The holidays are upon us and I can already feel the buzz in the building. The holidays are a wonderful time for many families to take time to celebrate with each other and have an excuse to take time to think about others. As a teacher, I will look for ways to allow kids to use their excitement to our advantage educationally, but we still have two weeks that we HAVE to work hard. That final week will be filled with some holiday celebrations and fun activities that are learning based.
I want to walk you through the last week before Christmas so you know what is going on. On Monday, December 19th, students will be traveling to every second grade classroom to learn about the holiday traditions around the world. Each teacher prepares a lesson about another country and does a craft from that region. We enjoy taking time to teach each class in the grade level and share some other traditions with students. Holidays Around the Word is one of my favorite days to teach as a second grade teacher.
On Tuesday, December 20th we will be doing some Holiday themed writing and taking time to create gifts for our parents. This ends up being a light academic day as we work through some creative processes and enjoy making something for all of you.
Wednesday, December 21st will be the date of the classroom Christmas party. As you know, I do things a bit differently whenever possible. I was never happy with my holiday party as a teacher until I took it and made it a learning activity together. I created a STEM day which stands for the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and math. We will spend the day working on a problem and measuring our solutions. In the morning, I will introduce a problem based on the need to create a marshmallow throwing catapult. We will be working in partners to plan an idea with limited materials.
I will be looking for parents who want to come help kid's plans come to life. I will write more in the future, but I am looking for people that are dedicated to helping their plan come to life and not take it over and make it a parent competition. One of the hardest things we have to do is let kids fail and innovate rather than steal their struggle. There will be two parts to our party and I don't have exact times, but last year we met for design and engineering from 10:30-11:45. The kids went to recess and lunch and then we came back to test our machines after lunch from 12:30-1:00. Parents left after that and that gave me about an hour with the kids before gym to celebrate with our team and open gifts and hang out together.
Thursday, December 22nd will be the kickoff to our board game design project. In this project we will be exploring creative design and technical writing when it comes to designing rules. On Thursday, I will be bringing in a bunch of games and components and teaching an introduction to gaming past Candyland. We will discuss what "fun" is and how to create it. We will also be playing board games and generally having a team building day.
That is Christmas week. Friday we have off to prepare for a wonderful holiday.
When it comes to holiday gifts, I really don't need a lot of things in my life. Everyone loves to get gifts, but my most cherished possessions are the homemade cards, notes, and items from kids. These thoughtful gifts have often been the most touching things. I drink coffee everyday, but I have more than enough coffee cups for a lifetime. If you really want to buy a gift, I would love a gift of books or games for the classroom. If you would like to give a gift card, I would prefer something that I can spend on my class. I don't go out to eat or drink coffee outside of a small coffee shop in Goodrich. I always appreciate those thoughts, but they end up getting lost and unused and I would rather be honest about that.
If you have any questions about Christmas activities coming up, please don't hesitate to e-mail me or send me a Dojo message.
Mr. Montgomery’s
Monday Memo
Learning Targets:
- I can create a bar graph and a pictograph.
- I can make generalizations about data.
- I can tell analog time to the five minutes.
- I can multiply two one digit numbers.
- I can read with purpose.
- I can begin to explain the plot of a story by concentrating on the problem and solution.
- I can use a dictionary to expand my vocabulary and define words I do not know.
- I can ask myself questions as I read to improve my comprehension.
- I can use figurative language in my writing.
- I can identify the subject and the predicate found in sentences.
- I can identify a declarative, imperative, and interrogative sentence.
- I can write a paragraph with five sentences.
- I can explore words with similar word patterns.
- I can define the words evaporation, precipitation, and condensation.
- I can explain how water acts like a solid.
- I can identify the difference between solids, liquids, and gasses.
Schedule:
12/5 - Last day for Cool to Care Drive
12/5 - STAR Reading
12/12 - STAR Math
12/13 - 2nd Grade Christmas Concert
12/16 - PTO Popcorn Day
12/19 - Holidays Around the World
12/21 - Christmas Party
12/22 - Board Game Design Kickoff
12/23 - Christmas Break Begins
01/03 - School Resumes
01/13 - End of 2nd Marking Period
01/20 - Report Cards Sent Home
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