Blog Posts

I have to apologize for being so neglectful of this blog!  I have been enjoying the ease and efficiency of posting updates on our class Facebook page!  In case you haven't yet found it, here is the link: Miss Perron's Class Facebook Page

Because of this, I haven't been posting on this beautiful blog!  I welcome any ideas you might have.  Are there any peeks into life in our class that you are especially interested in?  Please email me, if you do!

One update I have made here is creating a page for homework links.  As you know, the two we use regularly are Xtra Math and Spelling City.  I am going to add other links that the students enjoy using.  As I add them, I will also post a bit about them here. 

The first website I would like to tell you about is Education City.  This is the second year we have subscribed to Education City.  It is a fun site that covers many of our standards through visually fun games.  If students do not sign in, they can still play the games.  If students DO sign in, however, they have the option of SAVING their scores if they are pleased with their work.  These scores are reported to me so that I can see which activities they have completed and how they are doing.  (If they save a score and later get a better score, they can replace their score!)  Their sign-in information is located in their binders.  Unfortunately, it is assigned and I can not change it. 

At times I will set up a My City (ask your child to show you where this icon is) for our center time.  Here I can specify assignments I want them to work on. 

A favorite activity is Play Live. Here, students can play a challenge (math facts or spelling) against other students. They can choose to play against a student who is playing somewhere else in the nation, school, or class.  This is great practice for Xtra Math.  Enjoy! 

International Dot Day!

Wow! So the final number of teachers, students, libraians, and others who registered to celebrate International Dot Day this year was over 600,000 worldwide! Every state in the United States and 6 continents (anyone have a friend in Antartica?!) were represented. Last year there were about 17,000. What growth! I am excited to say that this was my third year celebrating with my class and second year making our awesome t-shirts! (I'll post a short video with the technique we used at the end of this post.)

After celebrating at school on Friday, Emily and I headed to the Blue Bunny in Dedham and helped create a huge collaborative dot with Peter! You'l see it in this slideshow. Didn't it come out beautiful?!

 



On Saturday, we headed in The Children's Museum in Boston where we were able to participate in the Dot Day celebration. Emily and I even had our picture taken with the Mayor of Boston, Mr. Tom Menino.

To learn more about the message of The Dot and Dot Day, here are the Reynolds brothers in a really cool Discovery Education webcast to tell you all about it!

 

Looking forward to next year.  It is the 10th anniversary of the book.  I am sure exciting things are to come!

 

Here's the tie-dye Sharpie tie-dye project video:

 



           

New School Year!

Dear Second Grade Stars and families,
Welcome back to a new school year!  We had a wonderful first couple of days and I am confident that our year will continue as such.  I can already tell this is a fun, enthusiastic group of students.  I know many of you already, but for those parents who I have not yet met, here is just a little bit about me.  I grew up in Roslindale and Hyde Park (though my families roots are JP).  I attended Holy Name and then Boston Latin School, from which I graduated in 1991.  I received my Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education from Bridgewater State College and my Master's in Elementary Education from Framingham State College.  I have taught in Walpole since 1998. 
I had two favorite teachers in elementary school, Mrs. O'Grady in 5th grade, and Mr. Bernazzani in second.  I have no idea where either of them are now or if they are still teaching, but they truly inspired me to become an educator.  From what I remember of them, they were patient, yet firm, and taught with a sense of humor.  They also allowed us to be curious and creative.  I like to think that those are qualities that I have maintained in my own teaching style. 
Teaching is constantly evolving.  Standards and policies change, students and classroom dynamics change, families change.  What works one year, may not work the next.  What works with one student, may not work with another.  While there are certain practices that work from year to year, please know that I am not afraid to try new methods or make adjustments to old ones so that I can best meet the needs of the children in my class.  Learning is not "one size fits all" and it sometimes takes a few tries to figure out the "right fit".  It is my hope that we will have open communication and work together to make this the very best year yet!   

Biblionasium, Etc...

