Coretta and school...

Coretta received her report card yesterday and she did very well. She is strong in reading, writing, public speaking, music, spanish, science, religion and social studies and has improved considerably in Math. She has exceeded in the expectations for second grade in many areas. We are very proud of her.

In second grade this semester, they have been very busy. In social studies, they have been learning about immigration. They also spent time researching their own relatives to tell their story about coming to America. They have read a story called Coming to America by Betsy Maestro. They had to answer questions such as what would be the best/worst things about going to a new land. They also have spent time mapping continents, oceans, and rivers and spent time studying Sweden.

In Language Arts, they have been busy reading the Roxaboxen series by Alice McLerran, reading folktales, and writing their own tall tales. In addition to this, they had to choose a book that they were to memorize and will share with an audience next Wednesday at Storytelling Night. Coretta chose the book Today I Feel Silly. They have spent considerable time mapping out their story, practicing their lines, and paying attention to gestures. tone, pitch, rate, and eye contact. I can't wait to see the final presentation!

In math, they continue to have timed tests in subtraction and addition and are now working on division and multiplication. They have also been working on counting money and telling time.

In religion, they have been learning about reconciliation as well as the sacraments. More specifically holy communion which will take place in April.

In science, they have been continually studying their frogs and making observations. What a great experience to observe a frog from the tadpole stage on.

In art, they have what is called Art Adventures where volunteers come in to teach students about art using specific paintings from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I have volunteered to teach this program in Coretta's class which is very exciting. The theme for this eight week exploration is friends, family, and foes. For every painting they study, they learn art history as well as create their own art project. So far, they have been able to create a sculpture, a painting of a garden using the impressionism brush strokes, and will create a mask next week.

Coretta started piano lessons yesterday at Saint Joseph's School of Music and is very happy to be back playing the piano. She is registering for track this spring and is looking forward to that as well.

She is also busy starting her band which they have named The Guitar Heroes. Coretta spends a considerable amount of time writing songs for the band as well. The picture above is of Coretta and her song book!

Live, Laugh, Love...

Coretta has been quite busy with school and birthday parties and sleep overs and figure skating and holy communion and piano lessons....I don't know about you, but I am tired! She has been wanting to highlight one of her most hidden talents: one being the art of meditation, and the other being her unique dance moves. Here is a video of her performance!

The Happy Clapper...

Geno was in the other room the other day reading to himself in his self-proclaimed dialect. He sure LOVES his board books. It was really cute! He also tried salmon for the first time and really liked it. He is still pulling himself to a stand and then clapping. I have to believe that the walking part is on its way! At the end of this month he will be 15 months old already! Here is a short video of Geno clapping.

The Eucharist Banner

As part of Coretta's holy communion, she must make what they call a Eucharist Banner. This banner will be placed on her pew which will be reserved for her family and relatives. Since her favorite colors are pink and purple, I tried to incorporate them into the design. Here is a photo of it.

Video Game Mania

We finally decided to break down and buy the XBox 360 this weekend. Since then, Coretta and Nick have been battling it out playing Guitar Hero and Beautiful Katamuri. It seems that it truly brings out the kid in Nick. He also bought for himself Call of Duty where you go through military training and then enter the battlefield. I came home from holy communion classes to find him planted on the recliner playing video games. When asked how long he had been playing, he stated two hours! I think he will be the one who needs limits. Here are a couple shots of Coretta playing Guitar Hero.

Destination Imagination Tournament

Coretta and her team under the guidance of me as their team manager did very well at the competition held at Harding High School on Saturday March 1st. Even though they were not eligible to compete at the state level, they were still judged on their creativity, completion of the challenge/task, performance, and teamwork. The judge stated that their lyrics to their song and the play itself were exceptionally written. They also liked their creation of their background and the cloud design. Here is a video of their performance in their play Rosa Parks Goes Back in Time.

The Molar Miracle

Coretta lost her big molar the other day at school. It was bleeding so badly that she had to go to the nurse. When I picked her up that day, she was smiling from ear to ear. When I asked her what was the matter, she said that she had lost her tooth. That night she wrote the tooth fairy a letter and put her tooth under her pillow. The next day, she received some horse tattoos and $10.00. I guess the molars are worth a lot of money.