Listen to Online Reading!

I've bookmarked some reading sites on Sqworl. Perhaps some of my children will fine some extra time to squeeze in some online reading this summer! We'll be using this site in our class when school begins in August. I'll be adding more links in the coming days. Enjoy!

http://sqworl.com/supdl8

Our 2010-2011 Second Grade Journey

The end of a school year is quite bittersweet. Teachers are very proud of their children, for they know how hard those little ones work each day. The journey passes much too quickly, but Ms. Cranfill and I know that each of these "Stars" is ready for their next adventure.

Each year at our Author's Tea, a video is shown so that our parents can see a few special moments of our second grade journey. I couldn't post the music that was played with this video, but I encourage you to think of the song "Let Them Be Little", grab a box of tissues, and treasure your little star.

Thank you for sharing your precious child with Ms. Cranfill and me this year!

Author's Tea

Our little STARS gathered the books they had written in our class and chose a "favorite" to share at our annual Author's Tea. Parents and our principals joined us for some tasty lemonade and cookies as the children read their books to our special audience.
Author's Tea on PhotoPeach

Surprise!!!

One of our old classmates paid a special visit on one of our last school days. What a wonderful surprise for us to have time to visit, catch up, and share our second grade adventures!

Field Trip to SciWorks

One of the second grades' favorite trips each year is to SciWorks. The children always have an engaging lesson that aligns with our curriculum. Our lesson this trip focused on "Sound". The outdoor "Animal Exhibit" is also a yearly treat!
SciWorks on PhotoPeach

Our Second Grade World of "Social Studies"

If you haven't already guessed, our class loves food. I'm sure the grocery stores wonder what I do with some of my rather unusual afternoon purchases. This week we completed a mini unit about landforms. To better internalize what North Carolina looks like on a map, we used our fine motor skills to cut a replica from flour tortillas. With a pattern, toothpick, and fork in hand each child carefully cut out the shape of our state. The fun part then began. We always get excited when cake icing appears! After spreading our "base glue" (icing), we then used different yummy treats to form the three regions of North Carolina. Take a look at our video and see if you can determine which treats we used!
The Regions of North Carolina on PhotoPeach

Operation "Mouse Tails"

Second graders have to learn a lot of things and it just makes more sense if we have a real life purpose for learning those things. Measuring with centimeters...when could we really use that skill in the real world? We slipped into the role of "College Lab Assistant". Our Quest: Determine the length of mouse tails so the professor knows how his growth serum is working! These dedicated workers quickly began their task. When measuring, organizing data, and recording results were complete, the challenge began! What kind of cage could our little designers create for our furry friends? Stay tuned for upcoming peeks at the cages!
Operation "Mouse Tails" on PhotoPeach

A Day With Ms. Rogers

Our class has been very fortunate to have a very special student intern from WFU this semester! Ms. Rogers spent time with us every week and jumped right in help us with our daily activities. She worked with small reading groups and math groups and even spent time jumping rope with us during recess! We love you Ms. Rogers and know that you are going to be a fabulous teacher!

April

Our little Stars have been quite busy! They have donned their detective's hats, latched onto their case folders, and delved into a Reading Mystery Unit. Take a look at our "Detective Line-up"...
Super Star Sleuths and some projects.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! CELEBRATE!
I have the most wonderful class of children and parents! They are always helping me with projects, reading activities, and more in our classroom. No surprise that I was given a special birthday party last Monday. Take a quick peek at our party pics...and thank you for sharing your children with me each day. The smiles on their precious faces and the times they call me "Mommy" are daily gifts!

Slideshow generated with Smilebox

Weather or Not

We have been learning about Weather during our Science lessons. Using books and online resources, we're learning more about the Water Cycle, Clouds, Wind, and more. One of our recent topics was "Wind". One windy afternoon we decided that a perfect way to end our day was to try out our wind vanes!

St. Patricks Day

Second grade is a fun place to be! We love to find hands on activities that correlate with our NC curriculum. We began our St. Patrick's Day math by creating a math "glyph". Using specific directions, we artistically created our individual shamrocks and then used our math skills to sort these creations by various attributes. Team work really works as we try to come up with ways we can group our creations! We invite you to stop by our classroom to view our finished products!

Free digital ecard made with Smilebox

Skype in Room 309

We are learning about our seven continents in Social Studies. A mother of one of our teachers is a missionary in India. Mrs. Hurst joined our class to help us "Skype" her mom so that we could learn more about the country, the people, and how she is helping young people learn about the English language.

Doctor Visits

 More Than Meets The Eye
Mrs. Lyerly's daughter, an optometry student, visited the classroom to talk about eyes. The children enjoyed the activities and asked lots of questions. It was amazing to see how much they already knew about how eyes work. Perhaps there will be some budding optometrists in our group!

