November 24, 2017

We always appreciate the time and effort that all the grandparents and special friends make to come and join us on Grandparents Day! Our class was blessed with many who came long distances....Delaware, Mexico, Georgia and Bend. I hope that they were able to enjoy participating in reading, learning a math game, drawing a favorite Thanksgiving memory and learning Spanish with Professor Peche.

Homework

There will not be any homework next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

**Take apart items due 11/27 for Science

Homework for the week of 11/27, due 12/4

• Read for at least 15 minutes each night Monday through Friday (weekends are bonus) and fill in the reading log nightly
• Conduct the reading interview questions throughout the week
• Math Journal: pages 39-40

Save the Date

2nd Grade Learning Celebration: Using Our Power for Good to Help Animals in Portland. On Wednesday, December 6th at 8:30 parents are invited to join us in the classroom to circulate and learn about the projects that are close to each child's heart. If you cannot make it, please feel free to invite a special friend or relative.

November 17, 2017

What does it mean to find an issue that touches one's heart? This week Kristen Haferbecker, our LS Service Learning Coordinator, spent an hour with each of the second grade classes helping students to choose an issue or need that touches their heart and is related to helping animals in Portland. She began by reading the book, Beautiful Hands by Kathryn Otoshi. She asked, “How can you use your beautiful hands to create something that will help animals in Portland?” Together, the children began to brainstorm a list of ways that they could help and add to the good work that is already being done by agencies in Portland. The children made a list of ideas related to their chosen need or issue. A few examples included:

•  making toys for dogs or cats
•  making treats or food for birds or dogs
•  building a birdhouse or a squirrel feeder
•  creating a small habitat in your yard to invite certain insects or birds or small mammals

 Our next step will be to have students create a plan for their chosen idea so that they can share or teach their idea to others.  Their ideas will be share in a "Giving Fair" in early December.

Ask your child: What issue or need touches your heart and what ideas do you have about how you can help make a difference for animals in Portland?

Large watercolor hearts were designed by the students to be used in a brochure that they will share with parents at our Learning Celebration on Wednesday, December 6th, 8:30-9:15 a.m.

Each child will also create a brochure that will teach others about the issue that touches their heart, what they have learned about a specific agency that is helping this need in Portland, and an idea for how one could could help animals with this need in Portland.

Interviewing an Student Expert:

Fourth grader, Ellis McAuley spoke in front of the class and shared information she had researched about squirrels. The children had an opportunity to listen and ask questions about one of the many wild creatures that have interested them in the past weeks of their own research.

We are excited to see how these projects develop and where they might lead us.  

What is happening in:

Math

The children have been exploring "groups" and investigating how they relate to place value.

Reading

Today our Kindergarten buddies joined us for D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read)! The children read from their own book boxes for 15 minutes and then shared favorite picture books for the final 15 minutes.

Homework

Homework due: 11/20:

• Reading log
• Math Journal pages: 29-34

There will not be any homework next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

**Take apart items due 11/27 for Science

Homework for the week of 11/27, due 12/4

• Read for at least 15 minutes each night Monday through Friday (weekends are bonus) and fill in the reading log nightly
• Conduct the reading interview questions throughout the week
• Math Journal: pages 39-40
  

Grandparents and Special Friends Day

We are excited to welcome grandparents and special friends to our school on Tuesday the 21st. There will be activities for all guests in the morning with time afterwards to visit children’s classrooms and join in a chapel service. If your child’s grandparent or special guest has not yet RSVP’d and plans to join us, please have them do so as soon as possible.  You can contact the Development Office with any questions. The schedule for this special day is as follows:

Grandparents Day, Tuesday, November 21

• 8:00 - 8:30 - Breakfast in Gym
• 8:30 - 9:30 - LS Classroom Visits
• 9:30 - Grandparents Choice
• Recess, snack and then over to Gym
• State of Lower School in LS Library
• Specialist visit
• 10:15 - 10:50 - Concert in Gym

Save the Date

2nd Grade Learning Celebration: Using Our Power for Good to Help Animals in Portland. On Wednesday, December 6th at 8:30 parents are invited to join us in the classroom to circulate and learn about the projects that are close to each child's heart. If you cannot make it, please feel free to invite a special friend or relative.

Links:

Smith & Bybee Wetlands field trip photos

Chaplain Phillip EC3 Day LINK

Oregon Humane Society field trip photos

Design Thinking 10/30/17

November 10, 2017

The children partner up to read and edit one another's stories. They are encouraged to ask the questions: Does the story make sense?  How have the author's ideas been translated in words and pictures? We are learning to use CHOPS, being particularly excited to use the new spelling rules in the Words Their Way program!

Projects/Literacy

Another way the children have been practicing their writing skills has been taking notes as they explore non fiction texts, about both wild and domestic animals.  Ask your child: What are the animals you are most interested in learning more about?  What interesting facts have you learned about these animals?  

Collaborating and sharing ideas about the animals are challenging and extending ideas and discoveries about these animals expands their schema.  In the coming weeks the children will be encouraged to focus on one animal that touches their heart and to identify problems this animal might encounter in the Portland area and possible solutions.

