Shopping at the Elf Store

The children were given a budget of 60 cents to spend at the Elf Store in order to decorate their individual holiday elf.  They made conscience decisions about how much money was needed to collect the various fabrics, ribbons, pom-poms, glitter, buttons...which were needed to complete their task.  We had some tremendously frugal shoppers as nearly every student fully dressed their elf and still had money left in their wallets.  

Using the doubles strategy the children were able to calculate the total amount needed to make their purchases.  They were asked to make change, count forward and backwards, and add multiple amounts.  A few students were even successful in bargaining deals with the parent volunteers.

                                           MORE to COME ...

The next step is to write elf poems focusing on the differences between nouns, adjectives and verbs.  They will soon be published and adorn the newest members of our classroom.

                                               Happy Holidays!

Veteran's Day Letters

I am extremely proud of the sincerity your children shared in their letters to honor the veterans who have served our country.  Our letters were collected and constructed into a large book which was shared with each visiting veteran at our recent school assembly.  The children learned many important facts in our research, they learned that veterans sacrificed time with their families and friends, missed important milestones as the birth or graduation of a child, loss of income and worst of all they faced danger as they guaranteed our rights.  We learned that the veterans of today volunteered to be part of the armed services.  We learned that we can show our respect to veterans of all ages in many simple ways.  We could write letters, shovel the driveway or rake the leaves of a neighboring veteran, we could also bake cookies, call a veteran (especially a family member) and thank them for their service.  I can honestly say that as a class we now recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning with a stronger voice, a straighter stance, respect for our veterans and a twinkle in our eye!

Happy Halloween......from the Riddler!

Decorating Pumpkins for Halloween Night

Celebrating Halloween in Our Classroom

Celebrating Halloween

The children and I are very grateful to all the families who donated supplies and treats for an exciting Halloween celebration.  We decorated pumpkins, created colorful tissue paper pumpkins, played a challenging Halloween game, and ate delicious treats!  The children's costumes were very creative, as you can see! A special thank you to our room mothers for their organization and coordination, and especially for planning a fun filled afternoon for our little trick-or-treaters.

Skyping with Michigan Second Graders

Our second grade class is participating in a Global Read of Marty McGuire written by Kate Messner. We have learned that Marty is a third grader who would rather catch frogs than play princess, but she is persuaded to just do that in the class play.  We'll keep reading to find out what happens as she adds a "little magic" to her performance in The Frog Prince. Today we Skyped with Mrs.T's second graders in Michigan and were excited to share our thinking.  Our students had an opportunity to share news about their communities and schools.  They also shared predictions & asked questions about the characters and plot of Marty McGuire.  We look forward to Skyping again next week with a second grade class in Wisconsin.

Comparing & Contrasting Butterflies and Moths

Your children have been diligently working on their research and writing skills in science.  They have completed their insect reports and have written informational paragraphs to determine similarities and differences between butterflies and moths.  The emphasis for both writing projects was to use scientific vocabulary, factual information and strong editing skills.  I am very proud of their hard work as they wove through the steps of the Writing Process.  Your child's final drafts are proudly displayed in our classroom.
 The children chose one of their butterfly and moth comparisons and worked with a partner to create a mini slide show on our school iPads.  Please click on the link below to see and hear your child's voice as they share their learning.  Thank you Mrs. Klipfel for your expertise!

http://www.mrsklipfelstopteachingtips.blogspot.com/2013/10/butterflies-and-moths-for-past-few.html

Migrating to Mexico

Dear Families,
The last of the remaining twenty butterflies have been released and we wonder and hope if they will migrate safely to Mexico!  These last few weeks of warm weather will hopefully give them ample time to make their long journey.  It was amazing to watch the little caterpillars grow, grow, and grow each day.  Eventually each caterpillar formed a chrysalis and a week later twenty beautiful Painted Lady butterflies emerged! Your child was fascinated throughout this process and although we were happy to see them go through their metamorphic stages, it was a bittersweet good-bye.
Please take a moment to look at some of our photos.

Class of 2013- 2014

Welcome to Second Grade

I'm looking forward to meeting you all at our upcoming Parent Seminar next week.