Newsletter: November 9th

Dear Families,

There have been lots of big events around school over the past week. The first, as I'm sure you already know, was the CFI election on Monday. Our class used all they've been learning about elections to host this event for all students in grades 2-5. They did a fabulous job. A group of them gave a presentation to each class detailing which candidates they would be voting on as well as a bit of information about what the two gubernatorial candidates wanted to address should they win. Another group helped with voter registration. A few of the kids worked to survey voters about their beliefs and experiences with elections. The remaining kids worked in the voting "booths" to organize, collect, and tally the ballots. It was such a rich experience. In the past I have always been on the 3rd grade side of the loop when elections come around. Being in second grade this year meant revising some of what we normally do to ensure it was developmentally appropriate and meaningful to the kids. That said, they did a lot. I was so incredibly proud of them all!

And today, of course, was very special in that we invited our grandparents into the classroom to spend time learning about the work we do as well as sharing a few songs. The kids were so proud to have guests and show all they know and deeply care about in regards to our school lives. Here are a few pics from our time together.

In regards to curriculum, we are preparing to launch an inquiry into fluency in our reading workshop as well as a mini-inquiry into punctuation and capitalization in our writing workshop. In math we are exploring data collection and graphs while in social studies we're learning about maps and the differences between a continent, country, state, and city. These studies will flow into next week as well.

Speaking of next week, I will be out on both Thursday and Friday. I'm headed to Houston for the National Council of Teachers of English annual conference. I attend every year I possibly can because it's such a powerful opportunity to learn from (and be inspired by) educators from all across the country. I usually present at the conference as well but this year I chose not to submit a proposal. Instead, I plan to relax just a little bit more than usual and take it all in. In my absence, our student teacher Ms. Crenshaw will take the lead with the wonderful Mrs. McLees stepping in to support her. Mr. O'Keefe is also scheduled to come along on the zoo trip Friday to lend an extra helping hand. It should be a great trip. We have quite a few chaperones lined up to join us already.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your families!

Chris