Math
Our math focus has been estimating and identifying place value.  The children have worked in small table groups, making groups of tens and then hundreds to count objects.  

Ask your child to show you how he/she has practiced estimating objects and then grouping them to find the total.

Reading
We explored several reading games today during literacy.  We appreciated Zach's mom, Rebecca, and his grandmother for coming in to supervise one of the games about making inferences.

Homework

Due 11/13

• Reading Log (15 minutes per night and answering the questions)
• Math Journal pages 25-26

Due 11/20

• Reading Log (15 minutes per night and answering the questions)
• Math Journal pages 29-34

*No Homework Thanksgiving week (encouraging your child to read and explore numbers in their world would be appreciated)

Important Dates

Grandparents Day, Tuesday, November 21

• 8:00 - 8:30 - Breakfast in Gym
• 8:30 - 9:30 - LS Classroom Visits
• 9:30 - Grandparents Choice
• Recess, snack and then over to Gym
• State of Lower School in LS Library
• Specialist visit
• 10:10 - 10:50 - Concert in Gym

Remember that all classes are asked to be in their classroom from 8:30 - 9:30 so grandparents can find their grandchildren with ease.

2nd Grade Learning Celebration: Using Our Power for Good to Help Animals in Portland . Wednesday, December 6th 8:30-9:15 parents are invited to join us in the classroom to circulate and learn about the projects that are close to each child's heart.

Science Requests for Take Apart Items

Your child will need a mechanical item to take apart in their Science class on Monday, November 27th.  These items will be taken apart and will never work again, so keep that in mind when finding an item for take-apart.  They may be sent to school in a sturdy bag marked with your child’s name  Please do not send in items sooner than November 27th since we do not have adequate storage.  If you need more specific information, please contact Mrs. Kenney-Norberg.
ATTENTION SECOND GRADE STUDENTS

Start hunting....
Start searching....
Start saving....
You will need a few items very, very soon.......

1.  Each Second Grader will need a mechanical item to take apart immediately after Thanksgiving Break.  It should have more gears, pulleys, belts, springs and moving parts than electronics.  It will never work again.....!  VCRs, drills, timers, tape recorders, older radios, boom-boxes, pre-digital clocks with the flipping numbers, old dial telephones, wind-up toys, remote control cars, and wind-up clocks are a good choice.  NO TOASTERS, please (too sharp)!  NO VACUUM CLEANERS (too many allergens).  NO T.V.s (disposal issues).  Newer land-line phones, cameras, and small battery operated clocks are a poor choice, as they lack good moving mechanical pieces.  ALSO, it must have only regular or Phillips screw heads, or Allen head bolts.  If it has any other type of fastening, you must provide the tools to open it.  Bringing more than 1 item is a good idea, especially if the items are small.  The class will spend 3 hours working on these machines.  The Goodwill, garage sales and your attic are a great place to find these items.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Jane Kenney-Norberg
Lower School Science

November 3, 2017

Oregon Humane Society Field Trip
Photo courtesy of Andrea Nicholas

This week the 2nd grade classes visited the Oregon Humane Society (OHS) to further their research and exploration of different places and people doing good in Portland for and with animals. The children learned about how animals find their way to OHS and how the employees and volunteers get those animals ready for adoption. Ask your child: Where do the animals come from that are available for adoption at OHS?

In the coming weeks each child will define a problem that he/she saw affecting animals in Portland that is close to his/her heart. "Where does my heart feel that something's not right?" Our writing activities will have a focus on informational writing where children will learn to consider their audience, support their topic with facts and organize the information to share with others. The guiding questions each child will consider include:

• Naming the issue that touches my heart.
• This is what I learned about that issue.
• Describe an organization that is doing this work.
• This is one thing I could do to help.

What has been happening in the classroom:

Math- The children are exploring arrays and telling time.

Literacy- Words Their Way provides opportunities for children to learn spelling rules to use as they transition from a phonetic to a more traditional speller.  

Social Studies/Projects: Participation in Design Thinking activities with Jeffrey Sprague and Kristen Haferbecker in the EC3 building.  The children are exploring how to expand and share their ideas.

Important Dates:
Grandparents Day, Tuesday, November 21

• 8:00 - 8:30 - Breakfast in Gym
• 8:30 - 9:30 - LS Classroom Visits
• 9:30 - Grandparents Choice
• Recess, snack and then over to Gym
• State of Lower School in LS Library
• Specialist visit
• 10:10 - 10:50 - Concert in Gym

Remember that all classes are asked to be in their classroom from 8:30 - 9:30 so grandparents can find their grandchildren with ease.

2nd Grade Learning Celebration: Using Our Power for Good to Help Animals in Portland . Wednesday, December 6th 8:30-9:15 parents are invited to join us in the classroom to circulate and learn about the projects that are close to each child's heart.

Homework

Due: Monday, November 13th

Reading Log: Please encourage your child to read at least 15 min. per night and to answer the questions on the reading log.

Math: Complete pages 25-26.