Be sure to stop by the Lobby and see your favorite second graders "migrating into the New Year!" We decorated whooping crane illustrations and attached photos of the children. They turned out great and the kids got a real kick out of seeing themselves flying atop a crane!
WINTER WEATHER
The snow has arrived and with it, the excitement of playing outside! Please make sure your child comes prepared to play in the cold, snowy or slushy conditions everyday.
Here are some winter gear tips...
Be sure to see the Gallery for the first of many snow pictures of the year.
MATH
We continuing our study of money and in particular, adding different combinations of coins together. The children have learned to sort coins by value before they begin counting. We are practicing counting by 5s, 10, and 25s. These skills (with the exception of counting by 25s) are automatic for most children. It is harder for them to switch gears when counting coins. For example adding two quarters, 6 dimes, and 4 nickels. If you have any opportunities for your favorite second grader to count combinations of coins at home, please encourage him/her to do so! It is especially helpful for second graders to practice counting quarters and build that memory for counting by 25s. For kids who are ready for more of a challenge, you can ask them to make change for you. Better yet, show them this real life process at a store. Can they figure out how much change the cashier will give you back? We will formally practice making change later in the year. The children need to be accurate in adding coins first.
NUTCRACKER BALLET ON FRIDAY
We will be attending the Hyde Park School of Dance's performance of The Nutcracker on Friday. Parent chaperones include Chris McGowan, Kate Surmeier, Tracey Patterson, and Stephanie Beiser. We will depart by bus at 9:15 and return in time for lunch. Chaperones should plan to be at the classroom by 9:05-9:10. Thank you.
SNAP CIRCUITS
This week Ms. Atiya introduced the children to Snap Circuts, an award winning electronic building kit. It comes with many re-usabe color coded parts and has hundreds of easy-to-follow directions that help you snap together some of the most intriguing projects. The most popular projects are the AM Radio, Dual Speed Fan, Flashing Lazer Light, and the Doorbell. Snap Circuits will be available during free choice time where the students can put their wondering minds together to create and discover these inventions! Here is a link to read more about this exciting new way to play and explore:
http://snapcircuits.net
CHANGE 4 CRANES
Please make sure you child returns his/her Change4Cranes by Friday! We are going to begin sorting and counting all the coins and paper bills. Ms. Harrison will take the total to the bank and have a money order made out to Operation Migration then we'll compare the official total to our estimate. Thanks for supporting this wonderful project!
WHOOPING CRANE EBOOKS
With a partner, the children have started writing ebooks on the iPads to teach others all about the whooping cranes. Our neighbors, Ms. Johnson's first grade class, has been learning about birds for the last several week and wants to learn about the whooping cranes. We are using a wonderful iPad app called Book Creator. This allows children to add images, photos, music, and recording to their books. It's amazing how quickly they learn how to make beautiful ebooks that can be shared digitally. When these books are finished, we will share them with you!
FAMILY MESSAGE JOURNALS
Please make sure your child's Family Message Journal comes back to school by tomorrow. We will write in them one more time before the Winter Break.
KINDERGARTEN BUDDIES
We recently met our Kindergarten Buddies from Ms. Stowe-Grant's class. This year, the children will become kindness secret agents. We are calling ourselves the Kindness Kids. We enjoyed a wonderful book together called, Have You Filled A Bucket Today? and began work on our first mission. The children decorated bookmarks to place in random books throughout Lim Family Library. We hope other children and teachers will be surprised and delighted when they find the bookmarks and then the kindness will become contagious.
Our plan is to meet with with our buddies once a month for the rest of the year and to spread kindness throughout the school and beyond! This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to be a "big buddy." Be sure to ask your child what it means to be a "bucket filler" or a "bucket dipper." Photos of our buddies and this most recent kindness mission have been posted in the Gallery.
WINTER BREAK & EARLY ABSENCES
Please let us know if your child will be leaving early for the Winter Break. There are many activities and events planned for next week of school. It's helpful for us to know if children will be absent. Thank you.
WINTER WEATHER
The snow has arrived and with it, the excitement of playing outside! Please make sure your child comes prepared to play in the cold, snowy or slushy conditions everyday.
Here are some winter gear tips...
- We recommend that children keep a stick of lip balm in their backpacks for the rest of the season so they can avoid frequent visits to the nurse for chapped lips.
