Sixth Week: October 6-10, 2008

    It only seemed appropriate that this being "Fire Prevention Month" and the Second Grade going to visit the town's Emergency Facilities, that the week be punctuated by two evacuation drills. One was announced and one was not. For both, we practiced evacuating to what has been called our Secondary Evacuation Site. For the latter, the Fire Department was here to observe procedures. For our Classroom Extension to the Emergency Facilities, I want to thank the EMT crew who demonstrated with some real kids, the back board and neck collar for stabilizing potential neck and back injuries so they can load the  "patient" into the ambulance. They also used the stethoscope, then showed them the back and the cab with the radios.

    Many children were surprised to learn that the Police Station was once the Post Office as shown by a huge mural of the Pony Express delivery to Colonial Kennebunk. In the Police Station, Officer Carney pointed out the all-important Dispatch Center then we visited the Squad Room , Interview Room, and the Briefing Room before seeing the interiors and trunks of a squad car and the Animal Control Officer's car.

    There was Soooo much to see in the actual Fire Station as well as numerous Fire Fighters there, were eager to tell us about everything. A fire fighter donned all his "turn-out" gear from the steel-toed boots through the hood, helmet, mask, and tank so that they  could emphasize the look of a fire-fighter to help eliminate any fears. They explained that the goal of the gear is to cover all the officer's exposed skin and to keep out smoke which seems to be equally dangerous as flames in a fire situation. The differences between the ladder truck and the engine/pumper trucks were explained as well as the vast assortment of tools to help in both fires and car accidents. It was very impressive!

    Although we debriefed and made lists of what we had learned on this second "field trip" about community helpers, we did not start the thank you letters yet. We were still correcting the letters to the four other previous destinations so they can be delivered. My personal "thanks you's" go out to these parents who gave up an afternoon to keep us safe on our trip: Ann Charlton, Louise DeLorenzo, Diane Guay, Lisa Palmer-D'Orso, and Bill Van Deinse. We did take a break from the "Magic Treehouse volume : Vacation Under the Volcano during my "Teacher Read" portion of afternoon snack time to listen to some of the Community Helper books from the Kennebunk Free Library.

    In Writers' Workshop, Mrs. Lisa Erickson Harris has been helping the children transfer their "Favorite Summer Activity"  Power Plan onto the color coordinated strips. Next they will copy over the corrected strips onto a sheet of paper to have a finished product. In the area of creative writing, Mrs. Lisa VanDeinse helped pass out samples of 5 different kinds of apples in a sensory experience to elicit describing words. From their Writing Notebook lists of adjectives for Apples, Acorns, and Leaves, she helped them create their first acrostic poems with another choice being "Autumn" .

    In Readers" Workshop, we finally started Reading Groups with the books ranging from fiction, nonfiction and biography (Columbus, of course). Along with the groups, the children received their first "Center Contracts" for activities from a limited number of choices until they get used to how the whole system operates smoothly.Several of these centers will change weekly to add more variety such as the Listening Center and  Poem Pocket Chart.

    Lastly, in science we continued the Life Cycle Unit expanding from observing and recoding tree growth to human growth. Today we began measuring and recording fall data  of our height and making painted hand prints which we will glue into our notebooks then measure the length for that data. Along with foot size and head circumference, we will repeat this process in the spring to compare and, hopefully, observe growth. 

Posted by Ms Roper at 4:50 PM | Permalink

                     Friday October 10, 2008

Reading Log: Date due is Friday October 24th.

 Math: Home Link 2.8 "Fact Triangles"- Since these are to be kept at home for practice of math facts whenever possible- this week or Tuesday or next Friday, etc.- and do not get returned to school as normal homework, I sent these home while the concepts are still fresh. I did urge the students to let you read the back before they cut them out. Then I suggested they put them in a baggie or an envelope to keep them safe and together.

Dismissal Reminder Notes Notice came from the whole Second Grade Team.

Duplicates of the October 2008 Newsletter Supplement are coming home to families from whom I did not get a reply.

No School on Monday due to Columbus Day Holiday! 

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Posted by Ms Roper at 3:24 PM | Permalink

                 Thursday October 9, 2008

Math: "Homelink 2.7"-"Weighing Things"- On the front are two tools we looked at today in our introductory lesson about weighing things. The pan balance does not provide an actual weight but lets one compare items of varying weights. The children can explain that the heavier object will cause that side to hang lower while items of the same weight will make the pans even or in balance. We used a small spring scale to weigh light items that are below a pound in weight. On the back they need to ring the object from the pair that they think is heavier. ( I clarified that it's a brick with which you build a house not an eraser as it looks.) For the last section, they need to ring objects they think weigh less than one pound.

