You Can Make a Difference

After reading our biographies, researching important facts, taking notes, organizing our thoughts, writing timelines, dressing as a famous person and practicing our speeches we are now  PROUD  to share all we have learned. 
 Please click on the image below to view our Famous Person Presentation.   We are very GRATEFUL to Mrs. Klipfel for her support and inspiration! Your knowledge of history will be tested, so listen well!  Famous People from Mrs. Klipfel on Vimeo
Dear boys and girls, I am so very proud of your strong research skills,. There is no doubt you will certainly make a difference in the world, just as the famous person you've studied! Please watch the video and click below to write two to three sentences sharing your favorite or most interesting fact you learned by listening to all of the biography reports. I can't wait to read your responses.  Love, Mrs. Madden

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

 

Your Voice, Your Vote, Gives YOU Power!

The children have been studying the similarities and differences between our local and state governments, how they work and the children experienced first hand the responsibilities of being an informed voter!  We invited the Steward School second graders to participate in voting with us for a new Massachusetts governor.  Take a peek at some of the future leaders of our community and state.

"Name please, you're all set."  Nice job Alex!

Someday when we're 18 years old, we will be able to vote!

Every vote counts!

Our "mock election" was so close. The winner is....  Martha Coakley 34 votes & Charlie Baker 33 votes.

The children wrote first drafts of their governor speeches and are ready to hit the campaign trail. Students were required to choose one idea to make our state better for its citizens and build on how they would achieve their goal.  I think we have an amazing group of civic minded citizens who I know will make a positive difference in the world!

Connor has some wonderful ideas if he becomes governor.

Bea, you are such a wonderful environmentalist!

What a great game plan Bea, watch out Charlie Baker!

Once the results were tallied it was clear that it was going to be a close race to determine our new governor.  Here are the results we used to create our bar models during math.  Once we calculated that there were 67 second grade voters, the children were told that the winner won the election by one single vote and they were asked to calculate the missing data.  Here are several examples of students demonstrating their thinking using bar modeling. W-O-W... very impressive!

Cole created two part-part-whole bar models to demonstrate the number of students who voted for Coakley & Baker.

Lincoln invited his grandfather to our classroom recently and we learned how the town budget helps to support our school and other projects and services in our town.  The Selectman discussed the importance of voting when we turn 18 years old, and the students learned the importance of their voice in local, state and national governments.

Topsfield Selectman, Lincoln's grandfather visited our class recently to discuss the town's budget.

Happy 50th Birthday Steward School

In honor of celebrating the 50th birthday of Steward School the children were given a challenge. They were asked to bring in all their school materials, lunches, and snow gear in a brown paper bag just as the students 50 years ago would have done on a daily basis.  As you can see many of  the children were successful in achieving the challenge.

Learning to be Cartographers in Room 207

The children have been working diligently to learn the names and locations of the seven continents, five oceans, and several major rivers and mountain ranges of the world.  All children have now completed their world relief maps.  They can identify the location of the Andes Mountains in South America or the Yangtze River in Asia. They have learned that the Mississippi River begins in Lake Itasca and ends in the Gulf of Mexico, and is the longest river in North America.  The children have used their knowledge of cardinal and intermediate directions to help them identify the location of specific locations.  Be sure to quiz your child and test your own map skills!

Government Jeopardy

The children were "tested" on their government vocabulary terms through a fun and interactive Jeopardy game.  We partnered up with students in Mrs. McCarthy's class and answered questions as a team.  The children proved themselves experts and cheered one another along.  We answered every question on the Jeopardy board.... look out Alex Trebek, I know my students would do well to answer your questions about community and national government! I am so proud of their strong comprehension and predict that one day your child could be a political leader!

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!