Friday, we had our first STEAM challenge!  We talked about what STEAM means, and the process that we will go through each week.  The kids were excited, and did a great job for their first challenge!

and the process!

This week, our challenge was to create a name tag that would stand up (this was the most challenging part), had to be a certain height, and could only be created with certain materials.  Their name tag had to show their name, and something about themselves.  It was fun to watch the kids thinking, and to revise their plans.  I was very impressed with the success kids had after some multiple attempts.  I look forward to watching the kids turn their thinking caps on for STEAM challenges throughout the year!

 

We practiced our first game on iPads this week, as well!  We will use iPads regularly in the classroom.   They will be a regular part of our math rotations.  This week we practiced with an app called “Math Slide”.  We practiced recognizing the different ways that numbers can be represented.  The kids did a great job with general iPad skills, and  working with a partner!

Wow!  What a great group of second graders we have!!!  It has been such a great week, learning our friends names, all about each other, and getting comfortable in our classroom!  I am very excited about this school year, and this wonderful group!  I hope your second graders feel the same way!  This will be a great place to take a peek at some of the exciting things we are doing in our classroom.  This week, we started to learn some classroom routines, school expectations, and had some fun with some friend activities.

This fun game with M&Ms took a lot of patience and good listening, but was very tasty, as well!

  

In this activity, the children had to find different friends around the classroom.  This was a great way to get to meet some new friends!

Yes, week one also included plenty of indoor recess!  We had lots of fun, anyway!

We have been busy with some handwriting practice, after a long summer break!

In case you didm’t receive or want to reference.

 

 

August 22, 2016

Dear Second Grade Families,

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!! I can’t wait to hear all about your summertime adventures. My family and I have had a great summer; we have been busy, camping and exploring New England! We have had lots of fun experiences this summer that I can’t wait to share with you. I am also excited to hear all about yours! I hope you are excited to return to school this fall as second graders. I am excited to be returning to school as well!

 

I have spent a lot of time setting up our classroom and am very excited about sharing our room with you. We have a great space, and I can’t wait to have lots of fun learning experiences in it! We are going to have a great year! I hope you are eager to see old friends and make new ones. We have a great class and I can’t wait to get to know all of you better!

 

Our classroom is stocked with the supplies you will need for all of our learning adventures this year, so you do not need to worry about bringing anything with you. However, back-to-school supply shopping can be exciting – so if you’ve already purchased some of your own supplies you can certainly bring them with you. We will be using lots of pencils, erasers, crayons/colored pencils and glue sticks, but we have everything you should need. Throughout the year we go through an extensive amount of disinfectant cleaning wipes (primarily “green”, non-toxic wipes that are safe for all the growing bodies and minds in the room) and soft tissues – especially during stuffy-nose season – so donations of these items are always GREATLY appreciated!! I try to keep us well stocked, but we do go through quite a few at different times of the year, so donations are always appreciated!

 

I hope you all enjoy the last few days of your summer vacation and are ready to have some awesome adventures this school year. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at jennifer.prive@sau19.org. If you could please complete the enclosed forms and return them to school on the first day, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Prive