Talent Show

Ms. Dewerff's Dazzler's showed off their talents in music class at the annual 2nd grade Talent Show!

Mia played two Christmas songs and we all sang along while she played! It was so much fun!

Jack played the musical sticks.  Great job!

Ernesto and Jack did some acting for us.  Jack - dentist, Ernesto - patient

Angel G., Kain, Angel R., and Oswaldo showed us some of their wrestling moves.  Wow!

Zoey sang three verses of Silent Night.  It was beautiful!

Anaulie entertained us with a story - Jimmy Neutron

Drew played two Christmas songs on his violin! Awesome!

Molly read us a Christmas poem!

Brushing our Eggs

 

As you can see from the video, we learned how difficult it is to get rid of plaque!  So, make sure that always brush your teeth and go to the dentist regularly!

Eye Dissection

Wow!  What a fun Friday!  We finally got to dissect the cow eye! Nursing students from Iowa Central Community College assisted Nurse Twyla as students identifyed the parts of the eye!  What a great hands-on experience!

                 Can you see the pupil and iris?  This cow has a blue iris!

 What do the muscles do?  Help move the eye up, down, side to side and around

                    Thank you, Nurse Twyla, for this great experience!

Doing what good readers do.... read, read read!

Students spend 15 minutes each day silent reading!  If students use their time wisely during silent reading, each of them has an opportunity to earn a monthly certificate for a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut!  Storm Lake Elementary has also teamed up with various businesses to promote our Tornado Reading Program.  If students read 15 minutes at home for 20 days out of the month, they have the opportunity for other prizes as well.  November's prize is a certificate for a free skating session at "The Rink!"  So, please encourage your child to read, read, read!   I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Drive safe and give thanks!

Classroom visitor!

Muffin is helping Ms. Dewerff work!

Mia and Muffin

Last week, we had a furry visitor come to our classroom!  Mia brought her kitty, Muffin, and the kids had so much fun petting and holding her. 

What do you know about the Ear?

The students are excited to be learning about the ear! Most of them didn't know that the ear contains the tiniest bones in the body.  They are the hammer, anvil, and stirrup!

Happy Fall!

Wow!  Last week was very exciting with lots of activities.  We started Monday off with a special guest!  Drew Taylor invited his mom to come to our classroom.  She entertained us by telling us two fun Halloween stories.  We got to meet Perky the Pumpkin, and he is still hanging on our wall all ready for Halloween!  We also got to listen to Drew play his violin!  That was really awesome!  The kids were really impressed and were excited to know that they can take orchestra through the school when they are in 4th grade!! 

I also want to thank all of the parents that attended Parent/Teacher Conferences last week!  It was so nice to visit with you about your child's progress in 2nd grade.  It has been a fantastic year so far!  Thank you for all of your hard work in encouraging your child to read at home and practice flashcards every night!

Mrs. Taylor

Mrs. Taylor telling a cute story!

Drew playing some music on his violin!

All about Bats

Katie, the BV County Naturalist, taught us all about bats!

Animal Research

Jack is doing research on his animal, the peacock!

Natalie and Kain are sharing animal information

Molly and Gerardo are researching...Wow! Hard workers!

So proud of Lupita!  She is learning English and working very hard!

We completed our "Animals and their Habitat" unit with an Animal Research Project! The kids were excited to be able to pick their favorite animal to research!  They chose books from the classroom, library, and did extended research on computers.  Wow, it was amazing to watch them navigate on the computers to find answers to their questions!

Field Trip!

Friday was a windy, but fun day for our class!  We went on a field trip to the Prairie Heritage Center AND BV County Park in Peterson!  While we were there, we got to see and do so many things!  See all of our fun pictures below!

 Digging for fossils!

 Snake activities

 Gerardo is learning about bugs and reptiles! 

Aysia and Isabel are looking at how snakes slither!

Ernesto is being attacked by a snake!  Wait... it's only a snake made out of a paper plate!  Way to scare the teacher, Ernesto!

Goldfish

We are having so much fun with our new Science unit!  Last week, we brought 8 goldfish into our classroom and placed them in aquariums.  Students got into groups of 3 and have been studying the body structure and needs of their goldfish. They are recording their findings in a special Science journal.  Today, they added elodea (a green plant) to their aquarium to give more oxygen to their goldfish.  Some of the goldfish decided to take a bite out of the elodea and the kids thought that was pretty funny! Check back to hear about more Science fun!  We start ant farms next week!

New School Year

Welcome back everyone!!  It's going to be a great year! We have so many fun units planned including a new Science curriculum with lots of hands-on activities!  Make sure you check back often because you might see a picture or video of yourself working hard in 2nd grade!

Simply Electrifying!

Wow!  On Friday, Mid American Energy sponsored an awesome assembly on electricity!  We were lucky enough to have the Science Museum of Iowa send a scientist to present information about the different types of electricity, famous scientists, and how to be safe around electricity.  We even got to see a pickle being "fried" from the inside out!  Ethan got to experience a hands-on activity!

Chopsticks Practice

Thursday and Friday were exciting days in our class!  Thursday we welcomed our new student teacher, Mr. Timmerman, and Friday, we practiced using chopsticks!  First, we watched a video about how to use chopsticks, then, everybody got a cup of Ramen Noodles and started practicing.  As you will see from the videos, some students caught on quickly!

Talent Show in Music Class

                                           
                                                             Sarah playing a fine tune!

                                              
                                               Xander is doing some magic with Brenna!

              
                                                  Alex is doing some beat boxing!       

Elizabeth and her Grandma play Old McDonald!