We are Writers!

Every class always has something that makes them stand out... On day 10, I've found ours!  We are writers!  We have learned that Writing is Talking on Paper.  I knew that we'd be good at this... we are quite the talkers!!  I didn't realize just HOW good!  I started with 5 minutes of free writing the first day... then 7... then 10 today... and they just want to write more and more and more!  Looks like we're doubling it for next week!!

We're Underway!

It's only the second week, and we are learning some new second grade skills already!  We're learning about math stations.  In second grade, math is taught workshop-style, much like guided reading.  Students are taught in small groups of 4-6 kids.  The other students rotate through 3 centers:  games, boxes, and number work.  We're learning how to play math games so we'll be ready to do it independently.

Welcome 2014-2015 Campers!

I am so excited for this new school year!  We have had 2 great days so far!  Tomorrow will be our first day with an official schedule - math, reading, writing, the whole shebang!  We're also starting specials tomorrow.  We have music and art!

Check back at this blog often to see what we've been up to in our classroom!

Cinco de Mayo

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo a few days early!  After watching a video and researching the holiday, we learned some Spanish words, played Cinco de Mayo-themed math games, and of course, had chips and salsa for a snack!    

 We used context clues to figure out the meaning of some common Spanish words.

We practiced addition facts with a board game called Ole!

We learned how to count to 10 in Spanish.

We used QR codes and iPads to practice telling time.

Field Trip Fun!

We couldn't have wished for a better field trip last Friday!  The movie was great and the weather was perfect!

We went to AMC Showplace 12 to see DisneyNature's "Bears."  It was a great documentary!  Filmmakers followed a mother and her cubs as they searched for food in Alaska.  There are a lot of dangers for bear cubs, including wolves, starvation, and large male bears.  After the movie, we had a picnic lunch at Centennial Park.  We played and played on the playground equipment and ran up and rolled down the giant hill!

Everyone was exhausted by the time we got back to school!

Happy Earth Day!

To celebrate Earth Day, students were invited to turn trash into treasure!  Over their spring break, students rescued trash from the garbage can and turned it into something usable and beautiful!

                                     Coin jar                                                             Guitar

   

                                        Robot                                   Recycled pencils on a recycled display

                                       Maraca                                             Guitar and utensil caddy

                              Musical instrument                                             Bird feeder

                                  Easter basket                                       Organizer for small items

Happy Easter and Spring Break!

I hope everyone had a relaxing spring break!  We have 6 weeks of school left!!  Hopefully our batteries had time to recharge this week and we're ready to tackle the end of the year head-on!

On the last day before break, we took some time to celebrate the upcoming Easter holiday with math games.  Learning is so much fun when eggs and jelly beans are involved!!

3-in-a-row practiced addition facts.

We tested our scientific reasoning by guessing the flavor of jelly beans through smell and taste.

Scrambled eggs helped us work on adding and subtracting with place value.

A hidden picture mystery let us practice our odd and even numbers.

We practiced fact families by sorting eggs into Easter baskets.