Next Thursday

Parents,
Next Thursday we will be having "Grinch Day." Please look for a green form in your child's Friday folder from today that needs to be signed and returned as soon as possible. Thank you!
-2nd Grade Teachers

Daily Class Blog 12-9-08

Reading: We read "How Many Days To America" and then we went to our own desks and did our comprehension strategies. -Owen

Writing: Today at writing we finished our Genie writing and we returned to working on our memoirs. -Destiny

Math: In math we practiced equaling numbers because we don't want to use our fingers anymore so we were practicing solving equations without our fingers. -Melissa

Science: In science we learned about sound and we did this computer game and we learned how to change pitch. -Noah

Daily Class Blog 12-5-08

Reading: Today we read three or four books and did: questioning, visualizing, clarifying, and inferring. And then at the end of each page we would say, "Did we understand this page?" -Ben

Writing: We finished our Santa letters and Mrs. Biles printed them on the printer and we mailed one to Santa, Mrs. Biles kept one, and one is coming home in our Friday folder. -Destiny

Mrs. Valdez: We were learning about Spanish and we read the Polar Express in Spanish.

Math: We were working with 38 tiles and we stacked them in 2's, 5's, and 10's and then we got to pick our own number and stack them in 2's, 5's, and 10's. We were learning counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's. -Noah

Science: In science we learned about sound and we played with little tubes to figure out how the pitch was high and low. -Owen

Daily Class Blog 12-2-08

Reading: We learned how to do inferring and we read a book to practice inferring. We also did text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world. -Noah

Writing: In writing we were writing a letter to Santa. And a thank you note too. I don't know if we are going to send it to him. -Michael

Math: In math we played collect 50 cents and then we had a talk about how we can count in different ways. Different ways of counting may be easier. After that we played a game where you had a bag of squares and you had to count them in different ways. -Kristyn

Science: We were learning about sound and we were seeing what would happen if we did the ding-hummer project. It was on the table or chair, in the water, and on a ping-pong ball. -Nicholas

Sound and Turkey Trot

We have been learning about collecting evidence. Here is a part of our sound lesson today. Turkey trot was also today, and boy did we have fun! Have a great Thanksgiving break! I will see you next Monday.

Daily Class Blog 11-21-08

Reading: We did questioning and clarifying at reading today. -Destiny

Writing: We continued on our memoir about a real thing in our life, about happiness or anything that happened in your life. -Ben

Math: What we did in math was our own thing, I don't know what it was called, to see if the numbers were even or odd. Then we did story problems that we answered. -Nicholas

Science: We were figuring out how sound works and we played with centers. Some kids got to go on the computer. -Santana

We also had a special reader's theater performance by the fifth graders. Then we had a celebration for reflections participants. -Mrs. Biles

Daily Class Blog 11-20-08

Reading: In reading we picked three or four books and we sat down and did questioning, clarifying, connections, and visualizing. We did this so we can be better readers and understand what we read. -Owen

Writing: For writing we wrote a letter to a turkey and we put pictures on them, and we got to change what the letters looked like, but we couldn't do cursive. -Michael

Math: We did stuff with odd numbers and even numbers. We also played math games. -Melissa

Science: We learned about sound by trying out different things that made sound. Then we wrote it down in our science and social studies folder. We learned about volume and vibration. -Kimberly

Daily Class Blog

Reading: We read three or four books and we wrote down questions and answered them if we found the answer. We also did clarifying. -Michael

Writing: We're writing a letter to the turkey so he won't get eaten on Thanksgiving, and we went to type it on the computers. -Cayden

Math: We did an assessment that checked if we understand story problems.

Science: We learned about sound. We had different sound centers and we made posters that told about what was making the sound and how it was made.

Great Learning

What a fun day of learning we had today. We didn't get to talk as a class about it at the end of school, so here it is from Mrs. Biles' point of view:

First thing: First thing this morning we had an assembly. It was a production of skits by the "Imagination Makers." It was very enthralling for all of the kids.

Reading: We have been working hard on reading just right books and using our comprehension strategies to understand them. The four comprehension strategies we have covered so far this year are: visualizing, making connections, questioning, and clarifying. We are also learning about the main idea of stories, and are working on writing the main idea for all of the stories that we read.

Writing: As we continue our work on memoirs, we are utilizing our proofreading skills to make our writing better. We had a very successful day talking about how we peer conference and help each other to become writers.

Social Studies: We finished our mini unit on the Statue of Liberty today by creating crowns. We learned that the Statue of Liberty has seven points on her crown that stand for the seven continents and the seven oceans.

