Last Blog of the Year!

Hello Families!
I just want to take this opportunity to tell you what a wonderful year I have had (thus far!) teaching your second graders. It was a delightful class that I will always remember. I did tell a few of them that when they see me in the halls next year, or come to Pod A to visit their first grade buddies, they will have to say hello to me- not pretend they don't me (It happens every year- so sad!). I will truly miss everyone!
If you did not hear the news, I am expecting baby #2 in December. I did promise that I would bring Baby Dahms in to see them in third grade.
Thank you to ALL parents for your support this year! It has been my honor and privilege to be partners will you in your child's education! Have a wonderful summer!

Here is how we will finish the school year:
Math: We will take our final test on Thursday June 3rd. It was a unit review chapter, but there were some new, more challenging concepts.
Reading/Writing: We will finish our study of Fairy Tales and Fables next week. The kids have planned out all the elements for their own fairy tales. We will finally begin to write our first drafts next week.
Spelling: Next week will be our last spelling test. It will be a review of all the second grade high frequency words each child missed this year. If your child didn't miss many/ any, then they will be able to create their own list of words, with my help, that they want to know how to spell.
Science: We will finish science with a study of wind. We'll make pin wheels, weather vanes and anemometers to measure wind speed and direction.
Social Studies: The communities turned out great! It was fun to see all the different buildings come together to create 3 different communities. I hope you got a chance to see the projects at the Fine Arts Fair. Thank you to parents for helping your child create their building.
Other News: We did have our Human Growth and Development talk today. We talked about male and female anatomy and functions as well as good touch vs bad touch. Please follow up with your child about this lesson.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

May 14-28

Hello Families! I hope all moms enjoyed Mother's Day- especially the gift and card your child made you! Our school days are flying by! There are only 4 short weeks left in the school year. I am starting to get a little sentimental- the end of the year is always bittersweet. Summer is wonderful, but that means letting my second graders go on to third grade!
Here is what we have been up to and what we have planned through the end of the year:
Important Dates:
Volunteer Breakfast-Fri. May 20 in cafeteria before school
Camp Minikani- Tues May 25- bag lunch
Human Growth and Development- Fri May 28th
Elm Grove City Hall- Tues June 1st 9:00-11:00
Field Day Fri June 4- AM
Reader's Theatre- Fri June 4 2:45 Families welcome
Math: We are finishing Unit 11- Multiplication and Division. Our test in on Monday May 17. We then start our final unit which is a review of all the concepts we learned, plus some more challenging problems.
Reading/Writing: As we ended our poetry unit, we dove right into Fairy Tales. We are immersed in fairy tales- reading them in the morning and then writing our own in the afternoon. It has been a fun unit so far!
Spelling: We took our spelling test on the two sounds c, g and th make today, ending our 2 week study of those words. We only have 3 more weeks of spelling left.
Science/SS: We have been watching WeatherBug.com everyday for the weather forecast. Our class meteorologist then charts the temperature high of the day and the weather condition. We have talked about the 3 types of clouds: cumulus, cirrus and stratus. In social studies, we have continued to talk about types of communities and their characteristics. It was fun for us to leave a suburban community and head to rural when we went to the Ye Olde Schoolhouse, then to an urban community when we went to First Stage.
*Our Poetry Cafe was a great success. Thank you to all parents who helped bring in treats and everyone who was able to come
*Our field trip to see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was great. The kids enjoyed comparing the book to the play.
*2nd grade teachers will present the district's Human Growth and Development curriculum on Fri. May 28. This lesson includes vocabulary instruction related to male and female body parts. Boys and girls will be separated during this teaching. Curriculum materials are available to review at our school library, the public library and at the Central Administrative offices. If you have any further questions about the content or the opt-out process, please contact me