9/12 Find the hidden ducks

Each morning when the children come into the room they look forward to finding the three hidden ducks. If they find one, it's theirs to keep!

9/11 Sorting and graphing our glyphs

Today we gathered all of the pumpkin glyphs we created during math and sorted them by different attributes. In case you're wondering what a glyph is, it's a character or picture that symbolizes something else. For example, students colored their pumpkin either red, orange or yellow, depending on whether they had 2-3 people in their family, 4-5 people, or more than six people in their family. The color of the stem represented the type of candy they liked and the eyes, nose and mouth were symbols for something else. The children made observations about our classmates based on what they saw on the pumpkins.

9/10 100 Bees

Hiawatha students earned 100 bees for our beehive. The children celebrated being safe, kind and responsible by having popsicles on the playground this afternoon.

9/9 Fluency practice

Part of becoming a skilled reader is learning how to read fluently. In our classroom we use "fluency fingers" to help up scoop words into phrases.

9/8 Earning 100 links

Today we earned another 100 links. Several children went down to see Mrs. Nielsen so that we could collect and post another bee in the school's hive. As a small class celebration, the children had a SOCK DAY. This is when we take our shoes off in the classroom and wear our socks instead.

9/5 Second Grade Sing-a-long

Every Friday, our second graders look forward to a joyful sing-along led by our wonderful music teacher, Ms. Megumi. During this time, students learn and sing a variety of fun, upbeat songs together. It’s a great way to build community, celebrate music, and end the week on a high note! 🎶

9/5 Estimation Fridays

Fridays in math are all about estimation! Each week, I introduce a new mystery container filled with objects, and students are challenged to estimate how many are inside. If someone guesses the exact number, they earn a fun prize. We begin by discussing the size of the objects and how much space they take up in the container to help guide our estimates. After revealing and counting the actual number, we take it a step further by predicting how many items might fit in two similar containers.

Then, it’s time for our weekly Estimystery! This activity takes estimation to the next level. Students start with an initial guess, then revise their estimate based on clues revealed one at a time on the board. It’s a great way to build number sense, reasoning skills, and flexible thinking—all while having fun!

9/4 Literacy: The Wide World of Schools

We've launched our first unit of study in literacy. Second graders are diving deep into the study of schools, asking themselves, "What is the purpose of school?" and "How can I make the most of my school experience?" Today we read a poem called "Sing a Song of School." The children highlighted words within the poem that they felt best described the purpose of school. They then shared out their choices and why they highlighted those words.

Moving and Grooving

Sometimes we just get up and dance!

9/4 Sit, learn, sit, learn, RUN!

Our students spend a lot of time learning and growing in the classroom each day. With art and music now brought directly into our room on a cart, they don’t get many opportunities to leave the space. That’s why it’s so important to give them a chance to step away and reset. This week, we took a quick break and headed outside for a lap around the track. It was just what they needed—a little fresh air, movement, and a chance to re-energize before diving back into learning. Sometimes, a short break makes all the difference!

9/4 Lunch Bunch

Today we celebrated our very first Lunch Bunch! Students have been working hard to earn tokens for their table groups by showing cooperation, good listening, and respectful behavior throughout the day. Each time a table demonstrates these skills, they receive a token in their jar.

Once all the tokens have been handed out, we count them up—and the winning table earns a special reward: lunch with me! During Lunch Bunch, we enjoy our meal together by candlelight, with smooth jazz playing in the background. We place napkins on our laps and practice polite table manners in a fun, relaxed setting.

It is a wonderful way to celebrate their efforts and reinforce the importance of kindness, teamwork, and respect. Fancy that!

Scholastic Book Orders

Today, I sent home our first monthly book order. I typically keep the ordering window open for about a week, so there’s plenty of time to browse. If you’re interested in purchasing books for your child, simply scan the QR code included in the flyer to access our classroom's order page. Every purchase you make helps our class earn points toward free books for our classroom library. Thank you so much for your continued support and for helping to foster a love of reading!

Calling all volunteers!
Teachers just received this email from Rob Liberty, our Four Winds coordinator. Our school is in need of parents to teach the science lessons once per month. If you are interested in volunteering, please let me know and I can connect you to Rob. As of now, we do not have any volunteers for our classroom. Here's what Rob has to say...
Join us for the Four Winds natural science program at Hiawatha! We invite you to share your passion for the natural world and inspire our students by participating in hands-on activities in the classroom. Your expertise and enthusiasm can make a significant impact on their learning journey. We'll instruct four lessons throughout the year with optional in-person training (it's fun) or a video of the training, if you can't attend, to watch at your leisure. For more information, contact Rob Liberty at fourwinds@robliberty.com, visit hiawathafourwinds.com and/or join our Facebook Group.

9/3 Math: I can fluently add numbers up to twenty

One of our first essential math goals is to develop fluency with addition facts up to 20. To help build this important skill, students begin by learning how to use math tools that support their understanding. Today, we practiced using number racks to show and build sums up to 20. These hands-on tools help students visualize number combinations and strengthen their mental math strategies. It was a great first step toward mastering addition with confidence.

9/3 Class Jobs

In our classroom we have rather unique jobs. Here is our "Scales and Tails Specialist" feeding our class pet, Drake.

9/2 Building reading stamina

This week students in room 25 continue to build reading stamina. They are slowly getting to know our classroom library, and are choosing books to read.

Our weekly specials schedule

Monday/Wednesday: PE (Please send your child with sneakers.)

Tuesday: Music

Thursday: Library (Please send library books to school.)

Friday: Art

8/29 Exploring in math

As we work through the classroom expectations and routines, students took some time to explore the math materials in the room. Just look at all the creativity in our classroom!

8/28 Math

Today we learned and played a math game called Bump. Students added three dice together and covered the sum on their game board. When a space was covered by the opponent, the player could "bump" the marker off the space. Students also learned how we start a game in our class. Players look at one another and ask two very important questions... 1.) "Are you ready to win?" and 2.) "Are you ready to lose?" Players must receive a "yes" answer to both questions before they wish each other good luck, and then start the game.

8/27 Welcome back, kids!

What a joy to see the smiles on all of the faces, (parents and children) as they filed into the school today. We have a class of twenty-one second graders and all were ready to go this morning. We spent a lot of time learning rules, routines, new faces and places in the building. We learned what it looks like and sounds like to be kind, safe and responsible. Your children are earning links all day/every day towards class celebrations, (and eventually a schoolwide celebration) by demonstrating safety, kindness and responsibility. Here is our link-cart and you can already see that we are well on our way to earning our first celebration.