~ Gingerbread Glyphs ~

Today the kids created their own unique Gingerbread boys and girls. They are called "glyphs" because every part of each Gingerbread person is unique to the specific kiddo who created it! Some of the attributes included age, number of sisters & brothers, birthday month, and others. Hope you can come into the school before Christmas break and see them all!

Hockaday Museum Fieldtrip

Thursday we enjoyed spending our morning viewing an exhibit of Blackfeet Indian art at The Hockaday. The kids learned a lot about the amazing artwork of the Blackfeet People. After our museum tour, it was time for a wonderful hands-on art project where we learned about still life art. Here is a small sample of the terrific work!

Today we read The Polar Express in class and discussed what we would each want if we were given the First Gift of Christmas. Come into the school and see the beautiful quilt we created that is hanging in the hallway!

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We explored the following websites this week and learned a great deal about the history of the Pilgrims and the history of the first Thanksgiving. Enjoy exploring them with your child over the holiday break!
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/
http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/intro.html

Here is another fun site full of Thanksgiving games and activities that we did not get a chance to do much with before the break:
http://www.sd5.k12.mt.us/elrod/multiage/2009-2010/Thanksgiving.html

**All three of these links are listed under "2ND GRADE LINKS" to the right... you can more easily click on them there & be routed right to the sites instead of cutting and pasting the URL from above**

We're Cooking Turkeys!

On Friday, the kids each wrote their own "How To" book about how they would cook a Thanksgiving turkey. You will certainly enjoy all of the great ideas from these creative cooks-in-the making!

Note: move your mouse onto any page to stop the slideshow if you want more time to look.

How To Cook a Turkey

VoAg Harvest Days Fieldtrip!

What a great fieldtrip we enjoyed today to the FHS Vo-Ag Center. The kids enjoyed a hay bale maze, hot chocolate, a little calf roping, some line dancing, a hay ride, watching branding (on wood, not a cow!) and our class was weighed together in a cattle chute -- we weighed in at a whopping 1,348 pounds! Pretty amazing! Enjoy this fun slideshow of our trip.
TANNEN & BRENDAN, we missed YOU!!

Our Fieldtrip to the Vo-Ag Center!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

MATH GAME: You Never Lose

Here is a GREAT math game that your kiddo can play at home with a regular deck of playing cards. It is a wonderful way for them to practice their sums for 10. Have fun!

~ Pumpkin Recipes to Share ~

We enjoyed reading a book all about PUMPKINS today! Here are two great recipes that the kids asked me to post on the blog. Enjoy trying them out over the 4-day weekend ~ HAPPY BAKING!
(click on each recipe to enlarge)

CROSSOVER: A Spelling Game

Today I taught the kids a fun game for practicing their spelling words. I learned it at a teaching conference last year. The husband/wife team who presented the game spoke from personal experience: when their children played this game each night to practice their spelling words, they got 100% on each and every spelling test they took! Quite the testimonial!

EEKK!

Today we learned the 4th Daily 5 choice: READING TO SOMEONE. When we read together, we need to be sure we sit "EEKK" (Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee) Here are a few snapshots of pairs of readers!
(You can click on the image to make it larger)

If WE Were Mr. B. for a Day!

This was a very fun Traveling Book to write! Enjoy the funny ideas each of the kids had when asked, "What would YOU do if you were Mr. B. (our principal) for a day?"

Welcome to a new year in Second Grade!

At last our class blog is up and running! I hope this blog is a helpful tool for my families to stay connected to their child's class here at Hedges, as well as a fun learning tool for my students to access from home for more reading and math practice. Please check in regularly to see what we are up to here in Second Grade, and leave us comments on what you see!