Project O.R.E.O.

Do you LOVE Oreo cookies? We do! This year we are again participating  in the online technology project O.R.E.O. with other students around the globe. Our task was to work in teams, estimate the number of cookies we thought we could stack in a tower before the tower tumbled, and then actually stack the cookies in a tower. You can enjoy these snapshots of our work, but you'll have to wait to see the results of our "cookie stacking"! Thank you parents for supplying the Oreos! Stacking the cookies was fun and sampling these delectable treats was even better!



2012 Project O.R.E.O. on PhotoPeach

Monarch Butterflies

We are learning more about life cycle in our Science classes. Enjoy these pictures of our Monarch Butterflies!

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It's How We Learn Our MATH!

Shh! .... We're on the road to becoming MATH experts!  Teaming with partners, Sharing our strategies, Games galore and much more...that's how we are learning our Math!

It's All About How We Learn MATH! on PhotoPeach

A Trip to the Butterfly Farm

Who doesn't enjoy watching the flutters and flights of butterflies? On Wednesday our second grade classes boarded buses and traveled to the Butterfly Farm. We had a terrific time learning more about these fascinating creatures and stepping inside their "greenhouse habitat". We also enjoyed a "close-up glimpse" of quite a few jets preparing to land at the airport. Amazingly the children thought to compare the "flight similarities"! You can easily see how much we enjoyed our trip...Look at our precious faces in this video!

Celebrating America

We celebrated Constitution Day by learning more about the "Framers" of our American Constitution, our thirteen original colonies, and even writing our own Class Constitution. Of course we needed to create a special Red, White, and Blue project after we learned that these colors represent courage, purity, and fairness.

Meet the Cast!

                Welcome to our Second Grade Class! Our new "STARS" are off to a terrific start as we begin our exciting "Journey to the Core". Tuesday Folders were sent home today with our class newsletter. Next week our newsletters will be posted on the class website. Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us!

Mad Scientists!

This quarter we are learning about "Matter". Can you name three states of matter? Just ask these little experts, who certainly are enjoying our student teacher's hands on activities!

2012 PTA Musical

The "Shining Stars" of MES stepped onto the stage and captured the hearts of the audience yet again with this year's musical "Rock and Roll"! Enjoy the show...and stay tuned for future Red Carpet Performances from this talented group!

February Happenings

Snowed In!

Like all children, we dream of snow days. It seems that our North Carolina weather just wasn't going to provide snow, so we decided to have our own "Snow Day".  Using our igloo and imagination, a Snow Day became a reality on February 29th. We engaged in snowy Math, Reading, and Writing activities and took turns reading inside our class igloo. Of course we had to have some treats! Preparing hot chocolate and smore's provided some fun math and reading opportunities. Eating seems to make all learning activities just a bit more interesting!

Arctic Animal Projects

The children completed some outstanding Arctic Animal Projects which were shared in class and displayed outside our classroom. They researched an animal of their choice, recorded their information on a graphic organizer, and then wrote a report. Enjoy their beautiful visual products! 

"Freedom Train" Field Trip

Our second grade classes certainly enjoyed our Harriet Tubman Thematic Unit. We all had the pleasure of traveling to Winston-Salem State University to see a play entitled "The Freedom Train". The children thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining experience. What a special way to help us truly understand some of our American History! Enjoy the slide show created by Mrs. Federico, our Salem College student teacher.

This free digital slideshow created with Smilebox

Celebrations!

 MARDI GRAS

We are in the midst of a "Maps and Globes Unit" in Social Studies, so what better way to find our place on the map than to visit our neighbors. Of course we just just had to "dig a little deeper" to discover more about people and places. Our class is always looking for ways to celebrate and find interesting ways to use math, reading, science, and social studies concepts, so with the click of our Smartboard, some Dollar Store manipulatives, library resources, a trip to Harris Teeter, and some helpful moms, we were on our way to learn more about "Mardi Gras"!

     

Free digital slideshow created with Smilebox

 PRESIDENT'S DAY

Our student teacher found a unique video about our US presidents. The children wanted to watch it again and begged for the link. Here's the video for all to enjoy!

