Our Lady Of Guadalupe


This past week the second grade class has been learning about Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. We looked at different images of Our Lady of Guadalupe including the one in our front hallway. Thursday's Mass was the feast day of St. Juan Diego, so the students were able to hear Fr. Paul talk about his life as well. Over the week, the children practice putting on the play of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Earlier today, they performed the play for each other in costumes and with props. Everyone did a wonderful job learning about this incredible story. Look in your child's folder for an Our Lady of Guadalupe prayer card and rose from the play.

Animals

A couple of weeks ago, the second grade class began their unit of study on animals. Here are some of the main ideas from this science chapter:

-Many different kinds of animals live in our world. These are separated into five groups: mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish.
-Animals change as they grow. Young frogs and butterflies look different from their parents.
-A place where an animal lives is its habitat.
-Some animals eat plants, other animals eat animals. This is called the food chain.
-Animals protect themselves in many different ways.

In order to better understand the meaning of animal life cycles, we have focused on frogs and butterflies. The best way to observe the life cycle of the butterfly is to watch one happen before one's eyes - so that's what we are doing! Last week two jars of young caterpillars arrived in our classroom. Over the last nine days we have watched them grow and change. Today, half of them are forming their chrysalis. Every student has been recording the changes they observe in their own Caterpillar Diary.
Also, today the students made clay models of the life cycle of a butterfly. Even though we have only seen three of the stage so far, everyone knows what the final stage will bring - a butterfly! Discuss the changes that your child is seeing everyday here at school with them at home.

Listening Centers


Every Thursday, the second grade class works in centers. These are four different stations with different activities set up around the room. They typically spend fifteen to twenty minutes in each center before switching to the next one. In this manner, they are able to visit all four centers by the end of the class. One center that they have been working in since the beginning of the year is a listening center. Each student is now able to get their own tape recorder and headphones, find a space to plug it in, and prepare the tape to be listened to during their time. I am really proud of how quickly the students were able to learn this routine. Ask your child at home what their favorite book to listen to has been!

Fr. Elvio Visits


This year we are lucky to have Fr. Elvio coming into our classroom once a week to teach religion class. He is the new priest here at St. Sylvester and it has been a really nice way to get to know him. We started our studies with a review of the Blessed Trinity and the Holy Family. Then we moved into the importance of prayer and going to Church. We are now beginning our study of the sacraments. The students should be able to name all seven sacraments - Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick - by the end of the year. Mr. Bennett will be coming around later in this unit of study to quiz each student individually about the seven sacraments. Remember, the students who are baptized will be celebrating their First Reconciliation this year! Be sure to discuss all of the sacraments at home with your son or daughter to find out more about what they are learning!

Plants Revisited

Last week, the second grade students met with their buddies to diagram and label the parts of a plant. They had to color, cut out, and glue the pieces in the correct places. Then, the seventh graders helped their buddies spell the labels correctly.
Also, look at how our real plants have grown!

Please help your child care for their plant now that they have brought them home. Each child knows that plants need sunlight, air, and water in order to grow!

Poppleton the Pig

Poppleton the Pig is one of my favorite characters in children's literature. This week the students read the story Poppleton and the Grapefruit by Cynthia Rylant. Ask your son or daughter to summarize the story for you! Each child completed a few different activities to go along with our reading.
First, the students made "open-mind portraits" of Poppleton. To do this, they needed to color and cut out an image of Poppleton and then attach paper silhoutettes to the back. On each paper they wrote about what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Below you can see a few of the finished products.
The next activity that your child should be bringing home today was a collage that everyone made of healthy choices. They cut out images from magazines as well as added some of their own. Everyone had some good advice for Poppleton of ways to stay healthy without eating grapefruit.
The last thing the students did was to observe grapefruit with all of their senses. First, they looked at the grapefruit, touched it, and finally smelled it. Next, they listened to the sound of it being cut and the juice being squeezed from a segment. Last, everyone partook in a taste test. Everyone took notes in their writing journals on this experience. Some children enjoyed the grapefruit, while many others did not; just like Poppleton. Ask your son or daughter whether or not they liked the taste of grapefruit!
You can watch the slideshow of all of the children's reactions to their grapefruit tasting in the sidebar. They also gave a thumbs up or down depending on how they felt about it!

Plants


Our class has begun the first chapter in science. They will be learning about plants throughout this chapter. Last week, each child started their own science dictionaries in which they will include important information, new vocabulary, and predictions/outcomes of experiments done in chapter one. The main ideas in this chapter are:

-There are different kinds of plants.
-Plants need water, air, and sunlight to grow.
-Parts of a plant are roots, stem, leaves, and flowers.
-Flowers make seeds.
-Seeds are scattered by wind, water, and animals.
-Food and other useful products come from plants.

In school, every child planted seeds today. What better way to study and observe plants than to grow our own! Be sure to ask your child about how their plant is doing over the next days and which of the above topics we are covering.

Buddy Time

Every Thursday this year, the second grade class will be meeting with their seventh grade buddies to do an activity. In the past, these buddy activities have really brought the kids together and friendships have bloomed. Last week, the students met their buddies for the first time and read to them. Afterwards, they drew an illustration of their favorite part of the story. The seventh graders are real leaders and helped the second graders feel comfortable. This year's buddy group is really special to me because the current seventh graders were the first second grade class that I taught here at St. Sylvester School!

Patterning

The second grade class had some time last week to get used to the math manipulatives that they will be using this year. Each small group had fifteen minutes to utilize the snap cubes, pattern blocks, dominoes, and geoboards however they wished. Many students ended up making patterns! Look at how all of the students worked together so nicely.

Welcome to Second Grade!

Welcome to all of the new second grade faces! It is so nice to be back in school and ready to get to know the new class. We have many students returning to St. Sylvester from last year, but also some new friends to make. Everyone settled into the classroom routines fairly quickly over the past week and we are already getting down to work! Check back here often to see all of the things going on in room 109!

Science Discovery Fair 2010



The second grade class did a wonderful job of studying the solar system for this year's science fair! Yesterday, each student presented their planet, sun, or moon in the classroom. They each became the expert for their project topic. The other students had time to ask each child questions about their subject as well as their model. Overall, I think everyone learned a lot.
By this morning, everyone's projects were displayed in the basement. The second grade class first visited the preschool and kindergarten projects. Then they stood by their own projects while other classes walked around and observed their work. While they were standing near their projects a judge came around to ask questions and take notes about all of the projects. This score combined with their classroom presentation score will be how the winners are chosen. After the judge was finished, the second grade was able to visit first, third, and fourth grade science projects. We saw so many interesting things! Ask your child which was their favorite.
Tomorrow, the second grade is invited to see the junior high students' projects. If you would like to come see everyone's projects, the school will be open to families tonight from 5:30 -7:00. Feel free to stop in and see everyone's hard work.