Biography Buddies

On Friday, we got to visit our Dragonfly Reading Buddies in their Second Grade Wax Museum!

We got to see them transform into so many "Change Makers" who have lived throughout the ages, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Michelle Obama, Leonardo Da Vinci, Clara Barton, Jackie Robinson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and many, many more! We got to meet each of them and ask them questions about what they did to make their mark in the world. 

We even got to visit a giraffe sibling down the hall in the Puffin Class! Who knew the giraffes were related to Benjamin Franklin?

When we returned to the Giraffe Class, we did some more learning about two particular change makers: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

We will learn a bit about both of these presidents and will celebrate them more on Monday during Presidents Day!

Happy February!

Even though this week was filled with delays, polar votexes, and lots of indoor recess, that didn't stop us from leaving January with a bang and saying Hello to February! 

This week in math, we spent a lot of time looking at the attributes of different 3D shapes and using shapes to build different shapes!

On Friday, we celebrated Groundhog Day and the upcoming Super Bowl with our fun crafts! 

Each of the giraffes got to turn themselves into a Rams Player or a Pats Player! 

We also learned about Groundhogs Day, and learned that before we had meteorologists, people looked to animals and nature to predict the weather. It is believed that if the groundhog sees his shadow, more winter is on its way, but if he does not see his shadow, spring is just around the corner!

Each of the giraffes got to make their own groundhog and they also made their own weather predictions on their Groundhogs Day headbands!

Punxsutawney Phil made his big debut this morning after a long and restful hibernation, and he is predicting that spring is on its way!

Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!

On Tuesday, we celebrated Johnny Appleseed's 243rd Birthday with all of second grade! We traveled to each of the second grade classrooms to learn about Johnny Appleseed and his favorite fruit. 

First, we traveled to 2H where Mrs. Healey challenged us to use our STEM skills to build a tower using only apples and toothpicks. Some groups found that if they built the tower too high, it fell over. Others discovered they could break their toothpicks in half to create more building supplies! 

Next, we went to 2D and Ms. Donlon helped us review our doubles facts with some apple stamping. 

After snack, we traveled next door to 2B where Ms. Bucklin taught us about the life cycle of an apple. We made our own lifecycles in true Appleseed-fashion on some paper pots!

After lunch and recess, we returned to 2R and Ms. Riley shared some facts about Johnny Appleseed with us through stories and videos. We aced our Appleseed Trivia, and afterwards we drew a portrait of Johnny Appleseed to hang in the hallway

We learned Johnny Appleseed was kind to both animals and humans alike. He traveled hundreds of miles half way across the country from Massachusetts to Indiana planting pear and apple trees for pioneer families to use for food. He would sell his trees for a low price, and often he would just give his trees away. We also learned he had 10 siblings!!! and had many tall tales (exaggerated stories) told about him once he passed away.

While we've been traveling, Ms. Riley had been cooking up some applesauce, which we got to sample once we returned from P.E. 

We all thought it was delicious!

We had so much fun celebrating Johnny Appleseed and learning with all of the second grade teachers. Happy Birthday, Johnny Appleseed! 

*We hope you will continue the celebration at home with our class recipe book, which will be sent home on Friday!*

Community Day 2016

On Tuesday, we celebrated all the learning we've done about our Community of Stratham by turning each of the second grade classrooms into an important part of our community. We transformed 2R into the post office, while other classrooms became the SPCA, Scamman Farm, the first one-room school house, and the Stratham Police Station.

We turned our classroom into the library because Ms. Riley's grandfather used to be a mailman in Worcester for over 30 years! Here he is with his mail truck back in the 1960s:

The Dragonflies, Falcons, Kangaroos, and Owls all got to see the 2R Mail Room, where they got to write and address letters to some of their favorite teachers at SMS! When the giraffes returned from traveling to the other parts of our community, we sorted all of the mail and delivered it to some very happy teachers and staff members :)

The giraffes also took some photos in their travels as well so they could share what they learned in other classrooms! here are some of the photos they wanted to share with you:

"We got to look at stuffy pets the Owls brought in and file paperwork to apply to adopt them"

"Mr. Saltus taught us some of the crazy rules they had back in olden times at the one room school house. I'm glad I go to school today!"

"We got to make ID cards in Ms. Donlon's class. Her dad was a cop!"

We had so much fun exploring our community with all of second grade, and we are so lucky to live in our amazing little town of Stratham!