Peterson's Paradise

H, I, J, K, L

2010-05-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

During the week, we celebrated H, I, J, K, and L. On H day, everyone wore hats. I Day was for Interesting Animals. Jumping Jacks and Jokes were done on J Day. On K Day, we played Kickball (our favorite recess pastime). And on L Day, we dressed for a Luau.

The week was also busy with two field trips. The Second Graders visited the zoo and the Third Graders went to McGraw Wildlife.

The zoo was tons of fun. We saw the newly opened bear exhibit!

The Third Graders learned a lot at McGraw Wildlife. They were scientists as they used nets to gather insects from the lake. By studying the insects, they found out if the lake was healthy or not. Check out all of the bugs they found!

Also at McGraw, the Third Graders learned about forest restoration. We learned that certain plants are invasive; they take over the forest and don't do much good. The Third Graders helped restore the forest by pulling some garlic mustard plants.

At the end of the day at McGraw, we met a special guest, a great horned owl. We learned about the adaptations that this raptor has to help it exist. What a fun day!

When we met with our buddies, we continued to share Readers' Theater.

Hat Day

Luau Day

The countdown continues...D, E, F, G...

2010-05-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

This week, we are continuing our countdown with D, E, F, and G.

In writing this week, the second and third graders studied endangered animals. Each student chose one animal to research thoroughly to find out the animal's habitat, eating habits, threats and dangers, and what is being done to help the animal. Their non-fiction animal reports turned out great. They learned a lot about all kinds of endangered animals. On Monday, it was D Day. We did DEAR reading (Drop Everything And Read).
Tuesday was E Day. We exercised on E Day!

F Day was Fancy Day! Oh la la!

Thursday was G Day. Everyone wore green and made conscious decisions to do "green" things.

Alexa was the Virtual Field Trip Planner. She took us on a trip to France. Oui, oui!

ABC Countdown Kickoff!

2010-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Last week, we started our ABC countdown to the end of the school year. As I was typing out the list of activities and character traits for each letter, it dawned on me that we only have 26 more days together! I am excited about the ABC countdown and all of the fun days ahead of us. The countdown is also bittersweet because I know I don't have that much time left with my dear students!

Last week, we celebrated A, B, & C. A is for advice. The students wrote teaching advice to me and college advice for Miss Bella. B is for Beach & Bubbles. On B day, the students dressed for the beach and played with bubbles at recess. On C day, the kids wore colorful clothes.

The Second and Third graders have been busy working on and sharing book reports. All second graders did a Cereal Box Book Report. Third graders had a choice to do a Cereal Box Book Report or a Bag It Report. Everyone did a wonderful job on their presentations! I can tell that everyone has been busy reading!

The Third Graders started a new science unit. They discovered that seeds are everywhere!

After our field trip to the Museum of Lapidary Arts, the third graders worked on finishing their posters to show-off all of their rock knowledge!

Anuj was our Star of the Week. He wanted to know who his classmates favorite teacher was (besides Mrs. Peterson, of course! haha!).

Earth Day is Every Day

2010-04-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Earth Day all week long! Each day, we focused on one certain topic, Endangered animals, Air, Resources, Trees, and H2O. The Second and Third Graders are full of wonderful ideas on saving our planet.

To decorate our room for Earth Day, each student made an Earth surrounded by "helping hands" (ways that they help our Earth). They used our classroom globes to study the shapes of the continents and then cut, cut, cut and glued!

What are you doing to help save planet Earth?

Dan was Star of the Week. He wanted to know which read aloud books his classmates liked best. Each student chose two books. Matilda was the clear winner!

Alexa's artwork was on display. Her beautiful gem is just in time for our field trip to the Rock Museum!

We are now reading The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards. We have been enjoying this very creative and imaginative story!

Steve was Star of the Week. He wanted to know which Spongebob character was the most popular.

Exploring Air & Weather

2010-04-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, the Second and Third graders have been sharing the non-fiction books they've written. It is so interesting to listen to their books on a wide variety of topics, from paper to summer, penguins to cats. While the Third Graders have been busy studying and learning about rocks and minerals, the Second Graders have been studying air and weather. They made pinwheels and kites and brought them outside to explore how air moves. What a fun day!

We brought our anemometer outside, an instrument to measure wind speed.

As a class, we read Chocolate Fever. We had a fun time predicting what Henry Green would do next. After reading, each student made their own "fever" book. Do you have Video Game Fever, Doughnut Fever, Ice Cream Fever, TV Fever, or Starburst Fever?

Kelli was the Star of the Week. Below is her acrostic poem!

Kaitlyn was the Virtual Field Trip Planner. She took us on a trip to a farm in China.

Rocks & Minerals... We're Geologists!

2010-04-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Rocks, rocks, and more rocks! The Third Graders are gearing up for their field trip to the rock museum later this month. Many Second and Third Graders brought in their own rock collections to share with the class. We spent some time browsing through Peterson's Rock Museum!

Hannah, a student in another Second Grade class, was our teacher for the morning. She read a book to the class and gave the kids their spelling tests.

