Iowa Assessments

Starting Tuesday, January 29th our school will be administering the Iowa Assessments.  In second grade this is the first year students take these tests.  They are a cumulative assessment of what students in second grade should be learning in Iowa.  As a school we are "graded" based on how our students perform on these test.  More importantly, as teachers we are able to get a clear look at what our students are achieving and how to teach them each year.

There are many things you as a parent can do to help give your child an advantage on performing well on these exams.

1. make sure they are getting the correct amount of sleep each night (8 hours)
2. start they day off with a healthy, filling breakfast.
3. read with them at home and limit TV, computer, and video game time

How will your children spend their Winter break??

As we get set to prepare for Winter break, I've wondered what some families do as their children will not be in school for more than 10 days.  This will be my first break with a child of my own, and although he will only be a few days past two months old, I thought of how I might spend time with him while I have it.  As well has how we will spend future breaks together.  So I thought of a list of ideas that might help pass the time, keep your child's mind in good "thinking" shape and strengthen our relationships with our little loved ones.  

1. read together
2. read together and plan a craft that goes with the book
3. read a book together that has a movie about it, and watch the movie with hot cocoa
4. if we are lucky enough to have snow, get outside and play in the snow
5. bake or cook together, pass on a traditional recipe to your child
6. do some redecorating or much needed "winter cleaning" together
7. play board games
8. play a video game with them
9. build something together (using legos, pop-sickle sticks or any other household items)  
10. Ask your child what their favorite thing to do is and plan a play date with them.

Dissecting an eye!!!

Today our class was able to take information they learned and see it in real life.  Thanks to our own nurse Twyla and some willing nursing students, every student was able to watch the nurses dissect a cows eye and see the parts of the eye that we've been studying in the past few weeks. 

Math Workshop

About three weeks ago, Mrs. James and I decided to combine our classes on Friday's during math time.  Our students are able to choose from a variety of math activities.  There is a computer station, games station, smartboard stations, and manipulative station.  Meanwhile, both of us pull students into a small group mini-lesson to review skills from the week or catch students up on skills they may be behind on. 

The next animal that students get the opportunity to observe and learn about were ants.  Students were separated into small groups.  Each group was given an ant farm for students to observe.  They learned about the ant's body parts and their functions.  The groups also learned about how ants behave.  

Science-Animals and their needs

Our class has begun their first Science unit of the year.  They are studying animals and their needs.  Students first were broken into groups and allowed to set up a fish tank to hold a fish that they'd observe.  The observations allowed students to see what parts their animals used and how they used them to survive.  

ANIMALS!!

Our B.V. County naturalist brought her animals for our students to see and talk about.  Each 2nd grade class will be beginning to study animals needs in the upcoming animal unit.