We have started our Community and Economics unit with a volunteer from Junior Achievement.  Mr. Dugan (a nephew of DeSales' own Les Dugan) taught us about a community and businesses that make up that community as well as paid jobs and volunteer jobs.  Next week he will teach us about unit production and line production by having the students "make doughnuts".  It's always a favorite with the students.

One of our students is working on a service project with her family called Operation Christmas Child.  She is collecting small items to be shipped to a child who does not receive much for Christmas.  I thought it would be a great thing for our class to help her with.  We sent home little flyers with the information today.  If you would like to send in a small item (stickers, pencils, soap, washcloth, toothbrush, bouncy ball, glue sticks, etc.) we will include it with what we already have.  Please don't send any food item or liquids.  Thanks in advance for your generosity.

Sorry, I just had to include my most recent picture of our 6 month old granddaughter.  (It was on the same batch as the previous two photos. :-)  She is just as sweet as she looks and we are just loving being grandparents.                                 
Next Wednesday will be our math facts test on +8 and Tuesday we will have our chapter 2 test in Math.  A review page will come home on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

 

 

Just "Playing" Around

Today we performed our Food Pyramid play for Miss Agostini's class.  Everyone did a fantastic job and we learned about the food groups along the way.  

The five food groups told us what they were each used for in our bodies.

The chorus did a great job staying together when reading their scripts.

The narrators kept things moving.

Miss Agostini's class seemed to enjoy the show.

        This week we also met with out preschool reading buddies from Mrs. Shipley and Mrs. Strobel's room.  My students had a great time helping their buddies read books.

     Below are the photos I took last week of the Celebrate Me! projects.  The students did a wonderful job presenting them. 

We were quite excited to use the new ipads this week.  We went to our Spelling City website list to practice and play games using this week's spelling words.  All in all, it was quite a busy week.  I have posted the new study guide for Unit 2 of our reading series as well as the new spelling and vocabulary words.  Find them on the right of the screen.  They will also be sent home in the mailboxes as usual. 
 

2, 4, 6, 8,.....

As you know, we have been skip counting this past week.  The cool thing is, many of the students wanted to learn how to multiply in second grade and repeated addition (2+2+2+2),  is the basis for multiplication.  So if you noticed multiplication number sentences being written on the homework, that's great!

      We had a special Mass today for the inductees to DeSales Hall of Fame.  The students made the honorees feel very welcome with their enthusiastic cheers.  Go to this address to read more:  http://desalescatholicschool.org/HotTopics.htm

 In Writing this week we have started a descriptive writing piece about a friend.  We first did a character web and then a first draft.  Next week we will add adjectives to make our writing come alive.  

 Our Weekly Reader this week provided an opportunity to learn about Christopher Columbus.  Please consider reading over the Weekly Readers with your child as they come home.  They are full of information and they line up perfectly with the Common Core Standards for second grade.  We use the online resource to read the issue, watch a short video, and do activities.  The kids love it!  For the time being it is open to anyone at:   http://sni.scholastic.com/
Just click on the issue you want to read and go to the online resources.  In the future it may need a password so enjoy it while you can! 

     The students did a great job on the Celebrate Me! project.  We all enjoyed listening to the presentations.  I took photos but left my camera at school so they will have to wait until I get back.
     I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend.  We'll see you on Tuesday. :-)

Our First Prezi!

The class worked together to make a Prezi (online presentation, similar to a powerpoint) about the five food groups.   Go to the link below to view it.  I know the background music doesn't quite fit but I don't have any food songs in my library- yet.  When you get to the Prezi, click the arrows at the bottom of the screen to move it forward.  Keep clicking until it doesn't go to the next screen anymore. http://prezi.com/x9_iwhdrpoik/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
Several students asked about making their own Prezis at home.  If you are interested you'll need to set up your own account on prezi.com.

     On Friday we worked on finishing up our personal narrative about the first day of school.  We also had Fun Friday centers to choose from when the writing was done.

Some of the students added to our Food Groups Prezi.

We had an ELA center making a frog puppet and then acting out a story from the book Frog and Toad Together.

These two boys are retelling the Frog and Toad story.

Some children had fun writing a story about a bat and reading it to their classmates.  After spending weeks revising and editing their personal narratives, they enjoyed just letting their creative juices flow with this center.

These girls are sharing their stories with each other.

We also played with centers that taught rhyming, vowel sounds, and blends.

These are the personal narratives the students wrote about the first day of school.  I think they did a wonderful job!

     Reminder: the Celebrate Me! project is due Monday.  We have already presented quite a few and the students really enjoy hearing about each others' special talents and interests.

   Our author for October is Laura Numeroff.  You'll find a link to her website in the list of links to the right.