Weekly Update 10/26/15 - 10/30/15

Our first five day week in a while! How are you holding up?

We've felt quite busy lately, and it's only because there are so many exciting things taking place. Allow us to fill you in! We've jumped into Storypath, and are just beginning to understand where rain forests exist, the different layers of the rain forest, and what's inside of them. Last week, Mrs. Lanze took us on a virtual field trip to the Amazon where quotes of excitement and discovery were heard all around the room. Students were able to virtually explore rain forests, rivers, churches, homes, school, and communities. Some hopped onto the virtual zipline! David and Marcia even kindly asked if they could have a "little extra recess," before entering the virtual playground. It was a fun filled morning, evidenced by the partnership work taking place. "This is SO fun," we heard Matthew say. To which Joshua replied, "Yeah! This is the best." Tanner and Brielle were off in their own corner "inviting" one another to go adventure around Brazil. Ella described Storypath as a time where we "discuss things you don't know about the world and learn to help other people." We loved the words Ella chose, and look forward to deepening our studies on the rain forest in the coming weeks.

We are wrapping up Unit 2 of Investigations this week and will be taking our final assessment on Thursday. We've been putting our knowledge to the test by comparing and contrasting 2D and 3D shapes using Venn Diagrams and have also been constructing our own 3D shapes out of pipe cleaners and straws. Prisms and pyramids of all sizes were being built on Tuesday and were excellent evidence of our understanding.

Our next project is underway in Writer's Workshop and we're challenging the class to write persuasive letters. Their first assignment has been to write about one thing they'd like changed about Trinity -- many are developing reasons for longer recess and longer art. However, we love the few that are hoping for a longer Reader's Workshop! Speaking of Reader's Workshop, we're focusing on character traits and feelings in order to understand more about the personality of our characters.

Did you hear that our earthworms arrived?! It was like Christmas morning as we gathered together on the carpet to open our package of worms. All hands were on deck as we prepared our earthworm bins by stripping newspaper and tearing lettuce. We will be watching these bins closely over the next month as we look for evidence of decomposition. We encourage you to "dig into" your child's thinking about soil and decomposition as it has been a very fun and hands-on experience!

A few reminders for the upcoming weeks:

• We will walk to ImaginOn this Thursday, October 29th to return books and check out new books. Please remember to send in any library books from home!
• Friday, October 30th will be a full day at Trinity! We will start by walking over to AME Zion Church to celebrate All Saint's Day. That afternoon, we will participate in Field Day from 1:00 - 3:00! 
• Friday, November 6th we will walk to CPCC to watch the Middle School Musical: Crazy For You. Nothing beats a fun Friday!

See Our Symmetry!

We are focusing on symmetry this week in math and spent today constructing different symmetrical images -- take a look at a few of our creations! 

More Enrichment Updates

Hi Parents!

Read more enrichment updates below.

Art:  

Our 2nd grade friends can be found in the art studio once a week for a full hour!  The sounds of creative joy can be heard far and wide when these kids hit the art studio.  They are mastering procedures that allow them to take ownership of their creative process from start to finish. We continue to introduce the students to the artistic behaviors with a variety of materials, each allowing the students to dig a little deeper into their own artwork.  We have also added a new habit of Observational Drawing.  Each class starts with a 5 minute drawing of an object on the table.  This allows the students to refocus their minds and bodies, allowing their open studio time to flow! If you would like to follow along the process of all Trinity art student you should check out and subscribe to our blog!  If you like all things Twitter, you can give us a follow there too (@tesarttab1).  Please feel free to send along any questions you may have.

Thanks,

Jen Rankey and Mary Ann O’Sullivan

Faith Studies:  

The Exodus has begun and we will quickly move through the 40 years of wandering and arrival at the Promised Land.  The struggles to stay faithful to God continue for the Israelites as well as for us.  Conversation about how we live and work with each other naturally flow from these stories.  Saints of God from the past will be discussed to prepare us for the All Saints Chapel at the end of October.

Weekly Update 10/13/15 - 10/16/15

Welcome back! We hope you enjoyed the long weekend -- whether you stayed in Charlotte, or ventured elsewhere. We trust stories will unfold this week and we look forward to hearing them. Thank you all for your time last week during conferences. We are grateful to have had the time to sit down with each of you to discuss progress thus far, and also to look ahead with excitement for what is to come in Second Grade.

