Thank you so much for joining us on Friday for the Tide Pool Condos Play.  I was so proud of our performers!  They performed with so much confidence and poise.  Thank you for your help and support.  I am in the process of organizing the pictures and will post them on the picture page soon.  If you have pictures please send them to me and I will add them.  
-Field Trip Reminder-

Thursday we are headed to the tide pools/ See above picture for location.  
 Please have your child wear a swimsuit and bring:
1.   Snacks and a Lunch
2.  Plenty of Water
3.  Sunscreen and a Hat 
4.  Towel
5.  Change of clothes
Optional-  bucket, small net, goggles
*No boogie boards or surfboards please

If you are available to chaperone thank you in advance.  There may be available seats on the bus or you may want to carpool and follow us to the tide pools. Chaperones will be responsible for a small group of students.  We will have a lifeguard on duty to supervise.  If you need to leave early please let me know so that I can assign your students to another chaperone.  
It is going to be a fun filled day of discovery! 
 
I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun filled Spring Break!  It was fun to hear about everyone's vacation.  Check out your child's blog and read about the highlight of their vacation.    We are blogging buddies with 2 classes of 2nd graders.  Help your child check out the  comments on their posts from their buddies.  Please encourage your child to go to the Mystery Skype page at the top of this page and find their blogging buddy.  They can then read their buddies blog and post a comment back.  
We also were excited to receive postcards from our Washington D.C. Skype friends.  In this digital age many of the students stated that they prefer receiving a postcard to a blog comment...  Wouldn't it be nice if the art of letter writing continued?  We are going to continue our postcard exchange with Ms. Magana's class from D.C.  and with our Hilton Head Skype friends.   
We are busy, busy, busy with rehearsals for our Tide Pool Condos Play.  We hope to see everyone on Friday at 8:45 for the performance.  Picture opportunities and snacks for the cast immediately following the performance!  The dress rehearsal is set for Thursday afternoon.  Please make sure your child has his/her costume ready for the school dress rehearsal. 
UPCOMING FIELD TRIP TO THE TIDE POOLS IS SET FOR NEXT THURSDAY.  PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU ARE AVAILABLE TO CHAPERONE AND HAVEN'T TURNED IN THE SHEET.  THIS IS A FABULOUS FIELD TRIP!  
Curriculum Update-  Second Graders are "piloting" a spelling/word study program this last trimester. We are continuing to follow our school scope and sequence for spelling but are also incorporating the activities from this program. Students will take a pre-test on Monday, bring their words home to study during the week and have a final test on Friday.  Word lists will still be available on Spelling City.  This site is a great way for students to study their words.  Spelling City can be found on the "Websites on Sqworl " page on the top of this page.  Just 10-15 minutes 2 times a week will really boost your child's spelling skills and confidence.  

 
We are busy practicing for our Tide Pool Condos Play. 
Mark your calendars for Friday, April 5th from 8:45-9:15
Arrive as early as 8:30 for a good seat!  We are learning so much about the creatures of the sea and we can't wait for you to see the show! 

Costumes are very simple and many of the costume parts will be provided.     The teacher that your child is working with will be sending out a note with a description of the costume. Please let us know if you need any help with the costume.  Please bring in costumes after Spring Break. The dress rehearsal for the school is Thursday- April 4th so we  will need our cast to bring their costumes to school by then.
 
Tide Pool Field Trip- Thursday April 11th from 9:00 to 1:00
 If you have not turned in a volunteer slip and are able to help out please let me know.  It is a fabulous day of discovery! 
 
