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."