This last week in second grade we had a field trip and two minimum days. The week seems to have gone by very quickly. Our minimum days were to allow me time to meet with parents for conferences and I am happy to say I was able to meet with a good portion of the class.
For our field trip, we walked to the Post Office. Round trip it ended up being 3.64 miles. Both the students and myself were pretty tired by the time we got back to the classroom. It was such a warm, sunny day and it made for a nice trip. In going to the Post Office we were able to learn about some of the people who work in our community. Beforehand, each student had written a friendly letter to another student in the class. We discussed the different parts of the letter: heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. Students learned how to address an envelope and each received a stamp. While at the Post Office, the students were able to see what the back of the inside of the building looks like. They were also able to learn the process of how mail is sorted and prepared for delivery. The students learned that live animals, such as the baby chicks we heard, can also be sent in the mail! Towards the end of the trip, the students mailed their letters to their classmates. I suspect most students have either gotten their letters already or should get them by tomorrow afternoon.
As part of this field trip, we also walked to the high school and had lunch at the "BIG" cafeteria. While we were there, the students had a chance to go through the kitchen and see where all of their school food is made. The biggest highlight was, of course, the giant freezer that was 0 degrees. (Hopefully I can figure out the picture-issue I am having, and you can see their excited faces in the freezer.)
Our story for Language Arts this week was "Penguin Chick." It was a very interesting non-fiction story that the class absolutely loved! To tie in with that story, one of the kindergarten teachers at our school has been incubating chicken eggs for the last 3 weeks and this last week they hatched! So we definitely had to go and see the cute chicks! The timing was perfect and helped the students make the connection even greater with how penguins emerge from their eggs. (By the way, I apologize if this brings on a sudden interest in your child to get an egg or baby chick. Many were very excited when they heard how the eggs were purchased on mypetchicken.com)
Each of the students in my class definitely deserves a round of applause because the last few weeks have been crazy and busy! We have been doing assessments for report cards and the students worked incredibly hard. They made it through another session of assessment and now we have only one more set. It seems already as though the year as flown by and in the meantime, we continue to prepare for third grade!
Upcoming Dates:
- Spring Break: April 3 - April 7
- Ocean Field Trip (we still need parents with fingerprints, etc.) - Friday, May 19th
