We are planning a special classroom activity that we will introduce on Halloween. Each child needs his/her own flashlight to keep at school for the remainder of the year. The flashlights need to be easy to operate and small enough for your child to be able to hold while reading and keep in his/her book box. Book lights and headlamps are also ok. We would also appreciate some spare batteries to keep on hand. Please send in flashlights (labeled with your child's name) no later than Wednesday, October 29th (deadline extended). Thank you!
OCTOBER SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS
Reading Club Order Due Date: October 26
Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: L7MMV
Please remember to place your Scholastic Reading Club orders by tomorrow, October 26! We will not place the orders until Monday evening. A book flier was sent home a couple of weeks ago or you can look online. Every purchase made earns FREE Books and educational supplies for our classroom. Online orders please (no checks or cash). The arrival of the book box is always a highlight-thanks for making it happen!
If This Is Your First Time Ordering Online:
- VISIT scholastic.com/readingclub
- ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code (top of this letter)
- SHOP from a carefully curated selection of the best books and value packs
- SUBMIT your order and earn FREE Books for our classroom
- All book orders will be shipped to our classroom so we can celebrate the joy of reading together!
ONE LARGE PUMPKIN/PUMPKIN CARVER NEEDED
We would like to carve a jack-o-lantern on Thursday to get ready for the Halloween festivities on Friday. If you can help by bringing in a large pumpkin by Wednesday, we would greatly appreciate it! Also, we we love some help from a parent to carve the pumpkin on Thursday morning between 8:20-8:50. Kids will have voted on the face design and will be ready to help scoop out the seeds and flesh. Please let Ms. Harrison know if you can help with this fun but messy activity!
Last week, we took a walking field trip to see the Gordan Parks photography exhibit at the new Gordan Parks Hall on the Historic Campus. While there the children were on their best "museum" behavior as we spent time quietly looking at each photograph. For a couple of weeks in class, we have focused on one photograph in particular and the children have been following a thinking routine called See,Think, Wonder. We did the same routine with the lily blossoms. This routine helps children slow down and make careful and thoughtful observations while thinking deeply about an image or object. The Gordan Parks' photograph Outside Looking In inspired lots of curiosity and wondering both in the classroom and at the exhibit as the children sat in front of the actual photograph. Many children noticed the fence right away and the amusement park or carnival in the background. Some wondered about the children looking through the fence. Other children shared their knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement and thought that perhaps this was a "whites only" carnival. During this rich discussion, teachers did not offer any further information about the photograph or answer students' questions. Next week, the children will post their See, Think, Wonder pages on SeeSaw for you to view.
As a follow up activity, we read a picture book titled The Other Side of the Fence by Jacqueline Woodson. Here is a synopsis:
Clover's mom says it isn't safe to cross the fence that segregates their African-American side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups' rules by sitting on top of the fence together.
The whooping cranes arrived in Winnebago, County, Illinois this morning after flying 34 miles. That makes their migration a total of 123 miles of 1,285. We hope to catch them flying one morning on the Crane Cam but haven't been lucky enough yet. Last week, we learned about the whooping crane life cycle and the children are doing a lovely project to demonstrate their understanding. Our circle cycles will be added to SeeSaw soon!
HALLOWEEN
Tomorrow, you will receive an email containing information about Friday's Halloween Parade and the parade route. There are some exciting changes this year! We will also send home a hard copy with your child.
From our Room Parents:
The room parents are planning a Surprise Halloween Party at 10:30a.m., right after the Halloween Parade. Kids should come dressed in their regular clothes to school that morning, and bring their costumes. They will change into their costumes in the classroom for the parade. After the parade the kids will go to recess. While the kids are at recess (probably around 10:45), and the classroom is empty, the Room Parents and any other volunteers will sneak into the classroom and transform it into a Spook-Ta-Cular Halloween Party! We'll decorate with ghouls and goblins; skeletons and ghosts; pumpkins, spiders, rats...and whatever other ghastly Halloween decorations you might have in your house that you can loan for this event. We'll celebrate with Creepy Cupcakes, Witches' Brew, and every kid will get a Halloween Goodie Bag to take home. With all of us pitching in, it's sure to be a Graveyard Smash! If you would like to join in the decorating fun or provide something for the celebration, please sign-up here and join us for a Spooktacular day! Please contact Shelly Quiles with questions.
As your are planning your child's costume, please remember that children need to manage their costumes with relative independence. Children should wear their regular clothing to school. We will change into costumes around 8:50 and take photos before we head down to the the parade route at 9:20. Children will only wear their costumes during the parade and will need to change back into school clothes before we go continue with the rest of our day. Elaborate face make-up is discouraged, as are weapons. If a sword, light-saber, etc. is a vital part of your child’s costume, he/she may carry it but may not use it as a weapon. Please be mindful of the younger children in our school who may be frightened by scary costumes. We would love a few parents on hand to help with costumes in the morning and to take photos for us throughout the parade and party. Thanks!
ALVIN AILEY UPDATE
Our field trip to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater on March 11th has been cancelled and you will not be billed through FACTS for the tickets. For the first time, Auditorium Theater was unable to accommodate us (even without parent chaperones) despite our early submission for tickets. We are disappointed that this second grade tradition will not continue this year but are looking forward to other field trips throughout the year.
IPAD APPS
We have been using several iPad apps in the classroom and wanted to share the list with you in case your child wants to continue the learning and exploration at home:
Math Bingo (free computer version, http://www.abcya.com/math_bingo.htm)
Math Doodles
Jungle Coin
Math Tappers: Find Sums (great for addition facts up to 100)
Base 10 Bingo (free computer version, http://www.abcya.com/base_ten_bingo.htm)
Drawing Pad
MATH
We have continued our work on using math strategies for solving addition problems. We want children to build fact fluency for single-digit addition problems. The latest strategy was doubles facts and near doubles facts. If the problem is 5 + 6, the near doubles strategy says "I know that 5 + 5 =10 and 6 is one more than 5 so 5 + 6 =11."
We also practiced writing number stories and learned that each number story must have at least two facts and a questions (i.e. Seven ducks were swimming in the pond. Five ducks were sitting on the grass. How many ducks in all?). When solving number stories, the children are also learning to identify important key words that help them determine the operation (addition or subtraction). These words may include how many in all/altogether, how many more/less, and how many are left. We encourage students to follow certian steps when solving a number story and will begin to differentiate the type and complexity of these stories in the students' math notebooks each week.
As we continue to build independent routines for our Workshop (Literacy) time in the afternoons, we have been working with the children on building their stamina for independent reading or what we call Read-to-Self. Just a marathon runner needs to build stamina before running 26.2 miles, we need to build our stamina for reading. Our goal is 20 minutes of sustained, independent reading with books at a "just-right" level. The students are very motivated by this idea and we continue to watch the colors climb on our "stamina meter" each day! We hope to meet our goal this week!
VIDEO PEN PAL PROGRAM
We expect to receive a video from our pen pals in New Delhi, India this week. They were on holiday recently.
Have a great week.