Week #16 December 16-20, 2019
We will remember many things about this week.  Here are a few highlights:

Our winter concert Tuesday evening was an exciting event!  Everyone did their best and had fun.  Thank you for attending the concert, and for being part of this special night.  Thank you to Mrs. Rito and Ms. Wood for their hard work teaching us and preparing us to perform so well.  Here is an outtake of my attempts to capture a class photo of us dressed in our finest.

To balance all the excitement surrounding our concert (and several December birthdays), we also enjoyed moments of calm as we continued to write and read our non-fiction books, channeled our creativity with card making, and watched a nature documentary.  We still completed a lot of focused work in math and science, and helped to take care of each other.  Students came home today with backpacks full of completed work and a small white bag of treasures.  They filled their white bag with items to help them have calm, mindful moments during this vacation.  The items include:  a shell, a rock, a gem, sticky notes for quick positive messages, weaving, word finds, zones of regulation tips and a pencil buddy.  A few students even labeled their bag "peace" or "happy" or top secret". 

Other things to ask your child about this week:
*effects of wind, water and sun on land
*breathing with gems
*Zones of Regulation with Ms. Amblo
*Don't Say That Word! and rhyming as Phonics Professors
*Whole-school celebration to watch "Frosty"

Thank you for your support!
Mrs. Hock

Week #15 December 9-13, 2018

We are immersed in non-fiction!  We are writing our first non-fiction books.  We created lists in our "tiny topic notebooks" of subjects we already know a lot about (expert lists) and subjects we'd like to research (interest lists).  We brainstormed, created chapter titles and wrote our first drafts.  Lessons to support our drafting included the objectives of "squeezing our brain" and using labeled diagrams.  We also continued our non-fiction reading as we enjoyed our whole-class titles (Knights in Shining Armour, Tigers, Bats), our independent titles, and our reading group texts.  We are using text features and learning keywords as we grow our knowledge.

As our science unit comes to conclusion next week, our study of Earth Changes this week had us completing our model of weathering and erosion with the rock tumbler (see the pre/post picture of the rocks below), and learning about fast changes to the earth.  Next week, we'll investigate specifically the effects of wind and water on the earth.

We began coding in library this week to celebrate Hour of Code (December 9-15, 2019) in honor of Computer Science Education Week.  We will have 3 more lessons with Mrs. Springer.  We used block coding to solve puzzles on the code.org website.  Students have access to this at home.  Mrs. Springer gave each student their password; let me know if you need another copy.

Other things to ask your child about this week:

• PJ/Stuffy/Comfy Reading Day
• visuals for mindful breathing (infinity, hot beverage, snowflakes, flower & candle)
• solving extended math tasks
• Zoom
• making appreciation cards for our recess and lunch teachers
• zones of regulation with Ms. Amblo

Thank you for your continued contributions to the Food Drive and Penny Drive.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our winter concert next Tuesday at 6:30 pm at SBHS.

Enjoy the weekend!

Mrs. Hock

Week #14 December 2-6, 2019

Welcome to December!  We have a short, full month ahead.  Please read below to enjoy a few highlights from the week. 

Earth changes occur quickly or slowly.  We began a model to investigate erosion with our rock tumbler.  Here we are as a whole 2nd grade group looking at our rocks after the first step in our procedure.

Our word study changed this week.  We are using new curriculum materials and working as "Phonics Professors".  The objectives of our lessons this week included a review of first grade skills with a focus on silent e, long vowels, vowel teams and SNAP words.  For the next 2 weeks in December, we will also look at r-controlled vowels, spelling with correct patterns, using rhyming to spell and complete a winter assessment.

Have you heard that our President is now also our time keeper? Our "leader" wears an analog watch to report and update our schedule throughout the day.  This watch has an elastic band with clearly marked hands and the minutes labeled to assist in our time-telling skills.  So far our Presidents have been very responsible!

This week in math we finished a unit about adding 2-digit numbers.  The standard for 2nd grade is that students add with a place value strategy.  This means students use their understanding of the meaning of the digits, and their relationships, to put the quantities together.  Using the standard algorithm for addition is an expectation for 4th grade.  This strong conceptual foundation in 2nd grade will bring greater fluency and accuracy to the standard algorithm later in 4th grade.  In this unit, we:

1. added 10 and multiples of 10 using a 100 chart and showing our thinking on an open number line (54 + 20 = ____ ) .  
2. added single digit numbers by decomposing that number so we first add to the next decade and then add the leftover ones (54 + 8 = 54 + 6 + 2 = ____ ).  
3. added two 2-digit numbers by first adding the tens, then adding the ones (54 + 28 = 54 + 20 + 6 + 2 = _____ ).

Here is what that looks like in our work:

We also enjoyed Farm-to-School with Kayli this week to celebrate Hygge and create a feeling of coziness and comfort.  We steeped tea using 4 different herbs and enjoyed a Scandinavian winter tale.

Other things to ask your child about this week:

• Welcome Penny!  Our new student from Texas
• Publishing our class book
• Whole-school assembly hosted by 4th grade
• Creating a bar graph
• Asking Questions and Paying Attention to Detail to Grow Our Knowledge while reading non-fiction

Enjoy the winter wonderland this weekend!

Mrs. Hock

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