Christmas Cookies

We had fun decorating holiday cookies in December.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Butterflies have 4 stages in the life cycle. First, an adult butterfly lays eggs on a leaf. Next, a larva or caterpillar hatches. It eats leaves and grows. Then, metamorphosis begins inside the chrysalis. The pupa transforms. Finally, the butterfly crawls out. After, its wings dry it flys away. Have you ever seen a larva transform into a butterfly?

Butterfly Metamorphosis

Next week we are reading a story about butterflies. Watch this video to learn about the stages of a butterfly's life. A butterfly starts as an egg. The caterpillar emerges from the egg. After eating and growing it turns into a chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. This is called metamorphosis.

Accelerated Reader

We have started the Accelerated Reader program for the year. In this program, students can take quizzes about books they read in class or at home. They earn points for doing well on the quizzes. Students will be rewarded when they earn a certain number of points!

Students can take a quiz at home! Use the link for Accelerated Reader.

The Hummingbirds' Gift

We read "The Hummingbirds' Gift". First, the family was kind to the hummingbirds by feeding them. Then the birds helped the family by showing them how to make straw figures.

Kindness

We started our new unit this week. The theme is kindness. We will read books about being kind and helping others.

Field Trip November 8, 2007

We will be going on a walking field trip to the local public library.

Date: November 8, 2007
Time: Leave school 8:00 a.m. Return by 10:00 a.m.

Parents are welcome to join us. Please make sure your child wears comfortable shoes and dresses appropriately for the weather.

What Goes on iMovie

This is the movie we made to go with our performance.


The students sing the song while the movie plays in the background. The song is Elizabeth Mitchell's remake of "What Goes On". It's on this CD:

Come See Our Performance

We will be performing at the second grade flag assembly this week. Come and watch us sing!

When: Friday, October 19, 2007
Where: Multi-purpose room
Time: 9:50 a.m.

What a Queen Likes to Wear

My post is about what a Queen likes to wear on a chess board. A Queen likes to wear diamonds. This helps me remember that a Queen always starts on square d1.

Pawn Game

Here's how to play the Pawn Game:

1. First, set up the pawns. Black on rank 7. White on rank 2.
2. Next, white goes first. They can move a pawn 1 or 2 squares forward.
   
3. Then, black goes. Take turns!
4. To win, white needs to get one pawn to rank 8, or black needs to get one pawn to rank 1. Then the pawn gets promoted to Queen, Bishop, Rook, or Knight.
5. You can win by capturing all the other player's pawns. (Remember, pawns capture diagonally!)
   

Common and Proper Nouns

Common nouns name a living thing, thing, or place. A proper noun names a certain living thing, thing, or place. Proper nouns need capital letters.

Common Noun........Proper Noun
sister.............................Mary
park.............................Central Park
dog..............................Wagner
city...............................Denver
country.........................France
teacher.........................Miss Moore
month..........................September

Picture Day Tomorrow!

Sorry about the late notice, picture day is tomorrow! Students can have a free dress day if they want to dress up for their picture instead of wearing their uniform.

I - Messages

When you are angry or hurt it's much better to use an I-message to tell someone how you feel than a you-message that might make them angry. Just say:

I feel _________ when you ____________.

Now the person knows how you feel and you can work out the problem!

Some examples:
I feel left out when you don't play with me.
I feel angry when you take my toy without asking.
I feel excited when I go to my friend's house.
I feel sad when you yell at me.

Handling Frustration

Sometimes we feel frustrated like Wagner did when he tried to play hockey. Today we learned 6 ways to handle frustration without howling:

1. Count to 10.
2. Take a break.
3. Tell someone how you feel.
4. Take one step at a time.
5. Ask for help.
6. Try another way.
   

Back to School Night

Attention Parents!
Join us for Back to School Night!

Date: September 19, 2007
Time: 5:00 in the auditorium
5:30 in the classroom

The students will be dismissed at 1:00p.m.

Come meet the teacher!
Learn about classroom rules, policies, and homework.

Chess: Lesson 1 - The Chess Board

Our first chess lesson taught us all about the chess board. Here's what we learned:

• The chess board is a large square with 64 smaller squares: 32 light and 32 dark.
• Files are the vertical lines (up and down).
  
• Ranks are the horizontal lines (across).

• Diagonal lines go from corner to corner.
• When you set up the board, you must place it so a light square is on each player's right. To remember this, use the rhyme: "light on the right."
• Files are labeled with letters a-h (always lowercase).
• Ranks are labeled with numbers 1-8.
• Each square is where a file and rank intersect.
  
• The squares are named with letters and numbers called coordinates.
  
• When naming a coordinate, the file is first and the rank second. We remember this by saying "Walk over and jump up." Some coordinates are: c3, h7, a4.

Homework Stars!

Congratulations to the students who completed all their homework this week!

What We Did Today

This morning we practiced long vowel sounds. We read with a partner. In math we counted back to subtract. After lunch, we colored the squares to make a chess board. The pattern starts on the left and goes in a snake-like pattern across the board.

Math Test Chapter 1

Today we had a math test. On the test, we had to add 2 numbers and add 3 numbers. We didn't use our fingers. We counted on 1, 2, and 3. We used doubles and doubles-plus-one.

Add 3 Numbers

Here's how to add 3 numbers.
First, circle the 2 numbers you will add first.
Next, Find the sum of the first two numbers that you circled.
Then, add the third number.
Last, write the sum. You're done!!!

Making New Friends

Today we interviewed a friend from the class. We asked their name, where they like to go, if they have a pet, and how many brothers and sisters they have. Here are some pictures of us doing the interviews.

Welcome to our Blog!

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