The Last Day...

 Is there any day sweeter than the 

last day of school?  

Backpacks stuffed to bulging with papers, old crayons 

& used glue sticks.  

Smiles, giggles & tears.  

I have loved every minute with this class... 

true friends who have celebrated life's ups & downs with each other.

We said the phrase, 

"I've got your back," 

to each other on those bad days, 

which made the good days that much better!

 Many gained tremendous amounts of confidence alongside friends encouraging them, patting them on the back and saying,

"Way to go!"

So I'll say good luck to the future class of 2024, 

but NOT goodbye.  

Stay close to each other. 

Take this winning attitude, infectious love of learning 

& friendship on to 3rd grade!

Be proud of yourselves, be sure of your decisions, 

stand up for YOU! 

Your friends have ALWAYS got your back & so does Ms. Langner!!

The Story of Our Year

Last days...

These characters have the
BEST character
of any 2nd graders I know!
I am proud of who you have become.
Go spread the goodness to 3rd grade!

Weather Calendars

Each morning when we arrived at school, our class kept track of the temperature, weather and wind chill on those cold winter days.  Today, we put all of our months together and created a book!  I am proud of all the work the kids put in to this.

A "celebration of the day" was noted each day.  We celebrated the happy moments and the sad.  Friends moving, babies born, surgery, chasing chickens... our 2nd grade lives are documented. I hope the students look back at these in a few years and can giggle about all the things we wrote!

Our Sistine Ceilings

We read an AMAZING book this year by Kate DiCamillo that we just can't quit talking about, The Tiger Rising.  There were characters that students really related to and situations that they have found themselves in.  Sistine Bailey was a favorite character named after the Sistine Chapel, where her parents had met.  

This morning we did a bit of research about Michaelangelo and his work in Rome.  He spent 4 years painting the Sistine Chapel after being asked to by the Pope (who was often late in paying him for his hard work).  So, students this morning have been challenged to draw their own Sistine Chapels, with 2 characters almost touching fingers.  Their characters or people that they choose, need to hold some meaning to them.  Also, we are getting a small taste of the challenge that Michaelangelo faced as he painted on his back.

Photos of artwork to follow!

Early Dismissal next Tuesday

From the SLCSD website:

COLE BUCHHOLZ 
Cole Buchholz, a physical education teacher at the Storm Lake Community High School died on Wednesday, May 14 at a hospital in Omaha.  Cole had been battling an illness.

 

Counselors will be available at the High School and Middle School for students and staff members.

 

Cole's funeral will be on Tuesday, May 20th at 2:00 pm in the High School Gym. There will be an early dismissal on Tuesday, May 20 for all buildings (Elementary at 12:25, Middle School at 12:35, and High School at 12:45).

A field trip

Today, our class traveled to West Bend, Iowa 

to the Grotto of the Redemption.  

We spent the cool breezy day learning about a man who devoted his life to building this incredible structure of rocks and minerals.  Amazing to think that his entire life's work is so 

beautiful & educational.  

Students were so excited to learn about new rocks 

& were thrilled to shout out the names of ones they recognized.  What a perfect day.

There are shells everywhere in the Grotto.
These are from the California Coast.

I love this picture.  
What do YOU think the caption should be?

Ellen enjoyed posing like the marble statues!

Ride home.  Seriously tired!

This stained glass was put in in 1919.
This was the first room built.

Humongous quartz!

Most of our tour, we all looked like this.

The rocks at the Grotto came from all 50 states
& around the world.

Knapp's class at the top!

See the red, yellow & green rocks in the bottom left hand corner?  Father Paul used to go to the school and ask the kids for their broken crayons.  He would melt down old green Coke bottles and use the crayons to color the rock.  Incredible.  Sometimes, during the school day if he needed help, he would go get kids at the school to haul rocks for him!

How much water is there on Earth? - Zoo La La (Ep 57) - Earth Unplugged ...

Where we get our fresh water - Christiana Z. Peppard (+playlist)

Planet Earth - Fresh Water HD

Field Trip

Below is a link in Google Maps that shows our field trip location next week.

http://goo.gl/j1TbFB


We will be visiting The Grotto on Thursday, May 15.
westbendgrotto.com

Students will need to bring their lunch and a drink.

Thursday's Web Assignment

http://www.mathplayground.com/

ixl.com

www.abcya.com

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/