Praying Mantises

What a cool way to end the week! Mr. Sandman had given our class two praying manis eggs last week, and we were beginning to wonder if they would ever hatch. But just this morning, lo and behold! One of the pouches opened and out came TONS of the little critters! We made some great observations today, but because praying mantises are much harder to feed than butterflies I had to set them free this afternoon. So if you happen to find a praying mantis this summer, it may be one of our little friends :)

They were white when they first came out!

Look at them all...

And they just kept coming!

By the afternoon they were green

On my hand, getting ready to go.

Spring Update

I hope everyone had a relaxing, enjoyable vacation! From what I heard today it sounds like the kids had a great break.

In the weeks before vacation, we wrapped up most of our projects and units, which means this week we start lots of new learning! In reading and writing we will be focusing on How-To or Procedural writing, where students will practice following and writing instructions for different activities. For math, we started our fraction unit today and will be discussing how they are equal parts of a whole. During our social studies time, our learning shifts to economics, where we will talk about producers and consumers, goods and services, and work and income.

We will be busy! :)

Mr. Kilham

Famous People

WOW! Presidents, athletes, inventors, and scientists. People who broke records and people who changed our world. What a great performance from our students today!  They have worked so hard the past few weeks and it really shows. I have learned so much about so many interesting people, and I couldn't be more impressed with the results of our students' efforts.

In addition to the in-class speeches, we made a ChatterPix presentation to share some of the important facts we have learned. Check it out!



Famous People from Ben Kilham on Vimeo.


Parents and students, leave us a comment below! What was your favorite part of the project? What was the most interesting thing you learned? Did you learn anything neat about a friend's famous person?

Fables and Folktales Chatterpix

Our students did an awesome job coloring, writing, and recording for the Fables and Folktales unit! We learned all about parts of a story, personification, and morals, among other things. Listen to the characters of some of our books tell you their story :)




Chatterpix Fables and Folktales from Ben Kilham on Vimeo.

The Penguin Lady

Today we had special visit from Dyan deNapoli, aka the Penguin Lady! 

Dyan shared her extensive penguin knowledge with us through pictures, quizzes, stuffed animals, and her very own penguin calls. Did you know that some penguins can dive down 1,700 feet? Or that rather than the hollow bones that most birds have, penguins have solid bones that help them swim? How long do you think a penguin can hold its breath? Ask your student what else they learned!

Winter Concert

Hello families,

This Friday is the Second Grade Winter Concert. Families are invited to join us from 2:15 to 3:15 in the cafeteria. Our class is singing about winter weather, so students have been asked to wear white for the concert and will put on their hats and gloves as well.

I look forward to seeing you all then!

Sincerely,

Mr. Kilham

January Update

Hello Families!

With January well under way I wanted to give you all an update on what we've been up to in our busy classroom. When we returned from winter break we began our reading unit on fables and folktales. Students have been identifying the elements of these stories and discussing the morals they teach. As we read more examples, we have begun to see how the two types of stories are different.

Our other exciting new unit is for science, in which we have been investigating the arctic and antarctic polar regions. As we learn about the extreme climate in these regions, we discover what makes them so very cold! We are looking at the different animals who live in these regions and discussing their adaptations for survival. As we learn more about these two ends of the earth, we are also reflecting on their similarities as well as their differences. And, of course, we will learn all about penguins :)

Your students are such hard workers, here's to a fantastic January!

Sincerely,
Mr. Kilham