Mrs. J's Second Grade Blog

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.