Thursday, December 18, 2014

Victorian House Books are here!

Dear second grade families, 

Below you will find the links to the Victorian Real Estate project we have been working on over the past several weeks.  They boys used their best persuasive writing techniques to write an ad that would make you want to buy their house! In art, they made clay models of their dream home and used characteristics of Victorian architecture to add details to their work. Enjoy the books and a huge thanks to the library and art department for their collaboration on this project!

Have a fantastic winter break!  

Warmly, 
Rachel, Jennifer, Sophie and Eric



Friday, December 12, 2014

2B Highlights: December 12


My Highlight this week was…

James:  Owl Moon in Art.
Ollie:  The whole week!
Soren: Having our 1st Quiet Time.
Theo: The whole entire week!
Taaran: Making our compliment challenge
Asher:  Learning about a parallelogram.
Jackson: Owl Moon art Project
Dylan: Making Holiday Cards!
Cole: Making Holiday Cards
Jay:  The whole entire week!
Alex:  Playing volcano tag in PE
Dyon:  Making Holiday cards!
Lachlan:  Owl Moon  art
Ryder:  Owl Moon Project in Art.
Webb: Glee Club
Will: Owl Moon in Art
Cyrus:  Everything this whole week
Jake:  Making our Holiday cards
John:  The whole entire week!
Jarett:  Owl Moon art!
Phil:  Giving to the food drive
Mikhail:  The whole entire week! 

Monday, December 8, 2014

"Be Aware, Hunger is Everywhere!"

"Everyday is Christmas if you're giving food."  "Give food, give love."  "Be aware, hunger is everywhere!"  These were some of the catchy slogans that the boys came up with for signs to spread awareness of local hunger within Town School.  These signs can be found hanging throughout the building, including some key messages in the lunch room ("Only take what you will eat").

As part of our plant and food study, we learned about issues surrounding access to healthy food.  The boys realized that some people in San Francisco- and all over the world- don't eat healthy food for a variety of reasons: it's expensive, it's not available nearby, they don't know about the health benefits.  When they realized that KIDS LIKE THEM in San Francisco don't have access to healthy food, they wanted to take action and help the community.  We helped mobilize these changemakers by brainstorming solutions and selecting the one with the most direct effect.  As a result, we are holding a second grade food drive for hungry children through Second Harvest.  Here's a list of the most needed children's foods that get distributed at children's organizations.  That said, we are happily donating any non-perishable food.

We will be holding the food drive through Friday, December 14th.  If your family would like to participate in our food drive, your son can bring his food to donate in our collection barrel outside of the second grade rooms.  Even if you aren't able to contribute, we hope you can have conversations with your son about hunger and service.







Open Houses Presented by Tiger Realty

Next week the boys will present their Victorian homes they created with the art team as an extension of our community study of San Francisco history and culture.  After learning about Victorian architecture and our trip to Haas-Lilienthal House, the boys began creating their dream Victorian homes.  They wrote about these homes in real estate listings.  Using graphic organizers, they planned the features and style of their homes, then embarked on writing a persuasive listing.  They studied real estate listings to learn about elements in writing.  Then through the process of brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and now, publishing.  In the art room, they molded clay facades with geometric features and careful glazing.

These beautiful homes will only be on the market briefly!  This fresh crop of real estate agents at Tiger Realty is eager to make some big sales pitches to you at our Open House on Tuesday, December 16th from 8:00-8:25.  We hope you come ready to make an offer.  We will also be sharing their work digitally, so don't fret if you are unable to attend.


learning about Victorian architectural details

sketching Victorian homes on our field trip

learning about Victorian life at Haas-Lilienthal House

drafting our dream houses

glazing our clay facades

thumbs up for Victorian homes!

ta da! ready for the kiln

Hour of Code

This week, Town School is participating in Hour of Code, along with millions of other kids around the world.  While 2nd graders have had the advantage of learning code all fall (with Lightbot and code.org), everyone at school will spend an hour coding this week!  We'll see how many lines we can write... any guesses?

