Today was a very busy day in our class. We started our day with Phys. Ed. After Phys. Ed. we completed our morning work and had our morning meeting. During morning meeting we practiced our song, Do You Know the Holidays?. We will be singing the song for the whole school during an assembly on December 23rd. We are really excited! After first recess Mrs. Peckmann met with the Magazines and Internet reading groups. Both groups are working on retelling a story with important details and making connections to what we read. During shared reading we took a close look at the winter holiday, Hanukkah. We learned that the candles of a menorah are placed in the menorah from right to left each night of Hanukkah and are lit using the shamash from left to right. We learned about the significance of the eight candles and we created personal menorahs describing how we shine our light at home, at school and at play. In math today we worked on comparing 2-digit and 3-digit numbers. At the end of the day we read a nonfiction book by Gail Gibbons, Weather Words. We used the book to discuss important weather vocabulary. We recorded the vocabulary words for an activity tomorrow. Mrs. Peckmann also showed us some rain guages and an anemometer. (Ask me what an anemometer measures!) We also discussed the types of people who might rely on accurate readings from weather instruments like thermometers, anemometers, weather vanes, rain guages and barometers for the daily lives. Our homework tonight is Jumpstart 2. Tomorrow is Day 4 in our schedule. Our special will be Music.

High School AND 5th Grade Buddies!

What an exciting day we had today! During morning meeting Mrs. Peckmann showed us how to access the Podcasts we created. We can watch and listen to them in school or at home through Mrs. Peckmann's teacher page link. Today was also "Famous Friday" so we learned about a very famous baseball player, Jackie Robinson. (Ask me to tell you 3 things that I learned about Jackie Robinson.) After morning meeting we finished our work with the nonfiction book, World Holidays. We answered questions based on the book and completed a Venn diagram comparing two of the holidays. Next we had a special lunch in the classroom to celebrate Mrs. Miller. Today is Mrs. Miller's last day with us and we wish her luck during her student teaching! After lunch we welcomed some very special guests into our classroom. Eight students from the High School who are memebers of SAAC (Substance Abuse Awareness Committee) worked with us in small groups to teach us about the dangers of alcohol and tobacco. We completed a booklet with them and watched a short video. We were also able to ask them questions about what it is like to be a high school student. The high school students were terrific and we learned a lot from them! After the high school students left, it was time to go to Sinking Springs to visit our 5th grade buddies. Our 5th grade buddies have been working on persuasive essays and some of the students presented them to us. After their presentations our 5th grade buddies helped us write a persuasive paragraph to include an opening statement, at least 3 compelling reasons and an ending sentence. We really worked hard with our buddies! We were so persuasive we convinced Mr. Otterson to give us a sweet treat to bring home with us today. At the end of the day Mrs. Miller read more of The Doll People to us. We only have one chapter left! The only homework that we have this weekend is to read. Monday will be Day 3. We have Phys. Ed. Have a super weekend! :)

Letters to Namibia

Today was Day 1 in our schedule. We began our day with morning meeting. For our greeting today we taught Mrs. Miller "2-4-6-8..." (Ask me to tell you about it!) We have a new poem to recite at morning meeting called, Winter. We know that winter is just around the corner. After morning meeting, we completed a listening exercise using a hundred board. Mrs. Miller read directions to us about numbers on the board and we had to listen to the directions to color in, underline or circle the numbers according to her directions. It turned out to be quite a challenge for some of us! After this activity we took a spelling pretest on holiday-themed words. Next, Mrs. Miller took us on a trip to Namibia, a country on the continent of Africa. Mrs. Miller visited Namibia this past summer to do some teaching there. She showed us pictures of the country, the people, the houses and schools in Namibia. We used our letter writing skills to write friendly letters to the children in Namibia. (Ask me about the differences between Roundtown and the schools in Namibia!) After lunch we reviewed all of the place value skills that we have been learning so far and then we went to our special of the day, Phys. Ed. In Phys. Ed. we are playing the volcano game. This game involves a lot of strategy! After Phys. Ed. we finished math and made our new spelling lists and worked in spelling centers. At the end of the day we reviewed our homework on graphing by completing a portion of the graph. Tomorrow is Day 2. We do not have a special. If the weather cooperates, we will be going to Sinking Springs tomorrow afternoon to visit our 5th grade buddies. Our buddies will be presenting persuasive speeches to us and helping us to write a persuasive paragraph. :)

