May 22, 2017

We have had a VERY busy couple of weeks! 

In Social Studies, we finished our Around the World unit by learning about Brazil. The students had an opportunity to pretend that they were in Brazil and writing home to their families about their exciting experience. These postcards have been placed on their scrapbook pages which we will share with you soon! Please note that the MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS ASSESSMENT WILL BE MONDAY, MAY 22nd. 

The students have been working hard on their Ancestor Country research in the library! After each research session, the kids have used the information to write informational paragraphs about their country. These paragraphs are being turned into a wonderful book! Thank you to all the parents who have helped with library research! It is a big undertaking and made possible with the help of volunteers. 

During reading groups, we have been reading fictional texts and discussing comprehension strategies such as: problem/solution, most important event, lesson, and character traits. Next week, I will begin doing the Developmental Reading Assessment with each child to see the progress that they have made. 

We recently started Unit 9 in math which is our last official unit of the school year. The unit focuses on fractions which tends to be a challenging concept for many second grade students. Please know that we will continue to practice at school and we don't expect mastery of this skill. The purpose of this unit is to simply introduce the children to the concept of partitioning rectangles and circles into 2, 3, or 4 equal shares. 

We are looking forward to starting our last Science Unit next week which is about Earth's Surfaces! 

We had a wonderful Enrichment Program this past week called Day In Ghana. I'm sure your child told you about it or maybe came home singing and dancing! The children were very engaged in learning about the culture and daily life of those living in Ghana. Make sure you check out the adorable video and photos of the children participating in this program. 

Upcoming Events: 

Monday, May 22nd- Mountains and Rivers Assessment 

Tuesday, May 23rd- 2nd Grade Rainforest Enrichment Program 

Friday, May 26th- U.S.A. Spirit Day 

Monday, May 29th- NO SCHOOL- Memorial Day 

Wednesday, May 31st- Robinson Field Day 

May 8, 2017

It's hard to believe it's May already!  We have a packed month ahead of us, including some really fun trips to Crisafulli, two enrichment programs (Ghana and the Rainforest), and our all-school Field Day.  We are sure to really enjoy all of these special things and more this month!

The day after vacation we were VERY excited to welcome a new student to our class.  It's been fun getting to know a new friend and showing him all our 2nd grade routines.  I updated the friendship list to include his information.  A new copy was sent home this past week.  Please let me know if you didn't receive it.

Here are some other highlights from the past two weeks...

During our Reading time we got back to reading some more fiction texts with our guided reading groups.  We discussed and practiced some of the skills we’ve talked about throughout the year.  Our discussions focused on vocabulary, predicting, and re-telling. 

We had a great couple of days doing ancestor research in the library.  The kids were really excited to begin looking at the books about their country.  Everyone had a chance to find information about some things they were wondering about their country (food, animals, holidays, famous landmarks).  Thank you to all the parents who have helped out so far- your support has been wonderful for the children. We have two more sessions planned in the library to research our next questions.  

This past week during our Writing time we began using that information to write informational paragraphs.  We also spent some time writing letters to a third grade buddy.  The purpose of the letter was to introduce yourself, tell your buddy some things about you, and ask your buddy some questions you have about third grade and/or the Crisafulli school.  We got a chance to meet our buddies in person on Thursday when we walked up to Crisafulli to listen to the 5th grade chorus.  We will have a few more opportunities to meet our 3rd grade buddies in the coming weeks. So fun!!

We traveled from the very cold continent of Antarctica to a MUCH different place this week, South America.  Our Social Studies time was spent learning about South America's location, landmarks, animals, and land features.  We touched on the Amazon River and the incredible Amazon Rainforest, but we will learn more about both in the week ahead.

The past 2 weeks in Math we almost completed unit 8.  Our lessons looked at Equal Groups and Arrays (an introduction to how multiplication works).  We also reviewed what we’ve learned during this unit about 2-D and 3-D shapes, Polygons, and Equal Parts.  All of this work helped prepare the children for the Unit 8 Assessment, which we will do in the next few days.

The kids did a wonderful job on their book reports!  Thank you for helping them with this project.  The book reports have been turned into "flowers" and are displayed in the showcase as you enter the school.  I hope you get a chance to check out our "Garden of Great Books". They will be displayed for the whole month of May.

On Friday our class got a really neat opportunity to see inside a Westford Fire Truck.  Madison won a special ride to school on the fire truck, and we all went out to greet her!  The kids had a blast talking to the firefighters, seeing all the gear, and sitting in a real fire truck.  

Have a wonderful week!


Here is what the kids enjoyed about school over the past 2 weeks...

