This is all that's left of the Jello we made today.  It was a great way to do a quick review of phases of matter.

Almost everyone loved it!

We had another author visit this week.  Mr. Blackley wrote an anti-bullying book called It All Begins With You!.  After reading the book to us he answered questions from the students.  They had some great questions and they really enjoyed hearing his answers.

One of our students wrote a play called "Easter Bunny" and had some classmates act it out with her during snack time.  This class really loves to act!

 

 

 

Our lockers are decorated with an Easter craft we made.  When I showed the class what the craft would look like one of them said, " The black is for Jesus dieing and the cross with all the colors shows that he came back to life."  I couldn't have said it better myself.

The class did a great job choosing and researching a body in space to write fun facts about.  They did a great job illustrating their planets, comets, stars, and asteroids.

We are excited about learning how to count coins this week.  Three students worked on reading the directions for this game and teaching the class how to play it.  It was a fun way to practice counting money.  Please encourage your child to practice counting money at home. 

 

About half of the Flat Stanleys have made it back to DeSales.  I'm sure the others will be back soon with lots of adventures to share.

Next Wednesday is our field trip to the UB CFA to see "Sid the Science Kid".  All of the chaperones should have gotten a letter and map about the trip.  Please be sure to send a bagged lunch and a snack that day as we will be eating in the classroom.

It's All About the Reading

    Our short week emphasized reading.  We had the author Kate Messner presentation on Monday.  She told us all about her writing process which included brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing; all of the things WE do!  The students were amazed to hear it takes her 4-6 months to just come up with a rough draft.  
   We also met with both our 5th grade and our Pre-K reading buddies.  Some of the buddies worked on digital writing together. 
We plan on doing more of that next month.  Next week we look forward to author Kevin Blackley's presentation. 
      The class did a great job learning to add and subtract 3 digit numbers.  We will continue to revisit those skills until the end of the year but our next unit is Money.  It would be very helpful for your child to practice counting mixed coins at home.  Also, please continue to practice math facts.  Our current addend is +9 and we will have a test on it this week.  Most of the students understand the trick of taking one away from the 1st addend to make a 10 so it is an easy one to study for.  By the end of 2nd grade the students are expected to know their math facts fluently (without using fingers to count.)  Don't forget to use the mathmagician link for practice.


We will continue to read about and do activities for Easter, the holiest celebration of the church.  Your children have so much to say about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and they understand the meaning of Lent.

     Everyone should have received an email from me with a link to our latest digital story, Who Will Help Me Make the Bread?  If you did not, please let me know.

Pen Pals

This week we were so excited to receive letters from our pen pals in North Carolina.  We are working on our responses and will be sending them out next week.  The letters were sent home today; I hope your child has shared his/hers with you.

After hearing the story of The Little Red Hen who asked her friends to help her make bread and they refused, we changed the story up a little and made bread in the classroom.  Fortunately, my little friends said they would help and we all enjoyed a slice at snack time.   We also started writing our own story using photos taken while making the bread.  When it is finished I will try to send it to your emails.


On Monday author Kate Messner will be visiting to talk to the children about her books.   We've enjoyed several of them in the classroom in anticipation of her visit.  You can visit her link to learn more about her.  www.katemessner.com


Just a reminder, if your child has not yet participated in Reconciliation at your church, please contact your church as soon as possible if you would like her/him to receive this Sacrament.

Finally!!

After weeks of sub 20 degree weather, we were finally able to go out for recess on Friday.  The students took full advantage of the snow; I hated to bring them in after 30 minutes.

One of the things we worked on in Writing this week was the use of adjectives to describe nouns and make our writing more exciting.  For one of our Fun Friday centers the students worked in groups to think of adjectives to describe each other and then made a "wordle" document to display them.  If you haven't seen it yet, check the take home folder.  You can try it yourself at http://www.wordle.net/

These students are busy creating their wordle masterpieces.

Here we are playing Mad Libs to practice the parts of speech - nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc,

The students had fun making reading badges.  Some of them went a little overboard. :-)

I Spy is always a fun way to practice reading and observation.

 Minute to Win It... Can you sequence the alphabet correctly in less than a minute?

The Flat Stanleys are starting to find their way back to us after visiting far off friends and relatives.  We love reading about his adventures.  Don't worry if yours has not returned yet.  There is no deadline and it is nice to have them spaced out. 

Below are some locker shots.  Our hallway is decorated for South America for PARP and the auction so the students colored flags of Chile.  We also learned about St. Patrick and the shamrock.  Those, along with our name plates and 100 Day flags makes for a very colorful hallway!

It was very nice to see so many children at the Family Reading Night.  Thanks for coming, I hope you had fun!

 In addition to Friday being PJ and Parpcorn Day, we had a dental health presentation by Dr. Surace.  The students learned how to properly brush and floss teeth as well as what snacks are better for dental health.

     Our Generation Celebration was a big success.  The students were well prepared to do the readings and their assigned jobs.  Each of the special guests received a drawing that the student had made depicting a scene with the both of them.  It was wonderful looking around and seeing the different generations engaged in conversation.  Thanks to all of our visitors for taking the time to come.  My students said it was one of their favorite days. 

     In reading this week we learned so much about conservation and keeping our Earth clean.  The students are very interested in how they can do their part.

     We completed our math chapter in triple digit addition and next week will move on to triple digit subtraction.  Everyone did so well on the test- they are getting a deep understanding of place value.

On Monday our class will be going to the book fair in room 10.  If you would like your child to purchase books please send in the money with your child.  In conjunction with PARP, DeSales will be having Family Reading NIght on Thursday of next week.  Come join us for literacy games, book swapping, and snacks.

 Wednesday will be our Ash Wednesday Mass.  You are welcome to join us at 9:40 in the gym.