Mrs. Dews' Class

Computer and iPads

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 13:15:00 +0000

Many of you know me personally. I have been teaching for 10 years, loving it more every year. I have recently moved from Charlotte, NC to New York City. I have been fortunate enough to secure a job with a fabulous, cutting-edge school, but they do not provide laptops to their teachers, as most schools do. I am a very dedicated and dynamic teacher. I maintain a classroom blog (as you know) and a class web page, use interactive content in the classroom, and communicate with parents via email. I want to purchase a Mac Book Air and at least 1 iPad, both for classroom use. I have joined a site that provides free eBooks to educators, but I need an iPad (or 2) on which students can read the books. I know there are lots of quality educational apps, but I need the technology in order to access them. Please help me purchase the technology tools that will enable my students to learn even more, in a way that they enjoy. If you can help by contributing to my GoFundMe campaign, or at least forwarding my campaign information to your friends, I would be very grateful! Here's the link http://www.gofundme.com/ybn85v6c Thanks in advance!

Flowers Feed the Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 21:45:00 +0000

I was overwhelmed by all the beautiful flowers I received this morning. I wanted to quickly get them into water, but I also wanted to stay on schedule so my "arrangement" of them leaves much to be desired, but they are beautiful just the same. Thank you all very much!

You child will definitely remember this week's Bible verse. We have enjoyed singing along to a video I found on YouTube. I added a new element today with the signs. See what you think.

Cloudy with a Chance Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 19:54:00 +0000

Students have been working hard on using adjectives in their writing. I read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs to them. They made me laugh because they said the book was nothing like the movie. I think they were shocked to learn that the book came out first! I told them they would be writing a three course meal story, based on the book, and asked students to brainstorm adjectives for food. As a pre-writing activity, I set out 12 different posters, labeled with the noun I wanted them to describe.

I set a timer for 5 minutes, and asked the students to go from poster to poster, adding an adjective in front of the noun. When time was up, I read their great descriptions and then reminded them to put an adjective in front of the food that would be falling out of the sky in their story. The Voice Thread video is a sampling of their unedited work. Parents, your students are anxiously awaiting your comments.

Going Buggy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 23:01:00 +0000

Yesterday we read a play about bugs which provided lots of information about several insects and how they eat. The most interesting, or the ones that students remembered the most were (believe it or not) the housefly and the grasshopper. The housefly eats dead animals and animal droppings...eewww!. The grasshopper spits brown liquid at enemies to make them back off. We learned that insects have 3 body sections: the head, thorax, and the abdomen. Today, we learned how butterflies "eat." Instead of eating, butterflies get their nourishment from drinking. They have a long, narrow tube in their mouth called a proboscis that acts as a straw. They drink nectar from flowers. I gave each student a cup (flower) with water (nectar) and they drank through their straw (proboscis). Students also designed their own bug and made a Playdough model of it. They also had the opportunity to build a super bug on a website and print their bug's "stats."

Catawba Science Center

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 09:20:00 +0000

We really enjoyed our field trip to the Catawba Science Center yesterday! Our first stop was in a science lab where we learned about matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and has weight (mass). Even air takes up space, as we could see by filling up a balloon. Students donned goggles as they conducted experiments such as making snow, which required adding tiny drops of rubbing alcohol to a mysterious liquid. They also filled a balloon with baking soda, stretched the balloon over a beaker of vinegar, shook the balloon, and watched what happened. There were squeals of delight as the balloon filled. Several students were able to tell us that the balloon was being filled by a gas produced by adding the baking soda to the vinegar!

Our next stop was the planetarium, where we watched a movie titled, "Zula Patrol: Under the Weather." It was an entertaining cartoon, but was extra special since we watched it on the planetarium ceiling. After the movie, we learned a little bit about stars and constellations. See if your child can remember the scientific name for the North Star.(It is Polaris.) We were able to take a brief tour of the aquarium before boarding the bus for the long ride back to school. We arrived back ten minutes before dismissal.

Spring Break Caterpillar-Sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:19:00 +0000

The caterpillar babysitting job over Spring Break was a lot easier than expected since none of the ones I brought home lived! From what I've heard so far, it sounds like no one else's caterpillars lived, either. Not to worry--we still have time to order more caterpillars. I hope they came with a money back guarantee!

I haven't posted anything for a while, so I wanted to share some pictures from the Easter egg hunt. I also came across an interesting site that will keep your kids busy during the summer. It is called Smithsonian Quests. The site has 100 free self-directed, project-based activities for all ages. Students can earn badges while learning about subjects from art to outer space. Just click on this link to sign up http://shout.smithsonianquests.org The password for our class is vQWd73XuM.

Weekly Update

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 19:16:00 +0000

This week we are working on different versions of a Cinquain poem. What is a cinquain poem, you might ask. It is a poem with only 5 lines, but there are different ways to create one. Here's a link to show you some varieties with examples. http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/davidc/6c_files/Poem%20pics/cinquaindescrip.htm Students wrote at least one poem today and shared it with the class. I will challenge them to try a different version tomorrow.

