In January, the second graders will be opening a T-shirt factory during our math workshops. We will be studying place value by using T-shirts as our real-world models. As an extension of this unit, we will be tie-dying shirts like the shirts in our math story book.
Please email me your child's shirt size as soon as possible!
Choices:
Youth small
Youth medium
Youth large
Adult small
Adult medium
Adult large
The shirts are 100% cotton and therefore may shrink a bit.
Thanks!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Winter Break!
I wanted to wish all of you a restful, relaxing, and peaceful winter break. We return to school at 8:40 on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. Enjoy time with family and friends!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Cook Shop!
Today was our first Chef Lesson in Cook Shop. Cook Shop is a program found in New York City Public Schools that is organized by the Food Bank of NYC. I couldn't state it better than their website does in saying, "CookShop, the core nutrition education program of the Food Bank For New York City, gives low-income children, adults and teens the knowledge and tools to adopt and enjoy a healthy diet on a limited budget. With hands-on workshops reaching approximately 30,000 New Yorkers across all five boroughs, CookShop teaches cooking skills and nutrition information and fosters enthusiasm for fresh, affordable fruits, vegetables and other whole foods." It's a great program and our kids are loving it!The program is divided into 6 units. Each unit is 3 weeks long. In week one we introduce the topic and do a small 10-minute lesson each day. The following week is the week with Wednesday Chef Lessons (cooking!). The last week of the unit is a follow up about what we've learned.
Our first unit was about MyPlate. (The next 5 units will be about each of the 5 food groups more specifically.) MyPlate is the USDA's nutrition program. The MyPlate model replaced the old food pyramid most of us grew up with. We learned about the 5 food groups and why the sizes of each group is different in the model.
As I said, today was our first Chef Lesson and we got to cook! We made Black Bean Burritos. Yum!
Our first step was to read our recipe and gather all of our ingredients and materials. Next, we did the most important part. We washed our hands! We stood in the hall and washed for 20 seconds. To count it, we sang the ABCs really slowly. We then walked like doctors (hands up!) to our tables to begin preparing.
Step one was to cut the lettuce. We chopped it out really fine. Next was to cut the red peppers. We cut that really well too! Now our meal has fruits and vegetables!
Then we spread our mixture on a whole wheat tortilla. There's the grain! After spreading it out, we topped it with our lettuce and red peppers. It looked like a pizza almost! 
The last step was the best step - we got to eat it! It was delicious.
In Cook Shop, all ingredients can be found in both supermarkets and in corner stores/bodegas. This feature makes it even more accessible for families to make at home. We realized that our snack had grains, vegetables, fruits, and protein - yet no dairy. We discussed additions we could make (sprinkle in some cheese, add some yogurt on the side) but concluded that since it's the smallest amount to have each day, the recipe-writers probably assumed we'd just had some dairy at lunch - and from our post-lunch discussion, that sounded about right.
Ask your child what they thought of the snack. Were there things they liked? Didn't like? Would they want to teach this recipe to a family member? Encourage your child to be part of food choices and to select balanced, healthy meals.
Festival of Lights
This morning's Festival of Lights was a great success! All six grades at our school performed. We saw a theater piece about a sleepy owl by the Pre-K classes. We heard a beautiful song about trains by the first grade classes that related to their social studies projects. We heard two songs sung in Spanish by both the first grade classes and the third grade class. We heard wonderful violin pieces by both the fourth and fifth grade classes. And, of course, our second graders performed.
We sang Tom Chapin's "This Pretty Planet" in a round! It was a beautiful performance full of twirling ribbons, smiling faces, and amazing voices. All that practice sure paid off! The round was tricky, but it was great once we got it! Bravo!
Here's a link to the original song that our class listened to before learning to sing it on our own. I know it's been stuck in my head for weeks and I'm sure some of our second graders have been singing it around the house as well. So listen and learn too!
I hope you made it out to the Festival of Lights, but if not I know lots of parents took pictures and video. If I get one, I will email it out to everyone!
We sang Tom Chapin's "This Pretty Planet" in a round! It was a beautiful performance full of twirling ribbons, smiling faces, and amazing voices. All that practice sure paid off! The round was tricky, but it was great once we got it! Bravo!
Here's a link to the original song that our class listened to before learning to sing it on our own. I know it's been stuck in my head for weeks and I'm sure some of our second graders have been singing it around the house as well. So listen and learn too!
I hope you made it out to the Festival of Lights, but if not I know lots of parents took pictures and video. If I get one, I will email it out to everyone!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Rectangles
We have been focused on geometry in math this month! We've done so much with shapes!
