Thursday - Feb. 13

Just two quick announcements for Thursday, February 13th:

1. Students may bring valentines (cards or snacks) to pass out to the class. (Please note, we have 27 students.) Please do not address each individual card- just have your child write his/her name on them, as this will aid the process of passing out the treats. Thank you!

2. Thursday will be a dress down day to raise money for Kevin's Lemonade Stand. Your child(ren) may bring in $1.00 and wear red, white, or pink with jeans. Thank you for your generous contributions!

Please also remember, there is no school on Friday (teachers have meetings) or Monday (Presidents' Day).

Hooray for the 100th Day!

We have been counting up the days since the start of school!

Today we celebrated the 100th day - wow! We read a book about a girl's first 100 days of school. We also built towers out of 100 cups and enjoyed delicious cake at the end of the day. It's hard to believe the year is more than halfway done. It has been a blessing to work with your children this year, and I look forward to the remaining (hopefully warmer!) months. Thank you for all of your support. Enjoy the weekend, and we'll see you on Monday.

We also celebrated the opening of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics with a special assembly. Each class was assigned a country (2nd grade has Sweden). We are going to keep track of the medal count for the next two weeks. The country with the most medals overall wins a dress down day. Come on Swedish athletes!!

Catholic Schools Week

Even with the snow days, the students still enjoyed Catholic Schools Week festivities.

Here are a few photos of Student Appreciation Day (a.k.a. Pajama Day):

Writing thank you letters to our parents for sending us to St. Ann

Illustrations on our letters

It's not everyday Superman reads the Bible with a student...

Let me think about that...

Proud of our letters and thankful for our families!

Writing a book about how plants grow

Checking out the magnets during recess

The poles have to be opposite in order to attract... (North and South, not N/N or S/S)

Next week we will be back in our normal routine. Stay safe this weekend with the expected snow!

Snow Days

There is no school today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday). See you Wednesday!

Stay warm.

Map Shading: Art Project

Thanks to Miss Longton and Miss Snyder, St. Ann started our art curriculum this year. The second graders have been working hard each month on the theme they're practicing.

January's theme is shading, and our class worked on a project inspired by this blog: New City Arts

Last week, each student took a map of Chicago and added lines of interstates, bodies of water, etc. They traced the lines with glue and let them dry. This week, they were able to finish their masterpieces with oil pastels this week.

Here are some photos of the students hard at work:

Here are a couple photos of finished pieces:

Field Trip Fun

Ask your child about the field trip to Wagner Farm! Even though it was a brutally cold day, we stayed warm inside while learning about how farmers milk cows and gather eggs. The students asked some really interesting questions.

Here are a few photos from the day. Please pardon the quality- I did not use a flash, as I did not want to distract the presenters.

Miss Andrea talking to the students about the cow - Buttercup

Everyone that wanted to pet the cow was allowed to do so!

Where do cream and milk come from?

How does a chicken hatch?

"Shopping" at the General Store

Our next field trip will be to the Aquarium at the end of February. More information to come...

Field Trip Reminder

Thank you to all families who have turned in permission slip forms for the field trip to Wagner Farm. (Please send those in as soon as possible if you have not done so.) Thank you also for offering to chaperone the trip. I will send a note home with students whose parents volunteered to confirm the time to arrive at school.

Our field trip is next Thursday, January 23rd. Students should wear their gym uniforms. We look forward to sharing some stories and pictures here on the blog with you.