Kids Around the World

This week our essential question was "How are kids around the world different?"  We read stories about children from other countries and learned a lot about different customs they have in other countries.  The students were fascinated by the fact that when children in Japan go to school they must take off their shoes and put on indoor shoes.  They also bow to their teacher.  I tried to make that a tradition here in this classroom but no luck.  They also read about different games that are played around the world.  In India, cricket is a popular game.  In Africa, the children play a game called Oware.

We are coming to the end of our Length unit in math.  This week we estimated lengths using benchmarks.  Did you know that your fingernail is a good benchmark to use for a centimeter?  We also started plotting data on line plots.  Next week we will be taking an assessment on the unit and then starting our new unit, Three Digit Addition and Subtraction.

For some fun writing activities this week, the students wrote narratives about what it would be like to be the tooth fairy for the day.  Then they were each transformed into a tooth fairy....look for that at Best of Heights Night.  We also did an opinion piece about which Hershey kiss was our favorite.  They got to taste three different kisses and choose which kiss they liked the best.  Personally, I like the dark chocolate, but that was the least favorite of the group.

Mrs. Taylor wrapped up the Black History Month unit in social studies with Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks.  We learned about how these two women were an integral part of the civil rights movement.  In science, we looked at different tools and the properties they have that make them best for a particular job.

One of my favorite things to do in second grade is to read to the students.  They become very engaged in the story.  We started reading one of my favorite stories to read, The Tale of Depereaux.

Have a great weekend.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes

This week we read stories about how the Earth changes.  We read about beach erosion, volcanoes and earthquakes.  The students enjoyed hearing my story about remembering the earthquake that hit in the summer of 2011.  We practiced identifying cause and effect in our stories.

We continued to practice measuring this week.  The students created measurment posters.  The rules were to create a poster with a scene of their choice using several measurements in inches.

Mrs. Taylor taught us about Jackie Robinson in social studies.  Did you know that his number 42 has been retired from baseball? In science, we sorted materials into matter categories: solid, liquid, & gas.  

We read a book this week called The Wobbly Tooth.  Then the students wrote a story about a time when they lost a tooth.  We brainstormed ideas and the students helped each other edit the stories for mistakes and to give more ideas on how they can make the story better.  

The weather is going to warm up this weekend so go outside and have some fun.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you and your families.  I hope you have a "lovely" long weekend.  In preparation for our party today, the students created bags to receive their cards.  

This week we also celebrated Chinese New Year.  This is my favorite year, "The Year of the Monkey".  We read all about Chinese New Year and then figured out what year we were born.  Would you believe that I was born in the year of the monkey.  The students were either born in the year of the rat or the pig.  They looked at the character traits associated with each year and determined if they were like them or not like them.  

This week our essential question was "What makes different parts of the world different?"  We read about Alaska and how parts of Alaska have 60 days of no sunset and 80 days of no sun at all.  We also read about the different rain forests in the world.  We practiced comparing and contrasting by using Venn diagrams.  

In math, we continued our unit on length.  This week we measured in meters and tried to determine which tool and which unit would be best.  We also compared measurements by subtracting.  

Mrs. Taylor has begun a month long unit on Black History Month in social studies.  So far we have learned about Harriet Tubman and Jesse Owens.  Did you know that Jesse won four gold medals in one Olympiad.  This was a record that held for many years.

In science, we continued to learn about matter.  This week we did a fun experiment with gas/air.  We tried to prove that air has mass and takes up space.  Ask your child how funny it was to see me try to blow up a balloon in a bottle.  

Have a fun long weekend.

Who Will Win Superbowl 50??

The students have been excitedly discussing the upcoming Super Bowl.  We decided it would be fun to make some predictions about who we think will win.  My vote is for Denver!! Go Broncos!

This week our essential question was "How do you express yourself?"  We read stories about music and musical instruments.  We learned about how people who are deaf can enjoy concerts by watching interpreters or sitting in specially designed chairs.  We learned how to recycle trash to make musical instruments.

In math we practiced measuring in inches and centimeters. We even measured our upstairs hallway in yards. 

We finished up our weather reports that we started last week. The meteorologists learned about different kinds of weather.

Then later in the week we read a story called The Day It Rained Hearts. The students the wrote about what they would do if it rained hearts.