We also did a quick recap of mapping and elections by talking about the electoral college vote. We didn't have enough time to share bedroom maps, but we hope to get to them soon.

Keep up the fantastic learning!

Daily Class Blog

Reading: "We did questioning and and clarifying words in the dictionary." -Destiny

Writing: "In writing we were writing about something that happened to us." -Brandon

Math: "Today was pocket day, but we didn't didn't get a read aloud because it was an early release day today." -Nicholas

Daily Class Blog 11-11-08

Daily Class Blog
We will be beginning a daily recap of what we learned and posting it on the blog. We will do this as a class for a few weeks, and then students will volunteer to do it as extra homework for a night. The way it works, is I ask at the end of the day who would like to do it, and I give one individual a blank form. Students then complete it at home. I understand that sometimes they might volunteer to do it, and life at home is too busy to get it done. I don't "grade" or count if students have done it or not, but we often use it for language instruction. Thank you for your support.

And now for our first Daily Class Blog:

Reading - "We read books to work on our comprehension strategies, which are: making connections, questioning, and clarifying." -Kristyn

Writing - "We are learning to write like other authors who have written memoirs, or stories about something that really happened in their life. We are going to write stories that really happened in our lives." -Melissa

Math - "We were working on addition and subtraction story problems that are related to each other, like 13+12=25 and 25-12=13." -Cayden

Social Studies - "We are learning about the Statue of Liberty. We are learning the symbols of her body. We read a book about the Statue of Liberty. We also did a timeline of the." -Owen

Music - "We watched a movie about Strauss." -Noah

Proofreading

In class we are doing proofreading.
-Kristyn

writing

In writing I am proofreading with poeple in my class.
-Nicki

writing

writing

I'm lning abowt profreding marks to help us to not forget our perits.
-Kimberly

proofreading

whne wetrs kece go bak and kec der riting

writing

I'm lning about prohining marks to help us ton ot make imemsnas.
-Casey

witing

In class we are lerning about profreadig. That is like if you miss a capitle or puchewwashin you would use marcks.
-Owen

Writing

In writing were doing proofreading.Proofreading is correkting writing with speshela simbols.One of the simbols is three lines to capatil a letter.
-Ben

prof reading

in calss we are lrning about prof reading. So we read echuther work.
-Melissa

witing

I lrd today that win we wit. That we haf to do. Pucshasins
- by brandon

witing

poof ring ring ec uher.
-Santana

proofreading writing marks

When writers check ther writing, they use something called proofreading marks.
-Andrew

proofreading

in wrting weare leaning aboubt proofreading. We looking at each other papper.
-Cayden

writing

In writing we are proofreading other kids wrok.
-Megan

rithing

Am lrneing abuath publshing rithing and read.-Destiny

Halloween Schedule

Our Second Grade Halloween Schedule

Hello Parents! We are excited for Halloween to come on Friday, and we would like you to be informed of what we are doing in case you want to join us for any of it.

8:25 School Bell rings - NO COSTUMES. Please send your child to school with their costume in their backpack or extra bag. We don’t want to ruin costumes before showing them off =-)

8:25-9:00 School Business and Reading - No extra visitors please.

9:00 Bathrooms and load for Field Trip - If you have signed up and paid to join us on the field trip please arrive at 9am in your child’s classroom. We will be loading the bus at approximately 9:15 to go to the Arvada Center.

9:15-11:15 Field Trip to the Arvada Center

11:15-12:10 Return to school, Recess, and Lunch - Students will be back in time for their regularly scheduled recess and lunch.

12:10-12:40 Math - No extra visitors please.

12:40-1:15 Specials - No extra visitors please.

1:15-2:00 Academic activities that will vary from class to class - No extra visitors please.

2:00-2:15 Change into costumes for the parade and party - Please feel free to join us at 2:00 to help your child get into their costume and find a spot to watch the parade.

2:45-3:15 Class Parties

3:15 Regular dismissal from school

We hope you will join us for some of our Halloween festivities. Please help to respect our learning by allowing us to have our academic time without extra visitors.

Thanks again!

2^nd Grade Teachers

Mrs. Biles Mrs. Desbien Mrs. Quinn

Map Grid

Wow! We had some fun and fantastic learning today. Check out what we did:
Reading: Independent reading time today was focused on using our questioning skills. We were writing down all of the questions that were in our heads as we were reading our books.
Writing: We had a fun prompt today about what happened when we invited our friend to dinner, but forgot to tell mom and dad that our friend was a gorilla. They turned out great, though lots of us need to work on using capitals and periods.
Math: We are continuing our geometry unit and got to experiment with mirror symmetry today. We also talked about rectangles by solving a big class problem. We have a 6 foot by 10 foot space that we wanted everyone to be able to sit in. We needed to figure out how many rows and how many columns we would need. We ended up with a 7X3 rectangle. It worked great!
Social Studies: Our math led right into our social studies today, because we were talking about map grids. We equated our rectangle on the floor to a map and pretended we were playing BattleShip and launching missels to different grid squares. What fun!
I am certainly impressed with our great learning today!
There is no homework packet for next week, but be sure to continue reading 20 minutes a night. Expect a new homework packet to go home next Wednesday.
Remember NO school next week on Thursday and Friday, and then the following Monday (the 27th).

