Tuesday, December 10, 2013

I Can Build

Art Show projects are completed and photos are in the process of being printed. Look for them on display Thursday afternoon. You can purchase a photo of your child’s project for $5. Proceeds will be used to purchase toys for Santa Cop. The students are so proud of their work and the Grapevine Police Department is equally proud of their contribution.  A recent email sent to the Grapevine Police Department by Sgt. Scott Rhodes, who originally spoke to the students about Santa Cop, included these kind words…I would like to publicly thank and pay tribute to Michelle Hall and the students of Cannon Elementary School.  It's actions like these that make this community a great place to live and work.  Bless you Cannon students and have a very Merry Christmas!!!”  We will walk to Big Lots on Wednesday, December 18th, purchase our toys and deliver them to the Santa Cop Store. The Grapevine Police Department will provide a police escort as we cross Highway 26 on our way to our shopping adventure.

We also created an iMovie to share our learning. Watch it below:


Homes for the Holidays

Cannon Elementary STEM scholars are putting their engineering skills to work for a good cause during the holiday season!  For our annual community service project, Cannon scholars are raising money to donate to a local chapter of the charity, Habitat for Humanity.  The project is called "Homes For the Holidays".  Scholars in each grade level are designing and creating "home-themed" ornaments to be sold at this week's Holiday Choir Concert, scheduled for Thursday, December 12th.  2nd graders have created an ornament modeled after a historic building in Downtown Grapevine. Students are currently working on an interactive map of Downtown that include pictures of several buildings.  All scholars are using the Engineering Design Process to create their ornament. Each grade level will display their ornaments on a grade level tree and ornaments will be "sold" for a suggested donation of $2.00.  All proceeds will be donated directly to Habitat for Humanity and a representative from the local office in Dallas will come to Cannon to accept the donation. 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

I Can Build

We are finishing up on our food structures. Final pictures will be taken this afternoon. You can see them on display next week in the hallways at Cannon. We would love for you to own one of the photographs and help out our efforts to raise money for Santa Cop. 

Monday, December 2, 2013

Needs

We need empty toilet paper rolls and empty paper towel rolls! Please send them to school as soon as possible!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Santa Cop Project



This week we will finish our Art Show project that will raise money for Santa Cop. Students have designed their structures and we will begin building this week. We need cans of green beans, corn, black beans, ranch beans, tomatoes and coffee to use in our building. I will take pictures of their structures and the photos will be for sale next week. You will want to own one of these pictures – they will make great Christmas gifts for grandparents!  All of the money raised by the sale of these photos will be used to buy toys for Santa Cop.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Santa Cop

Today we had a visit from Sgt. Scott Rhodes of the Grapevine Police Department. He told the students about Santa Cop, a Christmas initiative sponsored by the Grapevine Police Department to help provide toys to kids in Grapevine. The students decided to raise money to buy toys for Santa Cop. We will be working to create art that we showcase in an Art Show after the Thanksgiving Break.  Watch here for more details about how you can purchase your child's artwork to support our community service project. All of the money raised will be used to purchase toys for Santa Cop.


Friday, November 15, 2013

Fun at Family STEM Night!

Thank you to all of the families that joined us yesterday at our Family Stem Night! The students had an awesome time sharing their work with you! 










HELP OUR CLASS GET SOME GREAT SPANISH BOOKS!

Please help us receive awesome Spanish books for our classroom. We are SO close to reaching our goal!  Our project expires soon so we need the rest of our project to get funded before time runes out! Every little bit helps and is very appreciated!  Just visit this site to see what you can do to help! 

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/spectacular-students-speaking-spanish/1021731/


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Family STEM Night

Family STEM Night
 Thursday 5:30-7:00

 Come to our classroom and experience first-hand what we learned about the play dough process. You will even have the chance to make your own play dough to take home with you.  

Visit the Book Fair in the library to see what's new.

Hope to see you there!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Solids, Liquids, and Gases, Oh My!

Had the best time learning about solids, liquids, and gases today!  The students had a wonderful time, applied what they knew, as well as learned something new. Thank you Mr. Adams! 

Nos divertimos tanto aprendiendo acerca de sólidos, líquidos, y gases! 


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Special Veterans Day Friday Assembly

Please join us at our Friday Assembly on November 8 for a special tribute honoring Veteran's Day.  Daisy Troop 1416, Brownie Troop 1456, and Cub Scout Packs 300 & 777 will present the flags and conduct the Pledge of Allegiance for us. We will also have a previous Cannon student, and member of the Grapevine High School band, who will play the Star Spangled Banner. 

We want to have all Second Graders wear red shirts on Friday and red, white or blue on Monday. 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

SPANISH BOOKS FOR OUR CLASSROOM!

