APPLES, APPLES, APPLES
We enjoyed a wonderful trip to Radke's Apple Orchard. The branches were heavy with many varieties of apples. The children toured the orchard in a wagon pulled by Mr. Radke and his tractor, found a woolly bear caterpillar and a pear tree, and joined with 70+ second graders to sing and dance with Mrs. Henricks our Music teacher! Thank you to the parent chaperones for all of your help! If you have any photographs to share, please email them (large size) to Ms. Harrison so we can add them to our website. Be sure to see the Gallery for all the highlights.
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. 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 this Thursday, October 10th. Sorry for the short notice. These can usually be found at your local grocery store and can be sent to school Wednesday or Thursday. Please email Ms. Harrison if you can help and so we'll know if we will have enough.
WHOOPING CRANES
The migration is underway and we have launched our study of this amazing, endangered bird. Be sure to stop by the classroom to see the life-sized drawing of Wally the Whooper in the hallway. How does your child compare to this 5 foot bird with its 7-8 foot wingspan? See the Gallery for photos!
The cranes began their migration on Wednesday and only flew 5 miles. Pilot Richard van Heuvelen launched with seven cranes while Pilot Brooke Pennypacker flew behind to pick up any stray birds. One crane (#3) stayed behind, reluctant to leave the pen. As Operation Migration writes in their Field Journal:
After a couple minutes of flight, four of the cranes turned back and landed at the pen so Brooke told Richard to carry on with the four he had in hand to the first stopover, which is located a bit further south in Green Lake County and only 5 miles from the pen site.
Brooke tried repeatedly to convince the four young cranes that had turned back that it was time to begin the migration, and at one point, he even had them over the 30+ folks that had gathered at the Mile Rd. flyover site, but as soon as they passed, first one crane, then two others, and finally his fourth crane peeled off and flew the mile or so back to the pen.
It turns out the culprit was #5. No matter where Brooke led them to, he not only decided to turn back but he managed to convince the others they should join him.
These four, uncooperative cranes were crated and driven to the stopover site while the other four followed Richard's ultralight. Rain and winds have kept the cranes and the planes grounded since then. All eight crane-kids are now in Green Lake County, Wisconsin. The ultralight aircraft are more sensitive to the weather conditions than the birds and can't always fly even though the whooping cranes are eager.
During one of the down days, our class tuned into the crane cam and the live chat. Ms. Harrison typed in that second graders were watching from Chicago. After lots of warm greetings from the other viewers, we posed some questions to Operation Migration member, Heather Ray. The kids asked some wonderful questions about the cranes' size, what they liked to eat and more. It was wonderful to have the experts at our finger tips! We are crossing our fingers for better weather this week and hope the cranes are more cooperative.
ALLERGIES
Because some children in our class have severe allergies peanuts and tree nuts, we are a nut-restricted classroom. We, however, also have children who are allergic to dairy, eggs and wheat. If you would like to send in a homemade treat, please make arrangements with Ms. Harrison in advance so we can do our best to include all children. Thanks for your understanding!
ON TIME ARRIVAL
We begin our day with Morning Meeting at 8:40 a.m. It is important that children arrive at school on time (8:30 a.m.) so they have a chance to put to put belongings away, follow the morning routine, greet friends and settle in before we begin our day. Thanks for your cooperation.
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. Our playground is also very shady and it can be quite chilly there. Please send your child with a jacket or warm sweater everyday. Thank you.
HALLOWEEN
A Halloween Parade is being planned for ESH and will begin at 9:30 on October 31st. All 1st and 2nd Grade classes will participate along with some N/K classes. Parents are welcome to come by the classroom at 9:00 a.m. to help children get into their costumes. More details about classroom festivities will be sent home soon. Please let us know if your child will not be participating in the Halloween activities or marching in the parade.
Once the parade begins, parents are invited to watch along the parade route in the Lobby and landings at the south end of each hallway (overlooking the outside courtyard). The hallways are more narrow at ESH than they were at Blaine and are not the best spots for parents. Parents are strongly encouraged to use the South staircase for traveling to viewing areas. Students and teachers will use the North stairways for parading. The parade will conclude with singing either in the gym or on the roof (weather permitting). Stay tuned for more details as Halloween approaches.
Children need to manage their costumes with relative independence. They 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.
FALL BREAKFAST POTLUCK
Please save the date for our first potluck of the year, November 13th from 7:30-8:45 a.m. Soon you will receive more details for our room parents. We hope to see you there!
PARENT CONFERENCES
Below you will see the schedule for upcoming conferences. Our meeting time is 30 minutes long so please be on time and wait patiently in the hallway if the door is closed. We’ll open it when we are ready. These conferences are for parents-only. If you cannot find child care, your child may sit in the hall and work on something quietly. The library will not be available. We look forward to hearing more about your favorite second grader!
Friday, October 11th
7:30 Poppy
Monday, October 14th
7:30 Kinsey
8:10 Yuan
8:50 Abe
10:00 Claire
10:40 Anne
11:20 Arthur
12:45 Emily
1:25 Sophie
2:05 Elizabeth
2:45 Nate
Enjoy the week!
