March News
In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday,
we read favorite Dr. Seuss books, attending to the patterns of rhyme and
delights of imaginative characters and situations that are the hallmarks of
classical Dr. Seuss stories. On March 2, all the students and all the adults at
Mitchell School settled comfortably at the same time in the hallway with a
favorite book and had a “Readathon” for 15-20 minutes. It was an inspirational
and magical moment for literacy and love of reading!
March madness did not end with
zany Dr. Suess characters! We expected mischief from leprechauns, as they
typically visit the classrooms and make a mess! Sure enough, they showed up,
threw glitter all around, got into student desks, and generally rummaged
through people’s belongings making a mess! Suspecting leprechaun shenanigans,
students made leprehaun traps, brought them to school and set them up in the
classroom, hoping to catch a few of these rascals and maybe get them to confess
where some of their gold was hidden.
Students had a few lessons regarding
persuasive writing and got to work writing letters to leprechauns trying to
convince them to enter their traps—traps that didn’t look like traps, but
rather, hotels, swimming pools, grand rooms for parties, and other spaces meant
to tempt the most suspicious of leprechauns. As persuasive as the letters were, and as cleverly
constructed as the traps were, they managed to escape all the traps…oh well,
maybe next year.
We made “oobleck” out of corn starch,
water, and green food coloring, and recorded our observations of non Newtonian
fluids. The oobleck name came from a made-up Dr. Seuss word, and it was fitting
that in honor of the arrival of spring, the color should be green!
The York Center for Wildlife came
for a visit and brought several species of live owls found in Maine! It was an
amazing and informative presentation. Did you know owls can turn their heads
270 degrees and that their large eyes are shaped like cylinders? We learned
these facts and many others during the course of this fascinating program.
The Ezra Jack Keats new illustrator
honors recipient for 2016 Ryan Higgins came to visit our classroom during Arts
Fair Week. He showed us how he
draws the characters for his books on a computer, and as a class we gave him
ideas about a made-up creature that he drew for us and projected on the smart
board. He also read his book Mother
Bruce to us—the book he wrote and illustrated that received the
pre-mentioned award. Our class received an autographed copy of the book. Wow--we
are lucky to have this book in our classroom library!
Students are being taught how to
add two- and three-digit numbers using a method called “partial sums”. It requires a thorough understanding of
place value. Automaticity and accuracy of math facts remains a focus in second
grade. We’re practicing strategies for subtracting tw0-digit numbers using an
open number line.
For the first time this school year, we
filled up our whole class good behavior chart, earning more than 100 points! We
voted on a reward for being good class citizens, choosing to bring a stuffed
animal to school for the day, and eat popcorn, while watching a movie.