More Than Meets The Eye - free slideshow

Our Digestive System

 Gaby's mom, a doctor at the Winston-Salem VA Outpatient Clinic, visited our classroom to talk with us about our digestive systems. The children certainly enjoyed her colorful analogies, which helped us have a better understanding!
Our Digestive System on PhotoPeach

Living Rhythms

Our second grade classes had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a special African drum and dance workshops called Living Rhythms. Mr. Bill (drum specialist) and Miss Jerry (dance specialist) worked with students in daily sessions last week. On Friday the children presented a terrific program showcasing what they had learned in the workshops. Enjoy these videos!

Living Rhythms on PhotoPeach

Polar Bear, Polar Bear

A few weeks ago we completed our Arctic Animal Unit, so of course we just had to have a culminating food project!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday Ms. Cranfill!

Thanks to our very creative grade parents, our classroom magically transformed into the "Pancake Cafe" so that we could help Ms. Cranfill celebrate her birthday. We enjoyed a morning of "mixing, fixing, and savoring the delicious taste of pancakes and bacon. Of course we also reviewed some of our math concepts as we worked. There were fractions, addition, subtraction, fair shares, and more to practice in this hands on lesson. We enjoyed "conjuring up" some adjectives and verbs to describe this delicious event after some munching. A special day for a very special teacher...We love you Ms. Cranfill!!!
Happy Birthday Ms. Cranfill on PhotoPeach

Science Lessons

We've been learning about "Matter" in our Science Investigations. The children have been engaged in some hands on activities and have used some interactive websites. Take a look at the video to see some of our activities!
Teachers' Domain: Density and Buoyancy: Pouring Air into Water

Snow, Snow, Snow

It's hard to believe that we breezed so quickly through our January days. Perhaps it was the surprising number of snow days, which was a little unusual for North Carolina. Nevertheless, our classroom has continued to be a busy place as we worked around days out of school and two hour delays. The children worked diligently on an Arctic Animal Project. They have read about, gathered information, and created books about a special animal. Make sure to look at our Wiki. You will be able to see and hear their beautiful creations! Our math has focused on "Fractions". Our little STARS have learned how to determine the numerator and denominator, to explain how fractions can be equivalent, and to solve problems. Of course, we love to incorporate "food" in our math lessons, so along with our Smartboard lessons we just had to have some edible hands on activities! The children also created Fractions of Me poetry.
January School Days on PhotoPeach

Season's Greetings

Holiday Happenings

Our Winter Celebration was so much fun! We certainly appreciate all that Mrs. Darden, Mrs. Olsen, and Mrs. Dembosky did to make our holiday celebration so special. Take a quick peek at our celebration!

Happy Holidays!

 

May each of you have a truly blessed holiday season. Enjoy your special family moments. 

 Ms. Cranfill and I want to wish each of you a very blessed and happy holiday season with your families. Each of the children are dear to us and we hold them close in our hearts. Thank you for sharing your child with us as we make this second grade journey. 

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

December Events!

All classrooms are busy places, especially during the month of December! This year our little ones have been engaged in a Reindeer Unit, a Gingerbread theme, a special "Geometry Project", another global technology project, and have traveled "around the world" with the other second grade classes to learn more about people and their traditions. Enjoy a snapshot of our world in these photos!
December Snapshots on PhotoPeach

Our Old Salem Field Trip

Our second grade classes traveled to Old Salem to learn more about the traditions and customs of the Moravians. We began our tour inside with ladies who talked with us about candle making, an Advent Wreath, preparing food in the old kitchen, and a little bit about what life was like long ago in this special Moravian village.
Our Old Salem Trip ... Part 1 on PhotoPeach



Our Trip to Old Salem Part 2 ... on PhotoPeach

A Family Moment

Life is very busy, both inside and outside Room 309! My classroom children are always asking when my "real children" are coming to visit them. Like all of my little ones, these real children are busy with school work. I thought you may enjoy this snapshot of the twins...two of our four children. Over the weekend my husband and I enjoyed being with our boys at their college ring ceremony. It's hard to believe they've grown so fast, as it seems that just yesterday they were second graders like each of you!

More Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Reader's Theatre on PhotoPeach

Our Thanksgiving Feast

After spending some time reading and discovering more about life in the early settlement of Plymouth, we slipped into the roles of Pilgrims and Native Americans as we prepared our lunch and celebrated the holiday with our own class Thanksgiving Feast.

This free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Pumpkin Day 2010

Our class joined other students from around the globe to determine the number of seeds in pumpkins. We worked in teams to make estimates and then used our counting/addition strategies to determine our seed count. Our five pound pumpkin had 475 seeds! We also engaged in some other math and literacy pumpkin activities throughout the morning. Special thanks to parents who helped us with this fun learning activity! The pumpkin treats were delicious!

Pumpkin Day on PhotoPeach

Butterflies All Around....Our Painted Ladies

The children have so enjoyed our Life Cycles Science Unit. We have many future scientists in our class! Each day the children excitedly entered the classroom to observe the butterfly cage. They could hardly contain their excitement when the day finally arrived to release these special creatures. Notice the beautiful smiles on the children's faces. You can actually feel their excitement as you watch the pictures. Enjoy!

