Proud 2nd Grade Americans!

What a full week in 2-2!
Read below for the highlights of our adventures this week.

 The children practiced their "friendly letter" writing skills by writing a letter to President Obama. They wrote very kind letters and included some interesting questions about what it was like being the President of the United States and living in the White House. The children addressed their envelopes and included a return address as well. Thank you so much for sending in a stamp if you were able to. We were able to mail all of the letters. I'm hoping that the children receive a response in the mail! Please let us know if/when you do! :)

 After our class Primaries and National Convention, it was time for the "Big Campaign." This involved our two remaining candidates, Trevor Thompson and Clark Conway, shaking hands, giving speeches, and even having a debate about 2-2 issues! Our Joe and Curtis did a TERRIFIC job of playing the parts of our candidates.

 The children enjoyed making buttons and posters to show support for their favorite candidate.

 In the library, the children put finishing touches on their Presidential research reports. Using photographs on the computer, they drew a head that resembled their president to attach to the top. I was AMAZED at the beautiful artwork I saw! The kids did an amazing job of capturing notable details of their president (hair style, glasses, attire, etc.) and including them in their drawings. These are hanging in the hall for you to view at conferences on Monday and Tuesday!

 During our reading workshop this week, we investigated the growth and change that a character went through from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. We noticed that sometimes a character's appearance or attitude may change, and sometimes, it might stay the same! The children enjoyed searching for changes in the characters in their independent reading.

 We also took some time this week to assess our personal reading goals. The children gave themselves a 1, 2, or 3 depending on how comfortable they felt they had become with their goal. If they gave themselves a 3, that meant that they had achieved their goal and they were ready to move on to a new goal!

 I was so happy to see that the new goals that the children set for themselves this month reflected our most recent reading workshop lessons. Many of the children chose identifying the meaning of new words (this was another workshop lesson this week! The children selected a few new words in their reading, and searched for clues to determine the meaning including: reading the words around it, using the punctuation in the sentence, or looking at the picture.) Other goals I noticed included investigating characters or following the main character's "journey" through the story!

 We did not have a class star student this week, so we made our United States President, Barack Obama, our star student! We printed some pictures of his: election, inauguration, family, meeting with world leaders, and in front of the White House. The children helped write captions below each one. It was a fun way to learn a little bit about our current President!

 It was finally time to have our class election. The kids were SO excited! After registering to vote they were ready to visit the voting booth for their private vote. We talked about how voting is a huge privilege in our country, and we should take it very seriously! And they did!

 I should say that before voting, the children compared the candidates in depth through the use of a Venn Diagram. We considered all of the issues that we felt were important, and how the candidates felt about them. We realized it is very important to consider each candidate carefully before making a selection.

 The kids were so proud to wear their "I VOTED!" buttons after our election!

 Mrs. Colias popped by this week for a really fun and engaging Art Appreciation lesson. She talked with the children about Japanese wood block printing, and then the children were able to practice a version of this themselves! They received a piece of foam and carved a drawing into it with their pencil. Then they covered it in ink and stamped it onto a piece of paper. The children really absorbed this type of art and loved practicing it on their own!

 We had a visit from children's author/illustrator Ethan Long this week as well. He got the kids so interested in writing stories and brainstormed new ideas with them! He then sketched one of our suggestions right before our very eyes! The kids were enthralled!

 We read a book called "Thanksgiving in the White House" this afternoon, as we were looking ahead to our Thanksgiving holiday. We learned that President Abraham Lincoln first declared Thanksgiving a National Holiday back in 1863. He pardoned a turkey that his son Tad wanted to save. We then watched a video clip of President Barack Obama pardoning 2 turkeys in honor of this wonderful holiday that reminds us to be thankful.

 We spent some time learning about our National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner" this week. We learned about who wrote it (Francis Scott Key), and why (during the Battle of 1812, it was a sign that we had overcome the British in battle), and the words began to make so much more sense to us. We showed our growing patriotism by learning more about American symbols, and then creating our own star spangled banners!

 Here are a few of our terrific president research projects- they turned out great!

I'm looking forward to meeting with everyone for Parent Teacher Conferences over the next few days. The children have worked SO HARD this trimester and I am tremendously proud of the progress of each and every one of my students! Please read through the progress report carefully and let the children know what a great job they are doing at school!

See you all next week!