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!

We've hit our groove!

I am so excited to say that we've hit our groove!  This is what I call it when we've learned the routines and our classroom is a smooth operating machine!  I love when we make it to this point in the year because the focus turns to LEARNING!

In science we're learning about health.  We're learning how to keep our bodies healthy.  At the same time, we're learning to research!

Watching a BrainPopJr video to learn about germs and what happens in our bodies when we get sick

Discussing what we've learned with our partners

Recording what we've learned

Happy Grandparents Day!

Happy Grandparents Day to all of our grandparents!  We had a wonderful celebration on Friday!  We set a record for the number of attending grandparents.  We had more grandparents this year than we've had on years where we've had 4 classes of second graders!  I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time out of their day to come to NBE and spend the afternoon with us!

A cafeteria full of grandparents and grandchildren!

Yummy snacks provided by Mr. Ayers and the cafeteria staff

Reading Comprehension

Here is a link to a wonderful article about reading comprehension.  As I tell the kids, the whole point of reading is to remember what we've read.  How many times I've been fooled by the student with perfect fluency... only to find out later that there was no comprehension behind it!  While being able to read fluently is important, the most important aspect of reading, in my opinion, is comprehension and higher-level understanding.

What to Do When Your Child Can't Remember What He Read