Though I was only able to capture two photos of collaboration, this is an example of what I am seeing constantly from all of the students in our classroom. I love watching this group of students work together, teach one another, help one another, and develop their relationships.
0 Comments
This week for JA the second graders learned about businesses, occupations, goods vs. services, paychecks, and taxes. The students were lead in a conversation about businesses and marked some businesses with stickers on a map. Students were all given an occupation card and had to talk about where the different people would work and if they provided a good or service. Finally, it was "payday" and all of the students were given $5. The tax collectors went around to collect $2 from each person in order to pay the firefighters and police officers and learn about where other tax dollars may go. It was a wonderful, hands-on, learning experience!
Second graders worked to record their observations and create diagrams of their plants. The students had the options of African Daisy seeds, Forget Me Not seeds, Zinnia seeds, and Mint seeds. So far the Zinnias and African Daisies have been sprouting the most. We have a few tiny sprouts in the Forget Me Nots and no Mint sprouts yet. We are excited to see how our plants grow and change in the next couple of weeks.
As we continue to explore poetry and descriptive writing, today we went outside to gain some inspiration. The weather was beautiful. The second graders used what was around them to write down different sight and sound words. They were very engaged and came out with some beautiful examples. After 10 minutes of writing, we circled up and shared some of our thoughts. Tomorrow the second graders will use their lists of words to create their own poems.
Meeting with reading groups is one of my favorite things to do as a teacher. And meeting with this group happened to be extra fun this week! We were exploring a student magazine (Storyworks) and looking at the different types of text, writing, and articles that can be included in magazines. We came across an opinion piece called "Should You Always Get a Trophy?" We read the article and had a (friendly) debate about whether young athletes should get participation trophies, or if only the best participants should get trophies. The group was divided, but did a wonderful job listening to each other, being polite, and having great conversation.
The last two weeks of April we spent rotating to different second grade teachers to learn about and write different types of poetry and to practice writing different types of poems. We are continuing our poetry unit by looking closer at literary elements such as alliteration, similes, metaphors, rhythm, and rhyme.
For poetry we have been studying alliteration, so I decided we should have a Popsicle Published Party! We invited Mrs. Novak's 4th grade class to come visit so the second graders could share their non-fiction research books. The second graders shared their expertise on topics ranging from Arctic Foxes to Venus Fly Traps, Sugar Gliders to Northern Lights, Capybaras to the U.S Capitol Building...AND MUCH MORE! Mrs. Novak and the 4th graders were very impressed with the hard work of the second graders. While doing their research they had to use and cite multiple sources, write topic sentences, and include text features. I am so proud of their hard work!
This week we are continuing our unit on plants. On Monday we reviewed the parts of a plant. The second graders created diagrams and labeled the parts and the functions of the different parts. On Tuesday the second graders explored Lima bean seeds. They began by feeling, observing, and writing about a hard, unopened bean. Next, they predicted what the inside of a Lima bean would look like. Next, they opened a soaked Lima bean and used hand lenses to take a close look at the insides of the bean. After that the second graders had to compare their predictions with their actual findings. Finally, we created and labeled a diagram of the parts of a seed. Wednesday the second graders created greenhouses. The purpose of the greenhouse is to be able to see the changes in a seed as it becomes a plant. They look great in our windows! Over the next two weeks we will observe and record the observations we make with the seeds.
This week the second graders learned about goods and services in Junior Achievement. They also learned about production. They acted out two scenarios for working at "Sweet O Donuts Bakery". The first time they were timed for three minutes and had to "bake" their own donuts (add milk, flour, and egg stickers and color in the filling). The next time the groups did an assembly line. Mrs. Schroeder (our JA volunteer) then led a discussion about which way produces more with fewer defects. It was a great hands on learning experience. After the production scenarios Mrs. Schroeder discussed innovation and the importance of having new ideas. The second graders then created their own donuts-we had everything from pepper donuts to sprinkle blueberry!
|
Categories |