We've explored both 2D and 3D shapes. We learned a lot of new information and vocabulary about 3D shapes. Ask your child about the faces and angles of shapes like cubes or rectangular prisms. We have a lot to say!
Currently, we are exploring rectangles. What, exactly, makes a rectangle a rectangle? We already knew it was a polygon, but why are some polygons called rectangles and other polygons not?
In our studies, we've learned that a rectangle is a shape that has 4 sides (which we now call a quadrilateral!) and has 4 right angles. We searched for quadrilaterals in our homes and found that most have right angles.
In our rectangle study we are also discovering how to figure out their size. What does it mean to say that rectangles are bigger or smaller than other rectangles? Is it how tall they are? How wide they are?
We mathematicians sure ask a lot of questions!
Yesterday we made different rectangles and recorded them on graph paper. We discovered that whether it was tall and skinny, short and fat, or somewhere in between, it always held the same number of tiles!
We now know that finding the space inside of the rectangle -- called the area -- is how we determine which rectangle is the biggest or smallest!
We've explored both 2D and 3D shapes. We learned a lot of new information and vocabulary about 3D shapes. Ask your child about the faces and angles of shapes like cubes or rectangular prisms. We have a lot to say!
Currently, we are exploring rectangles. What, exactly, makes a rectangle a rectangle? We already knew it was a polygon, but why are some polygons called rectangles and other polygons not?
In our studies, we've learned that a rectangle is a shape that has 4 sides (which we now call a quadrilateral!) and has 4 right angles. We searched for quadrilaterals in our homes and found that most have right angles.
In our rectangle study we are also discovering how to figure out their size. What does it mean to say that rectangles are bigger or smaller than other rectangles? Is it how tall they are? How wide they are?
We mathematicians sure ask a lot of questions!
Yesterday we made different rectangles and recorded them on graph paper. We discovered that whether it was tall and skinny, short and fat, or somewhere in between, it always held the same number of tiles!
We now know that finding the space inside of the rectangle -- called the area -- is how we determine which rectangle is the biggest or smallest!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Building Space Meetings
Just an important reminder!
Today at 3:30pm there will be a meeting in room 406 regarding EVCS's space in the building.
As you know, we are currently very tight on space in our building. What you may not know is that, given our current enrollment landscape, we are set to add three classes over the next three years, until we have two classes on every grade level, Pre-K - 5. The space we currently occupy in the PS 61 building will not accommodate this growth, so the issue we are facing is simply that we need more classroom space. Our hope and intention is absolutely to stay at our current location and obtain more space within this building. This would require one or both of the other schools with whom we share the building to give up some of the space they currently use.
Please attend today's meeting to learn the facts and details regarding the space our school has been alloted here in the building.
Additionally, there is a very important District 1 CEC meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) evening at 6:00 at P.S. 20 where we will debate the issues present to help us get the space we need in our building. Hope you can make one/both meetings!
Today at 3:30pm there will be a meeting in room 406 regarding EVCS's space in the building.
As you know, we are currently very tight on space in our building. What you may not know is that, given our current enrollment landscape, we are set to add three classes over the next three years, until we have two classes on every grade level, Pre-K - 5. The space we currently occupy in the PS 61 building will not accommodate this growth, so the issue we are facing is simply that we need more classroom space. Our hope and intention is absolutely to stay at our current location and obtain more space within this building. This would require one or both of the other schools with whom we share the building to give up some of the space they currently use.
Additionally, there is a very important District 1 CEC meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) evening at 6:00 at P.S. 20 where we will debate the issues present to help us get the space we need in our building. Hope you can make one/both meetings!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Family Friday
I just want to thank all of the family members who came and joined us today for our morning meet and author's share! It meant a lot to the kids to share their work with others - whether it was their own parent, a sibling, or a friend's parent, it meant a lot!
For those of you who couldn't join us this month or for those of you who want to relive the excitement of today's morning meeting, here was what the second graders voted to do:
1. First we greeted one another with High-5s. When we greet one another we look at the person, we say "Good morning, ____" using their name to acknowledge them.
2. Next we read our Morning Message. Morning Messages tell us the day of the week, the date, what is happening in our classroom that day, and then asks us a question. Sometimes it is a question about ourselves, a question about something academic, a question about our feelings, or maybe just a question to ponder throughout the day.
3. We usually then do sharing/show-and-tell. Two students sign up each morning to share and one signs up to share in the afternoon. There was quite a debate about whether it was fair to have only some kids get to share in front of parents while other kids didn't, so we left out the sharing and instead answered our Morning Message question of "What is something new you learned during your research that you did not know before?" Students shared that they learned the length of the Brooklyn Bridge (1 mile!), how tall the Statue of Liberty is (305 feet!), and how many windows are in the Empire State Building (6,500!).
