Aquarium Photos

Don't forget to ask your children about today's field trip to the Shedd Aquarium. We had a wonderful time! There were so many animals to see. We even watched a 4D movie and a Dolphin Show!

Please see some photos below:

"Look! The turtle is following my hand!"

Sting rays

The students were able to pet the fish.

Students waiting to pet the fish

Ready for the 4D movie

Waiting for the 4D movie

Ready for the Dolphin Show!

Please check your children's Thursday folders. There was a note about how to prepare for Terra Nova tests. Here are the main points from the letter:

1.    Go to bed early every night.

This may mean turning off video games or the TV earlier than usual. It is important that they are well-rested so that they can focus. I will send home less homework than usual as well.

2.    Eat breakfast every morning.

Food helps the body and the brain function at their best.

3.    Be prepared.

Help your child arrive to school on time every day (7:45am). Please make sure he or she has pencils and healthy snacks in his or her backpack.

4.    Stay calm. 

      Please make sure your child understands that the results will not affect his or her grades and that he or she may not know every answer. The important thing is to keep breathing, follow ALL directions, and try his or her best.

Recent Math Lessons

This school year is flying by very quickly, and in 2nd grade, time flies when we're having fun...

In the past week, we've been reviewing telling time to the nearest hour, half hour, quarter hour, and five minutes. On Tuesday, we made clocks out of paper plates to help us- see the pictures below:

For help with the minutes, we can peel back the numbers!

We have also been reviewing different ways to write numbers.

Standard form
Word form
Picture form
Expanded form

See the photo below for an example of each:

In other good news, the snow on the plaza area is starting to melt. We hope to be outside for recess soon! In the meantime, another teacher's brother drew us a poster of Olaf from Disney's "Frozen" to help us stay in high spirits.

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: