November and December Update

I have to start by apologizing for my lack of blogging. I am sorry that I have let the class blog slip away from me. I've been taking pictures and am excited to share with you some of the things we did in November and December.  We continue to work on reading, phonics, spelling, math and writing every day. The students are really starting to show a lot of progress in all subjects. The class practiced fluency, reading with expression and cooperation by rehearsing and performing Reader's Theaters. Each small group was assigned a script and spent a couple of days rehearsing. They learned how to read fluently and with expression and good pacing/rate. After performing for our class, the students went and did their plays for the first graders.  The students were very excited see their former teachers and show the younger kids what they are doing in second grade. We will do Reader's Theaters again soon.

The Pete's Pancake Shop group used some props for their play.

Another group performed their play for the rest of the class.

 We LOVE the new technology that was purchased with the Bond money.  We use the document cameras and microphone system every day. I love both things because they help to keep the children's attention. They also help to make learning fun.  In this picture, two students are reading their fable that they wrote and illustrated (We spent two weeks learning about and writing our own fables). They used the microphone when reading to the class.  You can see that the image of their paper is being projected on to the screen.



For homework, the students disguised a turkey so that it wouldn't be eaten on Thanksgiving.  In class, we wrote about our turkeys by giving them human characteristics. Everyone had fun giving their turkey a name, birthday, favorite food, hobbies and an age. The students ideas were cute and we had some good laughs at the turkeys descriptions.

Hannah and Adina (who joined our class on Halloween) working on their turkey descriptions.

 November can be a long stretch of school. The excitement from Halloween is weaning off and the students begin thinking of Christmas. We have been in school for many, many days and need a break. As a class, we brainstormed a list of 'Popcorn Behaviors.' These were behaviors that could earn them a ball in the jar. When the jar was full they would earn a popcorn party and to watch some video clips from the old TV show Fudge-a-Mania (from the Judy Blume Fudge series of books- which we happened to read). The whole class worked hard to earn the balls.  They finally filled the jar and enjoyed their popcorn party.  They loved watching my popcorn popper that allowed them to watch the kernels pop.  The students are currently earning balls towards another reward.  They have mentioned many ideas and I think that they have agreed on a pajama and hot chocolate celebration.  It will be happening soon too because they are very close to having the jar full!

 The students (and staff) at Zinser are VERY lucky to have such a creative and dedicated Family Council (PTA/PTO).  They provide so many experiences for the us (study trips, assemblies, materials, Multi-Age Day, just to name a few). One activity that began a few years ago by our Family Council was Santa's Workshop.  The students pre-select crafts to make for their immediate family members.  Family Council members plan the crafts, shop for the supplies and volunteer their time to make the 'workshop' fun and special for the students. Each class spends an hour in the gym making their crafts.  The students are so excited and proud to bring home what they have made. This idea replaces the traditional Santa's Secret Shop where students bring in money to buy cheap gifts for their family members. We are thankful for such an amazing and dedicated group of parents who do so many things to help our students.  I know that some of you read this blog and I want you to know how much you are appreciated! Thank you!





We finished December with an all school Holiday Sing-a-Long on Thursday and Multi-Age Day on Friday. The gym was packed with parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles for the first annual sing-a-long.  The music teacher and Spanish teacher had the words on a screen so we could all sing-a-long.   During the song "Frosty the Snowman," the teachers were asked to come up and sing. I am glad that I had my camera because I was able to capture this great shot. I was thinking of our blog when I took it. :-) (I might not be good about updating the blog, but I do think about it a lot. ;-)

Mulit-Age Day is another event sponsored by our Family Council.  Students in grades 1-5 are divided into groups.  They spend the day visiting classrooms and participating in activities related to a holiday theme (We have Multi-Age Day for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day (which is usually a heart theme)).  The activities are educational and include math skills, writing, community service, art and physical movement. The students LOVE Multi-Age Day and so do the teachers! This special day takes the place of traditional classroom parties. It is a great way to spend what can usually be a hectic day.

In December we also had two students move out of our class.  We were sad to see Kiera move to Comstock Park and Marcus moved to Central Elementary. We wish them the best of luck at their new schools!

