Today Mrs. Warner and some 3rd and 4th grade students hosted Camp Out and Read. We went to the gym, relaxed in tents, and listened to students read. It was a lot of fun!
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Day 9 was Blue and Gold Spirit Day. When we popped the balloon jokes were the surprise. We found jokes, read them aloud, and enjoyed Laffy Taffy (along with the Laffy Taffy jokes, too!)
Today we began the countdown for our last 10 days of school. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!?!?! Each day we will be popping a balloon for a little something special. Today our activity: snack outside! We had a wonderful time visiting and enjoying the sunshine. The students were also told the spirit day for tomorrow: Blue and Yellow Day! Check back for updates on our other surprises! :)
What do cotton balls, sandpaper, and toothpaste all have in common? They can teach important lessons in kindness. As we wind down the school year, it is important to remember to use kind words, kind tones, and kind actions. We did a few things to remind us of that today. First, I had students pass around the cotton. We brainstormed words to describe how the cotton felt (soft, gentle, comfortable). We did the same with the sandpaper (rough, painful, scratchy). After that I told the students to think of their words as "cotton words" and "sandpaper words". We discussed which ones we liked hearing more (cotton). We made a list of words that made us feel good (cotton) and examples of words make us feel sad or angry (sandpaper). We all decided we would put our effort into using kind words with others, because those are the words we like to hear. Then, we read the story Hey, Little Ant as an example of how we should treat EVERYONE with kindness. Finally, I asked a volunteer to squeeze and entire mini-tube of toothpaste onto a plate. After she did, I asked her to put it back. The look on her face was priceless!! :) We discussed how it isn't possible to put the toothpaste back without changing the tube. I used this as an analogy of one you say something you can't take it back. We talked about how we have thoughts in our heads, which our private. But once something is said out loud there is nothing you can do to change what you have said. Great lessons, which made for more effort in using kind words and thinking before speaking. The day wasn't perfect, but it made us think and try harder!
To wrap up our unit on 3D shapes second graders combined hands on fun with digital artifacts. The class worked in teams of three to build 6 different 3D shapes (cube, rectangular prism, triangular prism, square pyramid, triangular pyramid, rectangular pyramid) out of marshmallows and toothpicks. Once the models were created the second graders created a labeled collage of their work. Finally, the teams uploaded their artifacts on Seesaw. It was a wonderful time, with some challenges, problem solving, and team work. A great way to end the week and show what they know!
This past week our math focus has been on 2-D shapes, 3-D shapes, and determining volume. Second graders worked in partners to create different figures out of cubic units and record what the figure would look like from different perspectives. They also used 3D shapes to determine if the shapes would be able to stack, slide, and roll. Hand on fun to achieve our learning targets!
Our current focus in writing is friendly letters. This week the second graders have spent time sending letters to one another and responding. They have really enjoyed it, and have taken their work very seriously!
Last week our class worked REALLY hard to create some amazing clay animation projects to document our knowledge of the life cycle of a plant. This was not an easy task. First, the groups came up with a name for themselves and had to practice teamwork. They were amazing, took care of one another, helped one another, and shared the supplies. I was so impressed! Next, the groups had to plan (on paper) what they would show with their clay and take photos of. This was tricky. There are five photos per second in the stop motion, so the second graders really had to stretch out the different parts of the life cycle. Then, they second graders had to create each of the different slides with their clay and take a photo. Next, we took nature inspired photos to act as a background with the "red" screen. Finally, the second graders put it all together. We made mistakes, learned a LOT, and had SO MUCH fun. We will take what we learned and try again this year. |
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