morris the Moose met Macey Mouse at the Mall of America.

 

Miraya Monkey munched on muffins at the movie theater.

 

 

Tina Tiger took two tacos and took them to the train station.

Tommy turtle took turtlecake to Tennessee and smelled two tacos.

 

 

 

 

 

 







Welcome Back to School

Welcome back to Sunnyside! Hooray for Second Grade!



This is going to be a great year- I am so excited for "Meet Your Teacher Night" on Sept. 2nd! It is so fun to meet the eager new second graders and to connect with parents. Please choose either the 1:30pm or 5:30pm time to come to Room 118!

I have been busy getting the room set up for the school year and will be going to a training this week on how to use our new interactive smartboard! What a fun, new, technology tool to use in the classroom!

 

 

 

The first day of school is Sept. 8th- Can't wait! Enjoy the last few days of summer!

 





Library Visit

Yesterday, we had Ann from the Moundsview Library come to 2nd grade to talk to the students about the summer reading program. The reading program is called Bookawocky and it starts this Saturday. The kids were excited to read some of the books she brought to share. I tried to write down a few:

Chi's Sweet Home
Sidekick
Rescue Princess
Anna and Elsa Chronicles
History Dudes
Managing Money
Gross Our Jokes
Lincoln's Grave Robbers
Top-10 Everything About Baseball
Guess Again!

Sorry I didn't get the authors, but I am sure if you asked at the library they could help you out! If they complete the reading program this summer, they get a free ice cream at Culvers, a free book, and a state fair ticket! They also get into a drawing for some more fabulous prizes. What a great way to keep kids motivated to read this summer!

Flat Stanley

Our Flat Stanleys have been all over! So many of them have arrived safely back at Sunnyside. We have had them return from Texas, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, many other states, and even Switzerland! Here is our bulletin board in class that has recorded his travels. The kids have filled out a travel journal as well. As soon as we are sure most of the Stanleys are back, the kids will be taking them home.

Homophone Spelling List

This week, the students do not have a spelling sort on Friday. Instead, they will need to spell the correct homophone. Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different spelling and different meanings. This can be tricky. We have done a lot of practice in class with homophones throughout the year. I reminded the students that they won't be able to write the word on their Friday test until they hear me read the word in a sentence. I noticed a lot of mistakes on their spelling homework from last night. For example, students might have written, "I like to fly in a plain" instead of, "I like to fly in a plane". You can help this week by giving the spelling word in a sentence and then having your child try to spell it. Here is game that I found online that kids could play at home too this week. If they read the "clues", it will help them learn the correct meanings of the homophones.

Homophone matching game

Stages play - "One Dog Canoe" this Thursday

This Thursday, we will be going to see "One Dog Canoe" at the Stages Theater. Here is a short trailer for the play.

Plant Experiment

The results of the class plant experiment are in! Can you figure out which plants are missing one of these elements: water, air, or light? Can you guess which plant had all four elements: soil, water, air, and light?

Plants

Today, the students planted brassica seeds. We will be observing their growth over the next couple of weeks. We use the plants to learn about the plant parts, the function of the different parts, and the life cycle. The students all enjoy checking on their plants every day and watching them grow!

We are also doing an experiment in class to find out the elements plants need to grow and survive. We have 4 plants growing in our room under different circumstances.

Plant A has: soil, water, light, but NO air
Plant B has: soil, water, air, but NO light
Plant C has: soil, air, light, but NO water
Plant D has: soil, air, light, AND water

We will be graphing their growth and making daily observations. All of your child's work will be coming home at the end of the plant unit in a few weeks.

Spring Break!

Have a wonderful Spring Break! I did not send home the communication sheet today for after spring break, but if you are curious about what is coming up, I did post it on the blog along with the upcoming spelling list.
Relax! Enjoy the family time! I will be enjoying family time for one extra day on March 23rd. There will be a substitute that day, but I will be back on the 24th!

Acts of Kindness

At the beginning of the month, we set out a challenge of doing 100 acts of kindness as a class before the end of the month. The class completed 100 acts of kindness last Friday! Thank you for the support at home and recognizing the kind acts - what a nice class!