Thanks for reading my extra long blog! I promise that I will get back into the routine of blogging!

Week 8 in Review

We had another great week in our classroom! Most of the pictures are from our study trip to Schwallier's County Basket.  We went there on Friday to learn about the life cycle of an apple and pumpkin. Of course, we had some fun too. :-) We are so thankful to the Family Council for paying for our trip. I am going to keep this entry short and let the pictures do most of the talking. 

We are learning how to find the perimeter of a square, rectangle and triangle. 

We went on a shape hunt around the school.

The students practiced their spelling words on our Word Wall board.

We LOVED the cider and donuts!

Everyone got to pick out a pumpkin to take home with them.

We learned how to pick apples fresh from the tree.

We had fun feeding the goats too.

The students also had the chance to pet one of the bunnies at the farm.

Mrs. Skinner and I got in on the fun and took a ride down the huge slide!

Lily needed her picture taken by Lilly's Pad (the bunnies house).

Learning about the life cycles of apples and pumpkins.

No School on Friday!

There is NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS on Friday, November 4. Enjoy the day!

Reminders!

There is a skating party tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 25) at Terry Hall! All proceeds will benefit the family of Officer Slot.

There is NO SCHOOL for students on Friday, November 4.

Week 7 in Review

Welcome Back!

 

 In math, we have finished up Unit 1.  The students took their test on Tuesday.  Most students did very well.  Those that didn't do as well, just made careless mistakes in their addition.  We have started on Unit 2 (measuring perimeter).  This is a short unit and the homework will be done in class.  We are learning to measure with centimeter rulers and need to use them in class. The class learned how to play Around the World with math facts.  Max made it all the way around the World (classroom) the first time around! Way to go Max! The students loved this game and we will definitely be playing it again soon.  You can help your child by having them practice math facts at home. 

In science, we continue to learn about the parts of a plant and their functions.  The students have been bringing in leaves and plants from home. Some students started talking about leaf rubbings. I promised the class that if they brought in leaves, I would show them how to make leaf rubbings.  The kids had fun making their rubbings and some students decided to make rubbings of other items and textures in our classroom (coins, carpet, walls). It was a lot of fun!

During our Read-Aloud time (every day after lunch), I've been reading books from the Fudge series by Judy Bloom.  We are currently reading Double Fudge and the students enjoy hearing the adventures of Fudge and his family.  In Double Fudge, Fudge is obsessed with money.  His family travels to the Department of Treasury in Washington D.C. I was able to find a Bill Nye video on YouTube that explains how money is made. We have also found some videos from the Fudge TV show that was on in the 1990's. 

Our reading skill for this week was comparing and contrasting. We have been able to compare and contrast the Fudge book and short Fudge video clips.  We have also compared books that we have read and the characters in the books. We finished reading Henry and Mudge and the Stary Night and now many students are reading other Henry and Mudge books.

Spelling tests have begun!  We have a pretest each Monday and those who get one or no words spelling wrong will get List 2.  These words are a bit harder than List 1 (pretest) words.  We do a little bit of studying at school, but I expect that the majority of studying is taking place at home.  The students were very excited to play a spelling game called Sparkle.  They learned it in first grade and Shane reminded the class how to play. Thanks Shane!

The students of Zinser brought in $1.00 and got a blue ribbon to wear in memory of Officer Slot. Our school of 275 students raised over $400! That is amazing and the money will be donated to the Slot family.

On Friday, the students in Kenowa Hills and Grandville were dismissed two hours early because of the funeral procession for Officer Slot, who was killed in the line of duty.  The procession was going to be in our district around the time of dismissal.  There was a concern that the buses would get stopped by the procession.  I went to the procession and it was a very moving event. I hope that some of my students were able attend this unique experience. We are thankful to Officer Slot and the Walker Police for risking thier lives and keeping us safe.