- Send a extra pair of warm, dry socks to keep in your child’s cubby in case his/her feet get wet during recess.
- Make sure your child has other shoes to wear during the day. Boots get too warm and often need time to dry out after recess. Your child needs P.E. shoes Monday-Thursday.
- Is your child having a hard time carrying all his/her winter gear back and forth? We recommend that each child use a large durable canvas or vinyl bag (like the eco-bags used for grocery shopping) to take snow boots, pants, hats, and mittens/gloves back and forth from home to school. This way they have everything in one place and don’t have to go searching. This will help the children become more independent and responsible for their belongings as well. Please label the bag and everything in it with your child’s name. If your child loses something, please check the ESH Lost and Found - the closet across from the Security Desk in the Lobby.
Be sure to see the Gallery for the first of many snow pictures of the year.
MATH
We continuing our study of money and in particular, adding different combinations of coins together. The children have learned to sort coins by value before they begin counting. We are practicing counting by 5s, 10, and 25s. These skills (with the exception of counting by 25s) are automatic for most children. It is harder for them to switch gears when counting coins. For example adding two quarters, 6 dimes, and 4 nickels. If you have any opportunities for your favorite second grader to count combinations of coins at home, please encourage him/her to do so! It is especially helpful for second graders to practice counting quarters and build that memory for counting by 25s. For kids who are ready for more of a challenge, you can ask them to make change for you. Better yet, show them this real life process at a store. Can they figure out how much change the cashier will give you back? We will formally practice making change later in the year. The children need to be accurate in adding coins first.
NUTCRACKER BALLET ON FRIDAY
We will be attending the Hyde Park School of Dance's performance of The Nutcracker on Friday. Parent chaperones include Chris McGowan, Kate Surmeier, Tracey Patterson, and Stephanie Beiser. We will depart by bus at 9:15 and return in time for lunch. Chaperones should plan to be at the classroom by 9:05-9:10. Thank you.
SNAP CIRCUITS
This week Ms. Atiya introduced the children to Snap Circuts, an award winning electronic building kit. It comes with many re-usabe color coded parts and has hundreds of easy-to-follow directions that help you snap together some of the most intriguing projects. The most popular projects are the AM Radio, Dual Speed Fan, Flashing Lazer Light, and the Doorbell. Snap Circuits will be available during free choice time where the students can put their wondering minds together to create and discover these inventions! Here is a link to read more about this exciting new way to play and explore:
http://snapcircuits.net
CHANGE 4 CRANES
Please make sure you child returns his/her Change4Cranes by Friday! We are going to begin sorting and counting all the coins and paper bills. Ms. Harrison will take the total to the bank and have a money order made out to Operation Migration then we'll compare the official total to our estimate. Thanks for supporting this wonderful project!
WHOOPING CRANE EBOOKS
With a partner, the children have started writing ebooks on the iPads to teach others all about the whooping cranes. Our neighbors, Ms. Johnson's first grade class, has been learning about birds for the last several week and wants to learn about the whooping cranes. We are using a wonderful iPad app called Book Creator. This allows children to add images, photos, music, and recording to their books. It's amazing how quickly they learn how to make beautiful ebooks that can be shared digitally. When these books are finished, we will share them with you!
FAMILY MESSAGE JOURNALS
Please make sure your child's Family Message Journal comes back to school by tomorrow. We will write in them one more time before the Winter Break.
KINDERGARTEN BUDDIES
We recently met our Kindergarten Buddies from Ms. Stowe-Grant's class. This year, the children will become kindness secret agents. We are calling ourselves the Kindness Kids. We enjoyed a wonderful book together called, Have You Filled A Bucket Today? and began work on our first mission. The children decorated bookmarks to place in random books throughout Lim Family Library. We hope other children and teachers will be surprised and delighted when they find the bookmarks and then the kindness will become contagious.
Our plan is to meet with with our buddies once a month for the rest of the year and to spread kindness throughout the school and beyond! This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to be a "big buddy." Be sure to ask your child what it means to be a "bucket filler" or a "bucket dipper." Photos of our buddies and this most recent kindness mission have been posted in the Gallery.
WINTER BREAK & EARLY ABSENCES
Please let us know if your child will be leaving early for the Winter Break. There are many activities and events planned for next week of school. It's helpful for us to know if children will be absent. Thank you.