Friday, June 7, 2013

Theme Days

Can you believe next week is the last week already?!  Time flies when you're having fun...or when you take part of the school year off ;-)  Honestly though, I have really had a fun year!  This group kept me on my toes!  They are sweet, smart, and have lots of energy!
Each day next week will be a different theme.  They will be both educational and fun and will give the children something special to look forward to.  Please refer to the calendar below and have your child bring the necessary items each day.  As always, thank you in advance for your continued support and cooperation.

Monday, June 10--Ice Cream Day: Learning can be so sweet, especially with a cold treat!

Tuesday, June 11--Sports Day: Children can dress up in their favorite sports uniform.  All second grade classes will play kickball in the afternoon so please remember to wear appropriate shoes!

Wednesday, June 12--PJ & Movie Day: Children can wear their pajamas and slippers to school.  (Remember we will be going outside for recess.)

Thursday, June 13--End of the Year Party: The class party is scheduled from 11:00-12:15.  There will be fun games and food to celebrate a great year of learning and fun!  All second grade classes will do so outside in the courtyard drive.

Friday, June 14--Beach Day: Children can bring beach towels, sunglasses, and a favorite book to read.  No bathing suits please.

Recipes

Below are recipes from a few of the items we had at our nonfiction author's celebration.  Thanks again for coming to our celebration!  The students enjoyed having you here and sharing their fabulous work with you!  Also, another big thank you to all who donated items and/or time to make the celebration special!

Fruit Salsa
1 pint strawberries
2 apples
3 kiwi
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp preserves (I believe the original recipe calls for apricot preserves.  However, I tend to use whatever I have on hand.)

Chop the fruit into small pieces.  Mix together with sugar and presevers.  Serve with cinnamon sugar chips.  You can add other fruit as well.  I like to use raspberries.  The original recipe also calls for 1 orange.

Pizza Rolls
1 can refrigerated pizza crust
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pepperoni, chopped
1 cup marinara or pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Press pizza dough into a large rectangle.  Sprinkle dough with garlic salt, basil, cheeses and pepperoni.  Starting at the short end, roll dough up tightly to form a log.  Slice into 1-inch pieces.  Place rolls on lightly greased baking sheets.  Bake for 10 minutes or until browned on top.  Serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping.

Carmelitas
32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Science Investigations

Students worked in small groups to create a short iMovie to teach you about the various balance and motion investigations we learned about in science.  This was our first time using iMovie...mine too!  If there were more days in the school year we would definitely do this again!  The students had a lot of fun, and I have some teaching tips for next time ;-)  Enjoy watching the videos!