Friday, June 11, 2010: Spelling Bee

This morning we went outside to see the South Orangetown Ambulance Corp. There were four ambulances and lots of paramedics. A man talked to us calling 911 for help. We asked questions (and told LOTS of stories) about times where people needed help or went in an ambulance. Then each of the classes got to go into an actual ambulance. People sat on the seats and on the stretcher. The paramedics showed us some of the things that they have inside the ambulance and then answered some of our questions and listened to even MORE of our stories. Before we came back to the classroom, we got candy and information to become Smarties.

Ms. Stern passes along a folder with important information for our second grade teachers. Some of the things in that folder are our November conference report, our final report card, reading information, and a piece of writing. Today we worked on our writing piece. We had to introduce ourselves to our new teachers. First, we thought of things that our teachers will see when they look at our writing: spelling, spacing, capitalization, punctuation, and handwriting. After that, we brainstormed things that our teachers might want to know about us: our name, family, what we like about school (or what we don’t like), what we know a lot about, school activities that help us with our learning, favorite books, our birthdays, interests or hobbies, things that challenge us in school, and our behavior in school. We turned and talked to our partners to think about what we wanted to share before we started writing at our seats. Stephen had no problem thinking of things that he wants his second grade teacher to know about him!

Today was our celebration for Dylan’s birthday. Her real birthday is the day after school ends. Victoria helped Dylan pass out the plates and then Ms. Stern passed out the cupcakes. They were red velvet mini-cupcakes. Arlo thought they tasted awesome!

We looked at coins during math today. Yesterday we worked in groups to record what we know about pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Each table wrote what they knew about one coin and then passed it to the next table. Today we looked closely at pennies and nickels. We know that pennies are a brownish, copper color. They have Abraham Lincoln on them and are worth one cent. You would need 100 pennies to make $1.00. Next, we looked at a nickel. It is a silver color and is bigger than a penny. It is worth five cents. You would need 20 nickels to equal a dollar.

We went outside during P.E. We played a bunch of games like tennis, scoops, Frisbee, boxball, kickball, and foxtail. Sasha sang a song from Glee. While people were playing games, Meaghan, Sasha, and Emma came to the classroom window to say hello. Ms. Stern saw us and came over to say hi. She was eating lunch with her friends.

We had a spelling bee after specials. Everyone lined up around the rug. Ms. Stern gave every person a word. We had to spell the word correctly and if we didn’t, we had to sit down at our seat. In the first round everyone (except for one person) spelled the word correctly. The words got harder and harder after each round and more and more people spelled the words wrong. Dylan was a little scared before her turn because she was afraid she would spell the word wrong. Drew was also a little scared. Lauria wasn’t so scared because she’s been practicing using the words in her homework journal so she thought she was going to do really well. Adam had a feeling that Ms. Stern was going to start with easier words. He also practiced pretty much all of his words. Meaghan was thinking that she wasn’t so scared. Eesha practiced with her mom in the car. She even spelled the word encyclopedia on the third try! Her practice paid off because she ended up being the winner! Our final four contestants were: Dylan A., Emma, Eesha, and Drew. Eesha got a medal and Drew (our second place speller) a certificate. Once we finished the spelling bee, everyone wanted to do it again!

Please don’t forget about donations for next week’s tag sale. So far, we only have a few items that will be available for purchase. Unused/unwanted toys, books, movies, music, stuffed animals, crafts, etc. will gladly be accepted. Thank you!

Have a great weekend!