Please remember that the celebration of first Reconciliation will be this Tuesday, February 16th at 7:00 PM. Please bring your son or daughter to the church at 6:45 so that the service can start on time. Also, make sure that your child is dressed appropriately for such an important sacramental event (this means no jeans please!). Here are a few key concepts that you should review with your son or daughter:
contrition: being sorry for your sins and promising to not sin again
confession: telling your sins to the priest
penance: a kind act or prayer we do to make up for our sins
absolution: the priest's forgiveness of your sins in God's name
Lastly, practice, practice, practice the Act of Contrition! Each second grader has done a stupendous job readying themselves for this special occasion. I am already so proud of all their hard work! See you on Tuesday night!
Catholic Schools Week 2010!!
We just wrapped up another successful Catholic Schools Week with many fun events. Here are some of the highlights:
Monday: Pajama Dress Down and Drop Everything and Read Day
We started off the week with an all school prayer service thanking God for all of the good things that we have to celebrate in our school. Reflecting over the week to come, everyone got very excited. During our normal DEAR time, the second grade was able to use blankets and pillows to get comfortable with a book. Later in the day, the first grade class visited our classroom for a joint DEAR time. All of the desks were moved to the middle of the room and everyone cozied up with a good book.
Tuesday: Twins, Triplets, and Even Quadruplets Day
Tuesday began with a pep rally recognizing all of our outstanding sports teams at St. Sylvester. The second grade class cheered on all of the older athletes (including our seventh grade buddies) for all of their impressive accomplishments throughout their seasons. Many of the second graders were inspired by the rally and look forward to being able to participate on our teams in the future.
Many of the students also dressed alike in celebration of twins dress down day. As you can see, it was a lot of fun!
Wednesday: Family Visit Day
On Wednesday our classroom was open to visitors. A few families came in and observed class time, read with the kids during silent reading (Edward's aunt had the whole class's attention while she read scary stories, as you can see) and some were able to eat lunch with their kids! Thanks to everyone who made it in!
Thursday: All School Olympics Day
All week everyone was looking forward to Thursday for All School Olympics! And it was just as fun as everyone remembered. All of the second graders were split up among twelve different teams. Each team had its own teacher as the coach and students from every grade, preschool through eighth grade. There were many events including tricycle racing, jumping with a ball between your knees, and making letters with your bodies (as your child for the details). Everyone came together to enjoy a fun afternoon filled with friendly competition.
Friday: All School Mass and Awards Ceremony
We ended our exciting week with an all-school Mass and awards ceremony. The second grade Peacemaker Award went to Miguel Lozano and the Effort Award was earned by Caitlyn Valderrama. Both students have done a great job of leading the class with examples of peacemaking and hard work. Congratulations to them both! Also, there were three winners of the poster contest in the second grade class. Elysa Torres, Edward Romero, and Joshua DeLeon all were included in the winners of the 'What Makes St. Sylvester School Great?' poster contest.
Obviously there are many reasons that St. Sylvester School is such a wonderful place. Thank you to all of the families who make that extra effort to send your child to a Catholic School. We are so lucky to have such a strong community. Happy Catholic Schools Week!
Monday: Pajama Dress Down and Drop Everything and Read Day
We started off the week with an all school prayer service thanking God for all of the good things that we have to celebrate in our school. Reflecting over the week to come, everyone got very excited. During our normal DEAR time, the second grade was able to use blankets and pillows to get comfortable with a book. Later in the day, the first grade class visited our classroom for a joint DEAR time. All of the desks were moved to the middle of the room and everyone cozied up with a good book.
Tuesday: Twins, Triplets, and Even Quadruplets Day
Tuesday began with a pep rally recognizing all of our outstanding sports teams at St. Sylvester. The second grade class cheered on all of the older athletes (including our seventh grade buddies) for all of their impressive accomplishments throughout their seasons. Many of the second graders were inspired by the rally and look forward to being able to participate on our teams in the future.
Many of the students also dressed alike in celebration of twins dress down day. As you can see, it was a lot of fun!
Wednesday: Family Visit Day
On Wednesday our classroom was open to visitors. A few families came in and observed class time, read with the kids during silent reading (Edward's aunt had the whole class's attention while she read scary stories, as you can see) and some were able to eat lunch with their kids! Thanks to everyone who made it in!
Thursday: All School Olympics Day
All week everyone was looking forward to Thursday for All School Olympics! And it was just as fun as everyone remembered. All of the second graders were split up among twelve different teams. Each team had its own teacher as the coach and students from every grade, preschool through eighth grade. There were many events including tricycle racing, jumping with a ball between your knees, and making letters with your bodies (as your child for the details). Everyone came together to enjoy a fun afternoon filled with friendly competition.
Friday: All School Mass and Awards Ceremony
We ended our exciting week with an all-school Mass and awards ceremony. The second grade Peacemaker Award went to Miguel Lozano and the Effort Award was earned by Caitlyn Valderrama. Both students have done a great job of leading the class with examples of peacemaking and hard work. Congratulations to them both! Also, there were three winners of the poster contest in the second grade class. Elysa Torres, Edward Romero, and Joshua DeLeon all were included in the winners of the 'What Makes St. Sylvester School Great?' poster contest.
Obviously there are many reasons that St. Sylvester School is such a wonderful place. Thank you to all of the families who make that extra effort to send your child to a Catholic School. We are so lucky to have such a strong community. Happy Catholic Schools Week!