I really need to put more hours in a day. When someone finds the secret to doing that, let me know! Our school days are quite busy, even though we haven't had too many picture posts to keep everyone updated. The igloo is almost complete. The children encountered some "structural problems"  so they had to do some problem solving to complete the ice house! We have decided to have our own "Snow Day" next week since the North Carolina weather has just not co-operated. For the past two weeks we have been very involved in a "Harriet Tubman Unit" and attended a play at WSSU on Friday. We certainly enjoyed the "Freedom Train" performance. We will continue to read biographies and learn more about famous Americans in our literacy groups. Our class is also completing some global technology projects with other students. You can check out our projects here: Setting the Stage for Success Wiki and Winter Wonderland Wiki.

A few weeks ago we completed a mini unit on the Chinese New Year. Here's a picture of our lovely group in the masks they created! Don't you think they're beautiful?

Introducing..."The Bunnies"

Our children are in the midst of presenting their Arctic Animal Reports, which have been truly amazing! What a treat to have these beautiful bunnies visit our class! Kate found a creative way to share the "Arctic Hare".

New Student Wiki Space

The children are completing some wonderful Technology Projects, so I've created a new Student Wiki Space to showcase their work. Updates are coming soon! Here's the link: https://settingthestageforsuccessstudents.wikispaces.com/

Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

We've been busy reading about Wilson Bentley (the Snowflake Man), learning about the Arctic Region, building an igloo in our classroom, and creating some "snow" related technology projects. It surely would be nice it our NC weather would cooperate and scatter a flew lovely flakes for us! Unfortunately for us snow lovers, our temperatures have been on the mild side. One of our Computer Lab activities was to create a flake using the program KidPix. Hope you will enjoy a few of our computer generated flakes! Scroll down to take a look at our class picture on January 20, 2012. The temperature was a comfortable 51 degrees! Notice that most of the coats were missing...

Igloo Construction Day 3

Our little workers continue to diligently "lay those cartons" on Friday. We're wondering how many cartons we will need to complete the igloo.

Day 2: "Igloo Construction Engineers"

Today we managed to rearrange our foundation and build another layer on our igloo. In fact, we got half way through the third layer of milk containers. Twenty-two construction engineers certainly make the job go quickly. Hopefully we will soon finish our quarter assessments and can dedicate a little more time to this Reading/Math/Social Studies project. Parents please keep sending in those empty containers! Also if you have extra tops we would appreciate them. Special thanks to Corrinne's mom, who has made two trips to Starbucks! Take a look at "today's work"...

The Building Begins!

Our little builders began laying the foundation for our "Winter Wonder....an Igloo" after much thought, teamwork, and arranging of milk cartons. Now the trick will be to keep this together with our hot glue and how to add the next row of cartons. We are immersed in an "Arctic Animal" Reading Unit and learning about our economy and how it works in Social Studies. This seemed to be a great way to connect our themes across our curriculum. We are having fun using these consumer by-products to produce a winter home which could be found in the Arctic Region where Polar Bears roam! We'll keep you updated on our building adventure!!!

Arrivals and Departures

Christmas Holidays used to be quite simple at the Lyerly house. Four children were little, nestled all snug in their beds with a mommy and daddy close by. Time flew quickly and four little children were suddenly all grown up. Tonight I'm waiting restlessly for a flight to land. One daughter has been in the airport most of the day, as her flight was delayed. I was at school with my precious 22 occasionally checking messages for updates.
Thank goodness for Drew, who flew to NC for a holiday visit and is flying back to school with Allison and for Drew's mom, who is waiting to pick them up at the airport. Between watching Flight Aware Live and Real Time Flight, I've managed to create a holiday video. It has helped calm me a bit and keep me awake. (Only 50 more minutes in the air...) Thankfully the twins are tucked in bed upstairs for a few more nights and older daughter is getting a few winks before seeing her patients tomorrow. I hope you will enjoy a quick snapshot of our family.
Thank you families for sharing your precious 22 with me each day. Hold tight and enjoy each of your memories!

Winter Celebration in Room 309

In Room 309 we love to celebrate! With the support of our wonderful parents and our two special Room Moms, we sampled tasty treats and created several holiday keepsakes.