Veteran's Day

In honor of Veteran's Day and the many veterans who protect our country, we have been learning about the United States branches of the military.  We learned how the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard work together to keep our country safe by reading nonfiction and fiction books and researching on the internet.  We even learned about veterans in our own families and graphed the results.  To top it all off, we wrote letters to a real Marine!

Our letters of thanks to a Marine

Between the 20 of us, we know 85 Veterans in all branches of the military!

Red Ribbon Week

We had a great Red Ribbon Week the week of October 28-November 1!  We learned how drugs hurt our bodies and talked about healthier choices we could make instead.  The best part of the week was dressing up to show our drug-free spirit!

The girls' crazy socks

The boys' crazy socks

Our baseball fans on sports day

Sports day Pretzel fans!

Chicago Bulls fans on sports day

Football fans for sports day

The girls on red day

The boys on red day

An impromptu dance party on pajama day

Happy Halloween!

It was rainy and dreary outside, but inside it was a PART-AY!  A HUMONGOUS thanks goes to Mrs. Heironimus, Mrs. Duewer, Mrs. Long, and Mrs. Hulett for planning, organizing, and running a great party!  Everyone had a blast and went home with goody bags the size of Santa's bag!

Paper plate masks

The giant snack table

The craft table

Pasta pumpkins

Toilet paper mummies

...and a personal thank you to the kids who shared their trick-or-treating loot with me!  Chocolate is my favorite!

Fall Festival

We had such a fun day last Friday!  It was PBIS Fall Festival day!  This exciting event was held to honor and celebrate the students who have shown positive behaviors all quarter long!

Several games were set up in the gym, and students were free to roam, visit, and play.  Check out some action shots!

Witch hat ring toss

Pumpkin walk... with real pumpkins for prizes!

Costume relay race

Candy corn bowling

Bean bag toss

Fire Safety Week

Last week was fire safety week, and The Second Grade Campers were busy learning all they can about keeping themselves and their families safe if there was ever a fire in their house.

We learned that you GET OUT as quickly as possible.  You should stay as low to the ground as you can and always feel closed doors before you open them.  For homework, students and their families came up with a fire escape plan for their homes.

After you're safely outside, you need to call 911 and the dispatcher will send emergency teams to your house.  But... you have to know your address to be able to do this!  I am ecstatic to report that every single student in our class made it into the Fire Safety Club by telling me their address from memory!

Firefighters will be dispatched to your home to put the fire out.  They wear fireproof gear and use specialized equipment so they stay safe while inside fires.  On Thursday, Captain Matt Raymond of the Springfield Fire Department came by with all of his gear!  He suited up so we would know what a firefighter would look, sound, and feel like.  It was a great experience!

We had a fantastic week and learned so much!  Next up... the man credited with discovering our country and the reason we had yesterday off - Christopher Columbus!

Feel that burn!

In science, we have been learning about health.  We've talked about washing our hands, eating a balanced diet, getting plenty of sleep, and exercising everyday.  Thursday, October 3, Anthony Nizzio, owner and personal trainer at Anthony's One-on-One Fitness, visited our classroom.  He taught us about eating healthily, the dangers of soda, how to clean our fruits and vegetables, and some simple exercises we can do to build our muscles.  Squats were definitely the favorite!

September Award Recipients

At the end of each week, students are presented with awards for their accomplishments that week.  Students can earn a Rocket Math award for moving up levels in Rocket Math, a Rockin' Behavior award for staying on green everyday, and a Perfectly Pink award for reaching pink on any day.

We also have awards at the end of each month to celebrate our BIG accomplishments.  These awards come with prizes!  Check out our September award recipients!

Awesome Behavior award recipients... these students NEVER moved below green all month long!

This award comes with a trip to the goody box.

Homework Hall of Fame... these students turned in every single homework assignment!

This award comes with lunch club - lunch in the classroom, and I bring dessert!

Rockin' Reader Award... these students completed their September reading calendars!

This award comes with an extra recess!

Congratulations to all of our September award recipients!  Keep up the awesome work!