Here is a new, exciting website that I have shared with the class: Biblionasium.  If you have ever used Good Reads for yourself, you will see that this is a similar, although kid friendly, site!  I've been able to show the kids some limited features in class, as they do need your permission and email to access other features.  Kids can rate and review books they've read, get recommendations from friends, and win virtual prizes for logged reading minutes.
This site is a Beta version, so we have discovered some glitches, such as able to log in one time, but unable another.  Despite that, however, the kids seemed REALLY motivated to use it, and ANYTHING (well...almost) that motivates kids to read and share what they've read is a good thing!  I plan on checking in and hopefully interacting on the site over the summer, so I'll be interested to see if students continue to use it.


Also, I will leave their blogs and  XtraMath up for them to use until I have to enter my next year's class.  Education City will also be available, along with any links from my website.  Great ways to avoid Summer Brain Drain!! :)

Art Docent

Today, Mrs. Webber came into class and taught an intro lesson on art. Students examined actual works of art to discuss line, shapes, color, and mood. They also did a couple of quick hands on activities. It was a fabulous experience and they'll all be ready to dive right in next year when they have monthly lessons! 

Poems, Finally!

Ugh!  So I like to use Flickr to make slideshows of photos and videos because it is quick and easy...usually!  For some reason my app was being really picky about the snips it would download and those it wouldn't...but we finally have a product!  Enjoy!

Some were nervous, and some were confident as can be, but all did a wonderful job! 

By request....

Save the Date!

Are you ever looking for fun, laid back events for your family?  Here's a recommendation! 

On Saturday, Emily and I attended another fun Catching Joy (http://catchingjoy.org/) event.  This event took place a lovely place on Berkeley Street in Boston called Tico (http://ticoboston.com/).  Parking was a breeze because it was an early event (10 a.m.), which is always a bonus! 
Emily's Daisy troop collected books for this event which benefits Reach Out and Read (http://www.reachoutandread.org/).  We delivered a bagful of gently used titles and created bookmarks to go with them while at Tico. 
After making the bookmarks, we enjoyed a DELICIOUS brunch (reasonably priced) and enjoyed the musical talent of Ben Rudnick and Friends (http://www.benrudnick.com/), a fun band that plays music geared toward children.  You may know of them if you have ever attended the Life Is Good Festival! The only cost was for brunch, which is optional.

There is a similar event coming up on June 3rd from 12-2.  The venue and format will be the same, though  on a Sunday (easy and FREE meter parking).  The June event will be to benefit Newton Wellesley Hospital.  They are asking guest to bring a new teddy bear donate to children at the hospital.  The craft (which I will be running) is decorating a paper teddy bear.  Crafters are welcome to donate their decorated bear or keep it as a reminder of their generosity! Here's a link with more info: http://www.benrudnick.com/familyworks/events.html#June3.

If you are not ready to go home after the event, it is also World Oceans Day which will be celebrated at the New England Aquarium.  Catching Joy will also be hosting a table there making turtle crafts!

Learning about Adverbs

Currently, second graders are learning about adverbs in grammar.  It is important to continually review other parts of speech that we have done: nouns, verbs, and adjectives.  Ways to do this are define, come up with examples, try to pick them out of sentences, and revise them in writing.  Enjoy this Adverb Schoolhouse Rock!

Grace's Voki!

Tim's Voki!

Thanks Tim!  I'm sure everyone will enjoy this!

Happy President's Day!

Writing and Sharing

One of the tech items we are lucky enough to have in our classroom is a document camera (code name: Goose).  It makes sharing work easy and the kids love to show what they've done!  Here they are working on writing how to build a snowman (sequencing).

Scholastics Top 100 Books for Kids

There are a few more days left on the countdown, but it's fun to see how many you have read! 

http://www.scholastic.com/100books/

Valentine Prep

Just a reminder to send in covered boxes for our Valentine celebration on Tuesday!  Also, please send in any decorations for boxes (stickers, etc...). 

