back to school 2014

Hello, Everyone!  
Today is August 16th. It is the perfect day to start thinking about Back to School!  We still have two full weeks off (plus some), but September is coming!  One of my goals for this year is to keep up with this blog better than I have in the past.  This is easy to do BEFORE the rush of school starting, of course, but I am hoping to post one blog a week throughout this year. Are you thinking of any goals YOU might have for 2014-2015? I asked my personal guinea-pig future second grader, Emily for one of her goals for this year.  She wants to be able to complete 100 math facts in 5 minutes!  I think she can do it!  Comment on a goal YOU have for second grade!  :)

Nature Day!

Last Friday, all the second grades participated in Nature Day! We broke into 3 groups, mixed classes. One group visited our lovely nature trail with Miss Spiniello and parents to search for living and non-living things. The second group tidied up the butterfly garden with Mrs. Poelaert and parents. Thanks Mr. Matusko for bringing planting materials! The last group worked with me in the classroom to create some very cool leaf art. Sorry that I wasn't able to get a picture of everyone's before they were collected, but hopefully it inspired you to use leaves to create more art! For more inspiration, check out Look What I Did with a Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi.

Literary Lights for Children

Books are like candy for me-I just can't get enough!  Like most avid readers, I have favorite authors and illustrators, and I love to share my excitement about them with others.  I've become close friends with the staff at The Blue Bunny Bookstore in Dedham and have been lucky enough to attend many of their wonderful author/illustrator events.  On the day Emily got her first American Girl doll (and cast and crutches...for the doll), we met Jane O'Connor, the author of the Fancy Nancy series there.  She was kind enough to sign Emily's (the doll's) cast!  This is just one amazing encounter of many that we have had there. (And you all probably already know that we love our friend, Peter H. Reynolds!)

Well, I was lucky enough this weekend, to have another sort of amazing author encounter.  My friend Joy, knowing that I am a HUGE fan of Rick Riordan and his Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, and 39 Clues series, invited me as a guest to The Literary Lights for Children at the Boston Public Library. 

 

Boy, was I in for a treat!  Not only did I get to meet and listen to one of my idols, Rick Riordan, but I also was able to meet the other wonderful authors and illustrators listed above.  You may know Jeanne Birdsall for her Penderwick's series or picture books (http://www.jeannebirdsall.com/index.html), recognize Kadir Nelson's illustrations from a multitude of renown picture books (http://www.kadirnelson.com/Books.html), or know of Helen Frost from her poetic literature (http://www.helenfrost.net/). Regardless, Literary Lights for Children was an amazing event, and I look forward to attending again in the future.  

Remember that authors and illustrators are often idols for your children, and often more reachable than athletes, musicians, and movie stars.  Be sure to reach out and give your children the opportunity to meet these incredible talents who create new worlds and adventures for us all!

Rick Riordan accepting his award. 

 Meeting Mr. Riordan! 

   

Open House

 

Thank you all so much for coming to Open House last week!  It was a lot of fun and I had a great time meeting all of you!  I'll be adding these photos to our Shutterfly Share site as well.

 

The Dot in Space

It's always so much fun to get to know a new class.  Over the first couple of weeks, personalities begin to come through and I become privy to interests of many of the students.  It seems, this year, that we have quite a few fans of learning about space and the solar system!  There's been talk of White Dwarfs and...wormholes!(?)  This reminded me to share about a pretty exciting experience I had this summer and another DOT connection.  
Here's where the story begins: Stellar Cafe.  Be sure to read it so you'll understand the rest of this post!!  :)
In the blog post, you saw The Dot in space.  Here is that copy back here on Earth.

Anyway, back to MY experience.  As you discovered by reading Peter's blog post (you did read it...didn't you....), Col. Chris Hadfield wanted to collaborate on a children's book with Peter.  As a part of the process, he and his wife visited Boston for a short time this summer while he worked with Peter.  During that time, Peter decided to have a fun meet and greet with Col. Hadfield with some of the Blue Bunnies' friends and family.  Emily and I were fortunate enough to make the list! I knew it was cool when I was invited, but I can't even describe what a cool and interesting guy Chris Hadfield is.  He was smart and personable and really described his journey into space in such a way to inspire anyone to chase their dreams.  He became very well known while Commander on the International Space Station through his YouTube videos, showing what everyday experiences here on earth are like in space.  Here's the link to one video: Sleeping in Space.  This will lead to others.  Any space fans will enjoy these!  

Here are a few more pics from our evening. It was such a privilege to meet Colonel Hadfield and I can NOT wait for his book with Peter to come out.  In the meantime, I'll be reading his adult book An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth.  

 Peter showing Emily the Space Dot! 

 Col. Hadfield, Emily, and me! 

 Col. Hadfield, Emily, and Stink!

International Dot Day 2013

As you can see, we had lots of fun celebrating International Dot Day on Friday!  We started by watching The Dot on Fablevision's Big Screen Books, narrated by the one and only Peter H. Reynolds.We also watched an author visit with Peter.  
After that, students painted dots using water colors or drew dots with crayons and markers while they had their snacks. 
Following recess, I showed them a cool video from Steve Spangler science that you can watch here: Sharpie Tie-dye video. Then the kids got to work!  Didn't the Dots come out beautiful?!  (In order to get the color to really stick, set it with heat from an iron.  Just be careful not to iron the iron-on frame.)
Later on, after math and our Welcome Back assembly, students designed dots on the ColAR template made just for Dot Day!  We used iPads to make the dots 3-d!  So cool!  I was able to get screen shots of a couple (posted below our Animoto).  Enjoy!

International Dot Day Activity

The t-shirts and Sharpies have been rolling in-thank you!  I'll be prepping t-shirts the next few nights for a fun science/art activity on Friday in celebration of International Dot Day on Sunday, September 15th.
Have you read The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds yet?  It is so inspiring!  That is why there are now over 1,000,000 people worldwide celebrating with us!
Here is one fun activity that uses a cool app for mobile devices: 
http://fablevisionlearning.com/blog/2013/08/dot-day-fun-watch-your-dot-come-to-life-in-amazing-3d-in-the-colar-app/

To do this, you use this app:

Click on the picture to see a cool video about other coloring fun you can have with the app!

Here's the dot that I colored:

And HERE it is in 3D!

How cool is that?! We'll be making some in class and I can't wait!  Feel free to play at home, too.  There are lots of coloring pages on the site that work with the app that is also free. Have fun making your mark!