The Second Graders continued to study air and weather in science. They worked hard on making Water Cycle Wheels.

Many students in our class traveled to interesting places for Spring Break. Many of them shared pictures, stories, and souvenirs from their travels. Nicholas made this poster to share with the class from his trip to Washington D.C.

Joey was our Virtual Field Trip Planner. He took us on a trip to Madagascar to go on a safari!

Before Break

2010-04-04T11:31:00.001-07:00

Before break, we spent some time enjoying the beautiful weather.

The Second and Third Grade Monet-style Waterlily artwork is on display in the hallway for Fine Art's Night.

The Second Graders published books about weather. The books turned out so well! They included tables of contexts, glossaries, and indexes. The books are full of great information! The Second Graders also spent some time sharing their books with one another.

The Third Graders finished reading Little House in the Big Woods. They wrote reviews for the book and gave it a one through five star rating. We learned a lot about pioneer times by reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's book!

Alexa was our Star of the Week. Alexa wanted to know which school subjects her classmates like best.

Danielle was our Virtual Field Trip Planner. She took us on an exciting trip to Egypt to see the Great Pyramids at Giza!

Wishing for Spring!

2010-03-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

Can I just say... I have the most thoughtful bunch of students ever! When I returned from my (fog delayed) half marathon trip, my class greeted me with this thoughtful poster, a medal, and many sweet cards!

At the end of the week, we enjoyed all of the biography reports by setting up a "Biography Museum." Everyone had a chance to browse the museum and learn about many interesting people!

To brighten our room up for the coming of Spring, the Second and Third graders made these beautiful rainbows with ripped construction paper!

The Third graders worked on multiplication fact power by playing multiplication bingo. This is a great, easy game to play at home to practice facts!

Second graders reviewed adjectives, or describing words, as they made these colorful shamrocks. They surrounded their shamrocks with adjectives.

Kelli was the Star of the Week. Her survey question was: What is your favorite color? See the results below!

Ava was the Virtual Field Trip Planner. She took us on an out-of-this-world trip to Saturn!

Disney Princess Half Marathon!

2010-03-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

For the past few months, I have been working on my running stamina, much like we work on our reading stamina at school every day! I started out running one mile, and then two, and then three...and so on, which led up to this weekend: my half-marathon in Disney World! I ran with some friends and Mr. Peterson was there to cheer me on! Practice really does pay off!

I miss you all and will see you on Tuesday! I will bring my medal to class to show you!

Mr. Peterson and I visited the Cinderella Castle!

On the morning of the run, we woke up at 3:30 AM. It was very cold and dark outside!
My friend, Sarah, did the half marathon, too! I dedicated my run to her!

Being silly before the run

Finally, the sun came out as I ran through the Magic Kingdom!

This is me and Miss Wiechert. Does her name sound familiar? She is our pen pals' teacher! Showing off our medals!

Me with Mr. Peterson, my own personal cheer squad!

ISATs Galore

2010-03-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, the Third Graders have been busily preparing for ISATs (Second Graders are getting some early practice :) ). Last week, ISAT tests began for our Third Graders. I am so proud of how hard they working! While the Third Graders take tests, the Second Graders have been busy working on their math skills with a substitute teacher. Amidst our busy practices and testing schedule, the kids still had time to present biography reports, create Venn diagrams with Miss Bella, and make rainbows to decorate our classroom and hallway!

These signs have been posted around the school this week. We'll see them for only a few more days!

We voted on a new read aloud for the class and the first choice was... Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. Making rainbows

Last week, Alan asked his survey question. He wanted to know which type of power his classmates liked best: air, water, or electric.

Miss Bella taught a lesson on pioneer life. She read a diary entry about the life of a young pioneer. Next, the students used a Venn diagram to compare their life to pioneer life.

Sharing biography reports

Penny was our Star of the Week. Below is her poem and survey question. :)

Alan was the Virtual Field Trip Planner. He took us on a ghost tour in New Orleans. Check out his neat diorama!

Friendship & Fun

2010-02-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

Amidst our ISAT preparations and our everyday writing, reading, and math lessons, we still find time for friendship and fun!

We met with our buddies on Friday, National Friendship Day, and wrote recipes for friendships and made a cut-out of a friend. What makes a good friendship? See the thoughtful recipes below to find out!

Bare Books were due last week. I am so impressed by all the books. They were all so unique, well thought out, and well-written. It was exciting to listen to the young authors share their books about dogs, magic tricks, presidents, penguins, fish, Disney Land, martians, and more!

Nicholas was the Virtual Field Trip Planner last week. He took us to to New York City! He made a very organized itinerary.
Alan was the Star of the Week. His survey is coming soon!

A Lovebugly Week!

2010-02-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

This week, we celebrated many things including 100th Day, Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, and Valentine's Day! On 100th Day, we did 100 exercises and wore 100th Day stickers. We are reading a new chapter book as a class, Frindle by Drew Clements. It is a story about a boy who makes up a new word for pen, frindle. His word spreads throughout his school and town. We can't wait to find out how it ends!
On Friday, we met with our Fourth Grade Buddies. With them, we made love bug headbands and animals out of hearts.

