R-controlled vowel Pirates

We learned that the letter r can sometimes get kind of bossy and won't let the vowel next to it talk. It sounds like a Pirate "arrrgh" matey! We played a came called "Find the Buried Treasure".  Half of the kids were R-Pirates and half the kids were golden vowels. The Pirates closed their eyes, I said a word with an r-controlled vowel in it, the vowel treasure kids chose the correct vowel and then had to hide.  The Pirates had to hunt for the vowels and together they wrote the word. They had to think hard to figure out which vowel fit into the correct word because the r's are so bossy. It was a blast!

A Thesaurus Is Really Not A Dinosaur!

One of our goals was to learn about synonyms. The kids were divided into learning groups. Each group was assigned a word. The words included: pretty, mad, happy, sad and ugly. They used a Thesaurus to find synonyms to match their assigned words. Then they illustrated their word. They presented their masterpieces to the group to see if the class could guess their original word. They thought the Thesaurus' were a blast because they found some 'high school and even college' words for their graphs. Some of the kids were a little disappointed that the Thesaurus wasn't a dinosaur!

Our Class Store

One of the second grade goals in Math is for the kids to learn and understand the value of quarters and how many it takes to make a dollar. The kids earn money by bringing back their homework and their Cougar Care Packets and writing in their journals and completing Science and Social Studies books, etc. They keep their class money in a piggy bank taped to the front of their desks. Each month we have a class store. It is amazing to watch the kids plan through how much money that have and what they want to buy.  I love watching them figure out how to buy something for each member of their family. It is a hands-on way to prepare them for a real-world experience.  So, the next time you take them shopping, I encourage you, as a parent, to let them show you what they've learned.

Our Christmas Party

Each student brought 26 gifts to hand out to each of the kids in our class. We had decorated bags to collect the gifts in. It was so much fun to watch the joy on the kid's faces as they handed out their presents. We have really great, thoughtful kids in our class. Thanks parents for your great support! We have a wonderful class!