Pre-K through 3rd grade will be marching in the Palm Sunday Parade during Chapel on Wednesday. We have been asked to bring noise makers. If your child has a noisy toy, such as a kazoo, maraca, shaker, etc., they are welcome to bring it tomorrow so that I can see how many extra we will need on Wednesday.

In History today, we learned about India. We learned about the location, climate, population, religion, and a little bit about the caste system. If your child would like to learn more, I've provided some links on the right side of this page.

It's about time for an update!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 00:54:00 +0000

My math group started a geometry unit today. The students learned some terms that may have been unfamiliar before today. We learned about solid figures, flat surfaces, edges, faces, and vertices. We learned that some solid figures that roll have "flat surfaces" (the bottom of a cone and the top and bottom of a cylinder), and that solid figures that do not roll have flat surfaces called "faces" (rectangular prisms, pyramids, and cubes). Ask your child to look around the house for items that are shaped like a cone, sphere, pyramid, cylinder, cube, or rectangular prism.

Your little history buffs have enjoyed learning about the Civil War, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, and Abraham Lincoln. See if they can tell you about the Emancipation Proclamation. They can tell you that the Underground Railroad isn't a railroad at all, and that it's not even underground. We watched a great video that showed Harriet Tubman, the modern "Moses", lead her people to safety. Ask your child why her nickname was Moses and why people called Abraham Lincoln "Honest Abe."

The Mariner Fun Run is coming up on Saturday, March 21st. I will be walking in it (not running) and I hope that many of you will be participating as well. It should be a fun day and hopefully the weather will cooperate. I'm sure your child has told you that there's a prize for the class with the highest percentage of participation, so don't forget to sign up! We're a competitive bunch! By the way, we won the contest for collecting the most loose change and will enjoy an ice cream cake celebration next Friday, March 13th!

Simple Machines

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 02:11:00 +0000

We are having lots of fun studying simple machines. There are so many things we use every day that I would have never considered simple or even complex machines. Did you know that a non-electric can opener is made up of 4 simple machines: a wedge (the cutting blade), a lever (the 2 handles you squeeze together), a wheel and axle (the handle that turns), and gears? Wow! I am so impressed by how quickly the second graders are picking up all this information!

Today we learned a little more about the pulley. Students worked in groups to lift miniature buckets off the ground using a pulley. Here are some pictures.

Best Birthday Ever!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 01:28:00 +0000

Thanks for making me feel so special today! I had the best birthday ever! I came in this morning to find even more decorations on my whiteboard. Mrs. Carsner and both 2nd grade classes spent some time this morning decorating the room with black balloons and black streamers. I received flowers from 3 different students, lip balm for another student, and several sweet cards. I bought a cake to share with both 2nd grade classes, and Ben brought cupcakes, too! Sorry, folks, but we had a lot of sugar today. We also watched the parade practice, where I received the surprise of the entire student body singing happy birthday to me. Ahh....now for a good night's sleep before tomorrow's field trip.

Fun Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 22:29:00 +0000

I started out a little grumpy today, but seeing the faces of my "Tweetie Pies" made me feel better. For our Bible lesson, I gave each student some clay and told them to build a statue dedicated to God. They came up with some nice ideas, such as stars, crosses, hearts, etc. Next, I told them the story of King Hezekiah and how he told the people to destroy the idols they had created. The students had to destroy their statues. It was fun to watch them smash, squish, and pound them!

We have been learning about the parts of a friendly letter so students have been learning to write their own address. Today, they wrote letters to Santa, which I promised to deliver.

Tomorrow is my 50th birthday and the students are just as excited as I am about it. They wrote a nice message to brighten my day.

Mayflower Building

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 01:25:00 +0000

Mayflower Building
Click the link above to see a slideshow of some photos from our Mayflower building STEM project. Thanks for everyone for the hands-on help and for the materials you sent in. We had a blast!!

More Landforms

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 23:33:00 +0000

Kamryn's mountain

Skylar's island

Ben's edible Grand Canyon

Angelina's volcano

Olivia's island

Landform Presentations

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 01:08:00 +0000

Landform projects were due yesterday and today some students were able to share theirs with the class. (The rest will share tomorrow.) It appears that they enjoyed this project, so you can expect more hands-on projects like this one in the future. Here are some pics of those who presented today.

Landforms

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 01:20:00 +0000

This week in geography, we are learning about landforms. I am adding some web sites that your child can use to learn more about landforms. Today they played a concentration game with landform cards. Both cards had the picture of a particular landform, but one had the name of the landform and the other had the definition. As they played, they learned new information. After playing the game with a partner, they colored the cards.

We are also learning about Author's Purpose. There are 3 main reasons why author's write and we can remember them with the acronym PIE: persuade, inform, and entertain. Today students cut and glued a foldable into their interactive notebooks about author's purpose. Tomorrow, they will search the classroom for examples of different purposes.We also learned some rules for making the plural forms of nouns, which we also put in our interactive notebooks.