"I liked doing the book report because I like reading books."
                                                     -Raushan

"I liked exploring the Westford Firetruck because we got to wear the fire helmet."
                                                     - Alison

"I liked when we met our 3rd grade buddies because I like to make more friends."
                                                     - Dylan

"I liked playing tennis in Wellness because it was really fun!"
                                                    - Giana

"I liked exploring a fire truck because I like seeing fire trucks in real life."
                                                    - Sarah

Red Sox Basket

Good morning!  I hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  I wanted to remind you that we are putting together a class basket to be raffled off at the upcoming Family Festival.  Our basket theme is Red Sox!!  So far we have collected a sweatshirt, 2 hats, and a Red Sox Checkers game.  I thought it might be fun to include items such as a cooler or lunchbox, playing cards, or a water bottle in a baseball/Red Sox theme.  If you have other ideas, that's great too!

I realize that a lot is asked of families, so please remember that this is completely voluntary.  I thought I'd just post this reminder in case it was something that you had wanted to do, but needed some ideas. As always, thanks for ALL you do!!

April 23, 2017

Happy Passover, Happy Easter, and Happy April Vacation!!
I hope that you had a fun and restful week. On Monday I got to run in the Boston Marathon. I worked really hard to prepare for the race, and I was very proud to finish. After that I spent the rest of vacation relaxing and spending some extra time playing with my daughters.

Before vacation we were busy in Second Grade. The students finished their poetry notebooks and have started to putting them together. The last two poems we learned were template poems and shape poems. It's amazing to see how creative the kids can be! This coming week we will begin our last Writing Unit which is on Informational Writing. This writing unit includes library research. Your child will have the opportunity to come up with their own "I Wonder" questions that they would like to research in order to learn more about a country from which their ancestors have come from. We will need some parent volunteers to help with the research, so look for a note coming home this week about that.

In Social Studies we finished up our study of Africa by writing poems about African animals. We then traveled to the coldest continent on Earth, Antarctica! The kids enjoyed learning about Antarctica and the fact that the only people who go there are scientists and that nobody actually lives in Antarctica. Next the children will be writing some interesting facts they learned about Antarctica, as well as learning about the loveable... penguins!

In math, we are working on Unit 8 which focuses on Geometry. In the first few lessons, the children have described the attributes of 2-dimensional shapes and have identified shapes that have certain attributes while playing the game Shape Capture. The kids also had a lot of fun using straws and pipe cleaners to build various polygons. This coming week we will continue by looking at 3-dimensional shapes and sorting them according to their attributes.

Thank you for sending in some wonderful games for your child to share during our "Game Day!" The kids had a great time that day learning new games and interacting with one another. I heard some great conversations as kids taught one another how to play a game, negotiated how they were going to decide which friends to play with, and encouraged one another. Here a few photos I captured that day...

April 1, 2017

I enjoyed meeting with you all and sharing the progress your child has made in term 2. This truly is a collaborative process, and I really appreciate all your support and time. Although spring conferences are our last formal meeting, please know that you can contact me at any time if you have something you'd like to discuss.


We had so much fun performing for you last Friday in our "Colors" show. We were amazed at how many songs, dances, and lines the kids memorized. It's always great watching these shows coming together, and it meant a lot to your children that you could attend to witness how all their hard work paid off.


In Social Studies we continued our study of Europe by focusing in on the country of Italy. The students learned a little bit about what life is like in this country. We also found out many interesting facts about some famous landmarks, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, and the Gondolas of Venice. After finishing up our Europe study by watching a short video, we then took our next journey to Africa. We began discussing where this continent is found in the world, as well as how the weather and land affect the daily life of the people and animals that live in Africa. We will continue to study Africa for at least another week.


Math over the past 2 weeks looked at measuring and collecting data (Arm Spans and How Far We Can Jump!) and representing that data on a line plot. We then used the data to answer various questions. The children also explored both Metric and US Customary units of measure, as well as shapes and their attributes. We finished up Unit 7 on Friday with a brief assessment of what was learned in the unit. We will be sending this home early in the week for you to take a look at.






The children are doing great with the poetry unit. They have already written a couplet, as well as 2 form poems ("I Like" and "I Meant To"). They are doing rough drafts and final copies of each to be included in their Poetry Notebooks. They will be excited to share their completed notebooks with you soon!


On Friday 2nd Grade had a chance to tell the rest of the school about our next compassion project, which is a Pet Drive. Over the next 2 weeks our school will be collecting items for the Lowell Humane Society. Look for a notice in your child's folder about how you can help.


Let's hope the Spring weather is right around the corner!!! Here is a look at some important dates to be aware of:






April 5th: Early Release Professional Development


April 14th: School Spirit Day- Beach Day


April 14th: Early Release


April 17th-21st: Spring Break: No School

March 19, 2017

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! This has been a busy couple of weeks with the Alice Drill, Living Lab, Snow Day, 2 Hour Delay, and Play Rehearsals. Although there have been a lot of special activities, we have also been hard at work in the classroom. 

