Estimation Jar

As many of you know we have a new addition to our classroom – the Estimation Machine!  Every family member who attended Open House completed an estimation.  We had over 50 estimates on Friday morning! Thank you to everyone who participated! 

Estimation is an important skill for our second graders to develop and it's one they will continue to revisit through the years. The Estimation Machine is an engaging and exciting way to bring this skill to life in the classroom.
In the Estimation Jar this week was counting bears.  On Friday we brainstormed possible ways to count all the counting bears: group them in 2s, 5s, 10s, etc., grouping by 5s was the strategy that won.  Ms. LaRose pulled popsicle sticks with students names on them, if your name was called you went to the center of the room and took 5 counting bears.  Students were surprised to find out that 118 counting bears were in the estimation jar!   

When we went through our estimates, Aubrey and Connor beat out all of the adults and siblings (they both were feeling very proud) by estimation 120 -- the were only 2 bears off!  Aubrey and Connor had a tie-breaker estimate and Connor was the winner!  Since Connor was the winner he will take the Estimation Machine home to fill for next week.  Next week the student whose estimation is the closest to the actual number will take the estimation jar home to refill with a new item. This cycle will continue throughout the school year.  Some suggestions for items to put in the Estimation Machine are:

Beads	Beans	Bolts
Crayons	Cotton Balls	Erasers
Marbles	Paper Clips	Puzzle Pieces
Rocks	Sunflower Seeds	Washers

All items will be returned to the student who filled the Estimation Jar on Friday of that week. Please do not go out and buy items to fill in the Estimation Jar, Mr. Pecor loves to be an Estimation Jar Assistant and help students find items around Porters Point School to put in the Estimation Jar!  

Week in Review 9.17 - 9.21

Our Week in Review

Dot Day

On Friday, we had a wonderful Dot Day here in Room 6.  Students created 3-D dots using the Quiver App.  We then shared our 3-D dots with our buddies in Mrs. Ryan's room.  In the afternoon we Skyped with another 2nd grade classroom where we shared our dots from art class. We ended our day building structures using Dots (the candy) and toothpicks. 

To learn more about Dot Day click here 

Photographs from our day are below. 

Sent from my iPad

Shelburne Farms

Shelburne Farms came to Porters Point School on Wednesday to help the 2nd graders learn more about our garden beds.  We currently have eggplant, tomatoes, basil and peppers in our garden beds.  Students learned about the different parts of a plant.  In addition we brainstormed describing words for each of the food items found in our gardens and then we wrote a poem.  After, we picked food from our garden to make pesto.  Students learned that pesto is made from basil, olive oil, garlic and salt.  We were all able to taste test the pesto! We finished up with a game similar to musical chairs where we learned the important items tomatoes need to grow: sun, dirt, space, water and air.  Below are photographs from our experience.  Thank you Shelburne Farms! 

Week of Sept. 4 - 7th

Writing Workshop -- Immersion

This week in Writing Workshop we began the immersion process. The immersion phase is when students are given time to explore the type of text which they are going to be writing about. On Thursday students were given a large amount of time to explore small moments / personal narratives. As a class we read aloud When the Relatives Came and Knuffle Bunny and we discussed: "What Made This a Good Small Moment?" Students were then given time to explore texts and brainstorm with their turn and talk partner "What Makes a Good Small Moment?" Below is a photograph of the texts we are using during the immersion phase along with our anchor charts from our lessons this week.

Welcome Back BBQ -- Monday, August 27th

Monday, August 27th - we are hosting our fifth annual PTO Welcome Back Barbecue for all PPS families.  This is a great time to reconnect with other PPS families and meet new classmates.  Name tags will be available for students that designate which class they are in.  We serve meals from 5:30 to 6:30. On the menu:  your choice of hamburger, cheese burger, veggie burger, or hot dog.  Sides include potato salad, tossed salad, chips, apples, and a choice of beverage:  water, lemonade, or milk.  The meal costs $6.00 for adults and $5.25 for children.  Don't forget that PPS students eat for FREE, compliments of the PPS PTO!  Bring a blanket or lawn chair as we'll eat at the back of the building so children can play on the playground after dinner.  Make your reservation and meal choice on our website by 9:00 Tuesday morning, August 21st (click on the red banner...):  http://www.csdvt.org/pps/index.php

2018 - 2019 Welcome Information

Welcoming Information: 

* Family Letter (click here)
* Student Letter (click here)
* Student Hopes and Dreams (click here)
* First Day Checklist (click here)

Headphones:
* Recommendation 1 (click here)
 * Recommendation 2 (click here)

ABCs of 2nd Grade:
Find out the important information regarding our classroom this year by clicking here. 
I highly recommend that families read the ABCs of 2nd Grade before the first day of school! 

Volunteer Information: 
If you would like to volunteer in our classroom please click here. 

2nd Grade Videos

1st Half of 2nd Grade
2nd Half of 2nd Grade

Composting with Recycle Rhonda

Planting Our Eggplant!

On Wednesday our garden expert Mr. MacAuley came to help us plant our eggplant into our raised bed.  Mr. MacAuley taught us how many eggplant plants would fit in our raised beds, how to properly water them and how to care for them over the summer.  Below is a short video of photographs from our planting day with Mr. MacAuley. A huge thank you to Mr.MacAuley (and Claussen's) for their continued support of Porters Point School and our gardens, we truly couldn't do this project without business and people like you!

PBL in Room 6

PBL in Room 6 is off to a great start. Each student on the 2nd grade team spends two days with a 2nd grade teacher learning about a topic within our theme "Dig a Little Deeper".  When students spend two days in Room 6 their first day is spent with Recycle Rhondha from CSWD (Chittenden Solid Waste District).  Recycle Rhonda teaches students how to make plant food instead of trash gas.  Recycle Rhonda does this by teaching students about compost.  Students learn about the FBI agents found in compost the F stands for fungus, the B stands for bacteria and the I stands for invertebrates.  Students then get to dig through real compost to find these FBI agents!  A video of photographs from the first two compost sessions of 2nd Grade PBL are below.

On the 2nd day of the composting session students work with a partner to create a video to help all of Porters Points School learn how to compost breakfast!  Starting during the 2018-2019 students in every classroom at PPS will watch the video.  As a result of these 2nd graders hard work every classroom in the building will be composting breakfast -- WOW!  This is really powerful work our 2nd graders are doing to make the earth a healthier and greener place to live!