We are picking right back up where we left off! With a few new things thrown into the mix, of course. This week we are celebrating the "Small Moment Stories" that you read during conferences. We are so proud of our young authors and having seen the incredible work they can produce, we know the year is sure to bring forth more beautiful, published work. Please take the time over the next week or so to sit down with your children as they share their stories with you. They are truly wonderful!  Be sure to ask your child about the unique compliment they received as they were awarded their Halloween pencils at the conclusion of our celebration! Our next unit will focus a lot on writing letters and we launched this unit today by writing a short letter about our passions.

As we mentioned during conferences, we are also shifting gears in Reader's Workshop. Having spent several weeks building comprehension skills, we will begin studying characters in depth as a way to put these comprehension strategies to use. Instead of writing in Noticing Books, students will get a Reader's Notebook that will be used frequently as we write about our reading. Please note that Noticing Books are no longer a requirement. However, if your child would like to continue writing in their NB, we will continue to respond!

Unit Two of Investigations is well underway and we will continue our work with geometry through next week. We have just introduced the concept of area, and will soon be discussing symmetry. Students have learned about various shapes and in particular, the difference between types of quadrilaterals.

Below is an update from Natalia regarding Spanish classes:

"News from Spanish!

Learning a second language opens a new world of opportunities and also provides knowledge of other cultures and traditions from different countries.

At Trinity, students are exposed to this experience in a fun and interactive way.

Building a good foundation in Spanish will help students to understand main concepts that will be useful when expressing ideas.

Some topics are taught in all grade levels and they change according to the students' age. Some of them are: calendar (numbers, months, days), school supplies, weather seasons, family and parts of the classroom.

Second graders are working on reading comprehension and recognizing some common vocabulary words and expressions. They are practicing counting through 60. Children have been working on topics such as weather, school items, parts of the classroom, main parts of the face and body by using the correct article for each.

We are playing the game “El Lobo” (The Wolf) to start using vocabulary words about clothes."

Thank you,

Natalia

A few reminders for the upcoming weeks:

• Please remember to sign and return your child's Unit One Assessment that was given to you during conferences. We hope you have found the time to sit down with your children to look at their work together. We will keep these assessments for our records and to note progress. 
• Small Moment Stories have made their way home -- celebrate, and return next week! Thank you for your cooperation. We promise they will be yours to keep...eventually! 
• Friday, October 16th will be our first trip to Little Sugar Creek Community Garden. If you have signed up as one of our volunteers, please be sure to arrive on campus by 12:45 so we can depart together. Weather looks great! 
• Our next trip to ImaginOn will be NEXT WEEK. Stay tuned for the specific date. 
• Friday, October 23rd is a Professional Development day and there will be no school for students. Enjoy another long weekend!  

Reedy Creek Recap

What a marvelous morning we had yesterday! Reedy Creek was certainly a worthwhile field trip for Second Grade and we were very proud to see hands shooting in the air as our guides, Cory and Pepe, asked us questions about soil. Seems that our crew knows a bunch! 

We took part in two sessions -- one in which we compared and contrasted two different soils (loamy soil and topsoil) before heading outside to collect a soil sample and observe the different layers of soil using scientific tools. The second session was a nature walk in the woods where we learned about the FBI and how it relates to soil. FBI, or fungus, bacteria, and insects, are the three decomposers that help turn dead organic and inorganic material into soil. We walked for nearly an hour noticing our surroundings. Students spotted fungus on logs, insects stuck to tree bark, and much more. 

We hope your children came home with stories from our morning together -- and if not, have them explain these pictures to you! Thanks to Mr. Difrancesco for the many pictures! And another BIG thank you to our volunteer drivers. We could not have done it without you! 

Comparing soils -- topsoil vs. loamy soil. Who knew there were so many different kinds?!

Katie, Daphne and Ella separating soil.

Tanner mixing soil with water. Ask your children what happened!

Claire found some fungus!

Collecting soil samples to examine.

A walk in the woods! Searching for evidence of decomposition.

Part of the F.B.I -- Fungus!

The cricket Ella found, and named Chester after our read aloud story!

We of course found a playground to end the field trip!