Final Blog Update

I can't believe this is my last update of the year, such a bitter-sweet day! I'm not sure where May and June went, but we sure did have fun! We ended the year on Wednesday with a great all-school slide show showcasing memories from this past school year.  We also had fun cleaning and organizing our classroom for the summer break. I hope the children enjoyed their time in second grade.  I sure had fun teaching and growing with them all!!


We have been busy over the last two weeks finishing up the school year. The children did a great job on their country presentations! It was fun to learn more about each country and to see the creative ideas that the children came up with in terms of presenting the information to their peers.


Thank you to all parents who were able to attend the Second Grade Super Star Celebration! The children were very excited to show off all their hard work! It's always amazing to look back at their writing from the beginning of the year to see how much they have grown.


We also finished up our Earth's Surfaces Science unit. The focus of the unit was on how wind and water changed the surface of the land. We wrapped up the unit by having the children act as engineers and create levees to help stop the effects of a landslide. The children loved it and were very successful!


We've also had lots of fun end of the year activities. We attended the Crisafulli Orchestra and found out about the strings program at Crisafulli that the children can participate in next year. The second graders also showed off their talents at our Talent Show. Nice job second graders! Finally, we had Move-Up Day! The children got a tour of Crisafulli, met their Third Grade teachers and found out who would be in their class next year, and got to have lunch and recess at their new school. The excitement level was high and I know they are all very excited about next year!


Thank you all for a WONDERFUL school year! I truly enjoyed getting to know each and every one of the students and watching them grow throughout the year. I wish you all a relaxing and safe summer and good luck to the children in third grade. Please come back to visit me!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Longo

June 6th, 2017

The last few weeks have been a lot of fun in second grade, and we still have so much more to look forward to in the last 13 days of school!!


Before Memorial Day weekend we had 2 special visitors sponsored by the PTO- the Bubbleology Program and a Rainforest expert. The Bubble program was fantastic! The children were amazed at the kinds of bubbles he created for us. We even learned a lot about the science of bubbles along the way. The Rainforest expert shared a lot of interesting facts with us. She also brought along some live Rainforest animals for the kids to see! This was a nice connection to our study of the Amazon Rainforest that we did on our travels around the world.


Speaking of travels, we "arrived" back in Westford from our Around the World travels last Thursday. All the second grade classes joined together on our pretend flight home. We got to watch "Rio" for our in-flight movie. This movie takes place in the Amazon and focuses on a special bird that is in danger of becoming extinct. We are putting the final touches on all of our Around the World projects. I hope you received the invitation to our Second Grade Celebration on June 14th. This is where the kids will have an opportunity to share all of this hard work with you.

The kids were all looking forward to our Robinson Field Day this past Wednesday. It was a BLAST! I hope your child came home telling you all about the fun events we participated in throughout the day.

On Friday we got to take another walk up to Crisafulli to see our third grade buddies and to watch the 5th Grade Play. This is just one of the many experiences your child will have in the Crisafulli school before 3rd grade begins. We will be back at Crisafulli for a longer visit on our Move-Up Day, which is scheduled for June 20th.


We ended the week with a fantastic all school DANCE PARTY!! This was to celebrate our great success with the Race For Education fundraiser back in the fall.


In terms of academics, even with only 3 weeks left of school there is still lots of learning to do! Our writing blocks have focused on finishing up the last details of our informational books. We also reviewed what a personal narrative story looks and sounds like. The students will be doing their final writing piece next week about a special memory from 2nd grade.

In Math, we are continuing with our final unit- Unit 9. The last few lessons focus on solving number stories about 2 equal groups. The children will also skip count and add to solve problems involving multiples of 10 and 5. This will be an introduction to basic multiplication facts.


We began working on our last science unit of the year, Earth's Surfaces. We have been talking about the various types of land and water surfaces that cover our Earth. The students will be creating some fun 3-D models of these surfaces. During the unit we will also be examining rocks to determine what minerals they are made of. Students will also be able to identify things that make up soil and rocks. We will continue discussing natural resources and how people use them to meet their needs and wants. Finally, the children will do an experiment to discover how water affects the land.


Have a great week and please note the important dates below!

Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, June 14th- Second Grade Celebration 9:15-10:00
Tuesday, June 20th- Move Up Day
Wednesday, June 21st- Last Day of School (1/2 Day- 12:20 Dismissal)