180 Days... Mission Accomplished! Happy Summer!!

Bittersweet, but a happy celebration none the less! Some more ready for second grade to end than others. Either way, can you say best year ever?? WOW! Today was a day to take stock, clean up and of course full of thoughtful reflection.
After an exciting all school sing started our morning, students went back to class where we shared thoughts and memories of our year in second grade together. Seeing it all for yourself is just a click away on the blog... the feast, Willy Wonka Day, readers theaters, 4th grade buddies and Malawi, French Day, Arts Night, Gallery Opening, strawberry picking, and of course, Button Party Day, just to name a few!! I will miss you all and couldn't be prouder of each and every one of you. You are all rare, special, and wonderful in gloriously different ways! We've loved every minute of everything this year! Make reading and playing a part of every day and you'll be confident, excited, and ready for third grade! Happy Summer!!

Strawberry Picking and Fourth Grade Buddies!!

It just keeps getting better and better! Adriana started our sunny Tuesday with an eye opening morning meeting! Well done Adriana! After meeting, students used class time to catch up on all our unfinished business and create word searches. Today's word study theme... words to describe this awesome year in second grade (bulb garden, math warm up, effort, Malawi, buttons, learning and kind, just to name a few). After snack, it was off to the strawberry farm down the street with our fourth grade buddies! What a beautiful day for picking, and what a great way to celebrate the relationships fostered this year with our fourth grade buddies! After picking (and tasting) we had plenty of berries for a well stocked strawberry shortcake party back at school! Everyone gathered together and reminisced over our time together, reflecting on all our good work and all our great accomplishments! We even had time left to play one rousing game of SPARKLE! Fourth graders and second graders all competing together!
What a game!! Rebecca truly represented for second grade, and was the last second grade "sparkler" to go. But, while fourth grade "took" the first sparkle game, Olivia challenged Carsten for bragging rights, and YES, she was indeed the last one left standing! Kudos to both Olivia, Carsten, and every single fourth and second grader for a great celebration, a fabulous game of sparkle, and one absolutely outstanding day together!

Button Party Day!! Let the FUN BEGIN!

Spectacular day!! All year 2W students have been earning buttons for a variety of things... acts of kindness, taking chances with your learning, all sorts of responsible, thoughtful caring, helpful behavior... and the BUTTON JAR HAS BEEN FILLED! This can only mean one thing... We've earned a day to celebrate!! Students took ownership of this extravaganza party, and chose water balloons, silly string, ice cream sundaes, and smoothies to make the day unforgettable. But, it wouldn't be a Button Party without a button treasure hunt! We began the day with a wonderful morning meeting, and opened with "friendship writing"... students randomly chose names of friends to write about, and you could feel the love! Hearing your peers acknowledge your talents, ideas, and commending your contribution to 2W is a pretty powerful thing! Well done second graders! When it came to snack, Adan brought one humongous, sweet, delicious watermelon! Perfect with our fruit smoothies! Wow! Then the treasure hunt was next! Clues revealed secrets where each button was hiding and we were off! The clues were designed for thoughtful reflection over our wonderful year in second grade, and lead us to places like our fourth grade buddies (Malawi Project) and our bulb garden! Nice! After creating our own targets we were ready for silly string... ready, aim, FIRE!!!! The plate with the most silly string wins! Our panel of second grade judges decided Lannashia won! And what did she do with her prize? She shared it with the entire class... 14 super groovy pencils, one for each friend! Why am I not surprised! Next it was on to water balloon fun! So, what do you do after your teacher fills about 100 water balloons??? You suit up and get ready for water balloon toss and water balloon bulls-eye! Each team kept score... now that's a lot of math!! Wow! We ended the afternoon with ice cream sundaes... HOLY COW! Toppings included fresh cherries, oreos, gummy bears, chocolate sauce, mini pb cups, sunflower seeds,whipped cream, nutter butter cookies, fruit, and m&ms!!! Oh my, what a treat, and what a supremely awesome day! Best day ever! Celebrating kindness, citizenship, and responsibility... I'll take it!