FUnkY MonkEYs!
2012- 2013
2nd grade?  No problem.... we are prepared, we are focused and we are taking responsibility for our learning.  Check us out!


 

CHAMPion of the Week- March 4th!
 

 

FRINDLE-Chapters 6-10 Discussions  
   
      
      
      
      
      

 

Remembering the Mission Statement, keeping it alive in our daily activities!
    

 

Banana Spirit Stick Receivers for the 4th 6 Weeks LBAs and MOY Reading levels! Congratulations!!
    

 

 Library Time.......
  

 

Once a Funky Monkey.. Always a Funky Monkey !
     

 

The Life Cycle of a Mealworm!

 

Rocks and Soil-
Researching and organizing our information in our Science Journals!
  
      
      

 

Lunch is our favorite subject of the day! :)  
 

Celebrating each other is the BEST!  
   

CHAMPion of the Week- February 25th!

FRINDLE- Chapters 1-5 Discussions
      

 

 

Sweet Valentines!  Be Mine?  At least for a year? <3
  
      
      
 
      

 

CHAMPion of the Week- February 18th!
  

 

Hurst Hills' 1st 2nd grade Student Led Conference evening!  I am so impressed with these Funky Monkeys- not only with what they are doing as a class, their personal goal setting, and their leaps and bounds in academic growth, but also their presentation skills and the impressive way they shared their academic journey with their guests!  Proud teacher.   
      
      
      
      
      

 

CHAMPion of the Week- February 11th!

 

Keeping the Mission Statement Alive!!
 

 

100 Funky Monkey Days of School Celebration!
      
      

 

CHAMPion of the Week- February 4th!
 

2nd Grade is invited to the Van Cliburn Performance
     
     

 

CHAMPion of the Week- January 28th!

 

Amazing Authors sharing their writing!

 

Goals? Not only do we have those, but we met or exceeded them! Funky Monkey Banana Spirit Stick receivers...  
    

 

CHAMPions of the Week! January 21st
    
    

 

Author readings, sharing their descriptive papers... 
"Can YOU Picture It?"
    

 

Becoming stronger every day! Putting in our Daily 5 work....
 
     
     

 

Read aloud..... on our Weekly Library Visits.. :)

 

Revisiting our student created class Mission Statement
      

 

Reading Counts- 3rd Grading Period....Spirit Stick Winners!
 
    

 

Goals?  We got those! Funky Monkey Goal Reached Banana Spirit Stick receivers...  
    

 

Once a Funky Monkey... Always a Funky Monkey...
 
     

 

 

A day in the life of a Monkey, a  Funky Monkey...
     
     

 

CHAMPS- Compliment Party number 3!  Impressive ... <3
    
    
    

 

Math Talks- Problem Solving Boards and working with a partner...
  

 

   
      
      

 

Daily 5- EVERY day! Reading to Someone is one of our faves <3
    
    

 

 
Hurst Hills first Town Hall Meeting in regards to school safety....Thank you Mr. Figueroa for stepping out, making yourself available and listening to both comforts and concerns.
    

 

 

Lock Down Drill-Practice, Practice! When the drill was officially over, we sat and plus/delta'd our class during the drill and answered any questions or concerns... Great Job Monkeys! :)
 

   

 

 

Corners Activity to review for our3rd Science LBA
    

 

 
      

 

 Enjoying Lunch in the classroom today!  
   
   

 

Literature Discussion Groups- Students are wrapping up their 2nd independent novel reads.  They are discussing their personal connections, positive and negatives about the books and their overall impressions of the now that they have come to the end.  
    
    

 

Much Appreciation to one of our families for the cookie sheet donations.  We are very excited about our new word work magnetic letter station.
  

 

 Winter Holiday Party- This year, our class really took to heart the message in the holiday tale of, "Auntie Claus, the Spirit of Giving". It was decided that we wanted to give back to others during this holiday season. Each student made a personal card and created a one-of-a-kind pillowcase for our soldiers over seas.  We delivered these pillowcases to the Airborne Angel Cadets of Texas, who will make sure these pillowcases made with love and appreciation will be placed in the hands of our dedicated troops this holiday season!  I am so super proud of each student in our class and the superb care, heart and support they put into their gift to the troops! <3  
      
      
      
      
      
      

 

 Gift Giving- Students create a beautiful snowman candle holder for someone special in their lives!
     
      
    

     

 

   

 

The Polar Express Parade.... Sanata USA, Pajama Day, Parade, Polar Express Movie, Hot Cocoa with marshmallows, and finishing up our parent gifts.. Whew! A day in the life of a second grader!
   
    
    

 

SANTA USA visits Hurst Hills- Auntie Claus' #1 Rule? "It is better to give than to receive!" What a fabulous Text to World example Santa USA and its program is.  Spreading qualities of joy, trust and hope throughout the community, allowing every parent, teacher, and child to BELIEVE!  Believe in the spirit of giving and goodwill!  Happy Holidays!
     
      
      
      
      

 

Gingerbread Study- Step Three: Creating our own individual cookies from which we are going to practice our descriptive writing skills. mmmmm good!
     
     
     
     
    
   

 

Happy Holidays!    
  
     
STRIPE- Champs at Work, Group Discussions begin to really show independent thinking <3
     
      
      

 

Gingerbread Study- Step two: Descriptive Characteristics, Grab, Discuss , Sort and Chart.

 

 

     

 

 

 

Once a Funky Monkey.... Always a Funky Monkey...

    
    
   

 

 

Gingerbread Study- Step One.... We read 4 versions of the traditional gingerbread man, took notes as we read, concentrating on beginning, middle and end.  Each student chose two of their favorites and compared their similarities and differences using a Venn Diagram.  Whew!  They worked so hard!
     
