run for fun

Our 3rd annual Nancy Young Run for Fun is only a few weeks away! My whole family will be participating again this year (we've done it every year!) and it'd be really exciting to have lots of kids from 2So come out for the event and win the classroom challenge! Registration forms went home in backpacks earlier this week. Be sure to return those forms soon in order to secure your spot at this great event. You'll get a t-shirt, waterbottle, and a free pancake breakfast in the MPR! This year we’re limiting participation to the first 1200 participants and it’s a day you won’t want to miss! If you lost your registration form or want more information on the event, visit http://www.nancyyoungrunforfun.com/. Hope to see you at this annual event that brings our Young families together, keeping fit!

mystery reader

Today Madison's dad Mr. Austin came to school to read Olive's First Sleepover. She can't wait to spend the night at her friend Lizard's house: "We won't even need our pajamas," Olive predicts. "We're staying up all night!" The evening begins with nonstop high jinks: the girls create an insect petting zoo and then play pizza parlor. After hearing ghost stories from Lizard's sister, the girls climb into bed, and Olive is scared...Ask your child to summarize the beginning, middle, and end! Thanks for coming Mr. Austin!

poetry night

Roses are red, violets are blue

At Poetry Night, it was nice to see you!

Thank you to all sixteen of our classes falmilies for attending Second Grade's Poetry Night! Lots came to write and publish poems with their families on paper and on the computers. Others had the courage to perform on the microphone in the Poetry Cafe. Almost everyone followed the poetry clues on the Treasure Hunt. I am so proud of your Poetry Statue performances and enjoyed your props as well. I hope you had as much fun as I did seeing everyone there!

Nicholas recited his poem at the Poetry Cafe...Save the Whales!

Joaquin read a poem called Elevator as he hunted around the school for poems

Alyssa wrote an acrostic poem called REY about her brother and another about her Dad!

Alexander and his Dad creating an acrostic poem

Push! Customers walked by and saw Alexei come to life reciting Slow Sloth's Slow Song

Rachel came to life to recite Elephant and she knew it by heart!

Look at Laurel all cozy in her robe! When her button was pushed she recited The Monster.

art awareness

Today we had Art Awareness and learned about the famous Winslow Homer. He was born in1836 - a long time ago! He was an Amercian landscape painter. This painting is called Snap the Whip. He used watercolors - greens, browns, reds, and blues to paint kids of all ages outside their schoolhouse in the country. We are artists too! Today we're coming home with a watercolor painting of our own!

mystery reader

It's Friday and you know what that means...Mystery Reader!  Today Kara's Mom surprised us and came in to read If You Hopped Like a Frog. We heard about the amazing abilities of animals! "If you hopped like a frog you could jump from home plate to first base in one mighty leap."

Rooster's Off to See the World by Eric Carle

earth day celebration

Thank you to Mrs. Bludgen, Mrs. Austin, Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Bolger, and Mrs. Cussans for working so hard to plan our Earth Day Celebration. We reused materials from home to make flowers and play Mancala. Second graders ate a cup of dirt (worms and all!) and heard We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers as a a readers theater by the second grade teachers. Today or this weekend try to do something special for our planet - pick up some trash around the neighborhood playground, plant a tree, reduce your waste, or toss paper, cans, glass, and cardboard into your recycle bins!

You can play Mancala at home with your egg carton and 24 pieces of anything that'll fit in the carton's cups. Here's how:

The object of the game is to collect as many stones as possible before your opponent clears all the stones on his side of the board. Each player sits facing a lnog sid of the board (or egg carton for all of our Earth Day conscience reusers!). The six cups on your side, and the space on the floor to the right of the board (your Mancala), belong to you.

Each player places four stones into the three cups on their far right. Alternat turns. To take your turn, pick up all the stones from one cup on your side adn place them one by one in the cups around the board, including your Mancala space beside the board, in a clockwise direction.  If the last stone is dropped into your Mancala, you can tak another turn. If the last stone of your turn is dropped into an empty cup on your own side, you may tak al the stones from your opponent's cup directly opposite your empty cup. All the captured stones, and the stone you used to make the capture, can be placed in your Mancala.

The game ends when one player has no more stones on his or her side. Teh remaining player can deposit all the stones left on his or her side into his or her own Mancala. The winner is the player withthe most stones in his or her Mancala.

Have fun!

mystery reader

Surprise! I know it's Thursday, but since there is no school tomorrow we thought it'd be fun to have a Mystery Reader today! Madison's Mom came by with two stories: Little Buggy and Freckleface Strawberry. Little Buggy was full of speech bubbles and told two stories at once - one of the ladybugs and the other of the snails. Julianne Moore, an actress, wrote Freckleface Strawberry since it was a nickname of her's when she was a little girl. What a cute story of loving and embracing how you look! Thanks Mrs. Austin! We loved them both!

the outdoor classroom

What a gorgeous day to learn outdoors! Today we were able to enjoy our Read Aloud in the Reading Garden and enjoy a Science Experiment outside as well.

Inferring and predicting with Ivy + Bean as we sit on the beautiful brick pavers!

Spilling water spots and tracing around them to represent precipitation and accumulation.

Watching evaporation...

Going, going, gone!

calendar correction

There is not a Second Grade Music Program on Wednesday night. Second grade classes do not do a Music Program. The online calendar on our school's homepage has been updated. We apologize if there was any confusion! The dates under "calendar of events" on this blog page reflect what is happening through the end of the school year.

photo story 3

Tonight at Open House families were able to see our Book Reviews Photo Story project! You too can do some really neat stuff using this same program...and it's FREE! Check it out by clicking on "photo story 3" under Links to Learning. Upload a few photos your child takes with a digital camera to make a slideshow and add their voice to narrate a story along with the pictures.

young saplings for young dolphins

Today during Open House our E-Action Club will be distributing Red Oak and Red Bud trees to each student. Since the size of the young sapling is larger than anticipated, the opportunity for parents to take the trees home tonight is so beneficial. The trees have been donated from the LIVING LANDS and WATERS' Million Trees Project - http://www.livinglandsandwaters.org/.

With Earth Week and Arbor Day in April, the poster in our classroom will be used for students to identify the benefits that we receive from having trees in our world. We will record these benefits on the poster and display it in the hallway next week as part of our Earth Week celebration.
 
There is a very nice web connection found at http://www.arborday.org/kids/carly/. On this site please click on "Kids Make a Difference" and then find "The Benefits of Trees". You'll learn more about why trees help our environment -- including a video that shows how to plant a tree.

Thank you to Mrs. Petzke and the E-Action Team!

open house

Young Explorers, your passports are ready...

It's your night to show off your school!

Families are invited...
To Open House!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Nancy Young Elementary

6:30-8:00 p.m.

Explore our classroom and school with your Young Explorer!

words thier way

Since this is a short week there will be no new Words Thier Way for most kids in the room. There is one group reviewing, so just practice Word Wall Words old and new and practice writing with them this week!

mystery readerS

We were so lucky to meet two of Alexander's Aunts, two little cousins, and see his Mom today for Mystery Reader. His Aunt read a book by John Lithgow, award winning actor, called I'm a Manatee with lots of rhythm and rhyme and we were even able to hear the song of the story afterward. Go to the public library and see if you can check out this story or one of his five books. The text reminded me of Dr. Seuss with it's made up words! We also has a laugh with Beware of the Frog by William Bee.

race & ethnicity

Thank you to all families who have filled out and returned Race & Ethnicity forms for the office! If you still have the envelope and form, please return it to school and I will send it to the office on Monday. Envelopes with forms were sent home on Monday, April 5th. I appreciate your prompt attention to this.