Monday Memo (Tuesday Edition) 10/31/17

Good morning!

Well, as we say at Happy Hollow, that was unexpected!  As a working parent, I can only imagine the havoc this is wreaking in your house right now, having your children home from school for the second day in a row.  I'm sorry for the stress.

Veggie Skeletons

Thank you so much to everyone who signed up to contribute cut up vegetables for our Halloween project.  It's not candy, but it's still fun.  Please send it in on Wednesday.  We'll still do it.

November Homework Calendar

A hard copy of the November Homework Calendar will be sent home on tomorrow.

Noticing Notebooks

In an effort to live like writers, the second graders now have Noticing Notebooks, a place where they can jot down their thoughts at any time or interesting observations they'd like to record.  Here are some writers and their Noticing Notebooks in action:

Weather

It was a rainy week, so we placed the rain gauge in the Happy Hollow Garden.  We checked it every morning.  Last week, we got almost two inches of rain!

Mystery Reader

Thank you, Todd Ingwersen!

Start Spreading the News....

The New York Marathon is THIS Sunday, November 5, and I am running it!  I am very excited and incredibly nervous.  If you care to track me, you can download the NYC Marathon app on your phone.  My bib number is 69576.  However, please be aware that if you are tracking me, settle in and get comfortable; it's going to be a long day--5 hours and change if all goes well.

As I will be driving back from New York, I will not be in school on Monday, November 6.  An excellent substitute is scheduled, and I'm sure it will be a great day.


Have a wonderful week.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Miriam

Monday Memo 10/23/17

Good morning!

Check out these field trip pics!

Beautiful day for a hike

Add caption

Listening to our guide

Rocks formed from glaciers

Climbing the rocks is so much fun

View from the roof of the observatory

Thank you so much to all of our parent chaperones on Friday.  We had a wonderful day at the Blue Hill, thanks to their hard work.  My phone ran out of battery early in the day, so I need photos.  If you have any pictures you would like to share, please email them to me:  miriam_morrison@wayland.k12.ma.us.

Movie Night

Hope you can come to this fun event!

Walk to School

Thank you so much for helping your child participate in this fun event.  It was a beautiful day to walk to school.  When I was turning in the pledges to the office, I was extremely touched by the generosity, and I'm so glad Mr. Hernandez's community in Puerto Rico will benefit from this.  Thank you.

Math Stations 

Thank you so much to Priya Sawe for joining us for Math Stations last week.  Please check the sign up if you would like to come in one Tuesday morning.

Our Maddie Hartford presenting her service learning project at assembly

Playground Painting

Maddie paints the playground!

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to painting our playground.  We are proud of Maddie, who was a big helper!

Cornucopia

Many people have returned the secret cornucopia project to me.  Thank you.  Here is the link if you need another copy.

Veggie Skeletons

Veggie Skeleton circa 2016

Please sign up to send in some cut up vegetables for our Veggie Skeleton project.  Here is the link.

Have a great week.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Miriam

Monday Memo 10/16/17

I hope you had a great weekend.  Read on for some exciting second grade happenings.

Conferences

I am looking forward to beginning conferences.  Click here for the schedule.  Some parents have had trouble with getting in the building.  Feel free to walk around the school to our classroom.  Our door is off the black top on the playground.  If you can't get in through the main door, I'm happy to let you in through our outside classroom door. 

Writing

Group Share is a fun part of Writer's Workshop for us.  Listen to these authors explaining their leads for their Small Moment stories (personal narratives). 

 

 

Field Trip Friday

Cross your fingers for good weather on Friday!  I will send home a reminder on Thursday to the students and to the chaperones, too.

Mystery Reader

Veggie Skeletons

Veggie Skeleton circa 2016

We will do this fun activity for a Halloween/Harvest Celebration on Tuesday, October 31.  We need some cut up vegetables.  Please follow this link to contribute.

Math

Have you heard about the Osmo?  Ask your child about this fun iPad app we often during math stations.  We have completed our first unit on Number Combinations, and now we are beginning to study place value.

Thank you to everyone who signed up for Math Stations.  Here is the link if you want to find a time to join us.  Just email me the slot you would like.  Thank you.

Cornucopia

Thank you to those of you who have returned the cornucopia.  Please bring it in when you meet with me for your conference (if you haven't already), or send it into school in an envelope.  Thank you.

Have a great week!

Miriam

Monday Memo (Tuesday Edition) 10/10/17

Dear Families,

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend.  We had a very exciting week in second grade. 

Science

We constructed pinwheels to show wind.  Then we took the pinwheels outside to test them!

Testing pinwheels

Then we tried out the anemometer. 

Do you know what an anemometer is for?  Ask your child!

Fire Safety

We were delighted to have Todd Winner teach the second grade about fire safety.  In addition to being a fire fighter, Todd Winner is a distinguished Happy Hollow alum.  We are very proud!

Firefighter Todd Winner teaches safety

New Happy Hollow Building Substitute (and former student of Ms. Morrison) Ms. Spinney

Weather Workshop

We are grateful to the PTO for providing the funding for the Acton Discovery Museum to bring us their Traveling Weather Workshop.  We enjoyed this interactive lesson and the hands-on learning.  Today, your child is bringing home a weather kit from the Discovery Museum.  Feel free to explore this with your child, but it is not a requirement.

Evaporation with Acton Discovery Museum Science Workshop

Using thermometers

Making cloud prints

Penpals

We were thrilled to virtually meet our California penpals via skype!  Chatting with my aunt (and godmother) Ms. Hopkins and her second grade class was lots of fun, and we are so excited to start exchanging letters.

Mystery Reader Mandy Donovan-Drake

Mystery Reader

We hope you can come be a Mystery Reader soon.  Thank you to Mandy Donovan-Drake for being this week's reader.  Click the link to see what other dates are available.  You can email me with the slot you would like, and I will book you!

Math Stations

Thank you so much to those of you who signed up for Math Stations.  Here is the link if you want to look at available slots. 

Homework

Thank you for working with your child on the October Homework requirements.  Your child can turn in finished work on a daily basis or turn it in on Fridays if that works better for you.

Have a great week.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Miriam