100 Days Smarter

Writing Celebration

Wow! The 100th day of school has come and gone! It is so fun to look back at how far these second graders have come since the beginning of this year and since the beginning of the year last year as well! There was a great celebration of learning on our 100th day, with different stations all centered around the number 100. The Queen of 10's paid a visit, and we also had Art Adventure that day. It was fun to see the different older young people who came to school that day--the kids had fun with dressing up if they chose to do so, and with the stations and centers throughout the day. Activities included: Making patterns with 100 pattern blocks, decorating paper cupcakes with 100 sprinkles, reading 100 books (as a class), creating words from the letters used to make the phrase "One Hundred", and playing a "Race to 100" game. We also were able to get outside and enjoy the sunshine, which I hope you all get a chance to do at some point over this long weekend! Have a wonderful weekend!

100 Sprinkles on Cupcakes

Sharing our Letters

Making 100's Day Hats

Pattern Block Fun

How we can be an Everyday Superhero

Reading 100 Books!

More 100th Day Fun!

What does Community Mean?

This week, we had some very thoughtfully put together projects by the students, centered around the idea of community. They had to create and present on a community that included places to live, work, play and solve problems. We talked about different kinds of homes a community could have, different places to work and play, and we also talked about the similarities we see in our own classroom community. We faced some challenges, in deciding on community names, and deciding where to put places around our communities. I was impressed to see that students were able, with guidance, to come to compromises and handle conflicts and disagreements in a respectful way. They also rallied around each other when it came time to present. Although there was only one designated "reporter" for each group, all of the groups chose to have most or all of their members help with the presentation part. It was encouraging to see their level of enthusiasm and cooperation, and led well into our discussion later this week: What is the difference between someone who bosses others around, and someone who is a good leader? We will increasingly focus on this important concept in the coming weeks. In the meantime, enjoy some photos below of our group presentations, and of this week's Art Adventure. Thank you to those who volunteered and helped out in some way!

Group Presentations

Group Presentations

Art Adventure

Art Adventure

Different Cultures

What a great week to celebrate diversity! With the Chinese New Year celebrations in full swing, and the start of Black History Month, our week was busy and interesting and fun. One of our classmates taught us how to say "Good Morning" in Chinese, and we used that as our morning meeting greeting for the day. On Friday, the kindergarten classes paraded through the school with a great dragon, waving colorful masks and using instruments to show celebration of the Chinese New Year. We also got the chance to learn about Edmonia Lewis and Maya Angelou as our spotlight African Americans of the week. We will continue to highlight African Americans who have contributed to making our country great. It is wonderful to see the students in our class embracing each ethnicity and culture represented in our class.

Students continued to practice cooperation and responsibility this week by working together to finish their communities in social studies. We will start the next week by presenting on them. It was fun to see how different each of the communities was, and how unique.

Finally, we had the excitement of another pajama/comfy day! It was fun to see all the kids in the school showing their Jaguar Pride. Kids also enjoyed taking a stroll through the library to view all the art projects for Kids Create on Thursday. I hope you were able to go and enjoy the creativity shown by so many of Parkview's students! Have a refreshing weekend, everyone!

Pajama/Movie Day and More

Last week, students had a strong week of learning in our classroom community, and this week, we got to celebrate that community that we've worked so hard to create. Students greatly enjoyed our pajama and movie day on Wednesday, and will get to enjoy another Spirit Day of comfy clothes/pajama day next Tuesday as well, on the last day of January.

This week, we also got the chance to celebrate our letter writing by reading our letters in front of the class (for those who want to), and we moved on in social studies by starting to create our own communities. Each student has a job in their community and is in charge of creating places to live, work, and play. Next week, they will put together all of their buildings to create a community.

Here's to another wonderful week of celebrating our learning!

Working on our Communities

"J" The Jaguar and "Medium J" from our class

Movie Day!

Celebrating our Letter Writing

Community

Reading Together!

Working on Word Families in groups

This week, in social studies, and in everything, we focused a lot on being a positive and supportive community. We started out the week with a bang, or a boom, as we enjoyed having Ghanaian Sawah Mensah and his drumming ensemble from Macalester College come to our school and perform for us. We learned lots of new things about drumming and how the drums are made, and what dances are performed with the songs. What a phenomenal exhibition of art in the form of music and dance! The students were enthralled; there wasn't a dull moment. I would love to have taken pictures for the blog; however only the official photographer and videographer for our PCS weekly newscast were allowed to take pictures and videos. As the week continued, we learned more about measuring in both inches and in centimeters and meters. It was a hands-on experience, and the students really seemed to enjoy it. Probably our favorite part of the week, however, was our time learning about communities. Students partner-read a portion in their social studies books about communities, and then were challenged to come up with a rap, poem, or song that represented community. I videod the students and was hoping to put up the videos on this blog; however the files are too big. I hope to show you at conferences! I do have one example of pictures and a short poem about community from one pair of students. Finally, we learned more about Inauguration Day in Washington D.C. Students learned about the solemn oath that both the President and Vice-President Elect have to take, and learned about what their schedule on Inauguration Day looks like. We spent lots of work on flip books that contain lots of information about these important political positions. Hopefully we will have time to finish them next week! Well, we sure packed in a lot of learning for a short, 4-day week! Next week will be another 4-day week, as there is a Teacher Workshop on Friday, January 27th. Looking forward to another week filled with days of strong learning! Have a great weekend!

Math

A poem about community

Learning about the special swearing-in ceremony that takes place for the President and Vice-President Elect

Entering information about Inauguration Day

More Cooperation at Work!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and more!

In working with these second graders, I can feel a profound sense of hope for the future. The students in the class have a real interest in the world around them, and a care of others and the environment that surrounds them. We spent a lot of time this week exploring themes of peace, conflict, and our hopes and dreams for the future of our country. Students came up with lots of ideas, some of which you'll see in pictures below. We created writing pieces and art to go along with it in celebration of the work that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did on behalf of the Civil Rights movement. 

Our Dreams

Students also explored the idea of what a community is: Somewhere that we live, work, play, and solve problems. We made connections to the communities that we live in, as well as to our own classroom. In math, we spent lots of time exploring rulers, yardsticks, and measuring tools. On Friday, we celebrated more of Dr. King's work with a wonderful and beautiful PEACE Assembly that highlighted the importance of valuing everyone, and recognizing that every life is important. It was a wonderful end to our week! Until next time!

Writing Letters

Measuring fun!

MLKJ Art

PEACE Assembly performance by Hearts and Harmony

Back to Business

We were all a little sleepy on Tuesday, but by Friday, we all pretty much felt back in the groove of things! We started off the week by working on subtraction and picking up where we left off in reading. There was also plenty of time to review all of our Jaguar Pride expectations and re-learn many of our procedures and routines in class for reading, math and writing. Despite the frigid temperatures that kept us indoors for most of the week during recess times, the students kept a positive attitude, which is always wonderful to see. They showed lots of cooperation, responsibility and empathy for one another. Students enjoyed an author visit from Emily Jenkins, the author of Toys Meet Snow and the Toys Go Out series. We are excited for warmer temperatures and hopefully getting outside next week!