December News

Hello Everyone!

This has been a super busy month, and the kiddos are getting very excited for Christmas!  We have been learning about time, measuring with feet, inches and centimeters, and place value in math.  In social studies, we have been learning about Christmas around the World.  We have made a suitcase, and we are writing in our journals and making souvenirs about each country we visit.  This Thursday, some foreign exchange students from Northwest will be coming to talk to us about traditions in their countries.  (Germany, Italy, and France)

In writing last week,  we were working on persuasive letters.  We thought it would be a perfect time to write a letter to Santa.  Except there was a catch.  The kids had to pick someone they thought was deserving of a special gift, and write a letter to Santa explaining why this person deserved the gift they had chosen for them.  They turned out funny, insightful, and precious.



In reading groups, we are all reading and working on different things, depending on the group, but I wanted to share some paper slide videos some kiddos from my group made.  They were reading about worms and worked together to create a report.  They illustrated and wrote a script, and then used the iPads to create a video.  Enjoy!





In addition, here are some pictures from the WSU basketball game field trip.

Hope you all are having a wonderful December!  

Blessings,

Mrs. Stiffler

Second Grade Citizenship

Hello! Kiddos will be bringing home a note today about bringing in pocket change or whatever you would like to donate during the month of November. Through our citizenship focus, we have researched worthwhile causes. We have settled on the following:  World Vision Give an Animal.   This organization has many ways we can choose to give. We watched a couple of videos about clean water and how giving an animal helps families. We are wanting kids to think about ways that we can change the world, and this seemed like a wonderful plan. Please help us if you can by sending in a donation through the month of November. We will make a graph of how much we collect in the hallway. In addition, we watched this darling video by Kid President:How to change the world . Feel free to check it out with your child, and think of ways they can also be a good citizen at home.  Maybe your family wants to sponsor a child or give an animal or clean water as part of your holiday giving.  

Thanks so much for helping us get kids excited about giving!

Have a wonderful day!

Kim Stiffler

Botanica Pictures!

I think fall might be upon us!  The leaves are starting to turn, but I would enjoy it if it were in the 60's and 70's rather than the 80's!

Conferences are next week, and I look forward to visiting with everyone.  Thank you so much for signing up - you guys are great!

I thought I would share my pictures from Botanica with you, finally! Speaking of Botanica, our butterflies emerged last week, and we released them on Tuesday.  It was a great experience, as always!

 Our first station was a migration game.  The kids learned that Monarchs migrate from Canada to Mexico each year.  They also learned that many Monarchs don't make it because of natural predators.  These included trucks, birds and spiders.  So, we played a game where the kids got butterfly sticks and some adults were trucks, birds, and spiders.  If the kids were tagged by a predator, they had to give their butterfly to our guide, and get a different color butterfly at each state along the way.  When they finally reached Mexico, they made a human graph so they could see about how many make it to each state/country along the way.

Looking at natural chrysalis'.  

 We learned that Monarchs do not have good eyesight.  Kids looked through fuzzy glasses so they could see the world the way Monarchs do.

   Then we visited the butterfly house.  There were many different kinds of butterflies and the kids really enjoyed seeing if they could "hold" one.

How's that for creative thinking?  Alex didn't want the butterfly on his hand, so he used creative thinking to figure out a way!

All in all, the kids had a great time and learned a lot.  Thank you to all of our parent chaperones!  We couldn't do it without you!

September News

Dear Parents,

Hello!  I wanted to remind everyone that Wednesday is our field trip to Botanica to learn about Monarch butterflies.  Everyone will need to bring a sack lunch, as we plan to eat there.  This is my very favorite field trip!

School is well underway now.  In writing, we are learning about "walking" stories and "climbing" stories.  Walking stories may be about summer, or their favorite place, etc.  Last week, students chose a topic and wrote a walking story.  This week, we will be concentrating on our butterfly informational books.

Reading groups are going well.  Some of the concepts we all work on are Main Idea, retelling, sequence, and answering who, what, where, when and why questions.

In math, we are starting Unit 2, which focuses on addition and subtraction strategies.  We are reviewing counting on, doubles, make ten, and will soon learn doubles +1 and  +2.

Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.  Enjoy!

 Students are getting to know each other.  They completed a Venn Diagram with a partner to discover similarities and differences.

Students are working on creating a contraption that will shoot the pom-pom's the farthest.  We later went to the cafeteria and tested them out.   

Off to a Great Start!

Hello Everyone!  We are off to a great start in second grade.  I am going to try to post at least once a month here on my classroom blog to keep you updated about happenings in our room.  The first two weeks have been all about assessing and teaching routines and procedures.  I can honestly say that I have a GREAT class, and it is thanks to you all!  

We started our reading groups this week, so it finally feels like "real" school.  In writing, we are learning about sentences, and will soon start a report on butterflies.  Speaking of butterflies, our first field trip will be Wed. Sept. 23rd.  We will be going to Botanica to visit the butterfly garden.  We will bring our lunches and eat there, then the program will begin at 1:00.  In addition, I just placed our order for caterpillars from Insect Lore.  Each student will get her very own caterpillar to observe and record findings.  This is a favorite activity every year as we learn about life cycles.  

I will be sending home our first book order today.  Book orders are an excellent way to get quality literature at an excellent price.  It also helps our classroom, as we earn many books for free when you purchase!  Right now I am reading aloud Mrs. Nicholas is Ridiculous from the My Weird School series.  They are loving it!  There is a weird school book available on this book order for only $3.00! 

I only place online orders - so when you get your brochure, simply go to Scholastic Reading Club . Our class code is: GQLH7.    It's super easy!  The books come to the school, and I will make sure your child gets them.  This order will be due by Sept. 9, 2015. 

Dates to Remember:   Picture Day - Friday, Sept. 4

No School Sept. 7 & 8
Stat Night  Sept. 10, 2:00-6:30 - Come and Go
Sock Hop   Sat. Sept. 19

Here are some pictures from our first Fun Friday! 

Here are some pictures from our grade level wide character ed lesson on friendship:

Mrs. Stiffler's Reading Class - Paper Slide Videos!

Please enjoy these awesome paper slide videos summarizing the top 10 amazing things the kiddos learned from their reading about worms!  The students have contracts, where they can choose projects after they are finished with their "must-do" work.  Here, students have read about worms, and then worked with 2 other partners to create a script and illustrations that will teach their audience about worms!  Students used iPads to film the videos.  Enjoy!



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Happy New Year!

Hello!  This school year is absolutely flying by!  I haven't posted anything on my blog this school year, so my New Year's Resolution is to post at least once a month so that you can see what's going on in our classroom.  I thought I would post a few photos from way back in October.  Some are from our fall party and some of them are still dressed up from our adjective fashion show.  To follow our classroom blog, click inside the white tab on the right hand side and enter your email address.  Each time I post something, you will be notified by email.  Easy Peasy!  Stay tuned for updates coming very soon!

We made these glasses and wrote adjectives that described us.  Our glasses helped us see ourselves with new, fancy words!