Love Bugs!

Triplet Love Bugs!

The Second and Third Graders took some time this week decorating their Valentine's bags. They went crazy with paper hearts, tissue paper hearts, doilies, and stickers galore! Look how adorable their bags turned out!

And the lovely bags were filled with....

lots of thoughtful, heartfelt Valentines!

On Friday, we celebrated our Valentine's Day Party! Our party was complete with a fondue station, a heart picture frame craft, a famous couples matching game, and time to write sweet notes on hearts for our classmates!

A huge thank you to our party volunteers.

We couldn't have had such a wonderful party without your help!

Friday was also Abraham Lincoln's Birthday. A few girls worked hard on this great banner in honor of him!

Ava asked the class her survey question this week. She wanted to know which High School Musical character her classmates like best. See the results to find out who the favorite HSM character is!

Luke planned a field trip to Antarctica! His made this cool diorama with clay!

Matt was the Star of the Week. For his survey question, he asked which one everyone liked best: watching T.V. or playing video games. See below for the results!

Saints or Colts?

2010-02-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

We have a new addition to our classroom! Meet Bella, our new TAP student! TAP is a program that allows high school students to intern at elementary schools. Bella is a high school senior who runs track and cross country. She was a TAP student in a fifth grade classroom before coming to us and wants to be a teacher! We are so glad to have her in Peterson's Planetarium. :)

The big discussion in our classroom this week was who will win Super Bowl XLIV. On Friday, we took a vote and the results are in...twenty students think the Saints will win and four plus one teacher think the Colts will win. We will find out soon, won't we?!

This week, we also celebrated our marble party. The class earns marbles for good behavior and when the jar is filled, their reward is a celebration party. This time, the kids voiced that they wanted an electronic pajama party with a movie. The kids enjoyed the afternoon watching James and the Giant Peach in their pajamas while playing their handheld electronics. Way to go Second and Third Graders!

Ava was our Star of the Week. We will conduct her survey question next week. Ava learned a lot while she read space books with Snoopy. She decided to share her learnings on a tri-fold poster. Check it out below!

Joys of January

2010-01-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

January flew by so quickly, it seems I didn't even have time to post our classroom news. I apologize for the delay! Many joyful things have been happening in our classroom in 2010! We read and learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. and talked about the dreams we have for ourselves, our families, our school, and the world. The Second Graders' dreams are on display in the hallway.

We continue to work on comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary in reading. The kids place their post it on the CAFE board to remind them of the goals they're working towards.

The Second Graders made these cute snowman to decorate our hallway for the winter!

In math, we've been learning about multiplication, decimals, rays, lines, and line segments. The Second and Third Graders use games to help them practice their math skills.

One of our January class read alouds was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane by Kate DiCamillo. This touching story kept us on our toes as Edward, a china rabbit, traveled from place to place, learning about what loving and being loved really means.

Also in January, we finished reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. Each student used the comprehension strategy of visualizing to draw a picture to go along with a passage from the book.

With our Fourth Grade buddies, we listening to the story Snowmen at Night. Next, each student made their own page for the book, describing what they think snowmen do at night!

Near the end of January, the Third Graders took a field trip to a Log Cabin at the Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary. Our trip included an icy walk to the cabin, butter churning, making cornbread and applesauce, and playing pioneer games. We are in the middle of reading Little House in the Big Woods, so this was a perfect way to really experience pioneer life! Thank you to our wonderful chaperones!

Churning Butter

Come butter, come.

My friend is waiting at the gate,

Waiting for a butter cake.

Come butter, come.

Making Cornbread

Making Applesauce

Pioneer Games

Grinding Corn into Cornmeal

Enjoying the fruits of our labor!

The squirrels were also enjoying the log cabin. :)

In writing, the students have been conferring often to get suggestions on adding more to their fiction writing.

One of our Stars of the Week in January was Joey. Joey wanted to know which one his classmates preferred: playing in the snow in winter or swimming in the summer. See the results below!

Penny planned a Virtual Field Trip for the class. She took us on a trip the moon and showed us the phases of the moon! What a great trip!

Ashley was another Star of the Week in January. Ashley wondered which kind of cookie her classmates liked best.

Katie was also Star of the Week. She wanted to know which dessert her friends like more: ice cream or cake.

Matt planned a great trip to the great outdoors where we could learn about different kinds of animal and weather.

Resolutions, Pioneers, & One Giant Peach

2010-01-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I hope 2010 brings much joy, laughter, and happiness to you!

On Friday, the Second and Third Graders worked with their Fourth Grade buddies to make party hats and write resolutions for the new year. I loved reading the resolutions. Some students wrote that they want to be healthier, be more green, do better in school, and help around the house more. :)

In math, we reviewed place value and played a top-it game with five to seven digit numbers.

We also reviewed 3-D shapes in math. The Second Graders used straws and twist-ties to build different kinds of pyramids. Each group shared their pyramid and we used what they learned to create this neat chart about pyramids!

