Celebrity of the Week

Devin was a basketball rockstar. He did a fabulous job and really took on the role of a star. He wanted to bring his own costume. I loved that idea! We also enjoyed reading poems from Shel Silverstein. Now the kids are all reading Shel Silverstein.

Way to go Devin.

Outrageous Rotations

International Day was on October 7th! (I know late post!) As a team we each chose one country to highlight in our classrooms. Then each class rotated to the other classroom teachers where they learned about another country. We called it "Outrageous Rotations." The kids absolutely loved it and I enjoyed getting to know some of the other 2nd graders. It was a neat experience. Of course, I wasn't on my A game and didn't take too many pictures but figured I would post the couple I had. In our class we studied Egypt. I made a PowerPoint and had lots of posters around as well as Egyptian artifacts. The kids were pretty fascinated. I taught them about hieroglyphics and they wrote their name. One student told me, "this was the best thing I have learned all year...I think ever in school." WOW pretty exciting and a little worrying for me. Guess I need to spice up my lessons! :)

Geography Wrap-up

As a part of our culminating unit on Geography, students worked with table groups to create their own city/town. The students each drew their own map and included the 3 major types of communities we learned about. Then as a group they discussed and decided which parts of each map they wanted to put on their group map. They created their map as a team and included a title, map key, and detailed communities. I was pretty impressed with how well they worked collaboratively. Huge success. I can't wait to do more projects throughout the year.

Check out the wonderful maps.

Celebrity of the week

Jacob was our first boy Celebrity of the week. The kids are really getting into it. We enjoyed looking at his cars and hearing all about riding a sheep.

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley is off on his various adventures around the room! Can't wait to see the letters and pictures when he returns.

Literacy Stations

Literacy Stations are a time the last hour of the day where your child is immersed and engaged in reading and writing activities. Students rotate through 2 stations a day. Stations are one their favorite times because they have choice and enjoy partaking in the activities available. This is a time where I get to meet with individual or groups of students.

Stations:
Work on writing
Word work
Listening
Computer
Read with someone
Read to self

Here are a few pictures capturing what liteacy stations look like in the classroom:

Word work: practicing spelling words by writing them on dry erase board with colorful markers

Word Work: Using magnetic letters to spell words

Work on writing: creative drawing and adding words to pictures

Read with Someone: sequencing and reading a poem

Word work: Cutting out pictures that match non-fiction features

Work on writing: Writing a shape poem

Work on Computer: Tumble books, Starfall, or Spelling City

Listen to reading

Science: Plant Wrap-up

We wrapped our Science unit on plants this past week. Students each received one Lima bean, a wet paper towel, and a baggie. We went through the steps of the Scientific Method. Students wrote out the experiment in their Science journals and made a hypothesis. Ask your child if they remember or know what that means! they predicted if they thought their bean would grow. Every couple of days, they made observations and recorded them in their journal. It was quite exciting to say the least. (I was pretty excited myself as in years past sometimes it doesn't work out and the seeds get moldy) Shouts of joy and faces of amazement were captured throughout the two weeks as their tiny seeds began to grow.