We enjoyed a wonderful trip to Radke's Apple Orchard. The branches were heavy with many varieties of apples. The children toured the orchard in a wagon pulled by Mr. Radke and his tractor, found a woolly bear caterpillar and a pear tree, and joined with 70+ second graders to sing and dance with Mrs. Henricks our Music teacher! Thank you to the parent chaperones for all of your help! If you have any photographs to share, please email them (large size) to Ms. Harrison so we can add them to our website. Be sure to see the Gallery for all the highlights.
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. 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 this Thursday, October 10th. Sorry for the short notice. These can usually be found at your local grocery store and can be sent to school Wednesday or Thursday. Please email Ms. Harrison if you can help and so we'll know if we will have enough.
WHOOPING CRANES
The migration is underway and we have launched our study of this amazing, endangered bird. Be sure to stop by the classroom to see the life-sized drawing of Wally the Whooper in the hallway. How does your child compare to this 5 foot bird with its 7-8 foot wingspan? See the Gallery for photos!
The cranes began their migration on Wednesday and only flew 5 miles. Pilot Richard van Heuvelen launched with seven cranes while Pilot Brooke Pennypacker flew behind to pick up any stray birds. One crane (#3) stayed behind, reluctant to leave the pen. As Operation Migration writes in their Field Journal:
After a couple minutes of flight, four of the cranes turned back and landed at the pen so Brooke told Richard to carry on with the four he had in hand to the first stopover, which is located a bit further south in Green Lake County and only 5 miles from the pen site.
Brooke tried repeatedly to convince the four young cranes that had turned back that it was time to begin the migration, and at one point, he even had them over the 30+ folks that had gathered at the Mile Rd. flyover site, but as soon as they passed, first one crane, then two others, and finally his fourth crane peeled off and flew the mile or so back to the pen.
It turns out the culprit was #5. No matter where Brooke led them to, he not only decided to turn back but he managed to convince the others they should join him.
These four, uncooperative cranes were crated and driven to the stopover site while the other four followed Richard's ultralight. Rain and winds have kept the cranes and the planes grounded since then. All eight crane-kids are now in Green Lake County, Wisconsin. The ultralight aircraft are more sensitive to the weather conditions than the birds and can't always fly even though the whooping cranes are eager.
During one of the down days, our class tuned into the crane cam and the live chat. Ms. Harrison typed in that second graders were watching from Chicago. After lots of warm greetings from the other viewers, we posed some questions to Operation Migration member, Heather Ray. The kids asked some wonderful questions about the cranes' size, what they liked to eat and more. It was wonderful to have the experts at our finger tips! We are crossing our fingers for better weather this week and hope the cranes are more cooperative.
ALLERGIES
Because some children in our class have severe allergies peanuts and tree nuts, we are a nut-restricted classroom. We, however, also have children who are allergic to dairy, eggs and wheat. If you would like to send in a homemade treat, please make arrangements with Ms. Harrison in advance so we can do our best to include all children. Thanks for your understanding!
ON TIME ARRIVAL
We begin our day with Morning Meeting at 8:40 a.m. It is important that children arrive at school on time (8:30 a.m.) so they have a chance to put to put belongings away, follow the morning routine, greet friends and settle in before we begin our day. Thanks for your cooperation.
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. Our playground is also very shady and it can be quite chilly there. Please send your child with a jacket or warm sweater everyday. Thank you.
HALLOWEEN
A Halloween Parade is being planned for ESH and will begin at 9:30 on October 31st. All 1st and 2nd Grade classes will participate along with some N/K classes. Parents are welcome to come by the classroom at 9:00 a.m. to help children get into their costumes. More details about classroom festivities will be sent home soon. Please let us know if your child will not be participating in the Halloween activities or marching in the parade.
Once the parade begins, parents are invited to watch along the parade route in the Lobby and landings at the south end of each hallway (overlooking the outside courtyard). The hallways are more narrow at ESH than they were at Blaine and are not the best spots for parents. Parents are strongly encouraged to use the South staircase for traveling to viewing areas. Students and teachers will use the North stairways for parading. The parade will conclude with singing either in the gym or on the roof (weather permitting). Stay tuned for more details as Halloween approaches.
Children need to manage their costumes with relative independence. They 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.
FALL BREAKFAST POTLUCK
Please save the date for our first potluck of the year, November 13th from 7:30-8:45 a.m. Soon you will receive more details for our room parents. We hope to see you there!
PARENT CONFERENCES
Below you will see the schedule for upcoming conferences. Our meeting time is 30 minutes long so please be on time and wait patiently in the hallway if the door is closed. We’ll open it when we are ready. These conferences are for parents-only. If you cannot find child care, your child may sit in the hall and work on something quietly. The library will not be available. We look forward to hearing more about your favorite second grader!
Friday, October 11th
7:30 Poppy
Monday, October 14th
7:30 Kinsey
8:10 Yuan
8:50 Abe
10:00 Claire
10:40 Anne
11:20 Arthur
12:45 Emily
1:25 Sophie
2:05 Elizabeth
2:45 Nate
Enjoy the week!