Mrs. Haulk - Grade 2

Salmon Eggs have arrived!

2012-01-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

Well - our salmon tank is set up and the eggs have arrived! We are now keeping watch of our 200 new babies in our classroom....the kids were anxious to see what they look like and enjoy taking a peek throughout the day to see what the eggs are up to (not much!). These eggs have to stay at a cold temperature (33-35 degrees) and then in April the temperature starts to get turned up a few degrees every 4 - 6 days or so. This is when the fun begins!

On a side note, I wanted to let you know (in case you haven't already heard) that Mrs. Amy Call is going to be the long-term substitute for this class while I am out on maternity leave (the remainder of the year). Her planned start date is Tuesday, March 20th (as long as I don't have the baby earlier). I am very excited to have her take over for me and I feel very comfortable with handing my class over to her. I will still be involved - and help Amy with anything as needed for sure! I have planned out the remainder of the year - hopefully not leaving her with too many headaches as far as planning. :-)

On Tuesday, February 14th we will be planning a Sweetheart Breakfast in celebration of Valentine's Day. We begin promptly at 8:15 - 8:30....when all parents have arrived....so that those who need to get to work can eat and run if needed! Your child will be coming home with a sign up sheet in the next week. Please keep in mind that I will need a few volunteers to help with cooking/cleanup if possible! Our big items that need to get cooked are pancakes, bacon, sausage and eggs. Let me know if you can help!

We still seem to have kids coming to school with no hats/mittens/boots and sometimes snowpants. Even though there is no snow right now, we are having the kids wear everything to keep them from being cold and getting wet and muddy. Please be sure your child has everything or they need to stay in at recess.

Hope you're having a great week! Until next time...

Mrs. Haulk :-)

A few reminders....

2012-01-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

Hi all!! We are now back into the swing of things and seem to have a steady (although not much!) blanket of snow on the ground. In order to go out to recess your child needs to have snow pants, hat, mittens, jacket and boots to go outside. We have access to extras so if you are in need please let me know! :-)

We will not have spelling words this week as it is a short week. Reading every night though! There will be occasional math and long vowel sheets.

We are starting to learn about our newest body system this week: the skeletal system! The kids learned today that you have over 200 bones in your body. They were amazed! Keep on the lookout for some papers to be coming home - quiz them! They should be able to remember all these neat facts :-)

If you have questions about anything at all - don't hesitate to call or send an email/note. I'd be happy to answer any questions!

For anyone wondering, I am scheduled to have a c-section on Tuesday, March 20th. Amy Call will be my substitute teacher and I'm very excited for that. She is a wonderful person is going to do a phenomenal job with your child! :-) I will have everything that I want taught lined up for her, to hopefully make her transition as easy as possible! I do plan to be out for the remainder of the school year. I will be here periodically to check in and will be doing all of the end of year assessments as well.

Stay warm!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

Well, we are back into the swing of things in grade 2! We are have currently started out biggest unit of study of the year. We are studying the human body and body systems. This month we are focusing on the digestive system and the skeletal system. The children have already learned about the process of digestion - ask them to retell it to you! :-)

In Social Studies we are beginning to talk about Martin Luther King, Jr. We are reading lots of stories about him, doing some writing with the unit and talking a lot about being fair, treating people with respect and some values that are very important in everyday life.

Our new writing project for the next month or so is persuasive writing. The kids will be choosing something to write about and their job is to persuade their audience to feel the way they do! They are pretty excited about this and I can't wait to see the outcomes!

As for spelling this week, there are no new words (short week).

Please be sure to read every school night with your child, at least 15 minutes. Without a signature they do not get a sticker on their sticker chart the next day.

Lastly, please, please, please, pack your child with warm clothes, jacket, snowpants (if there's snow), boots, hats, mittens and maybe a scarf. It has been REALLY cold out and some kids are still not coming prepared.

Thank you!
Mrs. Haulk :-)

{I WISH} It would begin to look like Christmas!

2011-12-15T17:20:00.000-08:00

Well, could you imagine if all this rain we are getting in the past week would have been snow!? I don't know about you, but I'd be in heaven. I don't think my husband would be with ALL of the shoveling duties this year, but I am truly hoping for a white Christmas!

Speaking of the holidays, that is what we've been learning about for the month of December. We started out by spending a week talking about Kwanzaa, and its 7 principles. The children learned many new words and hopefully walked away with a better understanding of what this holiday is! We made our very own kinaras too! For the second week of December we studied about Hanukkah. We learned when it began, who celebrates it and what its all about. We made our own menorahs and will be making our own Latkes (potato pancakes)...yum! The last week and a half will be spent doing Christmas activities. The children are currently working on a new kind of writing. They are figuring out how to write to tell someone how to do something. Their topic is making and decorating a gingerbread cookie. The stories/procedures are coming along great! After they wrote their story they had to decorate their own gingerbread man the way that they wrote about. Great work!

