Good Bye Marco!

Marco had come out of her chrysalis when we arrived at school on September 26. She flew down to the floor when Ms. LaRosa took her out of the jar. We could see that Marco was a female because she didn't have the black spots on her wings.

We had a chance to gently hold Marco before she flew away.

And then this happened to Harvey!

Marco visited some flowers before she flew away.

Just like all the Monarch Butterflies in Maine, she will migrate to the mountains of central Mexico for the winter.

 We all agree that this would be an amazing sight to see!

The Magic of the Monarch Butterfly

     We have been studying the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. We have been lucky enough to have watched two caterpillars go through metamorphosis. 

 This is Marco. He was our first caterpillar. Another name for caterpillar is larvae. He is on a milkweed leaf. He eats a lot!

 This little larvae came in on a milkweed leaf that was gathered to feed Marco. His name is Polo!

 This is Marco's chrysalis. Another name for chrysalis is pupae.

Monarch butterflies spend two weeks as a pupae.

 Wow! This was amazing! We observed Polo coming out of his chrysalis!

 You can see Polo's big abdomen and crumpled up wings. He will pump the fluid in his abdomen into his wings.

 We used a magnifying glass to study Polo the butterfly.

We watched his wings get bigger and bigger.

 When he was flapping his wings we took him outside and let him go.

 Introducing....

We have spent the first few days of school introducing ourselves and getting to know each other. We are building a class community in which everyone is cared about and respected. We used Play-Doh to create something that we liked or that told something about us. There were so many great ideas!

Hannah made a paintbrush.

Ryan made a lego.

Noah made a dog and Owen made a hamburger.

 Lola made a cat and guess who made his name.

Zack made a whale and Arli made a cat.

Mykensey made a smile. It matches her own smile.

 Brooklyn made snakes.

 Annabelle made a braid.

 Carter made a ball.

Lucas made a house.

Noah made a bed for his dog.

 Haylie made a cat.

Ayden is working on his name.

 

 Destiny made a rainbow.

Harvey made a snail.

International Dot Day!

September 15, 2016

International Dot Day is based on the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. It is about a girl named Vashti who thinks she can't draw. 

Her teacher tells her to

 We made our marks and look where they took us!

Awesome Artists!

  Welcome Back To School

             Ms. LaRosa's Second Grade             2016-2017 

 Here we are! Ready to Learn!

Oh, now wait a second! We can do better than that!

 Now, this is more like it! We really are ready to learn!

Second Grade Meeting

We had our first second grade meeting on September 1. 
All four second grades gather together once a month. We celebrate birthdays and do a special lesson. It is an important, and fun, way to build our second grade community at Great Falls School.

 We met in the second grade commons room.

Mrs. Taylor taught us a new song, I Think You're Wonderful by Red Grammer. We will sing this song throughout the year! Click on the hippo below to hear the song and watch the cute video.

I Think You're Wonderful