The Second Grade Newsletter

Seals and sea lions have blubber. They live in the sea. They have blubber to keep warm. When seals and sea lions are in trouble the Marine Mammal Center helps them. Seals and sea lions are happy when it rains. If the babies are left on the beach they will get stranded. We went to the Marine Mammal Center for a field trip. We saw seals and sea lions. We got to pet seal and sea lion fur.
Reporters: Mahlika and Isabelle

When we first started making maps it started out easy and got a little hard. We made a key. It tells what is on the map. Then we made the map. A square that is yellow means desks and a rectangle with a square inside is a sink. A green line is the chalkboard. When we started the map Iris gave us graph paper. We drew all the symbols in. We put them in from bird's-eye-view. We learned about compass roses. We learned that when your back is facing the sun you are facing the north.
Reporters: Sheridan and Sarah

Our artist of the month is Vincent VanGogh. We made big pictures full of stars. The stars were made out of crayon. We used yellow, orange and white crayons. Then we painted over them with black and blue watercolors. Then we cut out outlines of a city on black paper while we let the paintings dry. Vincent VanGogh painted his emotions and how he was feeling at the time. He only sold about one painting in his whole life. He was very poor. After he died his paintings got very famous and he did too.
Reporters: Sasha and Maya

Chinese New Year is on January 22nd. On January 22nd they cook a huge feast for the kitchen god and they burn incense. The kitchen god is supposed to bring them good luck. The red envelopes with gold are also for good luck.
Reporter: Devon

We have had a lot of rain this season. We've had seventeen inches of rain and there is more coming. It is a downpour out there right now. Every time it rains we empty our rain gauge and we put down how many inches it rained. We color it with crayon or marker, but it has to be blue.
Reporters: Lucia and Laurel

On February 11th we handed out valentines. Some were bought. Some were made by hand. Some had different texture. Some had stickers. Some had doilies and some were shiny. After we opened all of our valentines we showed one to the class.
Reporters: P.J. and Mike

Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin. He liked to read books and go to school. He was born in Kentucky and moved to Indiana. He didn't mind walking five miles to borrow a book. He was attacked by pirates when he was taking someone on a boat and he got a scar on his left eyebrow. When he went to town he beat all of the boys. Whenever Judge Douglas made a speech Abraham Lincoln made a speech against Judge Douglas. Soon the Civil War began. Family members fought each other. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and kept the United States together.
Reporters: Jimmy and Spencer

On Friday we are going to the San Francisco Maritime Park. We are going on two ships, the Balclutha and the Eureka. The Balclutha is a square-rigged ship and the Eureka is an old ferryboat. We will sing sea shanties. We will walk past other ships. The Eureka moves by a paddle wheel.
Reporters: Kerim and Vincent

In math we are doing double-digit addition and subtraction. There are games called tangrams. There are new tangram puzzles like "Shape Up" and "Two for Tangrams". We only do that after we are done with our math. We do math like twenty-four minus ten and twenty-four plus ten. "Poison" is another game we can play during free math time.
Reporter: Levi

Each Monday we learn a new poem. On Friday we recite the poem that we learned. If we recite the poem right we get a sticker. Then we get another poem the next week. Then we try learning it. We try again and again until we memorize the poem. Then we recite it again. We like the poem "Taste of Purple".
Reporters: Farah and Aris

Every Friday if we have any of the letters up on the board we have a party. We get lots of treats and we sometimes get a drink. Then on Monday Iris puts up a new word. Then if we don't be too loud we get a new treat. If we are loud or we misbehave we don't get a party. Every time we get a different treat and a different drink. After each party we have P.E. Parker's favorite party was the Christmas party. We got to make gingerbread houses. Alex's favorite party was the Chinese New Year party. We got tea and coins. All the treats for parties have been good and I bet all of the treats for parties will be good. The parties are cool. When we have ten fiesta points in Spanish we have a party. The last Spanish party we had hot chocolate and bread.
Reporters: Parker and Alex

And so went the month of February. I enjoyed speaking with all of you parents at our conferences. If you have any further issues you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact me. I hope you all enjoyed Presidents' Week. My husband and I took an exciting trip to the Yucatan Peninsula. We stayed in a condominium on the beach in Akumal where there is a great coral reef just off shore. We spent the week snorkeling, looking at Mayan ruins, and bird watching. We had a wonderful day in San Francisco on our field trip to the Maritime Historical Park and Museum. The weather, miraculously, was lovely. Some of the high points were pushing around the capstan, going in the bunks in the fo'c'sle, singing sea shanties on the Balclutha, dancing and singing "John Kanaka" on the Eureka, and the communications tower in the Museum. We have essentially finished the unit on two-digit subtraction in math, although we will continue to revisit two-digit addition and subtraction for review. We are beginning a new unit on measurement. The children usually enjoy this unit because they can go around measuring everything. In March we will be learning about the country of Japan. In connection with the unit we will be celebrating Japanese Dolls Day on Wednesday, March 3rd. A 4 notice has gone home reminding each child to bring a doll or stuffed animal to school on this day. We will put the animals on display and share them with the class. The best doll or stuffed animal for this activity is one that your child actually uses. Models and action figures are not appropriate for this activity. Our artist of the month for March is the great Japanese woodcut artist, Katsuko Hokusai. We will be learning about the process of block printing and making block prints in class. In March we will also be taking a look at birds as they begin to do their spring-thing. In this unit we will concentrate primarily on those species of birds that we can see, hear, and observe right here in the Bay Area. On Wednesday, March 24, we will be taking a field trip to the Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary at Richardson Bay in Tiburon for a "Wild-Wings" tour. We will observe birds and the evidence of birds in their various habitats, shore, grassland, and thicket. After our tour we will proceed to a nearby park to eat lunch. We will leave BPC promptly at 8:45 a.m. and return by 2:30 p.m. A separate notice about this trip with a request for drivers will be going home soon. Our walk to the Berkeley Library this month will be on Wednesday, March 17. We will leave BPC at 12:45 p.m. and return by 2:20 p.m. On Thursday, March 25, we will have Open House at BPC. Classrooms will be open from 7:00 to 8:30 in the evening. This will be the time for your child to show you the classroom and his/her accomplishment. Hope to see you all here.

Sincerely, Iris Sabre