We have been HARD at work practicing for our winter sing-a-long which is scheduled for Wednesday at 1:00. YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!!! It is going to be simply amazing :-)

This is the last week of spelling words and their is no homework over vacation other than to read as much as you can! I can't wait to hear about all the kids' Christmases and vacations!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Another week down!

2011-11-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how FAST this school year is flying by! Absolutely crazy! I will not be at school on Friday as I have a writing workshop to attend in Bangor. I am very excited, and hope to bring back some valuable lessons and ideas for our writing program in grade 2.

This week we wrapped up our unit on Cinderella. I chose to do a unit on Cinderella because there are multiple versions out there (we read the original, Chinese, Caribbean and the male version, Prince Cinders). Through reading these we learned how to compare using a Venn Diagram. We learned how a story can be written or told many different ways but portray the same important message. The kids did a great job with the comprehension on this unit. As a reward they will watch the original version of Cinderella with their substitute on Friday while I am out.

Believe it or not, our annual Thanksgiving feast is two weeks away!! YIKES! :-) Lots to do in order to prepare! A list will be coming home Monday with your kids, telling what's going on, asking who can help and also asking for your family to bring certain items. Everyone's participation in this extremely special day is so vital to the final outcome. This is such a grand experience that these kids will not forget! They are already so excited!

In science we have begun our unit on Nutrition. There is no longer a food pyramid that shows the food groups. It is now a food plate. This should have come home with your child this week so you can see how much of each food group you're supposed to be eating in relation to each other. This week we brainstormed all the different foods that would go in each food group. The kids did a great job!

In social studies we have been talking about the First Thanksgiving. Throughout this unit we will be talking about family life compared to then and now, Pilgrims, Native Americans and about the times back then. We have already read a book called the First Thanksgiving. Ask your child to explain these words to you!......Pawtuxet, Wampanoag, Squanto, Massasoit, wetus, bounteous, harvest, New England and Mayflower. They also can tell you how Squanto told the Pilgrims how to plant corn and beans - they should all remember! :-)

If you are planning on a conference with me, please call Debbie in the office to set up a time. Slots will fill up quick so be sure to get your time! :-)

Hope you enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend - time to get all my outside chores done before we get snow that sticks I think!

Enjoy! ~ Mrs. Haulk

Hello again!

2011-10-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well....on Friday we held our annual second grade pumpkin carving and seed tasting day. What a BLAST!! :-) All 16 kids created their very own jack-o-lantern and boy did they get creative! Some children used the stencils that come with the kits and some decided to freehand their design. The pumpkins ALL looked fabulous and it was a GREAT morning!

This week we are busy with new spelling lists (these should be in your child's folder), comparing some fairy tales and learning about the three states of Matter! Our current literature study is comparing and contrasting different versions of Cinderella. On Friday we read the original Cinderella, today we read the Chinese version of Cinderella. After today's lesson, they were introduced to a Venn Diagram as a way to compare two stories. They did great!

We will continue our science unit on Matter and our Social Studies unit on Families. Be looking for a sheet to come home that will need to be filled out. We will be making timelines of our lives.

Do you have any old magazines at home? Would you send some in with your child for an activity later this week? Thanks! :-)

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to put out a reminder that we will be carving pumpkins this Friday (October 21st) at 8:30 a.m! For anyone who wants to bake their seeds we will have a pumpkin seed tasting later in the day. We will vote to see which one was everyone's favorite! :-) Let me know if you need help getting a pumpkin! Please remember to bring them all scooped out! You can drop them off Thursday or Friday.

Say cheese!

2011-10-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Its picture day! And the kids all look great! Today we started out the day with snack and then a math lesson focusing on story problems. Your children are working hard on writing equations and showing their work for their problems. I think their most favorite part of every Thursday is the 45 minutes we get to spend in the computer lab working on IXL math. They sign into their own account, work on problems and earn prizes. This is something that can be worked on at home too! The website address is www.ixl.com and usernames and passwords were sent home earlier this year. If you need those again let me know! I get emails telling me who has been on and what they are practicing/having success or difficulty with - its great to see when kids are doing the math at home! :-) No spelling test tomorrow as there were no words this week (due to the shortened week) - just reading homework and a word family paper tonight! Have a great rest of your day ;-)

Welcome to our Blogspot!

2011-10-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

So bear with me as we begin our blogging process! My goal is to post updates weekly and share information with you all so that you have everything accessible at the click of a button. You will be able to comment on posts, share posts, see spelling lists, homework assignments, our class/school calendar and hopefully so much more! I am very excited and entertain any feedback that you'd like to give, or things you'd like to see!