Happy Spring! It's been a while since we have updated via blog. Through snow days and holidays and breaks we have been hard at work. Let's catch up on where we are and where we are going:

Math:  Through spring break we worked hard on addition and subtraction within 200 with word problems to 100.  We will also stayed in math groups through out this unit. We will discontinue math groups for the remainder of our math units. The first unit after break will be money. We will be identifying coins and their value, as well as learning how to count on with money.

ELA:  At the beginning of the semester NatGeo was all about citizenship. We learned about MLK and how we used his voice to make an impact on the world. After we read picture books that talked about having an impact and using our voices to make a positive change in the world. This was followed by creating an impact project of their choice. The impact project showcased the change the wanted to create in the world. After that moved into our science unit of landforms, where the students read off of Nearpod slides to highlight information about landforms and how they are formed. Now that we are back from Spring Break we are kicking off our economics unit by reading "Stone Soup." We are hoping to make stone soup on Friday. In order to make this we need prechopped vegetables. I will bring in the seasoning and broth, I just need the students to bring in pre-chopped vegetables to contribute to our soup. No sign-up, we will just take what we get. Thank you in advance.  In phonics we will be working on hard and soft c and g sounds.

Science/Social Studies:  Before break our social studies unit was citizenship and we ended with our science unit being landforms and how they are created through fast and slow changes. We are now moving into our economics unit, where the students will be learning about goods and services and producers and consumers. Students will have "piggy banks" where they will put money they will earn for their weekly jobs in class. They will also be earning money for being quiet in line, which is one of their daily "jobs." At the end of the unit they will have a chance to spend the money they earned. More on that to come.

Lunch Changes:  The older grades have testing coming up. The test dates are spread out over the course of the next monthish. In order to help accommodate their schedule we will be switching lunch times with the fifth graders a few times to give them ample testing time. This means we will go to lunch at 1:10 instead of 12:20. That is almost an hour difference. Please pack a small snack for your child on the indicated days, that hour may be hard for them to wait. I will allow time for them to eat the extra snack on these days. This begins next week. These days are:

- Tuesday, March 26th
-Tuesday, April 16th and Wednesday, April 17th

It is great to be back. So crazy that we are entering our final quarter of second grade. We have so much learning to do together still. I cannot wait to finish our last quarter strong. -♡Ms. Shaw

January 2024

 Welcome to your January 2024, third quarter! I just want to touch base in this blog to share some pictures from all the exciting events we had at the end of last semester, as well as to give a quick update on what is happening upon our return. The most exciting thing will be we will have a student teacher joining us this semester, Ms. Brown.

Hello! My name is Lydia Brown (Ms. Brown), I am a senior at Northern Arizona University, and I’ll be Ms. Shaw’s student teacher this upcoming spring! I have an Associates of Arts in Elementary Education from Central Arizona College, and am currently completing my Bachelor of Science in the same field. I am from Casa Grande, Arizona and come from a family of educators; with both of my parents working in special services at various schools. I love to scrapbook, play video games, design things with Canva, and learn new things. Thank you for allowing me to work with and learn from your student as I prepare for my own classroom! I am excited to be a part of the Marshall Mustang family!

Weather and Illness:  Seems like it finally feels like winter! We still go outside unless it hits a certain threshold (the office monitors the  temperature and makes the call each morning). Please make sure to send your child with the proper outdoor gear (labeled) to keep them warm for outdoor recess. This includes boots, gloves, and hats for snowy days. We do go outside when it snows. If your child is at school they will go outside, please do not send them to school and have them say they are too sick to go outside. If you feel they are too sick to go outside they probably are too sick to be at school and should be at home for the day. Please do not send your child to school if they are sick. They need to be fever free for 24 hours without medication. We had a lot of illness right before break, a lot of temperatures. If your child has a temp or vomiting  please keep them home following this 24 hour guideline. Your cooperation in this matter helps keep everyone well. Thank you for your mindfulness and cooperation in keeping our classroom community well!! On a final note, we may be in for some snow in the upcoming weeks. Please check Facebook or KAFF news for any late start or cancellations due to snow. They usually announce around 6 am. If there is a delay school will start 2 hours later than usual, which means an 11:00 am start. Please see the FUSD website (linked here) for more information regarding weather impacts. 

Snacks:  We are out of snacks. If you are able please send in snacks to share with the class (we currently have 20 students). I have a fridge so if you wish to bring in string cheese or other items that need to be kept cold we are able to do so. I appreciate everyone taking a turn making a snack donation and keeping our hungry kiddos feed, the morning fuel really helps get them through the morning.

Field Trip to City Hall/Gingerbread Building:  Our field trip to City Hall was a success, all gingerbread building permits were approved and we were given the green light to build our gingerbread buildings. This year the folks city hall wanted to see the students bring their approved plans to life and dropped by Marshall while we were building to give some building tips and lend a hand. They had as much fun as the students did (maybe more by the joy on their faces 😀) and it was so cool to have them join us in the classroom. Thank you to everyone who donated supplies to make gingerbread building happen. 

Holidays:  We learned about holidays celebrated in December, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. One of the things I love to do to help with their understanding is making latkes and playing the dreidel game so they have a tactile understanding of some of the traditions associated with Hanukkah. Thank you to everyone who donated supplies so the kids could try latkes, almost all of them for the first time ever. Thank you to Ms. Kelly for helping us make some of the best latkes we have ever had! 

Don't forget, our first Friday back will be a full day. That means 3:30 dismissal. Enjoy what is left of your break, I look forward to seeing our second graders and Ms. Brown on Thursday! 💙Ms. Shaw