     
     
     

 

Celebrating each other is the BEST !
    

 

 

 

Hurst Junior High Holiday Band/Choir Concert
 
    

 

Spreading holiday cheer!  Letter writing to some navy sailors :)
      

 

LD Bell Show Choir Holiday Performance
  
    

 

 

STRIPE- Literature Groups, digging deep and reaching high!
  

 

 

Friends are Forever!
    

 

 

Santa USA penny drive kick off.....
 

 

 

 STRIPE- Sharing literature with the group after reading a novel on "Finding the Titanic"   
     

 

Lunch with Mr. Figueroa- A Silent Auction Winner for this special lunch, a memory made for a lifetime! Thank you HHE PTA and Mr. Figueroa for this wonderful opportunity!
 
 

 

 

Hard at work in the Computer Lab 
   
   

 
     
     

 

 1st Friendship Award Recipient for our class.  The friendship award is given by the school counselor, when students are spotted providing acts of kindess or goodwill that are over and beyond the normal routine. 
  
 

 

 

Scholastic Reading
Counts Winners
  
    

 

Fall Scholastic Book Fair- When the Scholastic book fair came to Hurst Hills Library, we were so excited about the opportunity to create our very own wish list of items to bring home for our parents to review.  Thank you Mrs. Meek for bringing not only new adventures through books, but also a fabulous book fair to our library!  
 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

Tom Turkey in Disguise, avoiding at all costs becoming the Turkey Dinner in 
  Turkey Town.. check out our writing!		 
  
      
      
      

 

 Read Day for Literature Discussion Groups.....  
      

 

Vocabulary
  Study
     

 

Math Talks

   

 

Thanksgiving Family Lunch at Hurst Hills! Family and Friends are a blessing. 
<3 We are blessed!    
      
      
      
      
  "The most important things in life are your friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life. If you have these then you are blessed with everything!"  
      

STRIPE time: Literature Discussion groups. As we conclude our introduction and practice of jobs for our discussion groups, we invited Mr. Figueroa, our school Principal to read, The Principal from The Black Lagoon. We have been using this series of books to introduce and practice each part of our new activity.  We each were assigned a task, Discussion Director, Graphics Guide, Vocabulary Enricher or, The Connector, to complete independently.  Next week, we begin our novel studies utilizing our new skills with discussion groups.

       
       
  

 

 

    
Daily 5-  Word Work  
      
      
     

 

   

 

 

 

 

CHAMPS in Action!

 

PTA's Veteran's Day Program

 
    

 

Geometry Vocabulary Study
 

 

CHAMPS in action!

 

 

Wall of Honor: What a great response Hurst Hills has had to the inquiry for names for the Wall of Honor, a dedication to all veterans. We took a class walk down through the Wall of Honor discussing and reflecting on the importance of what these men and women do for us each day, past and present. Students, from our class, shared with pride the story of their family veterans that they have had posted on the wall. 
    
      Thank you
so much to our
fab PTA and volunteers for putting together such a huge and powerful message for our students AND staff! 

 

10.30.12 MOCK Presidential Election
What an amazing opportunity we were blessed to participate in today! Here at Hurst Hills, we have an administration who support and encourage our campus to reach beyond the classroom and have our students participate in real world events as much as possible, making our curriculum both meaningful and memorable.  Students participated in an online MOCK 2012 Presidential Election.   This was a district-wide event. The intent is to teach our students the process of how our leaders are elected. We talked about the process for registering to vote, they filled out a mock voters registration card,  we discussed the importance of the secret ballot and we celebrated our duty as citizens to participate in the election process by actually voting.  
 
      
      
      
(We DID NOT promote a particular candidate. The focus of the MOCK Election was the PROCESS)  

 

STRIPE time: Continuing today
to add two more "jobs" to our
Literature Discussion groups.
Discussion Director, Graphics Guide,
Vocabulary Enricher and finally, The
Connector, all important parts to
the success of our literary discussions.

 
 
     
     
     

 

 

CHAMPS in action- As students begin to feel ownership and take personal responsibility for their behavior and their learning, they are volunteering to place our CHAMP cards on the interactive board before we proceed into a new task.  As a class, we will agree or disagree with the expectations, talk it out, and then move forward with the opportunity now for maximum learning.  
   

 

 

 Daily 5 is an important part
of our daily literacy practices.
"Listen to Reading", and "Read
to Someone", shown here
in action, are also peices
from the Daily 5.

   
    
    
    
Thank you to the Hurst
Fire Department for their
time, dedication and heart as
they take the time to come
and judge our Fire Prevention
and Safety posters. 
Congratulations to our class
winners:
Tristan, Matthew and Trista! <3
Good Luck to them as their
posters are now at the district
level for judging!
    
 STRIPE time. A designated time of day where ALL students are provided with intense reading instruction designed to meet each of their instructional levels. Here in my group, we are utilizing literature discussion groups to dig deep into our novels, explore all parts of the writing, share connections with the book, learn new vocabulary, and most of all build relationships between genres and our classmates.  
 

 
 

  

 
   

 

 
 

 

 

   

 

 Daily 5 is an important part
of our daily literacy practices.
"Read to Someone", shown here
in action, is one of the 5 daily
peices that we use. 

 

 
     
    

We think like, "CHAMPS"
compliment party.
Friday, Oct 5th
Flashlight Friday 		  
   
      
      
      
Hurst Fire Department talks to students about fire safety. 9.28.12  
   
    
    Fire Safety Visit with Hurst FD
  Fire Safety Visit with Hurst FD