Learning About World Holidays

We started our day with our Special, Library. After Library we completed our morning work and had our morning meeting. During morning meeting we made a bar graph for the months of our birthdays and answered many questions about the graph. We also worked with our poem and completed place value activities. After morning meeting and first recess, we worked in Reading Groups. Mrs. Peckmann worked with the Magazines and Internet groups today. Both groups worked on their retelling skills with their assigned books. The groups also made many inferences when they answered questions about what they had read. After lunch we used our computer expertise to teach the students in Mrs. Weikert's class how to use the drawing toolbar. We created Christmas trees and ornaments that can be dragged on to the tree. It was wonderful to be a teacher too! Next, Mrs. Miller worked with us on our nonfiction reading strategies as she used the Smartboard to project the book, World Holidays. We used the Smartboard to highlight the many nonfiction features in the book and to help us read and summarize the facts about each holiday. (Ask me some new things I learned today!) During math we continued with place value concepts and used a Smartboard spinner as practice. We found out that when we add 10 to a number the only digit that changes is the digit in the tens and when we add 100 to a number the only digit that changes is the digit in the hundreds. Our homeowork tonight is to study for our Spelling test tomorrow. Our Special tomorrow is Art.

Mrs. Peckmann, Mrs. MIller and Mrs. Templeton Play Jailbreak!

We began our day with morning work and morning meeting. We greeted each other this morning in French. Our student of the week, Joshua presented his poster, Sarah S. shared some pictures from her recent trip and then we moved on to our poem of the cycle, December Holidays. At morning meeting we also wrote a class acrostic poem for WINTER. Following morning meeting, we had our special of the day, Music. After Music we had indoor recess due to the cold temperatures outside. After recess Mrs. Miller read more of The Doll People to us. Next we worked in Reading Groups and Literacy Centers until lunch time. After lunch we silently read at our desks and then Mrs. Miller taught us a new pre-writing strategy to help us focus and organize our writing called The Four Square. Mrs. Miller showed us how we could use the Four Square Organizer by creating one of her own. We will use it later this week when we begin to write a story called, The Relatives Came modeled after the Cynthia Rylant book with the same title. Following writing it was time for math. We completed our math facts and then worked in math centers with our groups. At the end of the day we participated in our classroom reward. We had extra Phys. Ed. time! We played the game Jailbreak with Mrs. Peckmann, Mrs. Templeton and Mrs. Miller. We all had a terrific time! Homework tonight is Jumpstart 1. Tomorrow is Day 5. Our special is Library.

We began our day with our Special, Library. After Library we completed our morning work and had our morning meeting. During morning meeting we answered the question, "How many pockets do you have today?" by placing a tally mark next to the correct number. We then used the tally data to create a pie graph using our bodies and pieces of yarn. We answered questions based on the pie graph. After morning meeting, Mrs. Miller read more of The Doll People to us. We are really enjoying the book! Next it was time for our reading groups. Each of the groups read their readers' theater scripts. Each group also worked in a literacy center. After lunch we used the drawing tool bar on the computer to make a special holiday gift for our families. (It's a secret, so please do not ask too many questions!) During math today we used the hundreds chart to play a new game called capture the cube. (Ask me how we played it.) At the end of the day we wrote in our Second Grade Memory Journals about our favorite memory from November. Our homework tonight is Spelling. We have a Spelling test tomorrow, Day 6. Our special tomorrow is Art.

Shayan is student of the week!