 
New Unit Title-  Commotion in the Ocean
Central Idea:  The ocean's ecosystem is essential to the balance of life.
Lines of Inquiry-  

The physical characteristics of the ocean
The largest and most diverse food chain on the planet
The impact of technology and human beings on the ocean


Our summative assessment for this unit-
Each student will create a newspaper in the style of Time for Kids that highlights a sea animal that they have researched.  The newspaper will highlight facts and pictures with captions.  Students may also include other interesting facts about the unit, ocean jokes, poems, drawings, comics, a word search, crossword puzzles, a question and answer section, etc...   I will be posting dates that we will be researching.  If you are available and would like to help us research please let me know. Your help is greatly appreciated.  
April 5th at 8:30 is our Tide Pool Condo Play.  The show begins at 8:45!
April 11th -Join us at the Tide Pools for a day of fun filled discovery!  
We dove right into our new unit last week!  We began our unit with students brainstorming things that might cause a commotion in the ocean.  Their response included animals, waves, wind, garbage, oil and human beings.  They generated the lines of inquiry we will be learning about throughout this unit.  We spent the week plunging into the depths of the sea.  Students are learning about the abyss and the fascinating creatures that call it home.  We explored the physical characteristics of the ocean floor; learning about underwater volcanoes, ridges, seamounts, guyots and much more.  We will be learning about how the special adaptations sea creatures have and why these adaptations are so important.   
Please go to the Websites on Sqworl section of our class blog for more videos on the ocean.  
Pictures of Student Led Conferences 
Students were so proud to celebrate their learning at Student Led Conferences.  
Thank you so much to Ms. Larson-Hicks for taking over for me during the afternoon.  She took some great pictures so that I could see the rest of the conferences!  
Mystery Skype Sessions
We are learning so much about researching and communicating during our Skype sessions.  Last week our Mystery School was located  in the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge our 13th President and the home of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.  It was also 38 degrees there when we skyped with them on Friday.  BRRRR!   Check out the new Mystery Skype page at the top of the class blog.  You can read the clues with your child and then visit the school's website.  We are buddying up with the schools that have student blogs.  It is exciting to see what other second graders are doing around the world! 
We are cheering for our Mystery Skypers!  After we gave them our clues and they did their research they inferred that we were located in Hawaii.  
 
Mr. Morrison, LJA high school science teacher was our guest speaker today.  He came to help us answer our inquiries about the Elements and the Periodic Table.  He even brought in some real elements to show us.  He taught us some songs about the elements and then took us outside where he showed us what happens when elements react to each other.  The students were ready to join his 10th grade science class.    Ask your child to tell you about his visit!  
 
The classroom is a busy place!  We wrapped up our Journey of Exploration Unit.  Students practiced their skills as cartographers and created  maps of the playground complete with a map key, discoveries and labeled coordinates.  We also enjoyed an expedition right in our own backyard.  Thank you to Ms. Shigehara for being our scout and guide on our hike into the hidden trails on our campus.   We made so many discoveries!  Students discovered crystals, red clay, bird nests, an animal skull, an abandoned car, and much more!   Most importantly, students were thrilled to be exploring nature firsthand!  
Books and Bagels 
It was great to see so many parents and happy readers last week during Books and Bagels.  Thank you so much to everyone who brought in goodies for us to munch on while we read Dr. Seuss books.  A gigantic thank you to Mrs. Ford for designing a spendiferous Seuss inspired picture frame.  It was perfect for picture taking!  

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at Student Led Conferences this upcoming Monday!  
We are diving into our new unit-  Commotion in the Ocean
Upcoming important dates
April 5th-  Tide Pool Condo Play (More details coming soon!)
April 11th- Tide Pool Field Trip
Please join us for a fun filled day at the Tide Pools!
Check the Friday envelope for important details
I recently uploaded all of our picture albums-  Check out the picture page to see your child in action!  
 
As part of our summative task we will be going on a hike tomorrow afternoon.  Please make sure your child has tennis shoes on and pants or shorts. 
Marble Jar Celebration!  We enjoyed our pajama/ movie /popcorn time!  Thank you so much to Zach for making home popped popcorn for all of us.  It was scrumptious!  Thank you also to Zach and Kailyn's mom for supplying us with other delicious snacks.  We had so much fun and we are already thinking ahead to our next Marble Jar celebration! 
Mystery Skype Session #2
We skyped our second school last week.  We  had to work hard to put their clues together and come up with where we thought they were located.  Check out the Skype bulletin board during Student Led Conferences and read all about it! 
Thank you for sending in postcards.  This week we will write postcards to our new Mystery Skype friends. 
 
