Money, Money, Money

We're learning to count money.  The students are good at counting dimes, nickels, and pennies.  Adding in the quarters is a little tricky for some.  You can help at home by practicing counting groups of coins.

Celebrating Cultures Around the World

The students have enjoyed learning about the different and cultures and traditions all around the world.  Today we finished up by learning a bit about the traditions in Mexico.  The students enjoyed making poinsettias.  

Writing Celebration!

On Monday, we celebrated our writing.  The students worked hard as they thought about what they're an expert at and then wrote an Informational book on the topic.  They worked hard their Informational texts for about 2 weeks.  They made a table of contents and tried to add scientific information to their writing.  As you look at their work, you'll notice that they added key words at the top of each page as they planned their writing.  They were supposed to add a lot of information on the topic and show they they're experts.  We had time today to share our their writing with other second graders in Mrs. Burns' class.

Swedan and Ethiopia

On Friday, the students learned about the holiday traditions in Sweden.  The students learned that Christmas in Sweden begins on Dec.13th, St. Lucia's Day.  We made a crown with leaves and candles.  We learned about other Swedish traditions too.  Today we learned about Ethiopia.  They celebrate Christmas, which they call Ganna, on January 7th.  On January 9th Timkat begins and as part of the celebration, they walk in a parade and play musical instruments.  We made little drums.  The students were surpised to learn that presents are not given or received.  They eat and play games to celebrate.  One last stop tomorrow as we learn about some of the holiday traditions in Mexico.

Sharing Traditions From Other Cultures

The students learned that families share their cultures by sharing their traditions with others.   The students shared some of their family traditions. Ian brought a flag from the Dominican Republic and shared it with our class Today we learned about how they celebrate Christmas in China.  We listened to We Wish You a Merry Christmas in Chinese. We made paper lanterns too.  

Buddy Time - Put First Things First

We had a buddy get-together yesterday and discussed Habit #3 - Put First Things First.  The students worked on setting priorities, making schedules and following a plan.  Hopefully your child shared with you his/her ideas of "Putting First Things First".  We talked about working first and then having time to play.  As you look at the pictures, remember it was Crazy Hair day!  

Learning about German Traditions

The students enjoyed learning more about German traditions.  Decorating Christmas trees is a tradition  that began in Germany and many of us do that today.  We made little Christmas tree puppet and sang "Oh Christmas Tree".