NEW NAME NEW BLOG

Family, friends, coworkers, and former students.... I would like to announce that I am officially married and have created a new BLOG!  The link is below and I hope you will take the time to visit it.  Please don't be surprised if you don't see any posts yet!  The page is still UNDER CONSTRUCTION, but once I am back in the classroom the posts will be pouring in!  Check back often because I might post some fun new learning websites I have found!

Thanks for checking back in!

New Blog: Mrs. Polk's New Class Blog

I would like to share couple of my favorite wedding pictures... some of you have been asking me to!

I hope you all are excited for your summer break that is up and coming!  Feel free to keep those pen pal letters coming, I would love to hear about your school and summer adventures.... and of course write you back!

Love,
Mrs. Polk

NO HOMEWORK THE WEEK AFTER SPRING BREAK

ATTENTION ATTENTION READ ALL ABOUT IT!

ONE WEEK ONLY!!

We will not have our regular homework packet the week after spring break!  For one week we will only have the reading page.  Students will still need to read each and every night.  

Student have been working all year long on a GEM jar which is filled with gems each time the class get a compliment, works extra hard, or is on time and every student is at school each day.  I am so proud of their hard work.  I hope we can fill up another jar so we can vote on what we would like to do next!  Congratulations kiddos!

Third Nine Weeks

Once again it it time to take a look at some of the fun educational activities we have done!  Another nine weeks has almost come and gone and we have been very busy with very difficult academics as well as having some fun learning new concepts and teaching old concepts to our reading buddies.  I hope you enjoy looking back on a few of the activities posted below!

First we learned about procedural text.  Procedural text give you steps to follow in order to get a final product.  We began by reading about how to make a fruity treat in our Time for Kids catalog.  Then we recalled the steps and recorded them in our journal with illustrations.  Finally we were able to participate in a hands on procedural text called How to make a book cover.  Each student worked with a partner to follow steps as I read out each step.  They did their best to follow along and then had an opportunity to create a new book cover for their chosen book.

We had so much fun learning how to make scrambled eggs with a twist.  It was Dr. Suess' birthday and what better way to celebrate than to make some green eggs?  We read the story about Sam I am and then followed the procedure to make green eggs.  Some students loved the flavor, others were not very impressed.

We really have the best specials teachers EVER at our school.  We wanted to take Rachel's Challenge to heart by doing some random acts of kindness for our specials teachers who really work hard so we can have some fun learning about sports, art, and music.  Below is a bulletin board that second grade created in thanksgiving for Mrs. B!

We exchanged valentines with our reading buddies.

We celebrated the 100th day of school!  We had several activities to celebrate being 100 days smarter.  First we played a dice game to see whose luck dice would get them to 100 first.  We made a trail mix with 10 yummy items.. we put 10 of each item in our bag to take home and share with our family.  Finally we write down 100 words we could spell correctly.  Some of the words that students were able to spell were way above level and I WAS VERY IMPRESSED!

Another engaging activity we participated in was making muffins with our kindergarten reading buddies.  We were able to follow a procedure to mix and bake muffins.  The students then wrote down and illustrated the steps while the teachers popped the muffins into the oven.  It was a delicious treat the next day!

 

Recently we have been learning about how to do research.  One of the steps of researching is asking the RIGHT questions.   We learned about BIG questions and small questions that are simply answered with yes or no.  BIG questions are those which people have to give a few sentences in order to answer the question entirely.  We practiced thinking of these questions and then asking the school nurse a few of the BIG questions  we created trying to get more information on community workers.  Next students will be doing their own research on an animal. 

We have had a very eventful nine weeks and there is no possible way to show all the learning that has taken place but i am very proud of the whole class for all their hard work.  We have one more nine weeks to really go out with a bang!  Make sure you are reading every night.  Doing all your homework at home and really taking your time on your work so you are doing your best!

Authors read stories to you online

Ever wish you had another book at home?  Or someone to read you a story as you follow along in order to work on your fluency?  Well Barnes and Noble has a section on their website that reads stories to you!  The link below will take you to their webpage that allows you to follow along through a popular story while it is read to you.  Enjoy!

Story time by Barnes and Noble

Have a wonderful week and make sure you are reading EVERY night!

~~Ms. Kulle

New record in view stats!

Class we have now reached 1,500 views!  Keep checking back to see what I have updated!

