Week #13 November 18-22, 2019
I am thankful for my fun students.  Every morning I tell them, "be brave and be kind", and they are!  They work hard to try new things and to take care of each other.  This week we were especially caring as we said "good-bye" to our classmate, Abby.  She will be in a new school beginning sometime the week of December 2.  The students were very kind as they supported her transition and made sure she had a positive departure knowing that she was leaving good friends who were nice to her.  We enjoyed playing with dough and basketballs for her special event.

This week we learned:

• to add 2-digit numbers on an open number line.
• how to use Infobits for our short research on landforms and bodies of water.
• a new morning meeting game called "Where's My Penguin?".

This week we experienced:

• more real-life writing types with signs and notes.  
• RAZ-Kids; an online reading system.
• new tools in our Peace Place.
• creating models of the Champlain Valley with flour & salt dough (see pictures below).

Other things to ask your child about this week:

• making concrete number lines with red & white beads
• measuring classroom objects with different non-standard units
• our bracelet making Marky Mark celebration
• different types of landforms and bodies of water

Thank you for scheduling our Parent/Teacher Conference.  I am enjoying our time together and look forward to our upcoming meetings Monday and Tuesday.  I appreciate your support and this time to collaborate on your child's growth.

Enjoy the week with family and friends!

Mrs. Hock

Week #12 November 11-15, 2019

What an exciting week we had!  Our featured work connected to World Geography Week, we celebrated World Kindness Day, and we shared our published narrative writing; all while weathering a snow day, a guest teacher and an early release "zigzag" schedule.  Most importantly, I want to share that we received very positive feedback from other teachers in our building this week.  1) Ms. Wood, our music student teacher, was gushing about our class's behavior and support as she taught music class this week (in front of her professor) without a voice! 2) At lunch, Miss KiKi said our entire class was "special" because of how quiet and calm we were in the cafeteria.  3) Our guest teacher wrote a note describing how "fantastic" our class was with her on Thursday.  This is all great news! I appreciate how the students are showing their kindness and collaborative care for others outside of our work together.

World Geography Week: (November 10-16, 2019)
On Wednesday, GIS Day (Geographic Information Systems), we worked with a Geospatial Technology Specialist to GIS our playground.  Amy Haas, from VHB, Inc., visited all of 2nd grade to share how she uses mapping and technology in her profession.  She gathers environmental data in the field to then generate GIS of an area.  We used an app to capture the data and viewed our GIS online.  All students received a certificate and copy of our map we made.  We also completed our globes.  Next week, we'll focus on landforms and bodies of water in The Champlain Valley.

Writing:
We enjoyed reading excerpts from our published writing during our "Cider Celebration Share".  It was a nice way to toast our first extended piece of writing.  This narrative writing unit allowed us to write over pages, try craft moves and revise for new leads.  We also started our new writing unit which is a brief tour of writing types and purposes.  Thank you to families who sent in samples of "real life" writing.  We made lists and how-tos this week.  We'll also explore signs, cards & letters and messages.

Other things to ask your child about this week:
*Appreciation Station
*Measuring with unifix cubes and popsicle sticks (non standard units)
*How and why to color a mandala
*Those Darn Squirrels!

Enjoy the weekend!
Mrs. Hock

Week #11 November 4-8, 2019

This week we enjoyed a variety of school activities together.  We began theme work related to Landforms and Bodies of Water in science.  We'll make models of water and land on earth, as well as models of water and land in the Champlain Valley.  Students will also research a specific landform or body of water of their choice.  The science work will then connect to our reading and writing as we start work with non-fiction in those subjects in December.  Here are 2 pictures below of the "before" and "after" of our paper mache globes.  Note:  my hands were too messy and occupied to document the "during" of this process.  :)

Our sharing during morning meeting this month connects with our non-fiction academic work.  Students wrote 3 sentences about themselves; 2 fact and 1 fiction.  We share one student's 3 sentences each morning to discover their fiction sentence.  This has been a fun way to get to know more about each other.  These were Mrs. Hock's 3 sentences:

1. I have visited Japan.

2. I like roller coasters.

3. I have 2 sisters.

Last year I wrote:  I love winter.  My favorite food is raspberries.  I was born in New Jersey.  Which one of those is fiction? 

We had a delicious Harvest Feast.  Here are some pictures of that event.

Kayli visited this week for a Farm-to-School lesson about apples and maple syrup.  We experienced mindful taste after learning about the origins of sugaring and how both apples and maple syrup are a part of Vermont's culture.

Other things to ask your child about this week:

• THINK as an acronym to use before we speak
• Drawing and writing about our family as readers
• Counting popsicle sticks by 10s to 500
• Reading jokes out loud to practice fluency and reading for meaning
• Chair Pockets
• "This is a what?" and "Who's got the spot on the dot?"
• Whole-school assembly led by grade 1

Thank you for all you do!

Mrs. Hock

Week #10 October 28-November 1, 2019

Our Harvest Party was wonderful Thursday afternoon as the students appreciated time having fun together.  Thank you to our room parents, and all families, for organizing and donating food & supplies for this event.  It all went very smoothly, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  First, we had a pumpkin stem ring toss, then we played a fall-themed BINGO and finally we ate healthy snacks while decorating mini pumpkins.  We'll treasure great memories for sure!

This week we learned:
*to create maps from a bird's eye view with a title, date, key & symbols, compass rose and color.
*to add multiples of ten using place value understanding.
*the impact of our word choice and tone on others during a guidance lesson with Ms. Amblo.

This week we experienced:
*tie-dying our t-shirts in Art class with Mrs. Lewis.  Thank you Vicki, Shane, Mrs. Donoughue and Mrs. DeGrechie for the assistance!
*activities revolving around pumpkins--crafting, writing, mathematics, decorating, etc...
*our final week of Mindful Movements for the month of October.

Other things to ask your child about this week:
*Blanket Drop Name Game
*Friday afternoon 2nd grade choice events
*Shared "snackcess" with Mrs. Belisle's class
*Grade 3 UNICEF presentation

Thank you for your support!
Mrs. Hock