Mrs. J's Second Grade Blog

Tuesday, December 16, 2008


During this special holiday season our class has decided to give the gift that grows. We will be raising money to buy an animal or a share in an animal to help end world hunger through Heifer International.

Through our giving millions of people who were once hungry will be nourished by milk, eggs and fresh vegetables. Families who for generations knew only poverty will be building new homes and starting businesses. Children who once headed out to the fields to do backbreaking work will be heading into schoolrooms to learn to read. And people who never thought they’d be in a position to help someone else will be experiencing the joy of charitable giving.

Each recipient of an animal will be “Passing on the Gift,” which means they agree to share the offspring of gift animals with others in need, making them equal partners with Heifer in the fight to end world hunger. Families will be trained through Heifer International. You’ll be helping families lift themselves out of poverty and help others in their village to sustain themselves.

What greater gift than to teach our children to reach out to those in greater need. I have asked the children to each donate a dollar or more towards the animal we will purchase or buy a share in. If you know others who would like to give to help out it would be greatly appreciated.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Class Poetry

CREDITS: Importing, Recording, & Photography
by Danica & Madison

A cinquain is a 5 line stanza. It can be done in many different ways. Three patterns we looked at were syllable count, word count and using a noun, two adjectives, three ing words, a phrase and another word for the noun. This was the pattern our class did.
Line1: A noun
Line2: Two adjectives
Line 3: Three -ing words
Line 4: A phrase
Line 5: Another word for the noun

Click on the name below to view your child's cinquain

Kyle Hunter Ian Jarrett Alison Freya Ben Madi Carlos Anna Harmony Danica Madison Gevin Caleb Nathan

Sunday, November 2, 2008

What Is A Voki?

Scroll Down To Bottom of the Page.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Horrible Harry


Horrible Harry is about the worst friend and best friend a kid could ever have. Second grade is never dull with him around. He always does horrible things like showing snakes to his classmate Song Lee and making her scream! You never know what Horrible Harry is going to do.

We enjoyed the play at the Alberta Bair and truly laughed as Horrible Harry entertained us with his mischief. We wanted to thank Mrs. Martinez and Mrs. Zumbrennen for helping chaperone the awesome kids in Room 12. A GREAT BIG THANKS from the teacher and children.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Penny War


I am so proud of my class and the pennies they have brought in for the Penny War. A project to help raise funds to purchase supplies for Huntley Project, a school that was destroyed by fire. The kids have shown such tender compassion and interest in another community.

Native American Heritage Day




We read the story, Where Did You Get Your Moccassins? by Bernelda Wheeler. Mrs. Wheeler has a rich heritage being a part of the Cree and Saulteaux.

The Story is bout children in an urban school who are curious about a classmate's new pair of moccasins. In answer to their questions, the boy describes in detail how his grandmother, or Kookum, made his moccassins.
Our class then visited the site-with Native Maps of North America American varieties of moccassins. We clicked on the different moccassins and viewed bead works and patterns of the different tribes across North America.

We then visited a Native American Beadwork site. We saw different items from the different tribes culture that had beadwork.

We then visited a Native American Beadwork site. We saw different items from the different tribes culture that had beadwork.

We then made our own moccassins. Designing our own beadwork, we then sewed the moccasins top and bottom together. It was so much fun.

We located the seven reservations and discussed the different
tribes in Montana. Then Carlos pressented moccassins from his family with their own beadwork from his grandmother, hair bretts, and his sister's jingle dress. A big thanks to his mom, and an excitement to hear her share about their rich heritage of their clan, in November. We are looking forward to your sharing!

Art History


Paul Gauguin was a french artist, known as a Post-Impressionists painter. He used vivid colors, thick application of paint, distinctive brushstrokes and real-life subject matter, but most Impressionists were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and to use unnatural or arbitrary color. After spending a short period with Vincent van Gogh (1888), Gauguin increasingly abandoned imitative art for expressiveness through color. From 1891 he lived and worked in Tahiti and elsewhere in the South Pacific painting natives and scenery.

We painted a nature scene with hills, mountains, water, trees, cloud and sun. We used real-life subject matter from nature and painted it unatural colors or without restrictions, just as Gauguin did in the late 1800's.


Learning to make Connections


We invited Mrs. Hoi, our district literacy coach to come into our classroom this past week. We are learning how to improve our literacy discussions and how to improve our book clubs. Mrs. Hoi read us stories, The Fox and the Red Hen and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We made predictions and made connections with the stories from our own lives. How exciting it is to have a visitor in our classroom that helps us with our learning.

A BIG Thanks


What a great bunch of kids! I am having fun learning with your children. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of their lives. Each child is unique and very special to me.