Monday Message

Hello friends and families.  First, I finally posted the IMovie from our Presentation of Peace to the school.  Click this link to view.  It is also available on the left side of our blog, with our slideshows. Here is the song that inspired this presentation.

I hope you enjoyed the Friday Letters that were sent home this past Friday.  Please write a note back to your child so they can feel like it is a dialogue.  They love reading them!

Our Student Council is collecting BOXTOPS for Education!  Please check all tissue boxes, cereal boxes, etc and send in the Boxtops!

I hope many of you were able to attend the dinner in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Middle School.  The posters we illustrated with our buddies were displayed- they looked beautiful!

Also last week Happy Hollow welcomed several former students, now at the Middle School, for their day of service.  We had 2 students in our classroom and they helped with a science experiment.  

Speaking of helpers, I want to thank Vivian Munton and Scott Forst, who took time out of their busy lives to come in and help for Math Stations.  It’s a huge help!!  Also thanks to Caryn Berkowitz and Vivian Munton for helping to coordinate this.  

Report Cards are coming home today. Much time and thought goes into preparing these, and I am happy to discuss any questions or feedback you have.  Feel free to email me at Deborah_Niles@wayland.k12.ma.us.

Finally, there are a few fun holidays coming up.  Here are the dates, and some information on how we plan to celebrate:

• 100 Day February 8: We will have a celebration of 100.  Please send in 100 of a very small item (ie toothpicks, buttons, etc.)… look for a note to come home with a baggie on January 30.

Valentine’s Day February 14:  We will be sharing messages of friendship and compassion for each other and the world.  If you choose to purchase (or make!) valentines, please send in one for each child.  A list of student names will be coming home next Monday, February 6. We will also have a small celebration that day… more information will go home next week.

That’s it for now!  As always, thank you so much for your unending support for your child’s education.  What a team!

Deborah Niles

Monday Message

I hope you are having a nice relaxing weekend, in honor of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.! In class we decorated posters with some of his most famous quotes, along with our buddies, last Friday. They will be hung on the walls during the Annual MLK dinner being held THIS FRIDAY at the Middle School!  I hope some of our families will attend- it is a wonderful event for everyone!

Assembly

Also last week we presented our thoughts about PEACE at the school wide assembly on Monday. The students read thoughts they had written, and we played a song that was written by some friends of mine and sung by people around the world.  Here are links to the Presentation (coming soon!) and the Song.

Science Presentation

Wow, last week was eventful!  We also had a presentation by the Acton Discovery Museum, funded by the PTO!  Jody Harris came and demonstrated some of the cool properties of Solids, Liquids and Gases, including dry ice and liquid nitrogen.  The students loved it!! I hope you enjoyed their Friday letters!

Volunteers

A huge thank you goes out to Lauren Alongi and Amy Kawahata for coming in to assist with Math Stations!! Amy also participated in our buddy activity.  I look forward to working with them and others in the future.  The students appreciate it as well!

A note about Curriculum:

In terms of what we are studying, here is a brief summary, so you can talk with your child about one or more of these:

• In Reading we are learning to ask (and answer) questions about a text in order to gain a deeper understanding, and maintain interest in the book.

• In Writing we are finishing up our Opinion Letters.  You will see them come home shortly, addressed to one special person but open to all readers!
• In Math we have moved into addition and subtraction of 2-digit numbers.  We have various strategies depending on the child’s  readiness to move on from the concrete and hands-on methods.
• Social Studies/ Science:  we have just about wrapped up our Map Unit.  You will see materials come home that may not be complete, but we are meeting all of the standards and have some booklets that go beyond these.  They are fun to work on at home!
  

Ask your child about our new student and student teacher!  They are mentioned below, in my post of January 9.  Stay warm and have a great week!

Deborah

January 9, 2017

Assembly Presentation

I was so incredibly proud of the students today!  Some were quite nervous about speaking in front of the school.  We talked about how every great speaker began where they are now.  We had a short meditation with imagery of pride and accomplishment.  Then they nailed it!!! An IMovie video will be posted very soon!

Volunteer Opportunities

I want to thank Lauren Alongi who was our first Math Station Volunteer. She did a great job, and had fun doing it!  This second adult in the room allows children to get questions answered more easily, and builds greater understanding of new skills.  

Science Program

We are grateful to the PTO for funding a special program for us this Thursday afternoon.  An educator from the Acton Discovery Museum will bring a Traveling Workshop to the second grade on States of Matter, our new science unit.  In this workshop, dry ice and liquid nitrogen make learning the phase changes very dramatic. We will observe the change of liquid water to gas, shatter flowers, use a banana as a hammer, and even shrink solid metal in just a few seconds.  Very cool stuff.  Be sure to ask your child about it on Thursday night!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We will honor and celebrate this great man by reading Martin's Big Words, and will create posters that will be used to decorate the middle school at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dinner at 6:30 on Friday, January 20.  Please consider taking your family to this wonderful family event… look for more information in the Happy Hollow e-blast.

New Student

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new Student, Anna Menyalkin. The latest information I have is that she will join us next week, Tuesday January 17. I’m sure you will hear more from your child!

New Student Teacher

Ms. Tricia Crockett will be our new student teacher from Framingham State University.  We are thrilled to welcome her.  She will join us for 3 hours per week, starting on Monday January 23.

Please contact me anytime with questions or concerns.  Have a great week!

January 3, 2017

Happy New Year!  

I hope you had a relaxing and joyful vacation with family and friends.  One of the high points for me was visiting my son in Burlington, VT.  The only gift he wanted for the holiday was a plane ticket to visit his twin sister in Colorado!  I thought that might give you hope, if your children don’t always show their kindest selves to one another :)

Save the Date:

Our class will be reading some thoughts about Peace and showing a video that celebrates Peace around the world, this coming Monday, January 9.  Since I will be helping to manage the presentation, I would greatly appreciate it if someone could volunteer to videotape it, and I’ll put it on my blog for you all.  Please let me know asap if that is possible for you!

Other Volunteer Opportunities:

As you may know, we use the Math Station format for most of our Math work.  Some days I do not have a 2nd teacher in the room, and I would LOVE to have a volunteer for 1 hour just to help students at our “Problem Solving” station.  If you can help on one of these days each week, or even once in awhile, please let me know asap:

• Monday or Tuesday 10-11
• Friday 1:30-2:30

Also, if anyone has time to sort our number cards, they are in need to some attention!  Let me know and I’ll explain further- it shouldn’t take more than about 30 minutes and your child can help!

Homework

I have received some feedback about managing the homework in Second Grade.  If you have any concerns please feel free to email me.  I want this to be a useful activity and not a burden. It is so important for students to build regular, enjoyable reading routines.

In case the Spelling Menu of activities has been misplaced, I have included a link to it here with some management ideas.

A huge Thank You!

I want to shout out a huge thank you to Steven Hage, who donated many wonderful books to our classroom through his work with Houghton Mifflin.  The children are enjoying learning about science, and building their fluency and comprehension skills in “Readers’ Theater” groups.  My sincere appreciation on behalf of all of the students in this class and for years to come!!!!! It truly takes a village to raise such thoughtful, amazing children as these!! My thanks go out to all of you for your support and kindness in this great work.