Science Unit on Light

This week, your children learned about light. They learned how light reflects off objects and enters our eyes. They learned about shadows, and how they are created. They learned about transparent, translucent and opaque objects by looking at the shadows created using a flashlight. They learned about Thomas Edison and electricity. They explored rainbows and light.

We watched a video about light, which the children loved. Check it out:

http://www.watchknow.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=5140&CategoryID=633

Halloween Writing Activities

Halloween Costumes:  The students gave clues about what they were going to be for Halloween.  The students read their writing aloud and had 3 friends guess their costume.  We got 21 costumes right. Great clues Busy Bees! 

Personal Pumpkins: The students created a personal pumpkin for their friends to guess which pumpkin belonged to which friend. 

Here were their guidelines:

Eyes Shape: Boy- Circle Girl- Square

Eyes Color: Color of your eyes
Nose: The first letter in your name
Mouth: Age 7- Triangle Age 8- Rectangle
Stem: Your favorite color
Number of Stripes: Number of brothers/sisters

Can you find your child's personal pumpkin and costume writing?  If so, please leave a comment. :)

Math Unit 3 Review

Today, your children enjoyed using their Math Menus to visit 5 stations around the room to review for their Unit 3 Assessment tomorrow. They reviewed Frames and Arrows with 2 rules, Subtraction Number Stories, Place Value, Telling Time and Money. The "dessert" on the menu was their most challenging yet most enjoyed station because they used plastic coins to "buy" candy. They had to determine which 2 pieces of candy they wanted to purchase with their dollar.  Next, they had to decide if they had enough money for their choices. Your children are learning more every day. You should be very proud of them!

Amelia Elmentary Night at Beechmont Rollarena

Amelia Elementary's Night at Beechmont Rollarena is Monday, November 1st from 6:30-8:30p.m. The cost is $3.00 per skater and $1.75 for skate rental. There is no school the next day. Go and have a great time with your classmates!

Writing

Yesterday, we read the book The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. We talked about how the Little Old Lady said she wasn't afraid, but she probably really was. Even though she was scared, she found out that there really wasn't anything to be afraid of at the end. We decided to write about a time when we were scared but it turned out to be nothing scary after all. I loved reading all of the stories that your children wrote! They are great storytellers using some wonderful details. All of their stories are hanging in the classroom. Here are some examples of your children's writing:

Red Ribbon Days Next Week!

Red Ribbon Week Days:

Next week, we will be saying NO to drugs.  Below is the assigned spirit wear for each day next week.

Monday 10-25: Put a Cap on Drugs
Tuesday: 10-26 Sock it to Drugs
Wednesday: 10-27 Wear Red for Red Ribbon Week
Thursday: 10-28 Team Up against Drugs (Wear favorite team shirt)
Friday: 10-29 Wear Red, White and Blue

Ready...Set...Action!

Please help your child practice their lines from the play, The Strongest One this weekend.  Your child will be practicing all next week as well as performing for Mrs. Wells' kindergarten class on Thursday.

Math Unit 2 Review

Today the children really enjoyed their Unit 2 Math Review as they followed their 'Menus' to explore a variety of activities in order to prepare them for their Unit 2 Assessment on Friday. The concepts they practiced today were Addition and Subtraction Number Stories, Fact Families, Frames and Arrows diagrams, What's my Rule tables, as well as card games including "Top It!" to practice basic addition facts and "Name that Number" to use addition or subtraction to form a given number. The children worked hard at practicing these new concepts. I am positive they will have no trouble with their assessment tomorrow!

Book Fair Friday

If you would like your child to buy a book at the book fair, our day to visit is Friday.  Please send your child's money in a bag or envelope so that it will be easy to keep track of while at the book fair. Thank you.

We WON!!!!!

We have won an ice cream party and 15 minutes of extra recess for bringing in the most items for the fall festival.  We will enjoy our extra 15 minutes of recess on Friday.   Great job everyone! :)

Yesterday in math, the children experimented with interactive dice on the Smart Board to help them learn about fact families. They created two addition problems and two subtraction problems using the numbers on the dice. They really enjoyed "rolling" the dice to create new fact families.
Keep up the good work, Busy Bees!

Have fun with fact families!
You can do this fun activity at home also! All you need is two dice or some dominoes, pencil and paper. Roll the dice or select a domino at random. Use the pencil and paper to create fact families from the numbers on the dice or dominoes similar to this one:
4+5=9 5+4=9 9-5=4 9-4=5

School Pictures Wednesday

Don't forget to dress your very best on Wednesday for school pictures.   :)

Page Update

Check out the Learners In 115 page.  The class picture for the month of October has been added.

Fall Festival Update!

All I can say is WOW!!!!! Thanks parents and students for buying coloring books and Play-Doh. Tomorrow is the last day and I think we are almost in first place.  :)!!!

46 items

78 items

Surprise Student Reader....

Last week we had a special guest reader....one of our classmates! After he was done taking his OLSAT and SAT he decided to create a book and share it with the class. Thanks Justin, we loved your story about Halloween!

An Illustrator Visits Amelia!

On Friday, the students were surprised by illustrator Deb Kern.  She shared her book Oh Garden, Oh Garden!  Thank so much for your visit Mrs. Kern, we loved your pictures. 

Addition Number Stories

This week, the children learned about addition number stories. They were given examples such as:
5 soccer balls are inside the goal. 7 soccer balls are outside the goal. How many soccer balls in all?

During our discussion, the children determined the answer should be 12 and learned that they should answer the question including the unit also. So the correct answer would be 12 soccer balls.

Then, the children had the opportunity to write some of their own addition number stories based on a picture. They are becoming experts at telling an addition number story and answering the question using the unit! Good work everyone!

I can't wait until next week when we get to use the interactive dice on the Smart Board!

Don't Forget Your Red!

Remember to wear something red in honor of the Reds game tomorrow.  We will be taking our October classroom picture for the blog.  GOOOO REDS!!

Please Help Room 115 Win!!!

WANTED….Items donated for the Wild West Fall Festival

2nd Grade – Coloring books and cans of play-doh

If our class collects the most items we will receive an ice cream party and 15 minutes of extra recess! Please send in items no later than October 12, 2010.

How astronauts live in space.

During Reading Street Unit 1 Week 2 the students explored space. They read a nonfiction piece about how astronauts live in space and wrote sentences about the information they could recall from the text.