We began reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. We are having such fun retelling, visualizing, and making predictions about this story!

The Third Graders began a unit on pioneer life. We are reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods. Before we started reading, we made a KWL chart to show what we knew already about pioneer life (K) and what we wanted to know (W). As we learn new information about pioneers, we will add it to our chart (L).

The Second Graders are learning about weather. We read and talked about temperature and thermometers this week. Below are some book pages that the Second Graders created for their books about weather.

Nick was our Star of the Week. Below is his acrostic poem. In his survey question, Nick wondered which holiday his classmates like best. See the results below!

Before Winter Break...

2010-01-02T23:13:00.000-08:00

The Second Graders learned about adjectives and wrote their favorite adjectives on these festive snowflakes! The Third Graders researched their families history. Each Third Grader made and presented a poster displaying their mother and father's ancestry. I loved listening to the family traditions and interesting stories that the Third Graders discovered while doing this project. The posters are on display in our hallway. Come see them!

Math games are not only FUN, but they really help the students practice the skills we've been working on. Check out the exciting games we've been playing!

With their Fourth Grade buddies, the Second and Third Graders made these snowflake people. Aren't they cute?!

Amber was our Virtual Field Trip Planner. She took us on a trip to the Mote Aquarium.

Kayla was our Star of the Week. In her survey question, she asked which game everyone likes best. See the results below!

We had a fund-raising assembly during which Mrs. Cedillo got duct taped to the wall!

On the Thursday before Winter Break, we had our holiday party. Thank you so much to all of our wonderful party volunteers. We couldn't have had so much fun without your help!

Penguin Bowling

Creating Ornaments and Picture Frames

Decorating cookies

S N O W !

2009-12-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

There's no denying it: WE LOVE SNOW!

On the first day of snow, we got outside to enjoy the fluffy white stuff (before it got way too cold!) All bundled up!

Snow angels!
Showing off a big snowball...

Don't worry, he's just pretending!

Sliding down the hill!

Penguin belly slides

The start of a really good snowman

Writing & Conferring

2009-12-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

Our class has been busy writing! This week we read a story called "Let's Get a Pup," Said Katie. The author, Bob Graham, gave lots of details about the dogs that Kate and her family saw at the Rescue Center. We used Bob Graham's writing as a model for how we could add more details into our own writing. The students then wrote about their own pet, imaginative or real. We've learned that when we think we're done writing, we're not actually done. There is always more work to be done! This week we started conferring with partners. When students confer with their partners about their writing, they ask questions and help their partner think of more details to add to their writing.

We continue to work daily on our Journal Prompts as well. Lately, we have been doing expository writing. Below is a "how-to" piece of writing.
How to make a pizza: More writing! We received our pen pal letters in the mail this week! The Second and Third Graders spent some time this week making cards for their pen pals. We also made some other special cards for Maddie's uncle who is a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.

To fine tune our handwriting, we have been doing daily handwriting practice and review!

Two special visitors from the 209 Reading Club visited our classroom and read Gasp!, a story about a fish left home alone and his search for water. They did an excellent job reading with fluency, accuracy, and lots of expression!

We met with our Fourth Grade buddies on Friday. With them, we decorated snowflake people. They are on display in our hallway!

Kayla was our Star of the Week. Her survey question and poem will be posted next week.

Steve was our Virtual Field Trip Planner. He took us on a trip around the solar system!

Question of the Week

2009-12-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

As the holiday season nears, many families participate in holiday traditions. What is your family's holiday tradition? What is the one special thing that you do each year that you just couldn't live without?

Each year, I help my mom make Christmas cookies. Our family's favorite is her decorated butter cookies (pictures coming soon!). I just couldn't have Christmas without my mom's yummy cookies!

Mr. Peterson and I also started our own holiday tradition. Every December, we go downtown to see A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theater. After, we visit the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza and enjoy delicious German food!

Please share your favorite holiday tradition! I can't wait to read your comments!

December Details

2009-12-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

December is a time to celebrate! All week, the Second Graders have been journeying around the world, learning about how different countries celebrate Christmas. In writing, we worked on the structure of a really good paragraph. We used opening sentences, detail sentences, and a closing sentence. This past week, everyone was excited to see the first snowfall of the season! To celebrate, we went outside to play!

With our Fourth Grade Buddies, we listened to the story called The Legend of the Poinsettia and made our own beautiful poinsettias to decorate the classroom.

I was excited to put all of my Christmas and holiday books out in our classroom library this week!
In math, we did a fun lesson on geometry. The students received squares which they cut diagonally into triangles. Using four triangles, the students had to make as many shapes as they could with their table groups. After creating many shapes, I grouped the shapes together. The students figured out that I grouped them by the number of sides and angles. We talked about the different polygon names: triangle, quadrangle, pentagon, and hexagon.

Our new read aloud is The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks. We are having so much fun reading this story about two brothers, neat Norman and messy Michael, and their pet plants, Fluffy, and Stanley. One day, we visualized what was happening in the story and drew pictures.

