Thursday, February 27, 2014

Fascinating Facts About Our Polar Animals


After weeks of research, writing, and editing we have completed our Polar Animal Research Reports, and as a culminating activity the children chose one fascinating fact they uncovered in their research.  Click on the picture below to hear us present our Fascinating Facts.  

We would love to hear your thoughts and what you found Most Fascinating.  Please leave your comments below and we will share them in class.





Here are our Drawing Pad Pictures!



Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Happy 100th Day of School

We celebrated the 100th Day of School with lots of math activities, writing adventures and some of us dressed as centenarians.  We are more than half way through our second grade year and are excited to learn more!
We L-O-V-E learning in second grade!
10 groups of 10 equals 100,
or 10 x 10 =100!

Even though we are 100 years old, we have lots of enthusiasm!


Four groups of 25 equals 100, or 4 x 25 = 100!
Five groups of 20 equals 100, or 5 x 20 = 100!



Five groups of 20 equals 100!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had so much fun at our recent Valentine's Day Party, thank you to all the families who donated delicious treats and spent time in our classroom  helping to make our day so special!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Penguin Lady Visits Second Grade

The Penguin Lady visited recently and tested our knowledge of penguins using an interactive game format. The children did a wonderful job sharing all they have learned in our science unit. We also learned a few new facts, did you know that penguins have knees, we just can't see them because they walk at a 90 degree angle, that's why they waddle! We also learned that penguins can't fly because their bones aren't hollow like most birds, they are just too heavy.  We learned that a variety of penguin species live in the Southern Hemisphere, but NOT at the South Pole, it's too far inland to reach the Southern Ocean where penguins need to feed. Special thanks to TESPTO for supporting our science unit.

Sixth Grade Surprise Readers

Recently two former Proctor students, Alec and Matthew visited our classroom and surprised us by reading two classic books, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  We are so appreciative that their 6th grade teachers allowed them to sneak away during their lunch break and share their reading skills with us!

Elements of Fables and Folktales

The children have read several fables and folktales and are working hard to identify the important elements of each.  They have also read many versions of the same fable and have compared the similarities and differences between them. They understand that a fable has a moral, or lesson that is taught through the words, thoughts or actions of the animals who are personified. In most cases the moral is not clearly stated, but the children need to make an inference or "read between the lines" to fully understand the lesson. We will continue with this unit for the next few weeks, and focus on how the moral of a fable connects to the children's lives.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

February Newsletter



Mrs. Madden's Monthly Newsletter
February 2014
Dear Parents,
    I hope you've had the opportunity to visit our classroom blog where we've recorded some of our recent classroom news. More importantly I hope your child has been buzzing with information as they share their learning with you each day. We are in the final stages of our Polar Animal Research Reports and I couldn't be prouder of how hard the children have worked and the deep learning that
has taken place.  The children have used their knowledge of non-fiction text conventions to help them research and locate the necessary resources that have been helpful to research their topic. We are presently writing our final three to four paragraph report focusing on the following main ideas; animal habitat, adaptations to ensure survival in the harsh conditions of the Arctic or Antarctic, life cycle of their Polar animal, and other interesting facts your child has uncovered along the way. The children have truly become experts on their topic and have pleasantly surprised me with their deep interest and understanding!  Several resources trickled in with your children and I thank you for the support from home.  We will complete our Polar unit by February vacation, but please keep a keen eye for our upcoming Educreations project on our Polar Animal projects. 

            Important Dates to Remember
   February 11th:  Special thanks to TESPTO... Penguin Lady Visit
    February 14th: 100th Day of School
                                Classroom Valentine's Day Celebration
    February 15th-23rd: February Vacation

Classroom Events

The 100th Day of School:  To mark the 100th day of school, the children will take part in classroom activities that revolve around the number 100.  I look forward to celebrating the successes they've achieved during the first 100 days of their second grade year.  We will be adding a few items to help mark their amazing achievements and place them in our classroom time capsule.


Valentine's Day Party:  Thank you Mrs. Kelter and Mrs. Lindsay for helping to organize our Valentine's Day Party, and a very special thank you to all the families for their generosity towards our classroom celebration, scheduled for Friday, February 14th from 1:45-2:45.   The children are excited to exchange valentines with everyone in the class, and have already signedtheir own names on the class list sent home earlier this week.  In the past, some children have sent a candy treat along with their valentines, please consider sending a special message of friendship, a pencil, sticker or eraser instead. Thank you for your support as the Steward staff is asking for students not to share food products during all classroom celebrations.

Curriculum News 
Math: We have been studying metric measurement where the students have learned that there are 100 centimeters in a meter, and 1,000 millimeters in a meter; they've also learned to accurately use several metric tools to find the measurement of specific objects.  Great emphasis has been placed on comparing objects of different lengths and how to calculate the length of an object when the "ruler" doesn't begin at 0, these problems require the children to write a number sentence, and to calculate andcompare the lengths of various objects.  We will complete the unit this week with an emphasis on solving real world word problems using metric measurements.

The children will begin the Math In Focus Mid-Year Assessment on Wednesday, February 12th. Since this is a cumulative and comprehensive test it will be given in three parts, beginning on February 12th and ending on February 14th. This test encompasses all of the math concepts taught since September.  This opportunity will give students the experience of taking longer tests which will help prepare for MCAS tests next year when they are third graders.

Thank you for supporting your child's math fact fluency by helping to practice their flashcards nightly.  The children are more accurate in their daily work and are able to verbalize the strategies taught in class.  

Writing: During this month our focus in writing will shift from informative to persuasive writing.  The students will be exposed to a number of mentor texts as examples of persuasive writing, a few of my favorites are Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School, I Wanna Iguana, The Great Kapok Tree,  A River Runs Through It, and The Perfect Pet.

The children will be given many opportunities to create their own persuasive essays on various topics.  The focus for this unit will be to write a thesis statement, or topic sentence and to support this statement with reasons to convince the reader to their point of view.  We will continue to incorporate word choice and voice as the children develop their powers of persuasion. Perhaps your child could persuade their siblings to do their chores or even persuade Mrs. Madden to have a special Pajama Day in school...we'll see.

Reading: The focus for February will be our study of Fables and Folktales from Around the World. As the second graders read these tales we will map where each of these stories originated on a world map.  Next time you visit the second grade wing, please take a look at this bulletin board.  Anansi Tales, Aesop's Fables, and a number of classic fables and folktales will be read by the children.  We will focus on the elements of each genre, make comparisons between the two, and compare two or more versions of the same fable or folktale.  We are charting our progress in class and the children are forming strong inferences to determine the moral or lesson of the story.  This higher level thinking will help them develop stronger comprehension skills.  They are well on their way, please ask them to explain the important lesson of ..."hard work and perseverance gains reward," or as one student stated "hard work promises a fantastic future,I know Aesop would be proud!
As a culminating activity for our unit, the students will write a book report about a chosen fable or folktale.  The children will analyze the elements of their book to determine the moral or lesson, and then connect that lesson to their own lives.  

Monday, February 3, 2014

Finding the Main Idea

Please ask your child to share how to find the main idea of a paragraph or story.  You will be amazed when your child can identify the topic of a paragraph, determine its main idea, and locate several supporting details within the paragraph.  Here are two examples we completed as a class.  Be sure to look for their packets in tomorrow's "mail," and ask them to explain what "supporting the roof means."