Earth Science
On Thursday, the second grade class continued their study of Earth science with a chapter on earthquakes and volcanoes. We supplemented our understanding of earthquakes with a discussion of the recent tragedy on Haiti. The kids talked about how important it is for buildings and bridges to be built securely in the case of this natural disaster. Afterwards, the second graders discussed volcanoes and lava. Most were amazed to learn that lava is actually melted rock and after lava cools down it becomes rock again. We also talked about how many islands were originally made from underwater volcanoes. Ask your child which of our fifty states was once an underwater volcano! Last, the students did an activity where they modeled a volcano out of clay and watched an eruption. Then, we discussed the differences between our model volcano and a real volcano. This is a fun activity that can be done at home as well.
How to Make a Model of a Volcano
Materials:
Clay
Container
Baking Soda
Dish Washing Soap
Vinegar
Stirrer
Red Food Coloring
The first step is to mold the clay around a container (we used a small paper cup) in the shape of a volcano. Then place your volcano in a tin pan in order to catch the 'lava.' After the model is made, pour 1 tbsp. baking soda into the container and mix it with 1 tbsp. dish washing soap. Put in a few drops of red food coloring and mix. Last, fill the rest of the container with vinegar (about 1/4 cup). Watch your volcano erupt!
Friday Math Games
This afternoon the second grade class finished up their work early and were able to play "Math Memory." Everyone has a lot of fun playing and the game is easy enough to make a set for home as well. Since we have been working on two digit subtraction the past couple of weeks, I decided it was time to review addition. Each card has an addition problem on the front with no answer. Every card also has a "match." Two matching cards don't necessarily have the same problem but must have the same sum. For example, the cards 3+8 and 5+6 would be a pair. All of the cards are mixed up and placed face down on the floor. Every player gets a turn to choose two cards and hope they are matches. Over time players can remember where cards that make a certain sum are on the board - this makes the game easier! Try to make a set at home with your second grader and have them teach you how to play!
Christmas Concert
For the past couple of months, the students of St. Sylvester School have been preparing for the annual Christmas concert. Every class in the school had a song to sing in both Spanish and English. Also, the students in grades three through four learned to use a musical instrument to accompany their Christmas tune. Throughout the hallways and in classrooms, the children could be heard working hard to memorize their own integral part of the concert. Their dedication finally paid off last Sunday, December 6th when the school community came together to hear their performance.
The Church pews were packed and the students were nervous, but as soon as the music started, their fears melted away. Each class happily performed their melody under the direction of their music teacher, Ms. Johanna Ortegon. Families took video and photos to capture all of the special moments. The children’s Christmas songs really seemed to usher in the winter season as our first big snowfall came the following day.
After the Christmas concert, the whole St. Sylvester community came back to the school to share in a family potluck. It was a great time for people to spend time together and get to know any new faces in the school. Everyone was kind enough to bring something to share, so that everyone had a meal. Thank you to everyone who joined us for another successful St. Sylvester Christmas Concert and family potluck!
Observing A Butterfly's Life Cycle
As I am sure you have heard, we have some classroom pets in room 109! One month ago today, we received five caterpillars in a jar. We watched them grow dramatically in size and eventually pupate into chrysalis. These chrysalides were then transferred into a larger netted cylinder where they eventually emerged as Painted Lady butterflies. Every child had a chance to sit with the caterpillars, chrysalides and finally butterflies to observe closely these amazing creatures. Every family should have received back their child's caterpillar diary which records some of their observations. We will keep the butterflies in our classroom through their life cycles as it is too cold to let them go outside. I really believe this project helped the students understand life cycles better and is ultimately an unforgettable experience. I have posted pictures here of the butterflies in their pupal stage as well as some students working on their clay models of a butterfly's life cycle.
Halloween!
Happy Halloween! We had a great Halloween in second grade this year. We began the day with the Fun Fair and several students winning goldfish and other exciting prizes. Afterwards, we met up with our buddies to watch Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin movie. The students also did Halloween themed classwork such as predicting which ghost will spin and making a bar graph, finding all the words that can be spelled with the letters in pumpkin, and writing ghost stories. All of the students looked festive in their costumes and we had many treats to share in our classroom. Thanks for helping make it such a special day and I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!
Red Ribbon Week!
Today we kicked off Red Ribbon Week with an all school prayer service. Not only did we talk about the negative effects of drugs, but we also focused on positive choices we can all make to keep ourselves healthy. Exercising, eating nutritious foods, and getting plenty of sleep were some of the things the students came up with in our discussion. Talk about other ways to stay healthy at home and then practice them!
Tomorrow is a free Wear Red dress down day! The ribbons that your child wore home today can be worn any or all days this week. On Wednesday, the winners of our "Drug Free is the Key" poster contest will be announced. Everyone was very creative with their drawings. We will wrap up our Red Ribbon Week with a visit from police officer Medina on Thursday. He will further discuss positive choices the students can make as they get older. Ask your child what they learned from his visit.
Grapefruit Tasting
This week the second grade read Poppleton and the Grapefruit by Cynthia Rylant. In this story, Poppleton eats grapefruit, even though he hates it, because he hears on the television that it makes you live longer. His "lips turn outside -in" and his face turns green upon eating the grapefruit. Ask your son or daughter how the story ends and what Poppleton learns.
In order to put ourselves in the character's shoes, each second grader did a taste test with grapefruit today. I did not see any outside-in lips or green faces, but I did see a few scrunched up from the sour taste.
As you can see, some students did in fact enjoy the grapefruit, but others said they felt just like Poppleton. Ask you son or daughter how they felt about their grapefruit taste test!
Welcome to Second Grade!
Welcome to the second grade blog! I have included some pictures of important things in our classroom. Ask your son or daughter to let you know more about these specific areas - they should know them well by now! Thank you to all of the parents who attended Back to School Night! I look forward to communicating with you often throughout the 2009-2010 school year!
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