Cold Blooded Creatures!

Mr. Jim Nesci and his cold-blooded creatures came to visit! The students were thrilled, and some took a few minutes to warm up to these creatures! 

Meet the Reptiles:

Bubba

Bubba the alligator is a phenomenon!  He is the one and only North American Alligator who takes commands from his trainer, Jim.  Bubba came to Jim as a rescue from the Chicago area. Of all the animals he has ever trained, Bubba is his pride and joy. Jim’s experience and patience has created a trust between them, that goes beyond the norm of pet and trainer.  He is a unique individual who builds bonds with special needs children and adults alike.  He amazes teachers and audiences wherever he performs.  He has appeared in schools, hospitals, museums and various TV shows and advertisements. Bubba is over 8 feet long, and weighs over 200 pounds.

Tank

Tank is an African Spurred Tortoise, from Central and Northern Africa.  He was the size of a silver dollar when Jim first received him, he was also captive bred.  These are the largest of the continental tortoises, not including the Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises.

Charlie

Charlie is a Burmese Python and is a poplular part of the audience participation. Jim lines up students  from the audience, who are thrilled to hold him.

Godzilla

Godzilla is a Black throat monitor lizard.  This specie is native to Tanzania.  They are known for eating venomous snakes, but are found to be immune from the bite of these snakes.



Here are some pictures from the day:

Have You Seen the Lorax?

Monitoring for Meaning!

To help them understand, students made 'Thinking Bubbles' with thinking stems written all over them to help them make connections and inferences while they are reading. Monitor for Meaning is a comprehension strategy that helps students to 'think about their own thinking' to help them understand the texts. All too often we hear a distracting voice while we are reading, so it's important to focus on the thinking voice we hear! 

Some of the thinking stems include:
I am wondering...
I am thinking...
I noticed...
I have a connection to...
I infer...
I picture...
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

These are great sentence starters that you can use at home while reading with your child. 

Here are a few pictures of the thinking bubbles:

100th Day

Students had a fantastic 100th Day of school. They dressed up like they were 100 years old! Some of the fun things they wore included: wigs, suspenders, bow ties, pearls, glasses, pearls, and even had canes! Here are a few pictures from the day: 

WELCOME BACK!

Hello 2nd Graders! Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year! I am excited and honored to be your teacher. I will be using this blog to update you and your parents on the exciting things we do in our classroom. 

Fun Facts About Mrs. Grigas

• This is my third year teaching 2nd Grade. I have also taught 1st Grade, 5th Grade, and I was a paraprofessional here at Fierke for two years prior to teaching. 
• I love to read!
• I grew up in Oak Forest and I am happy to be teaching in my hometown. 
• My favorite color is green!
• I enjoy being outdoors and love to go for a walk/run with my family.
• I have no pets, but my favorite animal is a giraffe.
• I have a family cottage in Michigan that I spend my summers at. I also have a boat! 
• I am married and have a one year old daughter named Cameron. Here is a picture of her:

Happy 100th Day of School!!

Students made 100th Day glasses to celebrate and they completed a tricky 100th Day packet!

Bubba the Dinosaur 2