February 21- March 7

Hello Families! Here are some classroom happenings. Scroll down past this post to see pictures from the Nature Center.

Kid Chat: Valentine's Day was exciting! At our classroom Valentine's party, we had lots of fun seeing all the wonderful gifts we got from our friends. There was a bunch of yummy, yummy food to eat, like strawberries, cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles, string cheese and cookies with candy hearts. At the end, we played Minute to Win It. We had to stack as many candy hearts as we could in one minute. Whoever had the most at the end won. We were very grateful to our friends and families for a great party!
Field Trip- On Tuesday, February 25th, we are headed to Boerner Botanical Gardens for a great presentation on Plants We Eat. This field trip ties in beautifully to our science investigations of Plants. We will only be gone for the morning-we'll return to school for lunch.
Conferences- If a conference was requested by me or you are interested in coming in for a conference, please remember to sign up via the Tonawanda website. Conferences are next week Tuesday and Thursday.
100 Clouds Project- As of Thursday, we have 55 clouds written with a random act of kindness noticed by classmates. While we did not reach our goal of 100 clouds by the 100th day of school, we have extended the challenge through the end of February.
Flat Stanley Project-9 Flat classmates have returned from their trips so far. Here is a photo of our Map to chart where we have traveled.

Ask Your Child:
Is a tomato a fruit? Why or why not?
Has the character Edward Tulane changed in the story The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane?
When reading a nonfiction book, ask "What is the author trying to teach me about the world?"
What are you working on in writing? What are the three rotations?

The Nature Center

February 14-28

Hello Families! Here are some important happenings in our classroom:

 Brassica Plant growth 

 Engaged in independent reading

100th Day of School challenge- As a class, we have been on the "lookout for 100 Random Acts of Kindness". Our goal is to reach 100 bay day 100 of school, which is Thursday, Feb. 13th. We are a little less than halfway to our goal. We'll see if we make it!
Field Trip Tuesday: We will be heading to the Nature Center on Tuesday, February 11, 9-11am. We will be spending app. 20 minutes outside if the weather allows. Please have your kids dress in cold weather gear- snowpants, boots, hats, gloves...
Valentines: Our Valentine Party will be on Valentine's day- Fri. Feb. 14th. We will be making bags for our Valentine's in class.
Subtraction- We have JUST begun working on double digit subtraction  we have used the number grid, base ten blocks and coins to represent tens and ones. We have also started to learn the Trade First Method (very similar to how we all learned as kids) Here is a link to a demonstration of how the Trade First method works:https://www.everydaymathonline.com/free_resources_main.html?frnologin=1&PHPSESSID=53427160ab94cc17f9ede28ee372dc7c
Go to Algorithms in Everyday Math- Grade 2- Subtraction

Ask Your Child:
What is the new class read aloud? (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane)
Why did you have to replant your grass in science?
What part of the plant makes the food? Bonus: what is that process called? (photosynthesis)
What is PebbleGo?
What are you writing about? What are the three writing projects your class is working on? (Community Helper Slideshows, Bet You Didn't Know Articles and True or False Books)