Don't forget to send in your child's special snack (Party in a Box) on Tuesday, as well! 

Plant a Kiss!

Emily and I made it to the Blue Bunny this morning for the Plant a Kiss! book launch party.  Emily wore her very special shirt that her friend Peter (H. Reynolds) gave her for her birthday last year!  It was very appropriate for a "Plant a Kiss" party, as you can see!  Mr. Reynolds is such an inspiration, but I was also thrilled to meet Ms. Rosenthal.  I love her book Cookies: Bite Sized Lessons, and am looking forward to reading some of her grown-up books!
I also grabbed the latest edition of Hutch Magazine while I was there.  Hopefully some more of my students will become staff writers for the edition due out in June! 

Animal Projects

Second Graders did such a FANTASTIC job on their animal reports and projects!  Not only did my students have a chance to share their work with classmates, but we also visited the students in Mrs. Poelaert's and Miss Spiniello's classes.  Each student was assigned a student in each of the other classes to interview about their animal.  The interview questions allowed students to ask important questions, but the conversations that continued AFTER the assigned questions were asked were fun, interesting, and so engaging!  To hear second graders carry on conversations about characteristics that distinguish different species as vertebrates (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish) or invertebrates, about adaptations that allow creatures to live in different environments, diet, distribution, and so much more is incredible! 

Projects included puppets, dioramas, poster displays, clay models, Powerpoint slideshows, video, and more!  The students seemed to enjoy the project and obviously took great pride in presenting their work.  I also think they were impressed by their friends, as well.  It is wonderful to see students inspire each other.

Below is a short photo book that I put together.  Unfortunately a couple of students are missing, but I will add them to the page if I can get photos of them with their projects.  Enjoy!

Digital Learning Day!

In recognition of Digital Learning Day, our class created a Wallwisher wall to show what we have learned about mammals! Wallwisher is a fun, easy tool that is great for collaborating to share ideas or organizing ideas. Perhaps a good tool to use to take notes while preparing to write this month's biographies? Enjoy checking out some mammal facts!

Fact Fluency

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to the curriculum presentation last Tuesday evening!  I thought this might be a good place to answer some questions that came up.  I am going to start with Fact Fluency and Xtra Math, but feel free to email me if you would like to see another topic covered or question answered.  Feel free to direct other grade two classes to the blog as well.  Mrs. Poelaert, Miss Spiniello, and I are always in very close communication.  While this blog is primarily for my class, others may find some of the information helpful. (The same goes for teacher websites.  Be sure to visit all three as you might find some gem you were looking for!)

What is Fact Fluency?
"Mastery of a basic fact means that a child can give a quick response (in about 3 seconds) without resorting to nonefficient means, such as counting." -Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics - Grades 3-8 by John A. Van de Walle and LouAnn H. Lovin copyright 2006

Why do we put so much emphasis on Fact Fluency? 
Educators and cognitive scientists agree that the ability to recall basic math facts fluently is necessary for students to attain higher-order math skills. Grover Whitehurst, the Director of the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), noted this research during the launch of the federal Math Summit in 2003: “Cognitive psychologists have discovered that humans have fixed limits on the attention and memory that can be used to solve problems. One way around these limits is to have certain components of a task become so routine and over-learned that they become automatic.” Whitehurst, 2003) 

A more in depth explanation can be found here: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/math-fluency

XtraMath is just one tool that we use to help students master math facts.  Card games, flashcards, other computer games are also fun, effective tools.  The XtraMath website has a very useful FAQ section (https://www.xtramath.org/home/faq).  Here I have chosen some questions and answers that seem relevant to our discussion on Tuesday evening.

▼Can students do XtraMath more than once per day?

Students can sign in to XtraMath multiple times per day however once per day is the recommended amount. Additional sessions have diminishing educational value and they decrease students' enthusiasm for the program. Once per day as regularly as possible is the key to making good progress.

▼ XtraMath goes too fast for my child. Can you slow it down?

