Gobble_ Gobble_

							MRS.LARBUS’ 2ND GRADE

Buckeye Valley West Elementary
Ostrander, OH
Week of November 12th

Let’s See What’s New in Room 123!
Halloween Recovery
I hope you all survived the last couple of weeks and all of the craziness that comes with Halloween. In the morning, we worked on writing descriptive paragraphs using a variety of pumpkins and gourds. The excitement started to build when the students had the opportunity to dissect the pumpkins and continue writing their observations using their five senses. Many kids even chose to taste pure pumpkin followed by sweet pumpkin pie mix. I bet you can guess what everyone’s favorite was!

Pumpkin Contest Results

I must say that I was truly amazed by the creativity of the members of our class! We had nine awesome entries in this year’s contest, and I am proud to say that all three of our classroom winners were also the school winners! Congratulations to: Aaron Watson – Bart Simpson Branson Kurtz – Monsters, Inc. Gabrielle Legg – McDonald’s kids meal

Three of this year’s awesome pumpkin creations!

Gobble, Gobble! Thanksgiving is almost here!
Family makes the party even better! How about a mouse treat matey? Arrr!

Thanks to all of our amazing parents, the kids had one of the best parties in the school! Our classroom was covered in spider webs, pumpkins, and of course, treats! Students made caramel apples, ate ice cream cake, and played Halloween games. It was a wonderful day! Special thanks to our party coordinator, Traci Radcliffe. Thanks again to all parents, siblings, and friends who made the party a success!

Now that Halloween has come and gone, it’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner! As many of you may remember from last year, the day before Thanksgiving break, the first and second grade classes all gathered for a huge Thanksgiving feast. Tuesday, November 20th, we plan on continuing this tradition. In preparation for our feast, we will be preparing cornbread and soup. Once again, volunteers can help us make this experience a truly memorable one for the kids. If you are interested in helping the class prepare food or set-up/tear-down the feast, please let me know. Please see additional information in your child’s F.R.O.G.

Let’s See What’s New in Room 123! Social Studies Update
The students’ town proposals are finished! They did AMAZING work and even presented their proposals to Miss Lewis! Their work was very high quality and creative! We also are learning about the continents and oceans. Students’ know “The Continent Song” and had the opportunity to explore the continents on Google Earth. This was a HUGE hit. If you have access to a computer (and a couple minutes to monitor) your child may enjoy exploring Google Earth at home. This will help build geography skills.

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This Week’s Highlights
Monday, Nov. 12th --Math Assessment Art

Tuesday, Nov. 13th --- Gym Wednesday, Nov. 14th --- Library Thursday, Nov. 15th --- Music Friday, Nov. 16th --- Art Spelling Quiz Monday, Nov. 19th --Gym Library Tuesday, Nov. 20th --Thanksgiving Feast!

Students’ are Scientists!
Students received a letter from the governor asking them to propose to start a new town. They were excited to present their towns to Miss Lewis, the governor’s representative.

Literacy Happenings

Students are learning to become more sindependent and responsible for their own work. They are keeping track of their literacy activities using their “My Weekly Tasks” sheet. This works like a checklist and enables the students to choose from a list of reading and writing activities to complete during the week. So far, they are doing very well with this. In addition, students have the opportunity to visit the new science table to explore new concepts each week. This area has quickly become a new favorite. We are also continuing Writing Workshop. Students’ writing is starting to resemble that of famous authors we read in class. They are including title pages, dedications, and tables of contents in their books. Writing Workshop time is cherished and students put up quite a fight if they miss a day. Some are even writing during recess. How wonderful!

Last week the students discovered what it feels like to be a scientist! They learned the importance of recording their predictions, observations, and conclusions. They worked in pairs to blow bubbles on their desks with straws and then find ways to put common objects inside without popping the bubble! It was quite a sight, and the students’ predictions and observations were insightful. We continued using our science observation journals with pumpkins last Wednesday. This week, they will explore magnetism at the science table. Ask your child to share more about this with you!

First, using our science notebooks we predicted what we could put inside a bubble without popping it.

Then we worked to blow a bubble on our desks. It was much harder than we thought it would be!

It’s too good to stop! Writing during recess.

Reading part of his “science fiction” book, We!

Next we worked together to add the objects to the bubble without popping it!