Last week we worked on making inferences and visualizing while reading books. We began with a whole class lesson that not only reviewed these reading skills, but also introduced the kids to poetry which is our March writing unit. This reading skill was reinforced during our reading groups. 

In terms of Poetry, we will spend some time this week talking about what the kids already knew about poetry, reading a few fun poems, and writing couplet poems to get us started. The kids will be writing their own 2 line poems that rhyme. Over the next couple of weeks, the kids will also get the opportunity to write several different types of poems, some of which will rhyme, and some of which will be template poems.  We will also be writing some free verse poems. 

In math we finished up Unit 6 and have started Unit 7 which focuses on whole number operations, measurement, and data. The children practiced finding differences between 2-digit numbers and multiples of 10 by playing a game called Hit the Target. We also spent some time talking about adding multiple numbers in a logical way to make the problem easier. The children were encouraged to look for "friendly numbers" which could be a multiple of 10 or a doubles fact. 

Last week we finished up our travels to Australia by visiting the computer lab to learn more about the Great Barrier Reef. The children then created their own coral reef scrapbook page and included facts that they learned in the computer lab. After Australia, we traveled to the amazing continent of Europe. The kids learned about Europe as a whole, and next week we will focus on the country of Italy!! 

The Second Grade performance is coming along nicely and we are excited to perform for you Friday, March 24th at 1:45 in the Robinson Cafeteria! 

I look forward to meeting with you all during Parent Teacher Conferences March 29th and 30th. 

Here are some of the kids' favorite parts of the last weeks...

"I liked practicing for our school show because I like my part."
                                  - Daniel

"I liked learning about the Great Barrier Reef because I like nature."
                                  - Allison

"I liked flying to Europe because we learned about countries in Europe."
                                  - Aashrith

"I liked learning about the Great Barrier Reef because there were sea turtles and I love sea turtles."
                                 - Ava

"I liked visiting the Living Lab because we got to make waves."
                                 - Alison

"I liked learning about the Great Barrier Reef because it has pretty colors."
                                 - Giana

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, March 21st - School Store for Grade Two (rescheduled due to Snow Day) 

Wednesday, March 22nd- Performance for the School 

Friday, March 24th- Performance for Parents at 1:45 

Wednesday, March 29th- 2 Hour Delay for Parent Teacher Conferences

Thursday, March 30th- No School for Parent Teacher Conferences 

March 5, 2017

I hope you all enjoyed the week off from school for February vacation and got to spend some quality time with your families and friends. It’s always nice to have a little extra time at home to refresh, especially when the temperatures allow for some outside time! I want to make sure to thank Debbie Porthouse for planning and running the parties this year for our class. The 3 parties were lots of fun! Thank you also to all of the other parents who came to help out and/or provided snacks or paper goods. We certainly couldn't have these celebrations without your support!

Here is a look at what we accomplished this last week in school...

Our rehearsals began this week for the upcoming second grade show entitled "Colors". We had 3 practices this week, and the actual performance will be on Wednesday, March 22nd for the school and Friday, March 24th for parents. The kids were excited to learn what parts they would play in the performance, and I’m sure you’re already hearing the songs being sung at home!

During reading time this week we finished up some loose ends from before vacation. I also met with a few remaining kids to assess their reading progress in preparation for our upcoming conferences. We continue to practice comprehension strategies during our groups, including summarizing, discussing problem and solution, visualizing, and making connections.


In math we taught the Partial-Sums Addition Method to combine two and three digit numbers together. This method should look very familiar, as it is most like the traditional way of adding multiple-digit numbers together. We began the week trying this out with base ten blocks to provide a physical model of what happens when we combine 100's, 10's, and 1's to add two and three digit numbers together. We then transitioned to trying this out without the base ten blocks to help us. For some kids, this is a difficult concept. We will provide much more practice in this area in the coming weeks.

Our travels around the world brought us to the continent of Australia this week! We spent some time learning more about this beautiful continent, and next week we’ll be doing a fun project to explore the incredible Great Barrier Reef!

During our spelling time next week we'll be checking on the spelling of the 100 High Frequency Words. The list of words is in your child's take home folder. It's always helpful to be reviewing these words with your child.

On Wednesday of next week our class will be visiting the Living Lab at the Day School. We already have signed permission slips from all of you from the beginning of the year, so the kids are all set to ride the bus over. Please check the weather and make sure your child has appropriate clothing and footwear for some outside time by the brook.


Coming soon...

Monday, March 13th- Online Conference Sign-Up Begins
Friday, March 24th- Parent Portal Opens to View Progress Reports
Wednesday, March 29th- 2 Hour Delay, Conferences 9:00-11:00
Thursday, March 30th- No School; Conferences 2:00-8:00