Classroom Act of Kindness

As you know, this month, we are focusing on Acts of Kindness. On Friday, the students did a class "act of kindness" by making Valentine's Day cards for children down in a Children's Home in Juarez, Mexico. Tonight, I boxed up the cards, along with several new chapter books, in Spanish, for the children down at the home. Your children are kind, sweet, kids who wrote some thoughtful notes! Way to spread the kindness all over the world, 2nd graders!

Continent and Ocean Test on Thursday

We have been studying the names of the seven continents and four major oceans pf the world in class over the last week. The kids thought this video song was helpful in remembering the continents: Continent Song. I also found this interactive website to help them practice at home: Continent and Ocean Practice. Remember the test is on Thursday and students should be reviewing at home!

Flat Stanley is in the mail!

Today, we sent our Flat Stanleys off in an envelope to a relative or friend. The kids helped stuff and lick the envelopes! While we got them ready to go, we watched a fun Flat Stanley adventure when someone sent their Stanley to Hollywood!The kids wanted to be able to watch it again!

Here is the link:
Flat Stanley's Hollywood Adventure

Unwrapping the Globe

This week, we started our Geography Unit. It is a fun unit where we learn the key elements on a map or globe and identify the continents and oceans. Today, we looked at a fun website where children can "unwrap" the globe into a map. Here is the link: Unwrap the Globe

Jokes for the Holidays!

Every morning, for the last few weeks, I told a holiday joke during our morning meeting. The kids were hoping to spread the laughter over break, so here are a few ones to share:

Q. How is the Christmas alphabet different than the ordinary alphabet?
A. The Christmas alphabet has NO EL.

Q. What goes red, white, red, white, red, white?
A. Santa rolling down a hill.

Q. Where does Santa go to work out?
A. A chimnasium.

Q. What goes Oh! Oh! Oh!
A. Santa walking backwards.

Q. What do you call an old snowman?
A. Water!

Q. What do you call Santa Claus when he doesn't move?
A. Santa Pause.

Q. Name a child's favorite Christmas king.
A. A stocking.

I hope you all have a wonderful break with your family! I will see you back on Jan. 5th, 2015!

We Are Thankful!

Today the students wrote about what they are thankful for and hopefully the papers made it home! The kids have so much to be thankful for during this holiday season. Here are some snippets of their writing:

I am thankful for...

- My grandpa because he helps me with my homework.
- My dollhouse because when I get bored, I can play with it.
- My mom because she hugs my all the time.
- My sister because she is funny and kind.
- Mrs. Taylor because she is awesome. (bonus points for that one!)
- The power to imagine.
- My mom because she hangs my clothes.
- My house because it keeps me warm.
- My grandma, she is a good worker.
- My parents because when I wanted Pokémon cards at Walmart, they bought them for me!
- My mom because she is kind.
- My dog and my brother.
- My dog because he sleeps on my pillow every night.
- A blanket because it keeps me warm at night.
- Sunnyside School because they give us recess and lunch everyday.
- My Grandma because she is 53 and she is slow and when I am behind her I have to be patient.
- My sister because she reads to me.
- My family because they love me.
- My friends because they are nice to me.
- My food, house, bed, school, and aunt. If I didn't have these things I wouldn't be here or come out right or be smart. I am thankful for having life!

I am so thankful for all of your children! What an amazing group of kids and what a fun glimpse into their lives and what they value. Happy Thanksgiving!

Classroom Elections

This week, in our social studies unit time, we discussed elections and voting procedures. We read three stories in class:

Duck for President
by Dorin Cronin

Grace for President
by Kelly DiPucchio

My Teacher for President
by Kay Winters

Then the kids voted for who they think would make the best president: Duck, Grace, or their teacher. We had a voting station set up in the back of the room where they turned in their voter registration card and cast their ballot.

 

 

Then we tallied the results as a class to see who the winner would be! The winner was..... THEIR TEACHER!

 

 

After we tallied the results, the kids graphed the results of the election.