March 21-April 4

Hello Families! Spring is officially here! We are nearing the end of Quarter 3- the official last day of the quarter is April 1st. Note: April 1st is a half day-the PM is for teacher workday. Here are some of the latest happenings and news:
Classroom Books: Thanks to your book orders we added another 60 books to our classroom library (this is only part of the order). Whenever families order books through Scholastic, our class earns bonus points to use for FREE books.
Nonfiction Author's Celebration: If you were not able to attend, here are some photos from our celebration below. The kids hosted the celebration and were responsible for a part of the presentation. In addition, each child read one heading from their animal report. I was so proud of the work they all did!
Extra thank you for the treats provided for the celebration!

 Jaimye

 Patrick

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: We finally finished my personal favorite read aloud! Here are some photos to show some of the thinking we did. All students worked in small groups throughout the book to jot down their Big Ideas, thoughts and questions about the story. At the end of the book, each small group rotated to 5 stations and write down their thoughts about the listed topic- Lessons, Questions, Character Traits, Character Feelings and Personal Thoughts . The examples below show the "Lessons" and "Questions" posters with student thinking.

Ask Your Child:

Who is Douglas Florian? (The visiting Author coming on 3/26- he's a poet) 

Who is Mercy Watson? Tell me about her...

What is your NEW Book Series Club?

What is your next writing unit? (Poetry- there will be another Author's Celebration in May that families will be invited to attend)

Is a fraction more or less 1?

Which part of a fraction is the denominator- what does it represent?

Hello Families! We have had a fun week celebrating Dr. Seuss with the themed days- red/blue day, hat day. crazy sock day and green day. Here's a picture Mrs. Schwarz took of our class on Red/Blue day. 

Animal Research Reports: A half sheet of white paper was sent home today requesting help from home to find pictures of your child's animal for their animal report. If you cannot find photos or are unable to print from a computer, I can help your child find some at school. Please send in the pictures by Friday March 14. Thank you for your help.

Nonfiction Celebration: Families are welcome to join us in the classroom for our Nonfiction Writing Celebration on Friday, March 21 at 2:30pm. The kids will be sharing their animal reports, True/False books, Question and Answer books, Community Worker slideshows and a "Bet Your Didn't Know" magazine article. 

Author Visit: On March 26, author (poet) Douglas Florian will visit our school. You will receive information about a pre-sale of his books. Any purchased books will be signed by the author.

Math Rotations: Our next unit is Fractions. As a second grade, we are going to share kids among the three teachers. So your child may go to Mrs. Petersen's or Mrs. Shinners' classroom for this unit. We are excited to use a new strategy to personalize learning. 

Ask Your Child:

Why is the book called The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane?

Did Edward change in the story? Why or why not?

How do you know whether it is AM or PM?

What is the name of your Book Series Club?