"Fluffy"

The Third Graders began learning about immigration and Ellis Island. We are reading Hope in My Heart: Sophia's Immigration Diary.

Like Sophia's diary, the Third Graders wrote their own imaginary journals about their journey to America.

Danielle, our previous Star of the Week, asked her survey question. We made a pie chart to show the results!

Olivia was our Virtual Field Trip Planner. She took us on a trip to the North Pole! How exciting!!

Turkey Tom & Pilgrim Pete

2009-11-26T09:09:00.001-08:00

Petey and Tommy wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, too!

Pilgrim Petey

Turkey Tommy

A Time to Give Thanks

2009-11-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of your children for their performance of "A Time to Give Thanks." They did an excellent job! Last week, we talked about the First Thanksgiving and the things we are thankful for. I am always reminded, especially on Thanksgiving, of all the things I have to be thankful for. Your children are all blessings in my life. They make my job exciting and enjoyable every day. They surprise me and fascinate me constantly. What a special group of kids they are! I am also blessed that they all have such great, supportive parents! Thank you for all you do!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Below are a few pictures from "A Time to Give Thanks."

For the last couple weeks, the Second Graders have been learning about Native Americans. They learned about several tribes: Sioux, Makah, Mohawk, and Anasazi. They used social studies books to research information about each tribe.

The Third Graders read a great story called Molly's Pilgrim. Molly is a modern day pilgrim and her classmates learn the true meaning of Thanksgiving when she shares her Thanksgiving project with them. After reading the book together, the Third Graders worked on some comprehension and vocabulary activities related to the story.

The Third Graders also finished reading Sacajawea and wrote three paragraph essays about her life. They did a fabulous job! Their work is on display in the hallway.

Alan participate in this year's Science Fair. His project was called "The Electrophorus." Way to go, Alan!

Katie was the Virtual Field Trip Planner. She took us on a trip to Minnesota. Katie made a book to show the things we would be doing and seeing on the trip.

Danielle was the Star of the Week. This is her acrostic poem. Next week, she will ask the class her survey question.

What are you thankful for?

2009-11-15T13:20:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for the beautiful fall weather we enjoyed last week. I am thankful that I have such hard working and enthusiastic students. The Second Graders are learning about Native Americans and the Third Graders are studying the Lewis and Clark expedition. The Third Graders also are exploring inventors and inventions in science. Each third grader chose one invention to research. The students found out who invented the invention, when it was invented, and thought about how life is different with the invention. Researching inventions also reminds me of all of the great things we have to be thankful for!

Ashley researched the light bulb. Can you imagine your life without life bulbs?!

Dan learned about the invention of the airplane. Joey researched bubble gum.

Alan researched the invention of paper. I can't imagine life without paper!
Nicholas researched the invention of the globe.

Kaitlyn learned about the invention of band-aids. We go through lots and lots of band aids in Peterson's Planetarium! I'm thankful for band aids!!

Nick researched the light bulb.

Katie studied the invention of Silly Putty.

Luke found out about the invention of bubble gum. Yum!

Alexa researched the thermometer. Isn't it great to know the temperature before you venture outside!?

Kayla looked up information about Life Savers.

Amber learned about the invention of the Ferris Wheel.

Last week, the Second and Third Graders spent time working on writing about an outdoor adventure and a fantasy trip. With their partners, they worked on editing their writing and adding details.

During the Daily 4, some students chose to do Word Work. Below, Ashley is working on stamping out her spelling words.

As part of the Second Graders Native American unit, they listened to the story The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie DePaola. Later, they painted their own Indian Sunsets.

Aren't the paintings beautiful?

The Third Graders have been reading Who Was Sacagawea ? together each morning. They have learned a lot about Sacagawea and her adventures with Lewis and Clark.

With our Fourth Grade Buddies, we made turkeys using our hands as feathers. Each feather lists one thing we are thankful for. What are you thankful for?

Kaitlyn was our Star of the Week. She wanted to know which breakfast food her classmates preferred: Pop tarts or Waffles.

In November...

2009-11-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

This week, the Second and Third Graders learned how to add sensory details into their writing. After listening to two stories, Hello Ocean and In November, the students wrote their own pieces about months of the year using descriptions of what they hear, sound, taste, feel, and see.

On Wednesday, our Pen Pal letters arrived! Everyone was excited to see what their pen pal had written and what they look like (they included pictures in their letters). That afternoon, the Second and Third Graders wrote friendly letters to their pen pals. The Second Graders learned about verbs. Verbs are action words. Can your child name some verbs?

The Third Graders tried a new Spelling Challenge last week. If they spelled their words correctly on our spelling pretest, they could make up new words in the place of the other words. On Friday, pairs of Third Graders gave spelling tests to each other.

The Second Graders used milk cartons and construction paper to build a community of houses. They wrote their address neatly on the base of their houses. Their cute little neighborhood is on display in our book corner.

In Third Grade social studies, America's symbols were the focus. The Third Graders read a book about the symbols of our country and answered questions about what they read. They used a highlighter to go back into the text to find the answers. They also learned the history and meaning of The Pledge of Allegiance.