Water Cycle

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 22:59:00 +0000

Today we learned about the "Bossy R," that tells vowels to make an angry sound. Bossy R is polite, though, because he lets the vowel go first. When one group was at guided reading with me, they were generating r-controlled words and decided to add "fart" to the list. Oh, my! We created interactive notebooks during writing today. The notebooks will become a place to collect all the spelling rules we learn this year. We are doing something similar for science and social studies, as well. In our science notebooks, we wrote a definition for evaporation. Tomorrow we'll add condensation. We made mini water cycles-in-action. We drew the sun, a cloud, and waves onto the outside of a sandwich baggie, added a little water and blue food coloring, and taped the bags to the window. We will watch what happens as the sun hits the window in the mornings. As the water evaporates and condensation accumulates, we can tap on the bag to watch the droplets combine to make bigger drops that will get heavy enough to "rain." Cool, huh? The students are super excited!

Contraction Surgeons

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:57:00 +0000

Students had fun becoming surgeons today, operating on two words that needed to be joined to form a contraction. They wore "surgical masks" and used bandages to join the words.

Contractions

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 23:11:00 +0000

We will be learning about contractions this week so I added a contraction game to my links (see the right side bar). I am also happy to share with you that your student will now be able to take AR tests in our classroom. Students are able to take tests on a first-come/first-served basis in the morning, during their computer center time, and during SSR.

Pumpkin Patch

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:15:00 +0000

Despite the dreary weather, we had a blast at the pumpkin patch. I loved being Miss Frizzle, driving the class on a field trip! The kids were well behaved so I was able to focus on driving us there safely.

Pumpkin Pie Tasting

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:21:00 +0000

As promised, today was the day to roast pumpkin seeds. Students estimated the number of seeds from the largest pumpkin that we cut open yesterday. Today, we counted the washed and dried seeds as we put them into the pan to roast them. I believe the actual count was around 357 seeds! Students also got to taste pumpkin pie (with whipped cream)! I think some of them enjoyed the pie more than they thought they would.

Pumpkin Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 00:51:00 +0000

Both 2nd grade classes worked together to guess how many seeds would be in 3 different sized pumpkins. We then went outside to cut the pumpkins open to confirm our guesses. Students enjoyed removing the gooey seeds from the pumpkins. Mrs. Carsner and I washed the seeds from one pumpkin and are letting them dry overnight. Tomorrow, we will roast the seeds and taste them, along with pumpkin pie.

Bug Funeral

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 08:36:00 +0000

During recess yesterday, Kamryn discovered that the ladybug she had picked up off the slide was dead so she and her friends decided to give it a proper burial. The friends joined hands and circled the burial site. McKenna borrowed Jordyn's Bible and read a passage. Mrs. Carsner and I were close enough to hear what was being read, and surprisingly, the passage was about death and returning to God!

Scavenger Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 01:07:00 +0000

We had a fun, although loud, day. Our Bible lesson dealt with the covenant God made with his people. I made a covenant with the class, and everyone shook hands on this, that if they could stay on green all day I would give them a small piece of candy at the end of the day.

We have been learning about the life cycle of frogs in science. Yesterday, we read a book about amphibians, learned about their life cycle, and made a flip book. Today, we did a scavenger hunt about frog facts. I hid 18 fact cards. Students recorded answers to questions as they found the fact cards hidden around the room. At the end, everyone was missing fact card #10. I never did find where I hid that one so I had to give them the answer. Here's a picture of some of the "hunters."

Great Week in Science

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 22:59:00 +0000

After studying lima bean seeds (and planting them), we also studied corn. We learned that the threads of the silk are connected to the kernels and that the kernels are seeds. Today we related eggs to seeds. Both have protective coatings, contain the beginning of new life (an embryo), as well as food and nutrients. Students should be able to tell you why supermarket eggs will not hatch, no matter what you do to them (hint: they haven't been fertilized). We worked with Mrs. Carsner's class to investigate eggs today. Each pair was given an egg, a bowl, and a plastic fork. Students used plastic forks to simulate the tiny chick pecking its way out of the shell. Once broken open, they identified the yolk (the food for the embryo), the embryo (the little white part on the yolk), and the water and nutrients (the white). Next, we watched a Reading Rainbow video of the book Chickens Aren't the Only Ones. It was messy but fun!

We Planted Beans Today!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 22:29:00 +0000

After learning about the life cycle of a plant and all about beans, students had the opportunity to plant bean seeds today. We are very excited to see how long it will take for the little plant to poke through the soil.

We had a fire drill early in the day. Students did a fabulous job!

We are learning how to identify the topic, main idea, and details in reading passages. I tried to carry this idea over to writing by using a hamburger graphic organizer in which the top bun represented the topic sentence, the bottom bun was the closing sentence, and the insides (meat, lettuce, tomato, etc.) were the details. Students were so confused by the hamburger! They thought I wanted them to write about a hamburger! Oh, my! I will try a different approach tomorrow.

I started using Class Dojo today. You should have received an email from me. If you respond to it you will be connected and will be able to see remarks about your child's behavior throughout the day. The students were really excited about it. Each time I give someone a thumbs-up, the computer makes a sound that gets everyone's attention. This gets everyone on task in a hurry. So far, I love it!! It is a little difficult to get to the computer too often during the day and my Windows phone (BLAH!) does not have the app.