Butterflies All Around ... Our Painted Ladies on PhotoPeach

How Do Butterflies View the World?

The children have been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly this quarter. Did you know that butterflies have compound eyes? That means they can see in every direction simultaneously.

How Do Butterflies View The World? on PhotoPeach

A Day in Our Classroom

We've been polishing our measurement skills in math. Look at our pictures to see us use both nonstandard and standard measurement tools. Our literacy groups have been reading about Forest Animals. We chose an animal and visited one of our Computer Labs to gather information about our animal. Using an online resource, we read and used a graphic organizer to record our findings. Later on we will use this information to write a report. We certainly enjoy using the computers. In the last pictures you will see us reading a book at TumbleBooks.

A Day in Our 2nd Grade Classroom on PhotoPeach

Snapshots of Our World....Math & Literacy Activities with Apples

Using food is a fun way to practice our math skills. This special Apple Activity provided opportunities to work as a team to problem solve, sort, count,and compare numbers. We're learning how to use adjectives to make our writing more descriptive, so smelling, touching, and tasting these yummy apples helped us create some interesting descriptions. We love to eat! Our crockpot applesauce turned out to be a hit, even for those who said they didn't like applesauce before.

Digital slideshow made with Smilebox

Second Grade SNAPSHOTS

It's hard to believe we've been in second grade for 6 weeks! We have been quite busy in our classroom. Take a look at one of our technology projects using Oreo cookies. Our class joined students around the globe to determine how many cookies we could stack before our towers tumbled. We used estimation, counting, and problem solving as we worked in teams. Later on we used our cookies to complete a writing activity. Of course we enjoyed the yummy treats too!

All About Second Grade - WELCOME to our class! We are excited to have you join us on our 2nd grade journey.

Super Kids

 Our favorite police officer came to our school to help us learn how to make wise choices so that we can be "Super Kids". Thank you Officer Ruff!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Read Across America Day

On March 2 we celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss by having a special "Read Across America Day" event. Our guest readers were Mrs. Lyerly's daughters, who were visiting in NC for their spring break. We were actively engaged in reading and math activities throughout our morning. Of course we had a special snack because second graders love "food math"!

Weather, Wind, Penguin Projects

Math All Around

Do you know what "capacity" means? We read the book "The Giant Jam Sandwich" and then "experimented" with different bugs, spiders, and butterflies to see how many would fit onto our "slice of bread".
Capacity - The Giant Jam Sandwich... on PhotoPeach

All About Time

Tick-tock around the clock... Telling time on an analog clock? In the digital age, we discovered that reading an analog clock was a little tricky! We made our "Human Clock" and practiced moving the hour hand and minute hand. We are becoming time experts because we can use our math strategies to help us find time right down to the minute! View the video to see how we created our "Human Clock" to help us better understand the passing of time.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Cranfill!

Our Polar Animal Projects

We have been reading and learning many facts about polar animals in our classroom. We made fact booklets, created Polar Bear Powerpoint projects, and then completed a home project about our favorite polar animal. Now we are making bottle penguins in our classroom. We think they will be really cute! Take a look to see some of our projects. Visit our class website to view our Powerpoint projects.

Helping Hands - A Benevolent Project

There is so much need in our community. It has come to our attention that a Southeast Middle School student has started a project called "Brotherly Love". This project involves supplying gift bags for premature babies in the NICU Unit at Forsyth Medical Center. You can read about this young man's project in the February issue of Forsyth Family, available for download at the magazine website or you can email projectbrotherlylove@hotmail.com. Throughout third quarter our class will collect items for this project. Doctor approved items include diapers, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, pacifiers, bottles, onesies, receiving blankets, socks, hats, Vaseline, or baby lotion. You can find a complete listing of supplies in the magazine article. Watch the class website for more details about "Brotherly Love...Helping the least of us with Life's Beginnings". This is a completely volunteer project.

Happy Reading

Visit this library site and link to TumbleBooks. Happy reading!

Fuel the Brain

Visit this website, developed by a North Carolina second grade teacher, to practice your math!
http://www.fuelthebrain.com/

EYES ... The Window To Our World

Our class read about eyes in our National Geographic magazine. Then Mrs. Lyerly's daughters, optometry students, came to talk with the class. Watch to see some of the activities the children completed. Take a look at the pictures on the class website to better understand what the children were doing. Click HERE

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Learning About China

Aimee's mom shared information about Chinese traditions and customs. A special treat was trying to learn to use the Chinese Jump Rope. Watch the video clip and listen to the "in, out, side, side, on, in, out". Do you think you're ready to jump? Also take a look at the pictures on our class website. We appreciate our guests!!!

Celebrating the Season

Wishing You a Very Happy Holiday!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Celebrating Veteran's Day 2009 at OneTrueMedia.com

American veteran Larry Starling visited our class to help us learn more about Veteran's Day.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pumpkin Day ... We participated in an online project with pumpkins. We estimated and counted the seeds in our class pumpkin. Then we spent our morning at math/literacy stations about pumpkins.

Make a Smilebox slideshow