Edison was the Star of the Week. He wanted to know what his classmates' favorite T.V. show was. Look below for the results!

Nick planned the Virtual Field Trip. He took us to Washington, D.C. His presentation fit in perfectly to Third Grade social studies!

Happy Birthday!

2009-10-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here's wishing a happy birthday to our October birthday girls! (Danielle not pictured)

Halloween Happenings

2009-10-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Second and Third Graders made spooky Halloween scenes with their Fourth Grade buddies!

Fancy Nancy & Pinkalicious

After lunch, everyone changed into their Halloween costumes. Next, we sorted our Halloween costumes into categories!

We had three cute insects,

two adorable fairy tale characters (Sleeping Beauty not pictured),

three adventurous pirates,

two spooky characters,

four out-of-this-world Star Wars characters,

four brave heroes,

three strong athletes,

and one criminal and one detective!

We visited the computer lab in our costumes. It was quite a site to see all of the characters busy on their computers! In the lab, we worked on finishing Halloween stories and poems and played Kids College.

Our Halloween Party was a huge success. Thank you to all of the wonderful parents who helped out! Our party was complete with boo bowling, graveyard dirt cups (pudding, oreos, and gummy worms), skull-jack-o-lantern buckets, a monster mash dance-off, and a mummy wrap competition!

I, too, love dressing up for Halloween. This year, I was Pinkalicious. Can you see the resemblance?

Red Ribbon Week

2009-10-29T15:56:00.001-07:00

Red Ribbon Week is a week to encourage kids to say "no" to drugs. Our school celebrated Red Ribbon Week by bringing stuffed animals to school on Monday (hugs not drugs). On Tuesday, we wore red. On Wednesday we brought red fruit breaks. Thursday, everyone wore sneakers (don't let drugs sneak up on you) and on Friday everyone wore Halloween costumes (drugs are wacky). Thanks for participating during Red Ribbon Week!
Nicholas and Matt used a book from the library to learn how to write their names in this cool style!

The Daily 4 is in full drive in our classroom!

Word Work: Making words out of play dough.

Word Work: Stamping words

Read to Self

Read to Someone

Work on Writing

This week during writing time, we worked on pattern books. Some students made ABC pattern books. Others chose to make Fortunately, Unfortunately books.

In math this week, the Third Graders measured, measured, and then measured some more! They measured objects and people with their feet and with rulers. We talked about why having a standard unit of measurement is so important.

In Social Studies, the students learned about the government. The Third Graders focused more on the three branches of our government. They made flip books about the branches and did some amazing drawings of the government buildings.

Kayla was the Virtual Field Trip Planner last week. She took us to California. To show us about the trip, Kayla made a detailed brochure, poster, and a crossword for each student!

Olivia was our star of the week. Below is her acrostic poem. Olivia wanted to know which pet everyone liked more: a dog or a cat. Can you tell the class favorite?

Government, Clock Partners, and Skeletons, Oh my!

2009-10-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Third Graders are studying the United States Government. We are learning about the three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch has very specific and important jobs to do. Each student in the class made a "Partner Clock." We will be using our Partner Clocks to easily find partners for the remainder of the school year. This week, they students got together with their 3 o' clock partners to read journal entries. Another day, they met with their 6 o' clock partners to play a fun, new math game.

All week, students have been presenting their skeleton mystery book reports that were due on Monday. I am so impressed with the work that everyone did! The book reports were fun to listen to and add a nice Halloween touch to our classroom and hallway!

Nicholas was the Star of the Week. Check out his survey question and acrostic poem below!

Allyson planned our Virtual Field Trip this week. She took us on a trip to Texas where we explored the desert and enjoyed the beach!

Pen Pals, Poll Results, & Pumpkins

2009-10-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Last week we met with our buddies on Friday and listened to a story about Spookley the Square Pumpkin. With their buddies, the Second and Third Graders made 3-D pumpkins that told a summary of the story, facts about pumpkins, acrostic poems, and the life cyle of a pumpkin.

We wrote our first letters to our pen pals last week! The kids did a great job including the important parts of a letter: date, greeting, body, and closing. We are anxiously awaiting our letters from our pen pals!

As a result of the latest poll.... this is our new read aloud! Thanks for voting!

Luke was our Star of the Week. Below is his acrostic poem!

Soon, we will be launching the Daily 5 during our mornings. The Daily 5 includes: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Listen to Reading, and Word Work. Last we, we talked in detail about what our classroom should look like when students are "reading to self." Below is the chart we made for expected behaviors and some pictures of students displaying those behaviors! Look for more Daily 5 news soon!

Maps n' Mealworms

2009-10-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

During the week of October 5th, the Third Graders were busy working on maps while the Second Graders were busy observing our new classroom pets, mealworms! Below are some of the maps created by Third Graders. Each student made up their own country and showed off all of the map skills they've been learning about. We have such creative students in our class!

