Hello Parents,
It has been another great week in second grade! The students have been working hard to create a positive, caring community in our classroom. Students have been learning how to practice the attitudes of RMC- be respectful, be mindful, be caring to be successful. What a fun way to begin our RMC work.
This week, we participated in some "I <3 Math!" activities that built up some of our math mindsets including math is creative, everyone can do math, and mistakes and challenges help our brain grow. This work included subitizing dots up to 20 to see the many ways we can represent, break down and count numbers, creating our own scales and graphs, and using shapes to create many different objects.
As we continue to build our community, we are also working on teamwork. This week, we participated in a STEM challenge in which students were given one piece of construction paper, scissors and glue and had to make the longest paper chain they could in 30 minutes. When we finished, students lined up their paper chains and saw the different strategies that teams used. We found that the longer chains were often made with skinnier strips, however if they were too skinny, they would break! Here is a peek at our paper chains:
We are also super lucky to have a student teacher from St. Michael's College. Here is a note from her:
My name is Mrs. McCarthy. I will be student teaching in Mrs Mahl's classroom this Fall. I am a graduate student at Saint Michael's College working towards an Elementary Teaching License and a Masters in Special Education. I have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Justice Studies from the University of New Hampshire. I have experience working as a Mainstream Teaching Assistant, Behavior Interventionist, and Soccer Coach in Essex Westford School District. I also previously worked as a preschool teacher in Albany, NY. In my free time, I love to ride my bike around Burlington with my husband, bake cookies, explore farmers markets and hunt for antiques.
Please check the sidebar for important dates. As you see, we have a field trip planned for Sept. 14th for International Dot Day! As it is a short trip, we will not be needing chaperones. More information will be forthcoming.
This week, we participated in some "I <3 Math!" activities that built up some of our math mindsets including math is creative, everyone can do math, and mistakes and challenges help our brain grow. This work included subitizing dots up to 20 to see the many ways we can represent, break down and count numbers, creating our own scales and graphs, and using shapes to create many different objects.
As we continue to build our community, we are also working on teamwork. This week, we participated in a STEM challenge in which students were given one piece of construction paper, scissors and glue and had to make the longest paper chain they could in 30 minutes. When we finished, students lined up their paper chains and saw the different strategies that teams used. We found that the longer chains were often made with skinnier strips, however if they were too skinny, they would break! Here is a peek at our paper chains:
We are also super lucky to have a student teacher from St. Michael's College. Here is a note from her:
My name is Mrs. McCarthy. I will be student teaching in Mrs Mahl's classroom this Fall. I am a graduate student at Saint Michael's College working towards an Elementary Teaching License and a Masters in Special Education. I have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Justice Studies from the University of New Hampshire. I have experience working as a Mainstream Teaching Assistant, Behavior Interventionist, and Soccer Coach in Essex Westford School District. I also previously worked as a preschool teacher in Albany, NY. In my free time, I love to ride my bike around Burlington with my husband, bake cookies, explore farmers markets and hunt for antiques.
I am looking forward to working with you and your children this Fall.
Be Kind,
Mrs. McCarthy
Other Things to Ask Your Child About:
- Whole class game: Mosquito tag, rainbow tag, under the bridge, fruit salad tag
- Chrysanthemum
- My Teacher's Secret Life
- First Day Jitters
- Creating beautiful oops's
Please check the sidebar for important dates. As you see, we have a field trip planned for Sept. 14th for International Dot Day! As it is a short trip, we will not be needing chaperones. More information will be forthcoming.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kelly