Helicopter Landing and Rectangular Prisms

We had a surprise visit from some guys from the National Guard today. They landed their helicopter right in the middle of the soccer field! They brought us an important message for red ribbon week. We learned all about avoiding drugs. Watch the movie below to see what happened.

We also had a busy afternoon today. We are learning all about rectangular prisms in our geometry unit, and today we got to build some. Students worked with partners to tape together their rectangular prisms. Though it was tricky, we did it!




I apologize that the blog hasn't been updated recently. I am still regaining my energy from last weeks parent teacher conferences and 12 hour work days.

Tomorrow we will be having lunch in the classroom for all students that have returned their last four behavior logs signed. If you have them at home be sure to send them tomorrow!

Remember that there is no school next week from October 23rd (Thursday) - October 27 (Monday).

Skip Counting in October

We have been working hard on skip counting. We have learned to skip count by 2's, 3's, and now 4's. What smart kiddos!

Reader's Theater

Isn't reading fun?

September Newsletter

Check out our September newsletter that went home this week in Friday folders. If you are missing your copy you can download it from the website:

1. http://littleptsa.com
2. click "Teacher Pages" on the left hand side
3. click "2nd Grade - All teachers" under "Teacher Pages"
4. Scroll to the links at the bottom and click on "2nd Grade Newsletter - September"

The newsletter will give you a full overview of what we have been learning and will be learning in each subject. Be sure to read it and have conversations at home with your child about what they are learning. -2nd Grade Teachers

Online Books

Want to read some books online? We have a one month trial of http://www.tumblereadables.com

Username: littleele
Password: login
Log in to access a bunch of online books that you can listen to and follow along.

Non-Fiction Elements

Today the students were introduced to the Non-Fiction library in our classroom. Everyone was all a buzz with excitement to read about topics we were interested in. As we were reading we started noticing some things that were different from fiction books. Here is the list we created on the SMART Board about what we noticed. We will be able to start using these elements to our advantage to help us understand what we are reading. We will also be able to start writing our own non-fiction books next week!

Paragraph

Today we started learning about paragraphs. We are writing descriptive paragraphs about our shoes, and the writing is turning out amazingly well! Look for a paragraph writing assignment in your homework next week.

Beans!

Today we dissected beans. It was fun to learn about what will eventually turn into a plant!

Math

Our math has sure been fun as we have started exploring tens. I hope you continue to practice "Make Ten" and "Tens Go Fish" at home!

First Day of School Writing

Yesterday the first published book in our classroom was completed. It gave us all goosebumps as Melissa read us her story, "The First Day of School." Check out the great video below!

Parent Information Night

Don't forget to mark your calendar for Parent Information Night next week.
Wednesday, September 3rd 5:45 in the gym
All parents will meet in the gym for information and then visit grade level classrooms for information particular to that grade. This is an important night of information for our year to go smoothly. Please make it a priority to attend.
2nd Grade Teachers
-Mrs. Biles -Mrs. Desbien -Mrs. Quinn

Homework

Parents: Please look for your child's homework folder to come home on Friday, August 22nd. Homework will be in a packet that needs to be completed throughout next week and returned the following Friday (Aug. 29th). If you have any questions please feel free to contact your child's teacher.
-2nd Grade Team
Mrs. Biles, Mrs. Desbien, Mrs. Quinn

2nd Week

Wow! Since the first week of school was great, you most likely won't believe that today, the first day of the second week, was even better... but it was! We are learning so many things already.
The highlight today for most of us was learning how to use our USB Flash Drives. Even though we only practiced putting them in and safely taking them out of the computer, we are certainly ready to save our work on them tomorrow. What great kids!
-Mrs. Biles

Great First Day

What a great first day of school we had. The first day can be tough trying to learn all the new routines and expectations of the classroom, but we made it! We are going to have a fantastic year!
-Mrs. Biles

07-08 2nd Grade Blog

The 2007-2008 2nd Grade Blog from Mrs. Biles' class has moved to a new address. Please type in www.lynx2littlebiles.blogspot.com