Since our mealworms arrived, Second Graders have been studying, observing, and playing with the new class insects! When we first met the mealworms, they were larvae. Now, some of the mealworms are in their next stage of life, pupae. We are anxiously awaiting the next stage! Each student has two mealworms (most have names for theirs) which are kept in a plastic vile. The mealworms need oats, an apple, and some holes for air.

When the Second and Third Graders met with their Fourth Grade buddies, they got to know them a little bit more! The students' task was to create a Venn Diagram show similarities and differences between themselves and their buddies.

Maddie was our Star of the Week. She surveyed the class to find out what planet they would live on if they didn't live on Earth. Can you tell by the poster which planets were the most popular?

Dan and Anuj were the Virtual Field Trip Planners. Dan planned an exciting trip to Disney World to study balance and motion by going on rides! He made everyone a souvenir: mouse ears!! Anuj planned a trip to the future. He explained that we would study electricity when we traveled in a time machine. Anuj made a trip itinerary to share with the class!

Monkeying Around

2009-10-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

While the weather is still nice, we've been making sure to get outside to "monkey around" on the playground!

Besides monkeying around, we've been working hard in our classroom! The second and third grade students practiced partner reading while catching up on some news. When we partner read, we sit EEKK (elbow to elbow and knee to knee).

The daily journal prompts continue to encourage imaginative writing. One day, the students wrote poems about colors. During writing time, we read some silly animal stories. The students job was then write their own silly animal sentences and stories.

The Third Graders made USA windsocks to decorate the classroom. Soon, third grade will be learning all about the important parts of the U.S. Government.

Second Grade continues to learn about insects in science. Last week, they made ladybugs that are now hanging from our ceiling!

One choice students have when they are done with their work is to become a Resident Expert. To become a Resident Expert, students choose a topic to research. They develop questions about the topic and decide how they'll present their findings to the class. Anuj decided to become a Resident Expert on Gandhi. He made this poster and presented it to the class!

Amber was the Star of the Week last week.

Amber surveyed the class to find out everyone's favorite sport. Which sport was the favorite in our class?

Happy birthday!

2009-09-27T19:41:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday to all of the marvelous students born during the months of August and September!

Fall Fun

2009-09-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome autumn! I love the beautiful changing leaves, cool crisp air, pumpkins and gourds, haunted houses, and delicious apple cider that come with autumn. We celebrated the first day of the new season with our Fourth Grade buddies from Miss Campbell's class on Friday. The students listened to a story and wrote acrostic poems about Fall.

Johnny Appleseed's birthday was on Saturday, September 26th. One of the Great Friday Afternoon Event teams performed a play about John Chapman's life in honor of him! Can you tell who played Johnny?

Every morning in Room 110, the first thing the Second and Third Graders do is read silently for about 30-40 minutes. Last week, they practiced reading with a partner. Reading to yourself is always fun. Last week, I saw that sharing a book with a friend is a special treasure! We sure are falling into reading. :)

In writing this week, we read a story called Miss Tizzy. Miss Tizzy reminded us a lot of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle because of her friendly nature and love of children. In the story, Miss Tizzy teaches the children in her neighborhood about true friendship. The Second and Third graders wrote about their friends last week. We worked on editing our work and adding many describing words and details.

In social studies, we continued to study maps and geography. The third graders learned how a distance scale works and used a distance ruler to measure from city to city.

In Second Grade science, the students finished their Insect Flip Books and they are now proudly displayed in our classroom and hallway.

Allyson was the Star of the Week. Allyson wanted to know... What is your favorite food? Each student wrote his or her favorite food on a post it and we sorted them on the food pyramid. Can you tell which food group was the most popular?

Edison was the Virtual Field Trip Planner. He took us on a spaceship to Pluto! We learned all about Pluto and its moons. Thanks, Edison, for an "out of this world" trip!

On Wednesday, a special pink fire truck visited our school. The teachers wore pink shirts and Mrs. Huisinga even sported a pink fireman's coat in honor of the Pink Heals Tour for breast cancer awareness. The kids sat during their lunch recess to listen to the firemen speak about their mission.

Virtual Classroom Tour

2009-09-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Exciting things are happening in our classroom all the time! Take a tour of our classroom to find out some of the many things that we do during our days together.

Student work always fills our hallway, making it bright, cheerful, and welcoming (as well as showing off all of the skills we are learning)! Below are the second grade Noun apples. This is the rocking chair that I sit in when I read to the class and teach whole group lessons. On the book stand, I keep the songs that we sing in the morning and the chapter book we are reading (right now, it's Matilda).

This is our writing center. It is complete with many kinds of writing tools including an assortment of paper, stencils, a dictionary, pencils, colored pencils, crayons, markers, stickers, a stapler, and a chart of 100 words to know. As the year goes on, this section of our classroom will change to include science topics that we are learning about. Currently, the second grade science unit is on display. Can you tell what it is?

I do write on the chalkboard, but not on this part of it! Here we keep track of the days and months, how many days we've been in school, how many students are present and absent, and the weather. Our circle of books is also on the board; we keep track of the different genres of books we read together as a class to make sure we are reading a great variety of books. Also near the calendar is our daily journal prompt.

