Happy Halloween!

Today the second grade girls arrived at school dressed as princesses, Hermione, cowgirls, pop singers, and skeletons, to name a few.  We enjoyed the parade and the girls were so excited as they walked  the path waving to their parents along the way. The Halloween  party following the parade was fun and the girls enjoyed their treats.  Thanks to the parents who acted as hostesses.

                                                               Ms. Emala's Homeroom

                                                              Ms. Orlando's Homeroom

                                                          Mrs. Roessler's Homeroom

PE- Getting ready for our BIG performance

We have been in a Parachute unit for a few weeks.  The girls are hard at work designing and practicing our parachute routine.  The students can’t wait for our opportunity to perform for the whole Lower School.

Art: Complementary Color Cut-outs

One of our approaches to the "Relationships" theme in art is to learn the specific vocabulary that describes color relationships.  Complementary colors is a fancy term for opposite colors.  (The monochromatic self-portraits focused on analogous colors - colors next to each other on the color wheel.) The girls cut symmetrical shapes out of colored paper and glued the positive and negative results to the opposite color.  Complementary colors are used together to create a visual buzz or vibration.  

Social Studies

Thus far in social studies, we have learned about the Iroquois, the Sioux, and the Hopi tribes.  After taking notes on each tribe, the girls used the Scribble Press app in order to illustrate and write sentences comparing the tribes.  Next, we will complete this unit by studying the Native Americans of the Northwest Coast.  Here are some of the finished products.  Be sure to look for them in your daughter's homeroom when you come for your conference tomorrow!

 

French: Book Creator

The girls have begun a year-long French project using the iPad app, Book Creator. Periodically, they will make a page devoted to a unit of vocabulary. At the end of the year, they will have a portfolio of all that they have learned. They can flip through the pages to review the material and to remind them of how far they've come! They began by making a cover page and had fun snapping pictures of Eiffel Tower posters and experimenting with font and color. Then, as we are wrapping up our unit on school supplies, they have made a page that includes pictures, text, and voice recordings of all of the vocabulary. The picture below shows them hard at work!

From the Library

We discovered author Tim Egan when a magic fly granted three wishes to Arthur Crandall in Burnt Toast on Davenport Street. We spent the next few weeks travelling with Egan's characters: Dodsworth, who longs for adventure, and his surprising companion Duck, who can't fly or swim. They go to New York, Paris, London, Rome and Tokyo. Dodsworth and Duck climb the Statue of Liberty, join the Tour de France, stay at Buckingham Palace, "borrow" from the Trevi Fountain and, finally enjoy some wagashi. Ask your daughters about the adventures and misadventures of Dodsqworth and Duck.

Music: The Timbre of the Woods Family

Remember timbre?....  (the unique sound that an instrument makes)

After learning a song about a woodpecker, the girls chose instruments from the WOODS family to represent the woodpecker tapping on the tree.  Claves, rhythm sticks, woodblocks, and temple blocks have a hollow, wooden timbre.  When asked "Why do these instruments sound like a woodpecker?", one student replied, "Because they are all made out of wood and it makes a big, wooden, tapping sound.  Like a woodpecker tapping on the trunk of a tree."

Values

Talking with...the Second Grade about Loyalty...

I met with the Second Grade and we spoke about the Value of the Month, Loyalty.
Many of the girls had heard of the word, but didn't quite know what it meant. We  used
words like, faithful, constant, determined, trusting, to guide the girls.
I shared the book, Poindextexter Makes a Friend, to help them further understand this
Value. They enjoyed that Poindexter made a new friend, and offered the reader four
steps to make a friend. The class discussed how helpful these four steps were and asked to take
home  a sheet with the steps written down for them. They also asked me to have a leaf design on the sheet.
The girls were given this paper on Friday. Ask your daughter about Poindexter, and also what he showed his
friend with his friendship skills. Enjoy talking with your daughter about what Loyalty means to her, and how she can portray this at school, home, and within her community.

Science: All Abuzz!

The girls recently  learned about the life cycle changes of butterflies and moths and each student made a 3-D model depicting the egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. We are also watching some live caterpillars as they go through these stages.  Will they be butterflies or moths?  Time will tell!

Now the girls are starting to learn about honeybees, which have a distinct social structure and an organized community.  Each girl closely examined a dried honeybee (which was carefully contained in a small plastic box) to see the tiny details of this insect.  The girls were enthralled as they saw the large compound eyes, wings, fuzzy-looking bodies, and other body parts. They enthusiastically shared their discoveries by showing other students what they had found.

Go Bryn Mawr!

  Yesterday, the second grade girls showed off their school spirit on a beautiful fall day. Their costumes were very creative! They enjoyed watching the parade and being a part of the school pep rally in the gym. Green, yellow, and white costumes covered Bryn Mawr's campus and we even got to see our school mascot, the Martian. Spirit day was definitely a success! Go BRYN MAWR!

 

French: Tic Tac Toe



The second graders are hard at work learning new subject pronouns (je and tu) and articles (un, une, and des) in French class. In the picture below, we are playing tic tac toe. Students can mark an 'X' or an 'O' in the grid by creating a sentence using the vocabulary cards above and to the left. They use the appropriate subject and object and then pick a verb that makes sense. For example, a possible sentence for the top 'O' would be "Tu joues avec un ballon jaune."

 

Math and Spacial Collaboration

After completing two units on place value, the girls were given an opportunity to work collaboratively using various manipulatives of their choice.  Some girls chose to build a "town center" while others chose to work with math apps.

 

 

 

 

 

Art: Reflections for Monochromatic Feelings Self-portrait

Reflecting happens in many formats in the art studio.  For this project, the girls used the iPad app Scribble Press to take a picture of their finished work and write a few sentences about it.  They stated their color, their feeling, and the place where they feel that feeling.  Their reflections will hang with their work in the Lower School Administration building later this week.  

Art: Monochromatic Color Self-Portrait Backgrounds

The girls are finishing their first major project - a feelings self-portrait in one color.  They chose how they wanted to do their background.  They had three options: use the opposite color, use the same color, or draw in the details of the space where they have the feeling they chose.  Below you will see three portraits that were the models for background choices.  

Which choice did Lillie make?

Science: Learning about Insects

After learning the basic characteristics of insects, each girl had the opportunity to carefully examine

a cricket and record her observations.  Watching the crickets eat pieces of apple was especially interesting!  Then on a lovely fall day, we explored the gardens of the Lower School in search of insects.  The girls shook the branches of bushes and scrambled to catch any insects who fell onto the sheet they had spread below.  They were careful to choose only insects for their collection.

Music: Graphic Notation

Second graders are exploring with different ways to notate sound.  Check out our iPad drawings to represent vocal sounds:

We're Ready for the World Cup!!

We have been practicing our soccer skills (passing, dribbling, trapping) for the last couple of weeks.  We have even learned the tough skill of juggling a soccer ball with some success.  With a lot of hard work and practice our goal is to juggle our age (which is much harder then it looks).  In our last class we put many of those skills together with teamwork to play a game of Human Foosball.

Second Grade 100 Book Challenge Celebration

Here we are celebrating the completion of our 100 Book Challenge.  The girls loved having lunch in the classroom with their favorite stuffed animal.

Language Arts groups are in place and the girls are settling into their daily routines.

Scholastic book order sheets are coming home today.  Just a reminder - completing your order online is more time efficient for the teachers.  Thank you.

Enjoy the remainder of the week.