XtraMath is designed to measure what basic math facts students can recall, not what they can calculate. Three seconds is a carefully selected compromise that is long enough that a relatively slow typist can enter a recalled answer, and short enough so that most finger-counted responses are not erroneously considered fluent. If you increase the interval then you are no longer measuring fluency.

▼ My child is struggling with XtraMath. What should I do?

Here is what we recommend you tell your child if they are struggling with XtraMath:

• XtraMath takes only a few minutes each day, but it requires your undivided attention during that time. Stay focused on the problems and do your best every time.
• Do not feel hurried by the clock. Accuracy is more important than speed, but once you have the answer you should type it in promptly.
• Do not worry about the occasional typo or mistake. You will have many more chances to answer that same problem in the future.
• Do not guess. Try to remember the answer first, and if you cannot remember it then calculate it.
• Whenever "Mr. C" shows you the correct answer take a second to repeat the problem and answer to yourself. This will help you remember it in the future.
• Never, ever enter wrong answers on purpose. If you do your score will drop significantly and it will take you several sessions to prove what you already know and get back where you should be.
• It can take two months or more of regular practice to master an operation so be patient and be persistent.
• Do XtraMath as regularly as possible while following this advice and you will make good progress.

I would also strongly recommend adding yourself to your child's account.  This way you and your child have access to their reports.  There is a section about reading the reports in the FAQ section, as well.

I have students using XtraMath a few times a week at school, but students can also access the site from home.  I have noticed a significant improvement in the fact fluency of those students who have taken the initiative to use the program at home as well.
I hope this helps and please don't hesitate to ask questions that you may have!

Plant a Kiss!

Fun event alert! 

VIP INVITE: PLANT A KISS Book Release Party!

When? Saturday, February 4, 2012, 11:00am until 1:00pm

Come Plant a Kiss! You're Invited to the PLANT A KISS Book Launch Party at The Blue Bunny Bookstore - Saturday, Feb 4th. Plant a Kiss is delightful picture book for all ages - an ode to perseverance & giving by Amy Krouse "Duck Rabbit/Little Pea/Little Oink/Bite Size Cookie books" Rosenthal, illustrated by our very own Peter H. Reynolds - published by our good friends at HarperCollins. You KNOW Miss Perron and Emily will be there! 

 

http://www.whoisamy.com/

http://www.peterhreynolds/

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

This week, students talked about the greatness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  The used words to describe him like fair, brave, smart, non-violent.  They discussed the meaning of his speech and what he meant by having a "dream".  We talked about what he stood for and what he wanted. 

Students watched a short movie that summarized the life of Dr. King.  They were given six main events in Dr. King's life and were asked to listen for and record the years in which these events occurred.  The students did fantastic!  Students then created timelines of these events by putting the dates in time order and drawing a picture or symbol to depict each event.  I was so impressed with their work. 

Here is a collage of just a few of the students' work.  Be sure to ask your child about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and allow them to use the timeline to recount some of the important events from his life.  Enjoy!

Donations

I am really excited to share that through Donor's Choose and Adopt-a-Classroom, we have received donations from some incredible and generous people! Back in October, I submitted a Donor's Choose grant for math games that was fulfilled in a record (for me) two and a half months! Our class was excited to receive the big box of materials last week! There was a little prep in assembling them, but I was able to show them to the kiddos on Friday and they were itching to get their hands on them!
I also received a notice last week that an individual from Marlborough, MA donated $250 through Adopt-a-Classroom! I am looking through the approved catalogues now to see what we can get to enhance student learning in grade two.
Photos of students using our new materials will be posted soon!

Ornament Book Projects

For their December book project, second graders created a festive, hanging ornament to represent a book that they read.  Don't they look wonderful!?
This project was inspired by the Family Trees Exhibit at The Concord Museum.  Emily and I had a chance to go over vacation.   The trees are beautiful!  I recommend you make visiting a yearly tradition!