It was a busy, but fun last full week of school. We wrapped up some big projects and had some special activities to celebrate the end of the year. Two big projects we finished up and shared last week were the board games kids designed and created based on a favorite book, as well as our country research projects. Our special activities included a whole class capture the flag (tag) game, board games, pajama day, arts and crafts, and a picnic lunch. We also had a special visit from my son, Miles. Here are some photos from the week:
Reading: We wrapped up our reading unit on fairy tales, folktales, and fables by reading multiple versions of the same story. We read the books with our partner and filled out a venn diagram to compare two or more stories. Second graders worked hard to write about similarities and differences in their reading journals. We have also begun an end of the year project in which second graders chose a favorite book and are creating a board game based off of that book. The game must somehow incorporate a “question and answer” feature that includes 10 questions based on the book. This week we worked on brainstorming our questions, writing directions for the game, and designing the game board.
Writing: We have been incredibly busy in writer’s workshop over the last two weeks. Second graders have been researching a country using research websites found on the media center website. Mrs. Murray helped us with our research during media. We continued our research using Ipads in the classroom. Later, we worked on putting our research into writing and then typed up our writing using the Chromebooks. Kids are now choosing between creating a poster or a book to present their work.
Math: Second graders have continued to learn more about multiplication by looking at intersecting lines. For examples, in the problem 3 x 2 you could draw three horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines. By counting the intersections, you can find the product. We explored division more closely and learned how we can use rectangular arrays to show division and we learned how to write division number sentences in a new way.
Thank you for a successful Second Grade Math Game Day! Copies of the games will go home next week.
Fundations: In our final Fundations unit we’re studying words with au and aw.
Science: In science we planted our own sunflower seeds that kids will get to take home as soon as they sprout. Second graders are working to take care of their own seed by watering it each day. We also took a closer look at our composters to see what changes had occurred over the last few weeks. The kids were excited to find the earthworms that had been put in their composters. We then added our newly made soil to the Newman Garden.
We visited the Newman Rock Garden, which is now in the front courtyard of our school. Each student and teacher at Newman designed and painted a rock.
What is the most interesting thing you have learned about the country you are researching?
What questions did you write in your letter to the third grade teachers?
Dates to Remember:
Monday, July 18th: Early Release Last Day of School
Mrs. Hedstrom is a second grade teacher in Needham, MA.