Weeks 5 & 6 in Review

Wow! It has been a couple of  BUSY weeks in our classroom. We have been busy with Picture Day, a Fire Safety assembly, dental students from Calvin College coming to talk to us about dental hygiene, two substitute teachers, beginning homework and Book Bags, emergency drills (fire, severe weather and lock down) and finishing up the MAP Test. In addition to all of this, we are continuing to learn and grow as students. I don't have a lot of pictures from last week or this week, which is why I am combining this update into one blog.

I continue to be amazed by my well behaved class. Despite our busy schedule, the students continue to be patient, friendly and most of all flexible.  They are really thriving and love school. 

During our writing time, the students have learned how to stretch out a small moment. Basically, they have learned how to add details to an idea. We are learning how to write in booklets (paper stapled together).  The students work with a partner to plan their writing.  They touch a page and then say what will be written on it. The partners discuss how an idea can be stretched.  I continue to hold individual conferences with students who want to publish a piece of their writing.  It takes about 10 minutes to meet with each child.  Therefore, the publishing process is a slow one. I will soon  begin to type the stories that have been completed and edited.  It has been fun to read the small moments and stories written by your children.  I know that you will enjoy reading some of their writing at conferences.

 I have finished up reading testing and will begin reading groups next week. I can't wait to begin working with the small groups of children.  I have selected Good Fit Books for us to use.  The students are all good readers.  This year we are going to spend a lot of time working on fluency/expression and written responses.  During the individual reading testing, I noticed that these are two areas that most students were the weakest in.

As a class, we will begin working on long vowels sounds. I have specific activities planned to help each child improve their ability to read, write and recognize long vowels.

In math, we are finishing up our first unit.  We will have a test in class early next week.  There is no need to study because we will do that in class. Our next unit will be learning how to find perimeter and area. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog! I hope that you will check back again in a week to see more pictures (I promise to use my camera more next week) and an update!

Week 4 in Review

Greetings from our second grade classroom! We were so busy this week that I didn't have time to take many pictures. We did start the week with an assembly called Brainstormers.  This is a troupe of people who perform about writing.  They teach the children about the parts of a story (characters, setting, event, problem, solution and title).  They performed two plays based on the ideas from the audiences.  Brainstormers will come back again in May to perform a few of the stories written by students at Zinser.  Speaking of writing, our class is so excited to spend time writing each day.  We have learned how to add on to a piece. We are also learning how to 'fancy or fix up a piece.'  It won't be long before we start publishing pieces of our writing.  The students love when it is their day to share from their Writing Folder.

During our ELA (English Language Arts) time, we continue to work on vowel sounds.  This week we focused on the short i, e, and u sounds.  Vowels sounds are a difficult concept for many students.  We played a scavenger hunt type game.  Each Learning Club was given a vowel and they had to

brainstorm as many short vowel sounds words that fit their vowel.  We started off playing the game for 5 minutes, but ended up playing for 15 minutes! The students just didn't want to stop!

Our feature story was Julius.  It is another story illustrated by Dav Pilkey.  In the past few weeks, we have read three stories by Dav Pilkey. Here is a link to his website. It is filled with information about him and also some fun games. http://www.pilkey.com/  During the week we spend time reading a specific story in our basal reading book.  This story is accompanied by specific skills we are learning about reading.  We practice these skills during our story and while we are reading independently. Our skill for the week was to monitor and clarify. This means to Check for Understanding and to go back and reread if something doesn't make sense.  The students are getting much better about using these skills.  We will continue to practice these skills all year long. 

I am continuing to do reading testing with the students. I love spending the time listening to your child read. I am so excited at how well everyone is doing this year! I will share these results with you during conferences on Nov. 8 & 10.

In math, we are working on strategies for addition and subtraction.  Homework will begin next week and your child will bring home math homework. It will support the concepts that we have learned in class. Nothing should be new to your child!

Shane, our Student of the Weeks, shared a book with us. He was so excited to read the book to the class. And very patient when he had to wait until Monday to finish it.

We ended the week with our first Friday Finale.  It was a time to celebrate our September Students of the Week. We also said good bye to Mr. Ghareeb, our principal. He has moved on to a job at the KISD. He will be missed, but we are excited to see a familiar face around Zinser. Mr. Vermeulen, our former principal, is back until a new principal can be hired.