Please help us receive awesome Spanish books for our classroom. We are SO close to reaching our goal!  Every little bit helps and is very appreciated!  Just visit this site to see what you can do to help! 

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/spectacular-students-speaking-spanish/1021731/

Monday, November 4, 2013

Holiday Food Drive

Our annual holiday food drive began today. The note below went home in student binders today. Second Grade is assigned to bring cereal, cereal bars or canned pasta.  All food collected is distributed to Cannon families.  Please take a moment to look over it and see how you can help.



Thursday, October 24, 2013

Fire Safety Program

Students enjoyed a program by the Grapevine Fire Department yesterday about fire safety. They sang songs, danced, learned how to be safe at home and what to do in case of a fire. Thanks to the firefighters from the City of Grapevine for a great program.

Play Dough Process Part 2

The great Play Dough Improvement engineering unit is coming to an end. You can see that many teams did, indeed, improve their play dough. Mark your calendar for November 14th to attend our Family STEM Night and experience first-hand the play dough making process.


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Report Cards

Dear Parents,

Report cards for Mrs. Marin's homeroom were not passed out because we were running late due to a Fire Safety program we had at school today.  Report cards will be sent home with your child tomorrow 10/24/2013.  Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Play-dough Process

Yesterday was each team's first attempt at improving the play-dough process. Teams discussed the order that the materials were mixed together and attempted to improve the quality of the play-dough. We evaluated the quality of each team's play-dough and chose one process that we will all use today. Some of the students are even experimenting with the process at home. We are always excited when what we are learning at school gets carried home. Could this be the beginning of the end of "nothin'" or "I don't know" when you ask the question, "What did you do at school today?" We sure hope so! Check out some pictures each team took to document their work.

Monday, October 21, 2013

CogAT Rescheduled


Due to computer issues with the testing site, CogAT testing has been rescheduled for Monday, October 28 through Wednesday, October 30.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

CogAT Testing

CogAT Testing will be Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Please be sure that your child is at school each of those days.  If at all possible, please do not plan doctor or dentist appointments for those days. Breakfast will be served at school as usual, but if your child does not eat at school, they need to have a healthy breakfast at home.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Halloween Safety

Check out this newsletter from Julie Lindley, the GCISD Director of Nursing.  This newsletter contains some important reminders and tips for how to enjoy a healthy and safe Halloween.


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Kona Ice!!!

Hoy tuvimos el placer de tener a la compañía Kona Ice visitar a la escuela. En ciencias estamos hablado de la materia y lo los cambios que le pueden ocurrir cuando se enfría o calienta.  Los empleados de Kona Ice les explicaron a los alumnos sobre las temperaturas necesarias para mantener el hielo como sólido y lo que le hacen a el hielo para poder convertirlo en raspa o hielo molido. También les explicaron lo que le puede pasar al hielo si los congeladores no están funcionando bien. Los empleados de Kona Ice les dio a cada alumno una raspa y ellos pudieron ver lo que le pasa a la raspa si no se lo comen rápidamente. Fue un día muy divertido y informativo.  

Today we had the pleasure of having Kona Ice visit our students. For the past several weeks we have been learning about matter and the effects that heating and cooling have on matter. The employees of Kona Ice let our students take a tour inside their truck and explained how they keep the ice cool even during the summer. Kona Ice donated snow cones to all of the students and they got to experience first hand what happens to your snow cone if heat is added!  We had a fun and informative day!!! 








Monday, October 7, 2013

Libros en español para nuestro salón / Spanish Books for our classroom

Estamos extremamente cerca de llegar a nuestra meta para poder recibir libros para nuestro salón.  Favor de visitar a este sitio para ver como usted puede ayudar.

We are so close to reaching our goal that will help us receive great Spanish books for our classroom.  Please visit the site below to see what you can do to help our classroom. 

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/spectacular-students-speaking-spanish/1021731/?verify=-2002105703&more=true

¿Como cambia la materia cuando se calienta? What happens to matter when it is heated?

Los alumnos están aprendiendo acerca de la materia y los cambios que le ocurren cuando se calienta. Hoy observaron lo que le pasa a un pedazo de chocolate cuando se calienta.  A cada alumno se les dio un pedazo de chocolate pequeño y lo pusieron en su mano.  Con su mano hicieron un puño y lo mantieneron cerrado por 5 minutos. Lo que ustedes ven es el resultado.  Los alumnos se dieron cuenta que el chocolate cambio de un sólido a un líquido cuando se calentó.  También supieron que se calentó con el calor de sus manos.  

The students are learning about the 3 states of matter and the changes that matter can go through when it is heated or cooled.  Today they learned what happens to a piece of chocolate when It is heated.  Each student got a piece of chocolate and held it in their hand with a closed fist for approximately 5 minutes.  What you see below are the results.  The students discovered that the chocolate changed from a solid to a gooey liquid when it was heated by the heat of their hands. 








