HAPPY AUTUMN!
It was an exciting second week of school in Blaine 309. We introduced the iPads and the children had played a game called Math Bingo to practice their addition and subtraction facts. We worked on the cycle of an apple tree as it changes during a year, learned a fun place value games called Zim, Zam, Zowie, and enjoyed listening to a story told by librarian Ms. Ogilvie. We also learned all about the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, from Hannah and her mom. They shared a yummy snack of challah, apples and honey with us. The children especially had fun trying to blow the Jewish instrument, the shofar, made from a ram's horn.
ALVIN AILEY DANCE THEATER
You should have received an email inviting you to sign up as a parent chaperone for our annual second grade trip to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on March 15th. To reserve our seats, we need to order tickets now. Please sign up at the link below if you can join us. We need a commitment from you by this Monday, September 24th. We apologize for the short notice. Tickets cost $12. The Laboratory Schools will send you an invoice using their new online billing system for the cost of your child's ticket and your ticket if you choose to join us. No need to send money to school.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054BADA722A57-alvin
THE FALL WEATHER HAS ARRIVED
The weather can be unpredictable at this time of year and temperatures can drop during the course of the day as cold fronts move in. We go outside everyday and your child needs to be dressed appropriately to enjoy his/her time at recess. Now that the radiators have been turned on in our old building, classroom temperatures also vary from room to room. Some rooms can get quite warm. To be prepared, we recommend that children bring a sweater or jacket everyday and dress in layers for indoor comfort.
WE NEED LILIES
As a final activity to our apple study, we will be discussing the importance of the apple tree's flowers or blossoms. When the orchard experienced a late frost last spring, 90% of the blossoms were killed and could not develop into apples. We want the children to examine and observe the parts of a flower up close and see the pollen that is so important in the fertilization process. Because of their size, lilies are the perfect flower for this lesson. We need of about 12 large lilies for Monday. These can usually be found at your local grocery store. Please email Ms. Harrison if you can help.
SNACK/LUNCH DONATIONS NEEDED
We always try to have extra snacks and lunch items on hand for times when a lunchbox is forgotten at home, when food falls on the floor, or when a child is still feeling hungry. If you’d like to help, we could use some tree-nut free granola bars, pretzels, etc. that are easy to store. Cup O’ Noodles and instant Mac ‘n Cheese work well as lunch substitutes. Thanks!
KEEPING UP WITH BLAINE 309
Because there is so much information to share each week, we invite you check in often at our homepage to learn more about your child’s experience in second grade. We will often include many things that we just cannot fit into our newsletters. You can also use an RSS reader (i.e. Google Reader) to subscribe to the homepage and we invite you to follow us on twitter where we will post news often.
FALL SCIENCE COLLECTION
Now that the season is changing, we will invite children to begin adding to our autumn science collection. We already have the head of a sunflower and a dead cicada found on the playground. Soon, the children will start collecting all sorts of beautiful fall leaves. We’d like to add some pumpkins, gourds or other fall plants to our nature collection. If you are at a farmer’s market, pumpkin patch or even just the grocery store, we invite you to pick up a few things to share with the class. Thanks to Hannah and her family for bringing us a lovely purple mum!
ROOM PARENTS
Thank you to our room parent volunteers this year. We so appreciate their support and help in planning classroom celebrations, potlucks and more! Our room parents are:
Jenn Roggin -contact
Tara Marsh - communications
Audris Wong - garbanzo email list
Colleen Sheehan
If you would like to join this group, please contact Jenn.
AFTERNOON READ ALOUD
The children can’t get enough of our afternoon read aloud, Gooseberry Park, by Cynthia Rylant. You may have of heard of Ms. Rylant’s well-loved series Henry and Mudge, Poppleton, and Mr. Putter and Tabby. Be sure to ask your favorite second grade about the adventures of Stumpy the squirrel, Kona the chocolate Labrador, Gwendolyn the hermit crab and Murray the oreo-loving bat!
Enjoy the beautiful autumn weekend!