One of my favorite places in the classroom is our reading corner. It's cozy with beanbags and stools to sit on and full of great literature. Kids are often found here picking out and enjoying books!

Extra, extra! Read all about it! This is where we post interesting and exciting news articles. It's important to know what is going on in the world around us. Behind the news board, our Numbers All Around museum is on display as well as a handwriting center where students can work on their handwriting skills.

Soon, I will be meeting with groups of students at our Guided Reading table. Here we will work on important skills that all readers need to know!

3...2...1...Blast off! The Star of the Week gets to take a ride in our rocket ship. Our class mission is also on display as a reminder that we always need to be respectful, responsible, and caring.

Thank you for taking a virtual classroom tour of Peterson's Planetarium.

Our class is full of star students!

Busy Bees

2009-09-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

The kids in Room 110 have been busy, busy, busy! We have been gathering lots of writing ideas in our writing journals and writing a lot about things that have happened to us. We've learned that many authors use events that have happened in their lives to create and write stories. Donald Crews wrote about visiting his grandma in his book Bigmama. Our class has published a book about the people and places we like to visit. The second and third graders have also been responding daily to imaginative journal prompts. In one journal prompt, the students had to pretend that we lived underwater. They described what life would be like in an underwater world. We've also been talking about nouns: people, places, and things.

In science, second graders have been exploring insects. Ask your second grader if he or she can tell you the three important body parts that all insects possess. In third grade science, the focus is on magnets. Does your third grader know what the word repel means?

Borders, mountains, desert, railroad tracks, cities, compass rose, continents... Where can you find all of these things? On a map! In social studies, we've been learning about geography, maps and globes.

Mathematically speaking, we've been working on reviewing some important concepts including skip counting, counting money, number grids, and place value.

Of course, we've taken some breaks to enjoy the sunshine, play with friends, and get to know each other better!

The Star of the Week is Garrett. Garrett surveyed the class to find out which ice cream flavor they like better: chocolate and vanilla. The results? Can you tell from the picture below?!

Kelli is this week's Virtual Field Trip Planner! We took a long plane ride to Antarctica to learn about penguins. It was a long, expensive, and quite cold trip, but it was worth it!

I don't know about you, but I've been having tons of fun at school this year.

Second and Third Graders, what is your favorite subject in school so far? Why do you like that subject?

The Great Friday Afternoon Event

2009-09-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we had our first weekly Great Friday Afternoon Event! Our class was divided into four groups: newscast, play, declamation and poetry.

The newscast group shared several interesting articles from the news and gave the weather forecast for the weekend.

The play group wrote and performed their own play, The Black Hole.

The declamation group read a chapter from a Magic Tree House book.

The poetry group selected and read poems to the class; they even sang a song!

The students will stay with their group for the next three weeks, having a chance to present each category. After the groups have all done participated in poetry, declamation, play, and newscast, we will switch groups. Our first GFAE was a great success! Everyone did a fantastic job of working with a group and presenting with a loud and clear voice! I can't wait until this Friday!

What was your favorite part about the Great Friday Afternoon Event?

Which category are you looking forward to presenting?

First Day, Hooray!

2009-08-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

We made it successfully through our first day together! I was so excited to see everyone today and talk to you about second and third grade. I was so pleased with how friendly and well-mannered all of you are! This is going to be a great school year.

I'm wondering... what was your favorite part of the day? What do you have questions about? What are you excited to learn this year? I can't wait to see you tomorrow!

Summertime Adventures

2009-08-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

I love the freedom of summertime. This summer, many adventures awaited me! My mom, my dad, Mr. Peterson and I went to Red Rock Canyon in Nevada. It was very hot but lots of fun climbing on the rocks. From Nevada, Mr. Peterson and I drove to California. There, we visited family and friends and drove along the Pacific Coastal Highway to San Francisco. The views were breathtaking.

We loved the city of San Francisco! The steep hills, trolley cars, and Golden Gate Bridge were some of the sites we saw. One day, we drove north to see the redwoods at Muir Woods. We couldn't believe how tall and huge the trees were!

I can't wait to hear about the adventures you had during your summer break! What was your favorite summertime adventure?

My mom & me at Red Rock Canyon

A beautiful view from the coast
Elephant Seals
San Francisco Trolley
Golden Gate BridgeCan you see me?
The Redwoods

par⋅a⋅dise

2009-08-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

[par-uh-dahys] -noun 1. a place of extreme beauty, delight, or happiness.

Why paradise? Since I was little, I have loved almost everything about school: new pencils, books, lovely teachers, making friends, exploring new things, and the list goes on. As a teacher, I want to encourage my students to love learning. I want my students to see the beauty that knowledge is, delight in exploring, and feel safe and happy at school.

Tommy & Petey: My Summer Companions

2009-08-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

These two are sure going to miss me when I go back to school! We have spent nearly every day of the summer together. Tommy and Petey love summer! They love to be outside running and playing. This summer, they went to Michigan and Wisconsin with me and Mr. Peterson. They went for boat rides, swam in the lake, and relaxed on the dock.