Sunday, October 6, 2013

Parent Meeting Agenda

Our 2nd Grade Dual Language Parent Meeting was held last Tuesday, October 1st. If you were unable to attend, a copy of the agenda was sent home in your child's Notes Home folder. If you haven't seen that, below is a copy of the notes that were covered at the meeting.  As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to call or email.



Saturday, October 5, 2013

New Look for our Blog!

Due to a Google issue, there is a slight new look for our blog.  All of the information that you usually see in boxes on the right side of the blog is still there -- they even have the same title.  However, each box is a separate page. Click on each title to open the page.  Here is a picture to help you navigate the new look.  As always if you have questions, please feel free to email Mrs. Marin or myself.


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Progress Reports

Progress Reports went home today- 10/2/13  Please remember that work is still being turned in and graded.  If your child is missing a grade for a content area it is because they have been given the opportunity to resubmit their assignment for a better grade.  Please sign and return the progress reports by 10/4/13.  Thank you!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Texto Procesal/ Procedural texts

Los alumnos estuvieron investigando y observando diferentes textos procesales.  Como tarea se les pidió que pensaran en un texto procesal que ellos pudieran crear. También se pidió traer ejemplos de textos procesales de la casa. Unos ejemplos serían recetas, instrucciones de un juego, o un experimento. Gracias por su ayuda con esto.  

Today we investigated and observed several types of procedural texts.  As homework, I asked the students to think of something they would like create a procedural text about. I also asked them to bring in examples of procedural texts from home. This can include recipes,  instructions to a game, and experiments. Thanks for your help with this.  

Saturday, September 21, 2013

How Many More with Bilingual Buddies

This week we have been working with our buddies on math problems. Students counted the cubes in a bag and decided if there was enough cubes in the bag for the class. Their next questions were: Are there left overs? How many are left over? The idea of "how many more" is a confusing idea that we will work on all year long. You can help your child by using those words and having them experience that concept in every day life. For example: We have 5 apples and 3 oranges in the refrigerator. How many more apples than oranges are in the refrigerator?

Spaghetti Challenge

One team conquered the spaghetti challenge. They improved their structure to include a base that kept it stable. We all learned a lot from the design of their structure. Congratulations to Alexis, Gracie, Heidi, Jair and Jenna on their great teamwork and improved design.





Friday, September 20, 2013

Libros para nuestro salón / Books for our classroom


Having Spanish books at various levels is essential for the reading development of our students.  Please visit our DonorsChoose.org site to see what we need to help the students in our classroom.  

Tener varios libros en varios niveles es muy importante para el desarrollo de lectura.  Favor de visitar nuestro sitio de DonorsChoose.org para ver lo que necesitamos para ayudar los alumnos en nuestro salón.  

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Spaghetti Design Challenge

Today's design challenge involved 20 pieces of spaghetti,  3 feet of tape and a marshmallow. Teams were challenged to build the tallest tower possible using these materials. Here are some pictures of the teams collaborating and working together. Try it at home! Email any pictures you take so we can share them with the class.


What is Fiction Text?

In English Language Arts today, we began a unit of study on fiction text.  Our scholars learned that fiction text is a story made up by the author and it is NOT TRUE.  They each drew their own fictional character to add to our anchor chart. As your child is reading at night, ask them if their text is fiction or non-fiction.



Saturday, September 7, 2013

Learning to Work Together

This week we have explored job roles and descriptions that we will use throughout our STEM journey. Our most recent design challenge was to use 20 cups to make the tallest tower possible. Ask your child about their job.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Reto de diseño

Los alumnos tuvieron la oportunidad de trabajar como equipo y asignar trabajos a cada miembro. Cada miembro leyó las expectativas de su trabajo y cumplió con ellas. Juntos trabajaron a construir un  torre usando 20 vasos de plástico. La meta era tener la más alta. 











Friday, August 30, 2013

Bilingual Alphabet

Today we used the app Pic Collage to create our bilingual alphabet. Check back here soon to see the entire alphabet we created.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Reto de diseño

Los alumnos participaron en un reto de diseño donde tuvieron que construir una rampa donde una canica pudiera viajar por un largo tiempo sin caerse. El reto de diseño les dio la oportunidad de trabajar como equipo y aprender sobre ser buen compañero.  Los alumnos se divirtieron y aprendieron mucho.   












Monday, August 26, 2013

First Day Excitement!

What a great first day we had today. We used our iPads to take a picture and use it as our background. In math we also did a "Today's Meet" where we shared some of our favorite things about math.  Ask your child about their day...we would love to see your comments!