Flying East

You may have heard that the students flew to Africa this week!  On the flight, the passengers viewed images of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Sahara, the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, the Nile River, Lake Victoria and Victoria Falls.  We were greeted in Nairobi, Kenya by Customs Agent Brayfield, who taught us how we would greet one another in Swahili. 

On Friday afternoon we spent time with our Fifth Grade Buddies, reading together.

Reminder: Early Release next week- Tuesday, October 21st.

October 15

On Tuesday we were lucky to have not one, but two special events at school.  In the morning we were treated to a visit from poet X.J. Kennedy, who read some of his poetry and shared a bit of his story becoming a poet.  The students listened attentively and later many of them wrote in their notebooks that they felt calm while listening to him.

In the afternoon the Second Graders had their turn to hear the local fire fighters talk about fire safety.  We were reminded to make sure the batteries in our smoke alarms are changed regularly and to have an outside meeting place if the family needs to get out in an emergency.

Today we began our Balancing and Weighing science unit with a wonderful discussion of what balance means to us.  Many children used the words "weight" and "equal" when talking about this topic.  Each child had the chance to try to make a paper butterfly balance on the tip of an un-sharpened pencil, first with no weight and then with a paper clip attached.  The butterflies came home today- maybe your child asked you if you wanted to try?  

Special Visitors

We were so lucky this week to have not one, but two special visitors to talk about their countries of origin.  Sofia, Nicolas' mom, came to tell us about the climate and the unique animals of Ecuador.  She also had us practicing our Spanish pronunciation of the South American countries.  Eloisa's mom, Carmen, showed us a slide show of the beautiful scenery of El Salvador and Nicaragua.  We were especially impressed by the photos of the volcanoes and how there is a lake to swim in INSIDE the rim of one of them!!  She also brought some flags and other artifacts from Central America.  We liked that she referred to that region as the "belly button" of the Americas! 

Enjoy the long weekend!

October 8

We had a lot of grown-ups in the room today for math- all new Second Grade teachers in the district were invited to watch (and participate in) our math lesson.  They were very impressed with what they saw!

Thompson will be collecting food for two more days for the Arlington Eats program.  Please send granola bars or shelf-stable milk if you'd like.  Thank you!

Flying south

Today the students boarded Thompson Airlines Flight 10114 to Rio de Janiero, passports in hand.  They were greeted by a very friendly customs agent upon arrival!

It was nice to see so many of you at Curriculum Night.  I hope you found it informative.

Reminder: Early Release next Tuesday, October 7; 1PM dismissal.