Our principal, Mrs. Gansert, came in this week to watch our drop races in science. We were testing the viscosity of four liquids. (Yes, the second graders know what that word means.) After our races, there was some controversy over which liquid was the most viscous, glue or shampoo. We all agreed that water was the most fluid. 

Keep in mind that next Friday is now a half day to make up for the snow day last week. We will be having our Valentine's celebration that day so if your child is sending in cards they will need to be in by then. 

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the Super Bowl or at least the commercials. 

Will Phil See His Shadow?

This week we made some predictions about Groundhog Day.  We read a book called The Groundhog Gets a Say. Then the students created a groundhog and predicted whether they thought he would or would not see his shadow.  No more winter...that's my vote!

 

 

 

Our essential question this week was How does weather affect us?  We read about tornadoes, hurricanes and thunderstorms.  To coincide with this topic we started research reports about weather.  The students worked with a partner to gather information from books about different kinds of weather. Over the next few days, they will begin to write reports from the information that they found. 



Some of the books we used from the library to do our research. 



 

We began the unit on length in math.  We started with an introduction to measurement by discussing what a standard unit of measurement is.  We did a lot of practice this week measuring to the nearest inch.  We will be measuring in other units like feet, yards and centimeters next week.

 

We started observing liquids in science by looking at two different liquids: water and glue and comparing and contrasting their properties.  We continued to learn about landforms in social studies.

 

Congratulations to the Snowmen group who won lunch with the teacher this month.  We will be having lunch on Tuesday of next week.  The new groups for the month of February have been named.  Good luck to all! 

 

 

Have a great weekend!





The Blizzard is Coming...

As you are aware I am sure...the first blizzard of the year is heading our way.  I hope you all stay safe and healthy.  This is a good time to mention to make sure your child is prepared with the proper clothing when coming to school.  On most cold days (I believe it's below 40 degrees) the students will have recess indoors.  But,sometimes they will go outside for recess and should be prepared with hats and gloves.  Also, the temperature in the classroom fluctuates a lot during the day.  It generally starts out rather cold and then warms up significantly and is pretty warm by the end of the school day.  For this reason, it is often a good idea to dress your child in layers.  Just a suggestion...

We started this short week discussing Martin Luther King, Jr. and the impact that he made on our country.  We read two books about him:  Martin's Big Words and My Brother Martin.  We brainstormed ideas of how we could make a difference in the world.  The students then wrote their ideas down.

We finished up our 2-digit addition and subtraction unit in math with an assessment today.  These will be coming home next week to be reviewed and signed.  Overall, the students did a good job.  We will still continue to practice the process of adding and subtracting even though we will be moving on to our next unit, length and measurement.

This week we read several stories about how people can help their community.  We read about a woman who grew up with no electricity in her home and when she became an adult she learned about solar power.  She then went into communities that had no electricity and showed them how they could use solar energy for power.  We practiced again finding the author's purpose and the main idea of a story.  

Mrs. Taylor taught us more about landforms and we got to play a game in social studies to practice locating them on a map.   In science, we did two fun labs.  In the first lab, we tested balls to see which one bounced the highest.  We were surprised to learn that the ping pong ball was so bouncy.  Then we did an absorbency lab.  We tested four different materials: a tissue, a paper towel, a wash cloth and a sponge to see which one would absorb the most water.  The sponge won!!

We read a fun book this week called I Wanna Iguana.  The boy in the book tries to persuade his mom that he should get an iguana for a pet.  The students then wrote a persuasive letter as well.  Look for that today in their take home folder.  Sorry!! 

Stay warm and safe this weekend!!

More on Top...No Need to Stop!!!

You probably have heard by now that the second graders are learning how to subtract two-digit numbers.  The following poem helps them to remember the steps when regrouping numbers.

This is a beginning skill so the students need a lot of practice to master it.  We will practice daily.  Overall they did a great job as seen in the past few quizzes they have taken in class.  

Our essential question in reading was "What can we see in the sky?"  We read stories that taught about eclipses and constellations, like the Big Dipper.  We practiced sequencing the story by writing about the beginning, middle and end.  We identified and defined compound words, too.  The students took a short reading that will be coming home for you to review, sign and return.  

In social studies this week, we began learning about landforms. The students created posters of the eight landforms we learned.  

 

In science we discussed properties of solids.  We compared different solids based on these properties.

Today, we had our Unity assembly.  The students were asked to wear the same colors as their book buddies.  All of the students made handprints that are displayed at the front entrance.  Have a nice weekend.