100 Days of School!

Our class just celebrated 100 days of school!! We all dressed up pretending to be 100 years old! During the day, students brainstormed what they thought life will be like when they are 100. Check out our class of 100 year olds!!

Math Explorations

Once a week, students work in their math groups on math explorations. These are hands-on activities that reinforce different mathematical concepts. Students enjoy these activities especially because they get to use their creativity. Check out the pattern one of our students created with pattern blocks:

Gingerbread Houses

The week before Christmas break, our class made Gingerbread Houses. Our class took a look at some gingerbread house examples and then put their own creativity into making their very own gingerbread house. After that, students wrote a How-To about making a gingerbread house which ties right in to our 2nd grade writing standard. Thanks to all the parents who gave up their time to come in to help us!

Thanksgiving Rotations

The week before Thanksgiving, all 2nd graders did some Thanksgiving rotations. Students learned about the Pilgrims and Indians. Students also made a special treat: Turkey cupcakes. Check these out below:

Turkey Disguises

Our 2nd grade class read the book Turkey Trouble. In the book, the Turkey tries to come up with a disguise so that the farmer does not make him Thanksgiving dinner. Students then created their very own turkey disguises and we hung them outside our classroom. Check them out below: 

Culture Projects

Students chose a country to research for Social Studies. They had to learn about the country's culture including the ethnic food, language, religion, clothing, etc. Then they were asked to create either a powerpoint presentation, recipe, shelter, or tool to bring in to share with the class that represented their country. Here are some examples:

Veteran's Day

Our class made Veteran's Day t-shirts to honor those who have served our country. We took time as a class to learn a little bit more about our Veterans and why we celebrate this holiday. We also wrote thank you letters to different Veterans that we know. 

Fall Party

We had a wonderful fall party on Friday! Students dressed up in their Halloween costumes, played games, made an adorable mummy lantern, and ate a delicious treat. Thanks to all the mom's who donated their time to make our class party a success!

"Just Right" Spelling Lists

Students in our 2nd grade classroom have leveled spelling lists. We call these their "Just Right" spelling words because they are words chosen by students that are at their specific level of recall and understanding. At the beginning of each week, we create lists of words in which we take a word chunk and build small, medium, and large words. Next students choose 10 words that they feel would be "Just Right" for them; this is their specific spelling list for the week. On Fridays, students work with their spelling buddies to assess one another on their leveled lists. Here are some students last Friday testing one another:

Our Timelines

In Social Studies, students have been working on understanding and creating timelines. Students had a project in which they were to create a timeline of their own life. They turned out great...take a look!

Hard At Work

Students have been hard at work in our 2nd grade classroom. Above are some pictures of students working diligently in their Literacy Stations. Students have been working on vocabulary recognition, spelling word patterns, fluency in reading, and have used an amazing app called Pix-N-Tell to compare and contrast long and short vowel word patterns on our iPods. Students have proven how well they work together in groups and partners. I am extremely proud of these kids!

A BUSY Start!

It has been a very busy start to our 2nd grade school year. Students have been doing a wonderful job with procedures and routines within our classroom. Here are some of the different projects we have been working on in 2nd grade:

• Personal Narratives
• Creating Mental Images
• Using our Schema
• Making Connections
• Choosing "Just Right" Books
• Learning about ARTIFACTS and what they tell us about the past
• Making a timeline
• Creating a personalized spelling list
• Using iPods in the classroom
• Creating Number Scrolls

Wow... And that's just a few of the projects we are currently working on! We've been busy, but we are having LOTS of fun learning!

New School Year & A New School!

I am so excited for the start of a new school year! It is a special time because my family moved back to my hometown, Wooster, OH, and my husband and I are both working at Wooster City Schools. I am looking forward to teaching 2nd grade again after working with 3rd graders the last 4 years. Wooster City Schools is a wonderful place and I truly feel honored to be a teacher in this district. 

Our 2nd grade class is going to have a busy and fun-filled school year. I hope that this blog can document all the learning that takes place in our classroom on a daily basis. Thanks for stopping by!

Solar System Dioramas

Our 3rd grade classroom just finished our unit on the Solar System! We had an amazing time learning all about the planets, sun, moon, and constellations. Our final project in the unit was creating Solar System Dioramas. Students did a phenomenal job designing their inner and outer planets.

Marshmallow Flings

In science we have been studying simple machines. Students were assigned a project...to create their very own simple machine...a Marshmallow fling. Mrs. H (my 3rd grade team member) and I sent home a plastic spoon and instructions. The only criteria was that students use the plastic spoon in the simple machine. Students had so much fun launching the marshmallows. It was amazing to see how far they would fling!

Editing Glasses

 

Students have been working on finishing up their Personal Narrative stories. We have worked on our organization through creating a BME (beginning, middle, and ending) chart, talked about how to start & end our stories well, juicy "wow" words, and how to change paragraphs. The 3rd graders have done a magnificent job and are now meeting with their writing buddies to edit their work. Students have an editing checklist to help them as they correct one another's writing.

Pepsi & Coke Election

This week we learned about the electoral college. We read "Grace For President", made a T-chart comparing the presidential candidates, and watched a Presidential Brainpop. Then we had our own little class election: Pepsi vs. Coke. Each student had 3 states in which they cast the electoral vote. They got to sample both Pepsi & Coke and then placed their vote. We were able to tally the votes on an amazing interactive website, 270towin.com. So the results?

 

Pepsi Won!

Back In The Swing Of Things...

After a 3 month maternity leave, I am excited to be back to school with my 3rd graders! It was wonderful to have the opportunity to be able to stay home with my son, Easton, who was born at the end of June. Even though it was hard to leave Easton, this past week was such a fun first few days. The students sweetly welcomed me into their room & routines.

 

I hope that I can capture some of the exciting learning we do in our classroom through this blog. We hope that our parents and grandparents can follow us as we continue to grow and be challenged as learners!

Punctuation Glasses

Students use their punctuation glasses to edit their writing. We are finishing up our narrative writing and a fun way for students to look closely at their writing is by wearing some FUN colorful glasses. Here students are making sure each sentence in their stories begin with a capital letter. They did a wonderful job editing!

"Just Right" Books

We recently did a lesson on choosing "Just Right" books to read. These are books that are not too easy, not too hard, but JUST RIGHT. I had 3 student volunteers help me model this lesson. One put on a shirt that was way too little, another student wore a coat that was way too big, but the third student put on one that fit just right. This lesson teaches students to think wisely about the books that they choose to read.