I know it's been a few weeks since I've provided a classroom update, so here is what we've been up to...As we kicked off a new year, we also started a new math unit, a new writing unit, and soon a new social studies unit.
The children have completed the first half of the Everyday Math program, so this week they began working in a new math journal. We started Unit 5, which reviews addition fact power (automaticity of math facts), as well as money.
Our term 2 writing time will be spent working on reviews/opinion writing. This week we discussed what people might review and what a good review should include. We also discussed supportive vs. non-supportive ways to share your opinion when writing a review. Next week we’ll start writing our first review, which will be of the Robinson School Cafeteria- a place we’re all familiar with!!
Our Science unit "Materials and Their Uses" went very well and is now complete! The kids really started to ask scientific questions and conduct investigations to "solve" their questions. One lesson explored liquids. Groups were given various containers and they were asked to predict and then test which container could hold the most water. They did a great job working together to determine how much each could hold. We had some really rich conversations of how to be sure we were measuring accurately and the importance of repeating tasks to ensure accuracy. Our next lesson focused on the Materials and their Purposes. The children were tasked with designing bridges that were both strong and waterproof using various materials. They did a "strength" test and a "waterproof" test and then they created their bridges based upon what they learned during the testing lessons. All bridges were successful and I was very impressed with their teamwork!
We ended our unit over the past two weeks with a lesson on heating and cooling materials, followed by our culminating lesson on designing umbrellas. The students were so excited about this activity!! They worked alone, in pairs, or in small groups to design and engineer an umbrella that would actually hold up in the rain and keep you dry. Thinking about what they learned in the unit, they decided which materials they wanted to use. As evidenced below, you can see that they all had unique ways of going about this task. The umbrella activity will serve as the performance assessment for the unit, taking the place of our traditional paper and pencil assessment.
Now that our Science Unit is complete, we will be using our content time to focus on Social Studies. Our most fun and comprehensive unit will kick off this coming Friday as we "Fly Out" on our trip around the world to learn about each of the 7 continents, as well as the different types of people and cultures throughout the world. I know the students are going to love it!!
During our reading blocks, the kids have enjoyed reading non-fiction texts. We continued to discuss the non-fiction text features (glossary, index, captions, labels, diagrams, heading, etc.). The kids also had the opportunity to begin thinking about main idea and supporting details. This is a concept that is ongoing for second graders and will be discussed several times throughout the year during reading groups with both fiction and non-fiction texts. Next week's focus will be on the skills of inferring and visualizing.
I hope you continue to find the BLOG a useful tool. My hope is that it sparks conversation between you and your child about what he/she is learning in the classroom.
Dates to remember:
January 15th- Grade 2 School Store
January 21st – No School in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
January 22nd- No School for Professional Development
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