We LOVE Money

 

If I could predict the future...  I would guess that many of our children will become successful bankers, investment brokers and entrepreneurs because they all seem to love money!  We just recently started our money unit in math and the children have already demonstrated that they love to make change, can show a specified amount of money in multiple ways and are using their mental math strategies to count denominations more efficiently.

Erin and Trey show multiple combinations for 42 cents.

Natalie knows the value of money!

Future entrepreneurs, Kole and Lincoln use every single coin to represent 42 and 98 cents.

Famous Person Celebration

The children have become true experts as they have conducted extensive research on a famous person who has made a difference in the world.  Each student has chosen a person they were interested to learn more about and after several weeks of research we are nearing completion.  We are very proud to be putting together a classroom celebration to show you all we have learned.  Please join us on Wednesday, April 15th at 9:15 in our classroom for an opportunity to learn more about your child's work.

Shhhh... We need a bit of assistance from each family so that we can surprise you with a final project.  Would you kindly help your child to put together a "costume" to help portray their person.  By no means should anyone purchase any items, "dress up clothes" are perfect for our classroom event.  In  most cases Dad's vest or Mom's skirt are perfect items to make our famous person come alive. Please send in your child's costume (in a labeled bag) no later than Wednesday, April 1st for a "secret project."  All items will be returned home and your child will be able to come to school dressed as their famous person on April 15th for our Famous Person Celebration. 

We have coordinated with the fourth grade Proctor teachers so that families

with both second graders and fourth graders will be able to attend both grade-level celebrations on April 15th.  Our Famous Person Celebration will run from 9:15-9:45 approximately, and the Fourth Grade Wax Museum begins at 9:15 and ends at 10:45. I hope this accommodation will put your mind at ease so you can support your children as they share all they have learned.

Thank you as always for your support from home,

Mrs. Madden

 

Traveling with Ms. Ricard

 

Hi friends!
We are currently on our way down to North Carolina. It says on our GPS that our whole trip will be a total of 803 miles. We are in New York and just went over the Tappan Zee bridge. The GPS (navigation system) says at this point we have traveled 214 miles so far. So if the total miles we have to travel is 803 miles...how many more miles do we have left to travel?
I look forward to hearing from you all!
From,
Ms. Ricard 

Please write Ms. Ricard your solution by clicking below in the comments box.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

The children recently celebrated Theodore Geisel's birthday with our classroom Read-In. Wearing pajamas and slippers we snuggled in cozy spots around our classroom and read our favorite Dr. Seuss books.  We invited Ms. Sideri's first graders and enjoyed our time together with our new reading buddies.  We are very grateful to my friend and former principal, Mrs. O'Leary for being our Surprise Reader to kick off Dr. Seuss' birthday. My Many Colored Days has fast become a new classroom favorite.  Our classroom door has been decorated with a Dr. Seuss theme and each of the students has written what they hope to become one day. I have no doubt your children will achieve their dreams to solve global warming, become professional sports athletes, marine biologists, veterinarians, and mechanical engineers. Please stop by and read their aspirations.Thank you everyone for supporting our love for reading!

Click on the picture below to watch !

Fabulous Fables and Folktales

The children recently read a variety of fables and folktales from different cultures, determined the differences & similarities to one another, made comparisons to similar versions, determined the elements of each, decided on the moral, or lesson and finally worked hard to relate that lesson to their own life.  They were thoroughly engaged, and as a final culminating project we have shown all we have learned through our book reports and the Fantastic Fables and Folktales iMovie below. 

Click here for our movie!

  Please be sure to leave a comment below to share your thoughts about our hard work.  

Personification, or the ability for animals to think, act or speak as humans is an element of both fables and folktales.

We reviewed the important elements of retelling a tale, and remembered it's important to restate the question in your answer.

The children have become experts in determining the differences between fables & folktales.

Working with a reading buddy, students identified the key elements in Stone Soup.

Common Core Standards Addressed in this Unit

RL. 2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

RL. 2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.

RL. 2. 3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

RL. 2.6. Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

RL. 2. 7. Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Corresponding College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standard 

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

RL. 2. 9. Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

The Penguin Lady

The children were totally engaged this morning as they reviewed all they had learned about penguins in our study of polar animals.  Dyan deNapoli or as she is better known "The Penguin Lady" visited Steward School and brought what we had learned in class to life.  She shared models of penguins...from the smallest penguin,  Little Blue to the largest penguin in the world, the Emperor Penguin.  The children answered difficult questions superbly and proved themselves experts. Thank you TESPTO for sharing such a wonderful program which allowed the children to make connections from their learning to the real world.

Please click on the arrow below to view the TedEd video and learn more about the Penguin Lady's work and her resolve to save penguins.

Dear boys and girls,
Today we all enjoyed learning about penguins from The Penguin Lady, please write me a short letter about the most interesting fact you enjoyed from her presentation.  Be sure to refer to your index card if you need a reminder, and ALWAYS check for C-O-P-S.
Your teacher,
Mrs. Madden