We started our day with our Special, Phys. Ed. After Phys. Ed. we completed our morning work and went to morning meeting. During our greeting we stated something that we were thankful for this year. Next, Shayan presented his student of the week poster. After that we read our poem for the cycle, Popcorn! After morning meeting we corrected our sentences for the day and headed out to recess. Following recess, Mrs. Miller read more of The Doll People to us. Mrs. Miller then asked us to review what we learned about popcorn. We created popcorn mosaics and recorded a fact about popcorn. It was then time for lunch. After lunch we worked in Writer's Workshop. We continued to work on nonfiction writing and write in our journals. Three more students presented their pumpkin stories. After writing it was time for Math. Today we worked on expanded form of 2-digit numbers. We used representations of 2-digit numbers to name the place and value of the digits. At the end of the day we took a closer look at popcorn. We watched a short video of a popcorn kernel popping in slow motion and we discussed how we thought a popcorn kernel "popped." We did some research on the internet and found out how it actually pops. (Ask me how!) Next, we popped 100 kernels of popcorn stored at room temperature, 100 kernels kept in the refrigerator, 100 kernels soaked in water and 100 kernels dried in the oven. We counted the number of kernels that fully popped. Tomorrow we will use our senses to describe the popped kernels from each type of kernel. There are some real differences! We will record our observations and make some conclusions. Our homework tonight is math - place value. Tomorrow is Day 4. We have Music.

We started our day with our special, Library. After Library we completed our morning work and had our morning meeting. During morning meeting we created and answered questions about a graph of our favorite Thanksgiving activities. We read our poem for the cycle, Weather, paying close attention to our smoothness and expression as we read. We began a new read aloud today, The Doll People. (Ask me who Kate and Nora are.) During Guided Reading Mrs. Peckmann introduced us to the center rotation schedule and our responsibilities during reading groups. For lunch today we had our turkey holiday meal. Yummy!!! After lunch we corrected our sentences for the day and moved onto math. We continued to explore patterns on the hundreds chart and played a game with a partner where we needed to identify numbers that were 1 more, 1 less, 10 more and 10 less than a number written on a card. After afternoon recess, Mrs. Smeltzer's Kindergarten class visited our data collection stations. We then made graphs of the choices the Kindergarten students made. Our homework tonight is a place value practice sheet and to study for our spelling test tomorrow. Our special tomorrow is Art.

Parent Visitation Day

We began our day be welcoming Mrs. Kari Miller to our classroom. Mrs. Miller is a professional block student from Millersville University who will be spending the next 4 weeks in our classroom in order to prepare for her student teaching in the spring. Mrs. Miller introduced herself to us by showing us some items that were meaningful to her (ask me what she shared!). At morning meeting we greeted each other with animal sounds. That certainly woke us up on a Monday morning! After morning meeting we went to our special of the day, Music. After Music and recess it was time to welcome many parents and other adult visitors to our classroom. Half of us presented our culture projects to our guests using the Smartboard. Next it was time for lunch. After lunch we set up our data collection posters to collect data from the adults who were able to attend this part of our day. After that the other half of us presnted our culture projects. At the end of the day, Miss Gagne, a fresheman education student who spent Monday afternoons with us the past few weeks, presented a lesson on her country of origin, Cananda. She taught us how to say please and thank you in french. We would like to thank all of the adults who were able to visit our classroom today! Homework tonight is math: graphing. Our special tomorrow is Library.

We began our day with our Special - Phys. Ed. After Phys. Ed. we practiced and refined our culture project presentations for Monday. We have all worked so hard and it really shows! In math today we used an interactive hundreds board to "Splat" numbers and follow patterns. At the end of the day we made a turkey glyph using clues about what we do on Thanksgiving. Look for the glyphs on the classroom door when you come to visit on Monday. Monday will be a Day 4. We have Music. Parent Visitation is 10:00 - 2:30.

Wow! What a busy day in second grade. We started our day with morning meeting It is the 56th day of school. Shortly after morning meeting we enjoyed a fluency lesson from Mrs. Thomas using the Smartboard. We had fun reading with accuracy and with proper phrasing and expression. Because of the rain we had indoor recess today. After recess we worked in Writer's Workshop. Some of us are publishing our pumpkin stories while others are working on a nonfiction writing about bats. Mrs. Peckmann met with the red triangle group today. After lunch, Miss Decker's first grade class came to visit our data collection stations. We then made a bar graph of the data we collected. Next our 5th grade buddies came to listen to our culture project presentations. Our buddies gave us feedback about what we did well and what we could improve. Our 5th grade buddies also visited our data collection stations. We also graphed the results from our 5th grade buddies. We had a terrific day! Our homework tonight is graphing. Our special tomorrow is Phys. Ed.