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December 20, 2012

December

Posted in | 10:44 PM | by Unknown

Please visit my new blog, The Classroom Key, for more great anchor charts, ideas, and freebies!

In 2nd grade we learn five of the eight parts of speech.  It's difficult to keep them all straight so we learned this song to help us remember what pronouns are.  It is sung to the tune of the Sponge Bob theme song.  If you really need some entertainment, ask your child to sing it for you!



Santa visited our class!


We recently wrapped up our study of the moon and stars.  This is a model we made to show how the appearance of the moon changes depending on where it is located around the earth.
We started a new writing unit about poetry.  We have learned that poets see things in new and different ways and how poets use the writing technique "show, don't tell."  We illustrated this week's poem using collage.

The day before winter break we made a Christmas tree project.  First, we came up with all the ways to make the number 10 (0 and 10, 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, and 5 and 5).  We measured and cut 10 inch strips of paper to represent the combinations that make 10.


Then we arranged them into a tree shape (discarding the one of the 5s) 

After adding a star, a pot, and a piece of string to hold it all together, this was the finished product!



Here is a new idea we keep in mind when we are writing:





At the end of our how-to writing unit we celebrated with a publishing party!  Everyone got to share their best piece of writing with the whole group and then we toasted to our hard work with apple juice.












November 28, 2012

November 28th

Posted in | 9:47 PM | by Unknown

Please visit my new blog, The Classroom Key, for more great anchor charts, ideas, and freebies!

In math we spent some time building up our skill with measuring length.  We practiced measuring in inches, centimeters, and feet.  We also worked on making good estimates of length.


Since school started we have learned several reading strategies including finding the main idea, noticing story elements, and giving a summary.  This chart helps us organize all of these strategies.


We learned that when you give a summary of a fiction story, it should include a little bit about the characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end.  We know that somewhere in there will be a problem and solution (that's what the lock and key represent).


In science we recently started a new unit about the moon and stars.  Here, students are using a flash light to represent the sun, a basketball to represent the earth, and a styrofoam ball to represent the moon.  We modeled how the earth gets day and night,  how the moon revolves around the earth, and how the appearance of the moon changes as it rotates around the earth.


We are learning to recognize the moon phases.  We have noticed there are many cycles in nature and the changing moon phases are one of them.



The final culture we studied in our most recent social studies unit was that of the Ute people.  We studied the petroglyph artwork of the Utes which can still be seen on rocks today.  We created our own petroglyph designs by painting and carving into plaster slabs.

November 4, 2012

Here comes November!

Posted in | 7:19 PM | by Unknown

Please visit my new blog, The Classroom Key, for more great anchor charts, ideas, and freebies!


In writing we have started a new unit on how-to pieces.  This week we wrote about how to make ice cream sundaes.



We are learning how to tell time to 5-minutes.  We made these clocks with flaps so we can check how many minutes each hour number stands for.



In our social studies cultures unit we learned about Egypt.  We wrote our names in ancient Egyptian heiroglyphics.  


Each of us also decorated a sarcophagus.  




When we studied Italy, we found that mosaics are a common art form in that country.  We made our own mosaics out of foam tiles.



We are learning about different genres.  Recently we have read realistic fiction and a folktale.




Our latest grammar skill is identifying synonyms and antonyms.  To help us remember the difference I made this poster about the Cinnamon/Synonym Bears and the Antonym Ants.




On Halloween, Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus visited our class.




October 14, 2012

October 14th

Posted in | 11:06 PM | by Unknown


In social studies we are learning about cultures around the world.  Last week Mrs. Hatch taught us about the culture in Mexico.  We made traditional tissue-paper flower decorations and filled in the shape of Mexico.
We learned that many holidays, foods, and activities we enjoy in the United States actually came from another country originally.  These traditions were brought to this country by immigrants.
We spent two weeks studying poetry.  We learned that poets use tools like line breaks, alliteration, personification, and rhythm.

We illustrated a poem we read about trees.  This is a watercolor background.

The second step was to add the silhouette of a tree.  These are some of the finished products.

In math we have found many ways to show that 10 groups of 10 equal 100.  We use this fact to help us solve problems.  We have been practicing mentally adding and subtracting 10 and 100 from a number.



September 28, 2012

Last week of September

Posted in | 8:40 PM | by Unknown

Please visit my new blog, The Classroom Key, for more great anchor charts, ideas, and freebies! Here is the latest:




These are some of the subtraction strategies we've been working on in class.




           

In math we've been learning about how to represent 3-digit numbers in many different ways.  We studied expanded form with these manipulatives.  They show us that numbers can be split into hundreds, tens, and ones.  For example, 376 written in expanded form is 300 + 70 + 6.  This skill will help us when we are adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers.  




We just finished up a science unit about rocks.  We used this rock sample kit to look for rock features such as crystals, layers, cement, and different sizes of grains.  We noticed common traits of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.  We learned that small rocks come from big rocks that have broken apart.  





We learned that almost all fiction stories have one or more characters, settings, problems, and solutions.  Look for these story elements when you are reading with your child.





We read Frog and Toad this week and made puppets to act out the story.




September 18, 2012

September happenings

Posted in | 7:46 PM | by Unknown

Please visit my new blog, The Classroom Key, for more great anchor charts, ideas, and freebies! We have had a very successful start to the school year!  Here is a glimpse of what we've been up to:

In math we have been learning to identify odd and even numbers.



This seems like unusual artwork but its actually a number arrangement activity.  Students were arranging 6 straws at a time and then writing an equation to match the arrangement.  For example, the arrangement in the upper left section shows 3 straws and 3 straws.  The student wrote 3+3=6.  Memorizing ways to put together or break apart a number help students with their addition and subtraction facts.



We are finding efficient ways to solve addition problems.




In reading we have worked a lot on finding the main idea of books.  When you read with your child, ask them, "What was that story mostly about?  What was the main idea?"






After reading The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle, we made our own mixed up animals in collage.  Notice the rabbit head, peacock tail, monkey face, and chameleon feet (and many more crazy animal parts) all mixed together.

July 16, 2012

Welcome!

Posted in | 5:10 PM | by Unknown


Welcome to 2nd grade!  We have lots of exciting things to learn about this year : )

Check out the links on the right side for more information.

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