Monday, December 12, 2011

Good afternoon!

Wow! The first part of the school year sure has flown by.

Please note that students DO come to school this Friday, 12/16. They will NOT come to school on Tuesday, 1/3. Students return to school on Wednesday, 1/4. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you all have a wonderful Winter Break!


This Wednesday during All School Meeting, some of us will be sharing our published Acrostic Poems with the entire school community! If you are able to attend, we would love to have you listen to our poetry. The All School Meeting will begin at 9:00. Please email me if you have questions. We hope to see you Wednesday!

This Friday, 12/16, our Crew will be having a Polar Express day. The students are invited to come to school in their pajamas. They need to wear shoes to school and for recess, but while we are in the classroom, they may change into slippers. Also, students may bring in one pillow to use during reading. Our party will be from 3:00-3:45 on Friday afternoon.

In Math today, we practiced measuring distances with rulers and tape measures. Here are some of us in action!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Brrr! It's cold outside! Please remember to send your child in warm, weather appropriate clothing. I will do my best to remind them to put their gear on to go outside.

Our Crew could really use some tissues. We would appreciate any tissue donations you might be willing to offer. Thanks!

We have started a new genre study in writing...acrostic poems. Ask your child what he or she knows about acrostic poems. Here is a website your child can use at home to practice writing acrostic poems.
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/acrostic/

In reading, we have been learning how to decide what's important while we read and what's unimportant but interesting. While you are reading with your child at home, stop every now and then and talk about what they think is important. It's also a good idea to share with them what you think is important and why.

Don't forget Student Led Conferences are this week. See you soon!

Monday, November 28

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had a great time with my family eating delicious food and getting our house all ready for the holidays.

We have a busy three weeks before Winter Break ahead of us.

A HUGE thank you to all of you who have been volunteering your time in our classroom. I have noticed that the children are much more focused when we have extra hands in to help us out. We couldn't do it without you!

Student Led Conferences will be next week. During conferences, your children will be sharing what they have learned so far in second grade. They will be showing you what they are reading, some of their writing, a math page they are proud of, and what we are learning in Expedition. There will also be a short opportunity for you and your child to sit down with me and talk about progress. I'm really looking forward to meeting with you! If you haven't scheduled your conference yet, please do so soon! If you have any questions, please email me.

Jackson and Samantha doing word work on the iPad

Keidynce adding her thinking to our blog

I hope you all have had a chance to check out our KidBlog! I showed the students how to login and post their comments last week. Currently, we are using this blog as a place to share our thinking about our reading. Not only can the students post in class, I also sent the link home so they can post their thinking at home. Please let me know if you have any questions. http://kidblog.org/MsHannisCrew2011-2012/

Good afternoon!

Thank you to all of you who helped belay for our Crew last week! I got some great shots of the kiddos climbing, check them out below.

Emily and Caleb on the wall

Nico climbing blindfolded

Look at Noah go!

Zoe, all the way at the top!

Go Grayson!

Cole blindfolded, adding an extra challenge

Ksenyia supporting Collin, what perseverance! 

In Math, we are working on telling time. I have noticed that some students are confusing the hour and minute hand. Here is a great website to go to for some extra practice telling time.
http://www.primarygames.com/time/start.htm

In Expedition, we are learning all about the annual community tradition, the Starlighting. Below are some photos of the kiddos working hard as experts. Some are participating in a Tea Party, where they look for connections in clues and talk with each other to try and solve our mystery piece. Others are working in expert groups, sharing their learning with each other.

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a great three-day weekend!

I was here at school on Friday, but one very exciting thing did come out of it...Our Crew got two more iPads for use in our classroom! So now, we have three iPads that students are using during literacy centers! The kids are SO excited to be using this new technology! And I am SO excited that they are so engaged in meaningful literacy activities during center time. I will constantly be looking for new ways to use the iPads also, so if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear about them.

We are climbing this week in PE. Thank you to all of you who have volunteered to belay for us. We couldn't do it without you. Check back next week for some pictures of your children climbing.

A note about snow gear...Students WILL be going outside if the temperature is warm enough. The expectation is that students have appropriate snow gear. If you have any questions, please let me know.

A HUGE thank you to all of you who have volunteered to help us in the classroom! I can't thank you enough for donating your time. Our classroom runs so much smoother with extra hands to help out. Please let myself or Chevy know if you would like to volunteer. I still have many times I could use some help.

We are beginning our second Case Study for our Expedition this week. I will send more information later, but for now, please plan on having your child attend the 76th Annual Starlighting ceremony on Saturday, November 19th. Our Crew will be participating in this event, as we do every year. Stay tuned for more information.

10/31/2011

Happy Halloween!

Thank you so much to Chevy and all who helped out with our Halloween breakfast this morning! It was wonderful and I know the kids really enjoyed it. We are trying to have somewhat of a normal afternoon :)

Our Crew will be climbing in PE next week, IF we have enough volunteers to belay for us. If you have been trained and are available to belay from 2:10-3:00, we need you! There will be another training this Wednesday, 11/2. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Here is what we will be learning this week:
Reader's Workshop
Our new focus is using questioning to help us understand what we're learning. As readers read, they are constantly asking themselves questions to help them learn more and to help them monitor their understanding. While reading with your child at home, stop periodically to talk about questions they have and questions you have.

Writer's Workshop
We are wrapping up our genre study of personal narratives. By the end of the week, we will have learned how to revise our writing to make sure it sounds exactly how we want it to sound. We'll also learn how to edit for correct capitalization and punctuation, as well as circle words that looked like they are spelled incorrectly. I will be helping the students publish their pieces on the computer.

Math
We are learning how to recognize and continue patterns in numbers. This is also helping us with our addition and subtraction skills. We have learned how to play a new game called "Name that Number." This is a game that can be played at home with a regular deck of cards. Ask your child to teach you how to play. I love playing this game with the kids!

Expedition
We have learned a little bit about the ghost town of Dearfield, Co. This week, we will continue to build our knowledge about what this community was like in the past as well as what it is like today. We will be watching a video about Dearfield. I encourage families to do their own research at home and see what you can learn about this community that didn't survive.

Welcome back! I hope you all had a fun and relaxing Fall Break! I enjoyed spending time with my family and friends. Chad, Lochen, Brynn, and I had the chance to relax in Estes Park for a few days. I am so thankful to have had some time in our beautiful mountains! 


I will now do most of my communication on this blog. You will be able to find out important information, homework assignments, and spelling words. I will be adding more information and will let you know when I have done so. Please let me know any feedback you have about the blog. Thanks so much! 


We have jumped right back in to the swing of things and have a wonderful first day back! Thank you for sharing your children with me!