Second Nine Weeks

Another nine weeks has nearly come and gone!  My oh my how time flies when we are learning!  Here are a few things we have been up to in this second nine weeks!

During the second nine weeks we had a student from DBU who was learning more about being a teacher!  Ms. Logsdon was able to observe many lessons and was even able to teach a few lessons including the one above.  The students read two different books by Eric Carle and then used a double bubble map to compare and contrast the two books.

During red ribbon week students were able to participate in many activities including the book parade shown above.  Students were able to dress up as their favorite book character to show their determination   and commitment to staying drug free.  I am so proud of their spirit and promise of a better future, one that does not include drugs of any kind!

In social studies we spent some time learning about the different land forms found in the United States.  Then students were able to represent each landform on their own map.

This nine weeks included our pride rally sharing in which we shared what our goals were for our future. Some students wanted to be in the army while others thought they might want to be a teacher.  No goal was too big or too small.... we made these goals knowing that if we stay drug free we can reach them!

After the pride rally sharing students were then able to create their career choice using pipe cleaners, can you guess what this student wants to be?

We had a chance to participate in some fantastic activities with our kindergarten buddies including making popcorn!  Students watched as the teachers made popcorn and read a book about the many steps in takes to make pop corn.  While students snacked second graders wrote down the four most important steps and their kindergarten buddies illustrated each step.

Idioms: silly sayings that mean something different that what they literally say!

We studied different kinds of poetry including alliteration, can you tell what letter this student was repeating???

We learned about the three main kinds of energy.  Students were then able to create their own super hero who can harness their energy to change the state of different kinds matter, meet heat boy!

We learned a little more about our reading buddies by reading about Clifford's family and making a venn diagram about our families.  We put our pictures in the circle that we belonged in: brothers, sisters, both, or none.  Finally we were able to sit with our buddies and draw a picture of our families.

These are only a few of the fun activities we have participated in...  I am so proud of the progress that we have made this second nine weeks!  I am excited to see what the third nine weeks brings.  I hope that everyone is enjoying their break!  I miss you all and cant wait to see you on tuesday,  Happy new year!!

First nine weeks

Congratulations students!  You have made it through your first nine weeks of second grade!  I could not be more proud of you all!  Your hard work and critical thinking really earned us some points on our nine weeks assessments!  Great job!  Here are some of the projects we worked on this nine weeks in our class as well as with our reading buddies all the way in the kindergarten hall!

On the first week of school we make a picture graph of the first grade teachers we had.  Once we created the graph we made some observations about conclusions we could draw from the graph.  "Ms. Goolsbay had the most students move into Ms. Kulle's class this year."  "Ms. Bishop had the least amount of students come from her room into Ms. Kulle's room while still staying at Moseley."  These are just two of the great observations made by students from my classroom!

In science we investigated objects that can do extraordinary things when put together.  Students in a groups were instructed to build a bridge out of common school craft supplies.  Students' bridges were required to be at least 10 in long, they had to be able to hold 5 bear worth of weight, and had to be creative and innovative.  The ideas that these little engineers in the making came up with were phenomenal!

A few weeks ago our kindergarten reading buddies were studying the letter F.  In an effort to reinforce this sound and its use in everyday life the second graders read books with a flashlight!  This not only helped the kindergarteners with their letter sound recognition but also gave the second graders a chance to practice their fluency!!

In the first couple weeks of school we read about a scientist.  Who they are and what they do.  We quickly discovered that anyone can be a scientist if they can make careful observations and conduct thorough investigations! Here a student is drawing four ways that they are already in fact like a scientist.

In reading we were able to compare two versions of Cinderella.  We were able to find evidence in the text of each story that was the same but were able to investigate the stories differences too!  The other version we read was called "Dinorella"... A funny story about a long neck.

Last week our reading buddies were studying community helpers and we read a funny story about a mailman.  After we read the story each student worked on a story map including the characters, the setting, the problem, and the solution.  The kindergarteners were the master artists and their partner the second graders were the master writers!

If you have not had a chance to visit our newly decorated safari room here is a sneek peek.  Last year our room was decorated in an underwater theme, things have GONE WILD.......

Again, I am so proud of your hard work this nine weeks and I can hardly wait to see what this new nine weeks brings!

Love, Ms. Kulle