4. We then did both a song and a game. Usually we do only one, but the students voted to share both with our families. We first did Aroostasha. It's simply a silly song that adds a new movement each time through. Here, you can see teachers practicing the song during a training:
Next we played a round of Hot Potato! It's always a class favorite - especially because when you get "out" you get to go to the center of the circle and dance! Today's song was Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid. We had some great kid and parent dancers!
After our Morning Meeting, we shared our writing. First we shared our class book, "All About Parks" to show parents our writing process. Next, we broke into small partnerships or groups and shared our writing about New York City with our families and friends. I hope you enjoyed hearing all about our transportation and landmarks in our amazing city!
Next month we will be having a Family Friday about math - you'll get to play some math games, see what we've been learning in second grade, and even be part of our first Family Pocket Day! Hope to see you then!
For those of you who couldn't join us this month or for those of you who want to relive the excitement of today's morning meeting, here was what the second graders voted to do:
1. First we greeted one another with High-5s. When we greet one another we look at the person, we say "Good morning, ____" using their name to acknowledge them.
2. Next we read our Morning Message. Morning Messages tell us the day of the week, the date, what is happening in our classroom that day, and then asks us a question. Sometimes it is a question about ourselves, a question about something academic, a question about our feelings, or maybe just a question to ponder throughout the day.
3. We usually then do sharing/show-and-tell. Two students sign up each morning to share and one signs up to share in the afternoon. There was quite a debate about whether it was fair to have only some kids get to share in front of parents while other kids didn't, so we left out the sharing and instead answered our Morning Message question of "What is something new you learned during your research that you did not know before?" Students shared that they learned the length of the Brooklyn Bridge (1 mile!), how tall the Statue of Liberty is (305 feet!), and how many windows are in the Empire State Building (6,500!).
4. We then did both a song and a game. Usually we do only one, but the students voted to share both with our families. We first did Aroostasha. It's simply a silly song that adds a new movement each time through. Here, you can see teachers practicing the song during a training:
Next we played a round of Hot Potato! It's always a class favorite - especially because when you get "out" you get to go to the center of the circle and dance! Today's song was Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid. We had some great kid and parent dancers!
After our Morning Meeting, we shared our writing. First we shared our class book, "All About Parks" to show parents our writing process. Next, we broke into small partnerships or groups and shared our writing about New York City with our families and friends. I hope you enjoyed hearing all about our transportation and landmarks in our amazing city!
Our "All About" books are now displayed in our classroom for all to see!
Next month we will be having a Family Friday about math - you'll get to play some math games, see what we've been learning in second grade, and even be part of our first Family Pocket Day! Hope to see you then!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Rolling away...
Rolling is the new motion we're studying in Room 205!
After yesterday's experiments, we found out the motion of rolling is very similar to our motion of spinning. Both motions involve a circular movement. Rolling, however, happens when a round object is unbalanced, while spinning happens when an object is balanced. To make our spinners spin, we needed a flat surface like the table or the floor. To make our rollers roll we needed a surface that wasn't flat so that our rollers would be unbalanced. We first had to construct ramps!
We used our same red disks, yellow disks, and green straws to build rollers. We quickly discovered that using a wheel-and-axle to build a roller rather than just a wheel made it roll further and faster because it was more stable.
Today, we will be creating specific rollers --
-- A roller that turns right
-- A roller that turns left
-- A roller that turns completely around
-- A roller that rolls straight
-- A roller that rolls wobbly
It should be a lot of fun this afternoon as we experiment with the relationship between balance and motion!
And just a reminder -- We hope to see you for our FAMILY FRIDAY this Friday, December 9th at 8:45am!
After yesterday's experiments, we found out the motion of rolling is very similar to our motion of spinning. Both motions involve a circular movement. Rolling, however, happens when a round object is unbalanced, while spinning happens when an object is balanced. To make our spinners spin, we needed a flat surface like the table or the floor. To make our rollers roll we needed a surface that wasn't flat so that our rollers would be unbalanced. We first had to construct ramps!
We used our same red disks, yellow disks, and green straws to build rollers. We quickly discovered that using a wheel-and-axle to build a roller rather than just a wheel made it roll further and faster because it was more stable.
Today, we will be creating specific rollers --
-- A roller that turns right
-- A roller that turns left
-- A roller that turns completely around
-- A roller that rolls straight
-- A roller that rolls wobbly
It should be a lot of fun this afternoon as we experiment with the relationship between balance and motion!
And just a reminder -- We hope to see you for our FAMILY FRIDAY this Friday, December 9th at 8:45am!
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