Hispanic Heritage Month: Chile

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month the second grade class has been learning all about Chile. We have read and discussed the geography, the arts, sports, and food and drink.  The culmination was a video the students put together showcasing some of their new knowledge. Ask your son or daughter about the most interesting thing they learned about Chile!

Plants

Our class has begun the first chapter in science. They will be learning about plants throughout this chapter. This 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 last week. What better way to study and observe plants than to grow our own! The above picture was taken one week after planting. Look at how much they have already grown. 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.

  Each student also put together a diagram of a plant and labelled the most important parts: the roots, stem, leaves, and flower. On the backside they wrote about the three things that every plant needs in order to grow. We will be sure to continue to care for our plants and watch as they change and grow each day!

Three Addend Addition Video

In this video, two second graders describe how they add three numbers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dljazYfLAXA

Enjoy!

Grapefruit Observations

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. These are hanging in the hallway outside our classroom.

The other activity 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. The students took notes in their writing journals on this experience. Some children enjoyed the grapefruit, while many others did not; just like Poppleton. You can watch the slideshow of all of the children's reactions to their grapefruit tasting in the sidebar.

Ask your son or daughter whether or not they liked the taste of grapefruit!

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 this evening! Remember that your attendance earned your child a free dress down day for this Friday, August 31st! I look forward to communicating with you often throughout the 2012-2013 school year!

Science Fair

This week's science fair was a huge success! The second grade class first presented their projects to their own class, and then to the rest of the students at St. Sylvester. I was very impressed both with the creative models of the different celestial bodies, but also by all of the great information each second grader learned. 

Guest Readers

During the school year the second graders have really enjoyed the time after lunch when I read out loud some of my favorite chapter books to them. We have gone through so many adventures together; from Roald Dahl to Wayside School to Kate DiCamillo's touching tales. Everyday I would read a chapter or two as the students listened. This is truly one of my favorite parts of the day. Well, now it's time for payback! The students in second grade will be the guest readers each day after lunch for the rest of the school year. I have assigned each child one week that they will be featured. Everyone should pick out a book that they love and feel comfortable reading from home or our classroom library. Please practice reading this selection with them at home so they are able to read with expression and hold their audience's attention. I am so looking forward to hearing how much they have each grown as readers and storytellers as the year has progressed. As always, thank you for any assistance or guidance you can give from home. Hopefully, every second grader has developed their love for reading through this daily practice in second grade. 

May Calendar

Happy May Day!! This month there is so much going on at St. Sylvester School! In order to keep track of everything and make sure we are on the same page, I wanted to list out all of the big events for this last month of school.

May 3rd 6:00 PM- Poetry Cafe: The poetry contest winners and their families are invited to read aloud their poems in front of an audience.
May 4th - Progress Reports Sent Home: Be sure to sign and return these ASAP.

May 10th 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM - Open House: The school will be open the entire day for families to visit the classroom that their child will be entering next year. For you, that means third grade and Ms. Jones' room!
May 11th - No School

May 14th - Solar System Science Projects Due
May 15th - White Sox Game: We will leave school at 11:30 and return by 4:30.
May 17th 6:00 - 8:00 PM - Science and Discovery Fair

May 28th - No School
May 30th  6:30 PM- Showcase and Awards Night: Join the school community for an evening of recognizing student award winners and seeing each grade showcase a talent.
May 31st 6:30 PM- Wackadoo Zoo Play!! The first and second grade students will be performing the spring musical Wackadoo Zoo.

Mark your calendars so you do not miss out on any of the exciting events taking place at St. Sylvester this month!

Down in the Sea: Jellyfish!

 

The second grade class read the story Down in the Sea: The Jellyfish this past week. Before we read, the students were able to listen to an interview with an aquarist at Chicago's own Shedd Aquarium. It was very exciting for them not only since it is in our city, but also because our field trip last month was to the Shedd! There were several facts given in the interview that we listed on a large poster board after listening. For example, there are 500-700 different species of jellyfish, moon jellies are the most common species, and most jellyfish are translucent. After reading Down in the Sea: The Jellyfish, every students picked one of their favorite facts from the story. Each child wrote the fact on another large sheet of paper entitled What We Learned from Reading. These poster-sized papers are hanging in the hallway outside of the second grade classroom. Surrounding the posters is a large school of second grade made jellyfish! The students were able to choose how many tentacles to attach to their jellyfish, but they had to include one fact on each of the tentacles. Real jellyfish can have just a few tentacles and up to as many as eight hundred! This was just one of the many many things we learned this week from heading under the sea! Ask your son or daughter to tell you about their favorite jellyfish facts!

Second Grade News on Youtube!

During computer class, the second graders have been making news videos about what we are learning in each subject. Here is the link to view the videos that have already been posted:

http://www.youtube.com/user/stsylvestercomputer

Check back frequently to catch any updates on the second grade curriculum and watch your second grader star in their own news production!