Book Talk and Reading Logs are due tomorrow.

* A reminder: due to the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, there is no school.

** If you come by our room, please notice that the Candy Bar designs are down and will be part of our Portfolios. They have been replaced by response sheets to the idea of the needs of people to build their communities close to fresh water as was the theme in Maine author Debby Atwell's book, River .

Posted by Ms Roper at 4:42 PM | Permalink

               Wednesday October 8, 2008

Math: There was no regular Everyday Math homework as there was no formal lesson due to Early Release Day. We briefly reviewed making adding and subtracting facts from domino dots as part of our  Morning Journal work.

C.O.W's: Many children took home Mrs. Glynn's optional "Challenge of the Week" sheet for logical math skills.

Library Books are due back tomorrow.

Reading Logs and Book Talk are due on Friday Oct. 10th.

** If you have not completed and returned the second sheet of the October Newsletter, a quick survey about electronic communication, please do so at your earliest convenience. Thanks.

Posted by Ms Roper at 12:28 PM | Permalink

               Tuesday October 7, 2008

Math: No math lesson today due to Trip to "Emergency Services" so there's no math homework.

Several children forgot their notices in their mailboxes. The K'bunk Fire Dept. 's annual "Fire Prevention Open House" is being held tonight at the West Kennebunk Fire Station on Thompson Road from 6-8 p.m. 

K.E.S. is collecting NEW TOYS to donate to the Maine Children's Cancer Program's "OWie" Box to comfort children in for cancer treatment. This is being sponsored by Kate Sprague, a student in Ms. Keep's class. It will last until the end of October.

**Lastly, bringing toys and collecting cards from home has been on the increase and is causing quite a distraction in school. This is a reminder that according to 2nd Grade policy, toys may not come to school. If this continues to be a problem, the toys will spend some time on my desk. 

Posted by Ms Roper at 3:21 PM | Permalink

                      Monday October 6, 2008

Tomorrow's trip downtown to the Emergency Services will happen in the afternoon. We will leave KES directly after lunch at 11:35 so we'll eat then go back to our classroom to stash our lunchboxes, grab our coats, and return  to the front for the bus. We will be returning to KES  by 1:05. I have been calling the homes of our chaperones to rearrange schedules so hopefully we will have this covered. I need to slow down and resist the urge to rush my reading. Good "Reading Comprehensions" suggestion, right?! 

Posted by Ms Roper at 4:02 PM | Permalink

                     Monday October 6, 2008

Math: Homelink 2.6_ "Domino Facts"- Using the dots on dominoes to generate facts, the children make two adding facts with the halves of the domino as addends and the total number of dots as the sum. They will get two turn-around facts for adding. If they seem confused  by the subtracting, you can remind them that the largest number ( the sum or answer) from adding will be the top of the subtraction problem and will have one of the smaller numbers taken away from it.

October  Classroom Newsletter is coming home today. Be sure to look at the stapled back page. It is an important survey question about electronic vs. paper communication. Please complete it , sign it, and return it at your earliest possible convenience.

Scholastic Book Orders are due tomorrow with payment in check form. 

Reminders: Tomorrow is our visit to Kennebunk Emergency Services. We'll leave KES at 8:35 and return around 10 a.m. Also, Wednesday is an Early Release Day.

Posted by Ms Roper at 3:08 PM | Permalink

Fifth Week of School: Sept. 29- October 3, 2008

    Dear Parents,

I just lost an hour's worth of typing of this week's many wonderful events. It is 5:30 p.m. on Friday and I am going home. You'll need to ask your children about the many activities we did including taking measurements of fall data of our class tree, learning about the 7 continents and the concept of Pangaea, our field trip around downtown Kennebunk, Text-to Text literature connections, and products and services in communities. I'll try to summarize in my forthcoming October newsletter. Sorry for the disappointment!

Posted by Ms Roper at 5:24 PM | Permalink

                 Friday October 3, 2008

Math: There is no "Everyday Math" homework for the weekend even though we did have a math lesson. As there is so much variation in our families' schedules of activities and opportunities for relaxed time together, the Second Grade team has decided that we will no longer assign math homework on Friday. Of course, we still encourage reading whenever possible!

A Field Trip notice on a green half sheet  was sent home today as we have our second walk in downtown Kennbunk on Tuesday when we visit the facilities of the Police Department, Fire Department and the EMT's. We will leave KES at 8:35 and return by 10:05 so our regular schedule with lunch at 11:00 and snack in mid afternoon is still in effect.

KEPTA Fundraising orders are due back on Monday October 6th and Scholastic Book Club orders are due Tuesday October 7th. 

Posted by Ms Roper at 3:37 PM | Permalink