It was only fitting that we spent our Town Families time doing a coding activity.  We learned about binary code, and how it is a simple language with two features.  We used this to make our own binary code bracelets with blue and white beads.  Boys chose two important letters, such as initials, SF, TS for Town School, or anything else important to them.  One boy in my family chose VT because he loves Vermont, and another spelled the word "NO" because he is tired of writing high school applications.

Check out this link to learn more about how we spent our Town Families time this week.  The videos are also embedded in our Digital Media Resources section.

Happy coding!







2A Highlights, 12/5

Owen: I liked estimating the compliments in the jar (I was closest!), playing football in the rain, glazing our houses in art, and I’m looking forward to a project I’m working on.
Rohan: I liked glazing our Victorian houses, playing football in the rain, filling our compliment jar, writing about peace, watching the Magic School Bus Plants on rainy recess, reading groups, and ballpark estimates in math.
Van: I liked glazing our Victorians, football with Mr. Goldman, and PE.
Will S.: I liked everything especially filling our compliment jar!
Asher: I liked filling the compliment jar, glazing the Victorian houses, playing football, and art. I also liked tech lab for Lightbot.
Kekoa: I liked filling up our compliment jar, art, counting our compliments, and playing in the rain.
Henry: I liked everything! A detail is football in the rain at PE.
Kenzo: I liked football in the rain at PE, glazing our houses in art, and everything else.
Conrad: I liked filling our compliment jar, finishing Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3, and PE.
Elliot:
I liked everything especially filling our compliment jar.
Alex: I liked glazing the Victorian houses, playing football with my friends, earning our compliment party, and math Jeopardy.
Trey: I liked being Boy of the Week, art and our Victorian houses, math Jeopardy, spelling test, and meeting with Chef Melanie. I also liked tech lab with the Lightbot and filling our compliment jar!
Connor M.:
I liked filling the compliment jar! I liked glazing Victorian houses in art, math Jeopardy, playing football in the rain, making peace books, making signs about hunger, and Image of the Day. I also liked tech lab doing Lightbot.
Axel: I liked everything especially math Jeopardy!
Tanish: I liked glazing our houses in art and math Jeopardy.
Connor B.: I liked filling our compliment jar.
Caspar: I liked everything, one detail is filling the compliment jar.
William: I liked everything, one detail is filling the compliment jar.
Frederick: I liked PE, filling the compliment jar, and math Jeopardy. I also liked tech lab doing Lightbot.
Clyde: I liked math Jeopardy, playing football in the rain, Image of the Day, and art.
Finn: I liked art and filling the compliment jar.
Liam: I liked filling the compliment jar, glazing our Victorian houses, math Jeopardy, and Magic School Bus in the rainy recess.

We missed you, Boden!

Friday, December 5, 2014

2B Highlights 12/5

Adrian:  Playing Lightbot at tech time.
James:  Glazing our Victorian houses in art
Ollie:  Sharing my poster in front of the class.
Soren: Starting our Peace books and visiting Chef Melanie
Theo: Ollie’s BOW and peace books
Taaran: Lightbot, Chef Melanie and our peace books!
Asher:  Ollie’s B.O.W.
Jackson:  Peace books and I liked talking to Chef Melanie.
Dylan: Glazing our Victorian houses in art.
Cole: I enjoyed our peace books and the teachers being so awesome!
Jay:  the whole entire week!
Alex:  Reading the One Eyed Giant in Reading Group.
Dyon:  Victorian houses in art!
Lachlan:  Finishing our peace books.
Ryder: Peace books and Victorian ads
Webb: Glazing our houses and peace books  
Will: Glazing our Victorian houses
Cyrus: Ollie’s BOW, lightbot and playing with my friends at recess.
Jake: Glazing our Victorian house and my peace book
John:   the whole week!
Jarett:  Ms. Colgate introduced Bug!
Phil:  Giving hunger a taste of what we are made of!
Mikhail: Peace books and signs against hunger!