President's Day

This week in honor of President's Day, we did president reports.  The students picked a president's name and did research on that president.  Then the students wrote a hanger report about their president.

Gerald Ford

George Washington

Barack Obama

This week in reading we learned about different ways the earth changes.  This brought us back to science fromt earlier in the year when we learned about erosion and landforms.  We read about how the beach erodes and how earthquakes and volcanoes can change the earth quickly.  We practiced finding cause and effect and continued practicing how to write about our reading.

In math, we started a new unit on place value.  We used base-10 blocks to find and name numbers.  This skill is building us up to doing three and four-digit number adding and subtracting.  We played math games today to practice place value and clock skills.

 

We tested the viscosity in liquids in science.  We had 6 different liquids in glasses: water, olive oil, shampoo, corn syrup, maple syrup and glue.  We dropped a marble into each liquid and timed it with a stopwatch to see how long it took to get to the bottom.  Can you guess which liquid was the most viscous?  Ask your child to tell you.

Have a great weekend.  Enjoy this unseasonably warm weather.

Golden Lion Tamarin Fundraiser a Success!!

This week was our fundraiser for the golden lion tamarin.  We collected donations from students and staff.  With each donation, we gave away a water bottle to help defer people from bringing in the "throw away" type water bottles.  We do not have a final dollar amount yet that we collected but when we do, I will be sure to announce it.

We started a new unit this week in reading about the world and what makes it interesting.  We learned about different regions of the United States.  We also read about and compared the tropical rain forest and the temperate rain forest.

The students took a math test on time and money this week.  Overall, the students did really well especially with the money.  Many students still could use some practice learning time.  We played time BINGO today to practice.

This week we celebrated 100 day with a few fun activities.  First, the students got a look at themselves at 100 years old.  They wrote about things they will like, dislike, eat, drink and do when they are 100.  The other activity they did was write about what they would do with $100.  These should be coming home today for you to read.  They are really funny and inventive.

Happy President's Day...Enjoy your long weekend!!

Zoo Trip Fun

Last Friday the second graders went to the Philadelphia Zoo for FREE!!  As part of our participation in the UNLESS contest, we were invited to the zoo to visit with our chosen animal, the golden lion tamarin and to discuss our progress in the contest.  What a great time of the year to attend the zoo! Lucky for us, the weather cooperated and it was not too cold.  We received personal tours and lectures from several zookeepers.  A siberian tiger actually walked right on top of us!




                                 Here is a female gorilla with a baby born in August:









We met with Brad, who we skyped with earlier in the school year and visited the golden lion tamarins, Jameson and Archie.  Archie was being shy and hiding in his box.

Then we talked with Brad about our progress in the contest.  We told him about our efforts to learn about the golden lion tamarin.  We also discussed how we have been learning about water and how water is used and wasted.  We decided to take on the cause of replacing our water fountain in our school with a hydration station.  We submitted our project for a grant and were approved for the grant.  Next, we are going to do a fundraiser at school to raise money for the golden lion tamarin and give each student who donates a free water bottle that he/she can use when the new water hydration station is installed.

We will be having a whole school assembly to explain our cause by showing a video that we have been making over the past several weeks.  If you would like a link to the video please email me and I will send it to you when it is complete.

We also made the local newspaper.... again if you would like a link to the article, email me and I will send it to you.

The contest entry is due in March and the winners will be announced in April.  The top five schools will be invited back to the zoo together and the grand prize winner will be announced that day.

For reading this blog this week you get a prize. Click on the link : Homework Pass