Mrs. Raines' Class Website

Library Field Trip

Click for our pictures from our field trip to the Portland Library.  You will see photos of the students listening to the librarian read a story, taking a tour, and choosing books to borrow.  



Greenhouse Field Trip

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Click for our pictures from our field trip to the Portland High School's Greenhouse.  You will see photos of the students observing the gardens, picking seeds, looking at seeds through microscopes, and planting seeds.  


Indian Rock Nature Preserve Field Trip

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Click here for our pictures from our field trip to Indian Rock Nature Preserve.  Here the students were able to take three classes which taught them about Native Americans.  First, we entered a wigwam to take a class called Foods of the Earth.  Here the students learned about hunters, gatherers, and even try some Native American foods.  Next, we went on a hayride where we learned a little history about the Native Americans in Connecticut.  This is when we heard the legend of Morgan the Indian and about Indian Rock.  Finally, we took a class called stone tools where the students took part in making a pendent out of soapstone and an arrow. 


Halloween Party

Click here to se some pictures from our Halloween Party.  



The Children's Museum Field Trip

Click for pictures from our field trip to the Children's Museum.  You will see photos of students on the bus, looking at the animal exhibits, exploring in the kid zone, pretending to be astronauts, mining, digging for dinosaur bones, trying to create a bubble around their bodies, creating shadows, and participating in a class about bugs and botany!



The 4-H Farm Educational Center Field Trip

Click here to see our pictures from the 4-H Educational Center Field Trip where we learned about soil.  What is soil made of? What are some different types of soils? Why is soil so important to plants? Learn about the properties of soil and its valuable place in the farm ecosystem. Students learn about the three basic types of soil as they examine soil samples and talk about percolation rates (drainage time) and saturation. Through a simple experiment with topsoil, children will learn the importance of preserving soil as a natural resource.



St. Clements Castle Field Trip

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Second graders visited St. Clements Castle.  They spent the morning rotating between three stations: a magic show with Magic of Christopher, relay races with Mr. Fox our gym teacher, and a scavenger hunt around the beautiful grounds of the castle.  After lunch, we had a whole group show called Music Around the World.  During the show, we traveled to different countries in the world and learned about music from each country.  Some of us even got to play!  Click here to see pics!


Second Grade Celebration

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Second graders had a wonderful celebration on June 4th.  Students were divided into groups and rotated around to different stations which included a fireman's water relay, musical chairs, playscape play, tattoos, face painting, hangman, a game of "Fishy Fishy Come Swim in my Sea," and a craft station.  After the rotation, all students were brought to the cafeteria were they had an ice cream social.  Thanks PTO for such a wonderful event!!!


Field Day 

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Despite the weather, the class was able to participate in field day on June 5th!  Students had fun traveling from station to station where our parent volunteers helped us.  (Thanks Parents, you were great!)  We were able to see how long we could keep a beach ball up in the air, race against each other in a relay race around cones, toss the ball, dribble a soccer ball, hula hoop, jump rope, and so much more.  Check out our field day pictures!