Testing Information

April 29, 2011

Dear Parents and Students,

As this year comes to a close, and testing season begins, students have the opportunity to show all they have learned in 2nd grade. We plan on beginning testing May 3rd. Before we begin there are a few things I will need your help with. It is very important that students get a good night sleep and eat breakfast during testing. It is imperative your children are here on time and if possible, do not leave school early. These practices will help your children feel awake, alert, and help them to perform their best. Thank you for your help and support this year and during testing.

These are the days we plan on testing; please make sure your child is at school on time.

May 3-May 5

May 10- May 12



Sincerely,


Miss Foster

Back from Spring Break

This morning was full of sleepy students itching for another day of Spring Break. There were a select few who said they were ready to be back at school. I hope you all enjoyed your week off and were able to relax. We will begin reviewing these next few weeks for testing to help everyone feel better prepared. I will be sending a note home with specfic testing dates. We are almost to the end! This year has just flown by, but it has been an incredible one and I owe much of that to you and your students.

Can You See Them?

Mrs. Jensen has taught our second grade all about adapatations. Animals have senses and basic instincts necessary for survival. Some animals have the ability to blend into their surroundimgs. Some of theses animals even have the ability to change colors. Again, thanks to Yahoo for giving us some great pictures to illustrate these unique abilities. Students were able to look at these to find 11 different animals camouflagued in their environments. See if you can find them.


Published with the help of Ashley and Grey.

Who Is The Meanest Animal?

We have spent the past few weeks studying animals in both our science units and our liteacy books. We were able to find a video that was full of interesting facts about animals that live around the world. We voted on which animal was the meanest and collectively the class chose the great white shark. We then watched this video, compliments of Yahoo! to discover we were no where near the right answer. Hopefully you find it just as fascinating as we did!

TOMS No Shoes Day

Today we talked about the humanitarian work TOMS Shoes is involved in around the world. For every pair of TOMS shoes you buy a pair is given to a child who is in need of shoes. Millions of children are at risk of disease and infection without shoes as protection. TOMS, one days a year, hosts a 'One Day Without Shoes' day to raise awareness. In class we talked about the different circumstances children around the world face. I asked the kids to participate with me and give up their shoes for the day. Now I didn't want any serious injury so the kids could put their shoes back on for recess and lunch, but most participated. I wasn't sure my real message had hit home, but when one of the other teachers told me how excited the kids were to share the reasons they were barefoot I was glad to know they were listening. I don't expect them to go out and buy TOMS, but just knowing what is going on in the world around us is one step in becoming a more united and understanding culture. We watched a great video on YouTube of a shoe drop they did in Rwanda and the pure joy on the faces of the children receiving shoes is beautiful. That video can be found here TOMS shoe drop in Rwanda

Here is a link to the TOMS website if you would like to read more about their mission. One for One Movement

Some of your kiddos enjoying the freedom of barefeet!

Spelling: April 4-8

Parents,
I pulled an April Fool's Day joke during our spelling test last Friday so the students were not tested on their actual words. This week they will be having the same words they had last week and I will test them on Friday.

Please make sure animal questions are turned in by Thursday and those with math tests to fix come in by Friday.

Thanks!!

April Fools Day!

Today our 2nd grade team decided to switch classes for our morning routine to play a little April Fool's Day joke on our classes. I left all of our calendar dates up as if we were in the month of March and added a March 32nd. Every student stared in disbelief as I began to tell them that on the news they announced we needed an extra day in the year and they added it to March. I even had a few kids agree with me, to the point of saying they saw it on the news too!

We then switched classes after the first bell and I immediately began administering a test to Mrs. Williams' class. They were not very pleased to have a surprise test that was going to count for half of their grade. I could tell by the look on their faces that they knew something was up, but they went right along with it.

The Mapleton Fire Department switched our fire drill to a flood drill. The Sargent had us sit on our desks, put our arms out in front of us and move our arms as if we were swimming. It was rather entertaining and the students were in an uproar! It was a fun, eventful morning.

Happy April Fool's Day!