It was an exciting second week of school in Blaine 309. We introduced the iPads and the children had played a game called Math Bingo to practice their addition and subtraction facts. We worked on the cycle of an apple tree as it changes during a year, learned a fun place value games called Zim, Zam, Zowie, and enjoyed listening to a story told by librarian Ms. Ogilvie. We also learned all about the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, from Hannah and her mom. They shared a yummy snack of challah, apples and honey with us. The children especially had fun trying to blow the Jewish instrument, the shofar, made from a ram's horn.
ALVIN AILEY DANCE THEATER
You should have received an email inviting you to sign up as a parent chaperone for our annual second grade trip to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on March 15th. To reserve our seats, we need to order tickets now. Please sign up at the link below if you can join us. We need a commitment from you by this Monday, September 24th. We apologize for the short notice. Tickets cost $12. The Laboratory Schools will send you an invoice using their new online billing system for the cost of your child's ticket and your ticket if you choose to join us. No need to send money to school.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054BADA722A57-alvin
THE FALL WEATHER HAS ARRIVED
The weather can be unpredictable at this time of year and temperatures can drop during the course of the day as cold fronts move in. We go outside everyday and your child needs to be dressed appropriately to enjoy his/her time at recess. Now that the radiators have been turned on in our old building, classroom temperatures also vary from room to room. Some rooms can get quite warm. To be prepared, we recommend that children bring a sweater or jacket everyday and dress in layers for indoor comfort.
WE NEED LILIES
As a final activity to our apple study, we will be discussing the importance of the apple tree's flowers or blossoms. When the orchard experienced a late frost last spring, 90% of the blossoms were killed and could not develop into apples. We want the children to examine and observe the parts of a flower up close and see the pollen that is so important in the fertilization process. Because of their size, lilies are the perfect flower for this lesson. We need of about 12 large lilies for Monday. These can usually be found at your local grocery store. Please email Ms. Harrison if you can help.
SNACK/LUNCH DONATIONS NEEDED
We always try to have extra snacks and lunch items on hand for times when a lunchbox is forgotten at home, when food falls on the floor, or when a child is still feeling hungry. If you’d like to help, we could use some tree-nut free granola bars, pretzels, etc. that are easy to store. Cup O’ Noodles and instant Mac ‘n Cheese work well as lunch substitutes. Thanks!
KEEPING UP WITH BLAINE 309
Because there is so much information to share each week, we invite you check in often at our homepage to learn more about your child’s experience in second grade. We will often include many things that we just cannot fit into our newsletters. You can also use an RSS reader (i.e. Google Reader) to subscribe to the homepage and we invite you to follow us on twitter where we will post news often.
FALL SCIENCE COLLECTION
Now that the season is changing, we will invite children to begin adding to our autumn science collection. We already have the head of a sunflower and a dead cicada found on the playground. Soon, the children will start collecting all sorts of beautiful fall leaves. We’d like to add some pumpkins, gourds or other fall plants to our nature collection. If you are at a farmer’s market, pumpkin patch or even just the grocery store, we invite you to pick up a few things to share with the class. Thanks to Hannah and her family for bringing us a lovely purple mum!
ROOM PARENTS
Thank you to our room parent volunteers this year. We so appreciate their support and help in planning classroom celebrations, potlucks and more! Our room parents are:
Jenn Roggin -contact
Tara Marsh - communications
Audris Wong - garbanzo email list
Colleen Sheehan
If you would like to join this group, please contact Jenn.
AFTERNOON READ ALOUD
The children can’t get enough of our afternoon read aloud, Gooseberry Park, by Cynthia Rylant. You may have of heard of Ms. Rylant’s well-loved series Henry and Mudge, Poppleton, and Mr. Putter and Tabby. Be sure to ask your favorite second grade about the adventures of Stumpy the squirrel, Kona the chocolate Labrador, Gwendolyn the hermit crab and Murray the oreo-loving bat!
Enjoy the beautiful autumn weekend!