Wind Erosion

Second graders this week learned about weathering and erosion.  Ask them to sing a song to you that helps them remember.  Some types of erosion we learned about were wind and water.  To demonstrate how wind erosion works, we tried a fun experiment.

The students produced the wind by blowing on a "mountain" through a straw.  They began to notice cracks forming in the mountain and sediment falling to the ground.

Wind erosion starting

After wind erosion

How do families work together was our essential question this week.  We read several stories about how families work together by doing chores, trading household jobs, helping with the family business and choosing to buy something the family needs before something they want.  We worked on asking questions while reading and finding key details.

In math, we practiced different strategies to add two-digit numbers.  We used an open number line and jumped by 10's and we learned about the break apart strategy.  Learning different strategies is important because not everyone is comfortable with just one strategy.  Eventually the students will choose the one that works best for them.  

Please let me know if your child is struggling with any homework. Homework should not take anymore than 20 minutes to complete.  I do not want the students to be frustrated at home and then get discouraged about their learning.  

Today we had our second week of Footprints.  This program is sponsored by the Woodbury Heights Municipal Alliance,  The program uses puppets to tell stories about such things as bullying, conflict and drugs/alcohol.

Bats!!

Since we had a short week, we took a break from Wonders and did a research project on bats.  We started by reading the book, Stellaluna.  We then compared bats and birds using a Venn diagram.  Throughout the week, we read other books about bats and took notes.  The students used the information they gathered to write a research report.

In honor of Fire Prevention Week, we took a trip to the Woodbury Heights Firehouse.  We were greeted by several fire fighters.  We were shown and told all about the ambulance and the fire truck.  We would like to thank them for their service and for giving us the tour today.  

Have a great weekend.

October is here!

This week we celebrated our first "Lunch with the Teacher."  Congrats to the September winners: the Erasers.  This month's groups look like this:

This week in reading, we read stories about caring for animals.  We read about how people help whales that are stranded on the beach.  We also read about a boy named Jack who takes care of his horse, Pepper.  We practiced writing reading responses and finding key details in the photos and captions.  

We finished up our first narrative story in writing. The students were each given a chance in our Writers Chair to share their story.  Next week, we will be having a "visitor" and writing letters to him.  

In math, we practiced finding even and odd numbers and learned about arrays.  We used repeated addition to solve problems with arrays.

To further explain landforms and how they are formed on the Earth, we did a fun experiment with graham crackers and cool whip.  The graham crackers represented the plates in the Earth and the cool whip the mantle.  We moved the crackers around to show what effects it has on the Earth.  Of course, as a special treat, we got to eat the leftovers. (Not the ones we used in our experiment.)

A mountain is formed on the crust

Have a nice holiday weekend.

Landform Models

This week the second graders created models of the landforms they had been learning about.  The requirement of the assignment was to include three water landforms and four land ones.  We had several volcanoes, mountains, rivers, lakes and glaciers. 

Painting the landforms 

Still painting

The students will be labeling the parts of their landforms next week.  

We finished up our first math unit this week with an assessment.  Overal the students did a great job.  This new math program has been an adjustment and the students are learning the expectations.  For the first test, each question was read to them.  I will not be doing that for each test, but I am trying to help them along to feel comfortable with the new program.  Look for these to be sent home next week to be reviewed and signed and returned.

In reading, our focus was asking and answering question and finding the character, setting and events in a story.  We read stories about pets and how we care for them.  

Today was our first t-shirt day.  We are celebrating "Being Determined" by wearing read shirts.  Keep on the look out for information each month about what color shirt to wear for that month.  

How are Families the Same and Different

This week our focus was on comparing families around the world and how they are the same and different.  We read stories about how families celebrate holidays differently and how they eat different foods.  In one story, a boy was playing football (soccer) at his friend Alejandro's house.  He was invited to stay for dinner and was concerned about eating some of the foods because they were different than he was used to.

We are still learning and practicing different strategies for adding and subtracting.  Utilizing different strategies is meant to help with math, but it has been kind of confusing as well.  Remember, this is a new way for your child to think in math.  If your child is having a difficult time with homework, just jot me a note to let me know.  

In writing, we have started drafting a narrative story.  We are learning the writing process and the steps to take when writing a story.  We started with planning the story and began to draft.  We also discussed different strategies for spelling when writing.  

In science, we are learning various landforms.  The students created a flip book with the definitions and pictures that they drew.  Next week, we will begin to create a 3-D model of different landforms.

Have a great weekend!

Off and Running...

First, I would like to thank the parents for attending Back to School night.  It is always nice to see so many faces.  We have such a great community that cares about our students and our school.  Please remember that if there is any question you have or concern, you can contact me at time. 

So this week has been a whirlwind.  The students completed MAP testing in reading and math.  You will see these results during the fall conference in November. 

We started our first week of wonders with the essential question "How do friends depend on each other"  We read a bird named Little Flap who was afraid to leave the nest.  His friends encouraged him to try and said they would help him. 

In math, we started our focus on addition strategies.  We learned how knowing double facts can help find the facts that are near those facts.  We also practiced using a ten frame to show that adding numbers from 10 is easier as well.

To start off in writing, we talked about how our writing time will look and what the expectations will be.  We also brainstormed ways that writers get ideas.

In science, we started our Earth system unit.  The students used the Chromebooks to research a landform and define it. 

Today we had our Team Building day.  We had several stations with fun team games.  There was a bean bag toss, hula hoop race, tug of war, relay races and our favorite, a parachute.  We had a fun afternoon and worked so well together!

The First Week of School!!!

What a great first week of school.  The students and I have begun to get to know each other and we are off to a great start.  I can't wait to see how well these student progress throughout the year.

This week the focus was on our monthly theme...Be Determined.  We read a book called The Most Magnificent Thing.  We read about a girl who wanted to create the most magnificent thing and kept trying until she was able.  We brainstormed some ideas about things that we would like to overcome or have overcame.

We also read a book called Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon, about a girl whose grandmother taught her to stand tall and be proud of herself despite the fact that she was short and had buck teeth and a voice like a bullfrog.  The students then wrote about why they liked themselves and drew a self portrait.

One of my favorite activities that we do every year is read about bucket filling and dipping.  In the story How Full is Your Bucket, a boy learns from his grandpa about the invisible bucket he carries over his head.  Every time someone does something that makes him feel happy, drops go in his bucket.  Every time someone does something that makes him bad, drops come out of his bucket.  The students immediately understand this concept. 

This year the students will have me for science and Mrs. Taylor for social studies.  As a introduction to science and working together as a group, we did a fun activity called Saving Fred.  Fred is a gummy worm that does not know how to swim yet refuses to wear a life preserver.  Unfortunately for Fred, his boat capsized and he was stranded on top of his boat and his life preserver was trapped underneath the boat.  The students needed to work together to save Fred....with one major stupulation...they could not touch Fred, his boat, or his life preserver with their hands.  They had a lot of fun and worked together to find solutions to this problem.  

We really had a great week.  I am looking forward to a fun and exciting year!