We are celebrating National Read Across America Day, Friday March 1st from 7:45-8:30.  
 Please join us in the classroom on Friday morning to celebrate reading and the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  
Snuggle up with your favorite reader and bring your favorite Dr. Seuss book or read one from our class library. 
We need help in supplying a morning snack for all of our readers.  If you would be willing to bring in bagels, cream cheese, butter, juice, fruit or anything else please contact our room parents - Yan Scherman at [email protected] Rosa White at [email protected].  We are looking forward to seeing you next Friday!   


Student Led Conferences
The student led conference schedule is ready.    Please go to the green sign up button on the right of the website and pick a slot for March 11th.  I am looking forward to seeing you!   


 
We had a wonderful Valentine's Day Celebration.  Thank you to Ms. Scherman, Ms. White and Ms. Ford for planning the celebration.  Thank you also to Ms. Hicks and Ms. Price Nakagawa for helping out.  
Your child has a special Valentine's Day Message for you on their blog.    Please go to student blogs, find your child's blog  and put in the password. Your child will be thrilled if you comment on their message.   Enjoy! 
Our unit is well underway and we are busy exploring our world.  Students are reading about Lewis and Clark and other explorers.  Taking on the role of explorers we are also learning about map features, making our own maps and recording our new discoveries in our exploration journals.  
 
We were thrilled to explore our world through a Skype session with another IB school in South Carolina.  First we explored maps and brainstormed clues about Hawaii.  Each class gave 4 clues about where their school is located and then we researched with maps, globes, and the internet.  We held another Skype session and confirmed our inference that the Mystery School was in Hilton Head, South Carolina; an island with alligators, deer, squirrels and mossy oak trees.  We discovered that we had a lot in common with our new Skype friends.  We both live on islands, have marble jar celebrations, conduct research with maps and more... 
 I have lined up more Mystery Skype sessions with other schools around the world.   We will have a postcard exchange with each Mystery School.  Please have your child bring in 4 postcards from Hawaii.   
The Windward Aerospace Lab was full of opportunities for exploration.  Thank you to Ms. White, Mr. Ferandin and Zach's grandparents for chaperoning our expedition!  
This week we conducted our own mini exploration with our fifth grade buddies.  Acting as explorers we observed the environment and  found caterpillars, centipedes, graffiti, and more...   
Upcoming Events
March 1st - 7:45-8:30
Books and Bagels
  All are invited to join us in the classroom to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day .  Bring your favorite Dr. Seuss Book! 
March 11th-
Student Led Conferences- Sign up will be available on our class website soon
March 15th 
Family Fun Night
 
Today we celebrated being in school for 100 days.  We worked collaboratively to put together 100 piece puzzles.  We focused on phrases and words we used when we are working in a group.  Here are a few student quotes-  "Wow, you are smart!"  "Thanks for helping me!"  "Here I think you need this!"  "We did it, great teamwork!"  and finally "Wow, we finished let's go see if we can help someone else!"  By being caring communicators we were demonstrating the Learner Profile!  
Next we predicted how far we could walk if we only walked 100 steps.  We headed outside and took 100 steps.  We had to draw a map of our 100 step journey.  
Then we made our 100 day glasses so we could visit the kdg. and 3rd grade classrooms.  We were on a search for 100 words.  We categorized our words into 3 or fewer syllables and words that had 4 or more syllables.  We made a prediction that the third grade classes would have more words that had 4 or more syllables and we were right!  We also predicted that there would be more words in the kdg. classes.  Once we were in the kdg. rooms students looked around and said-  
"Wow it is WORD HEAVEN in here!"   
Finally we put all of our snacks together and  enjoyed our delicious 100 Day Friendship Snack! 
It was a great day!  

Reminder- Field Trip to the Bishop Museum this FRIDAY!  Please bring a lunch from home.   

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