Working and Playing From Home

I loved hearing everyone's voices yesterday and hearing what you've been up to!  Classmates shared that they've been reading books, playing outside, working in the garden, doing chores on the farm, completing their math assignments, working on the egg drop project, riding bike, doing art projects, baking, and so much more!  Here's a few pictures of our classmates.  I also included a picture that Mr. Howard took of Mason, Ellie, and me taking Ruby for a walk down the trail.  Enjoy another beautiful day ahead of us, and I look forward to talking with you all again this afternoon!

Hanging Out with an Awesome Book!

Another sweet 2nd grader shared what he's been doing at home.  Along with riding his bike and playing football in the yard, he is reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl.  Such a fantastic book for a fantastic boy!  Thanks for sharing!

Hard Working 2nd Grader!

Check out this sweet 2nd grader working on her reading and math skills!  Way to go!  I sure miss all of your 2nd grade smiles!  Thanks for sharing these pictures!

Send Me Your Pictures!

Hello 2nd graders!  Missing all of you so much!  If you'd like to send me a picture, I'd love to see what you're up to.  Are you reading?  Playing board games?  Building forts?  Doing chores?  Baking a recipe?  I got this picture below from our sweet classmate.  What a great spot to read a book in!  If you'd like to send me a picture, I'll post it to the blog to share with our class.  Stay well families.

Stay Safe and Healthy Families

Thinking of each of you and missing you 2nd graders! 
Here's a few pictures to bring a smile to your face!  

Final Cookbook Money Purchase

At the end of February we discussed how to spend the $30 we had left in cookbook money.  We knew we still wanted to purchase a few books from the top 20 for our classroom library.  The class recommended their favorites and we ultimately voted on "Panda Problems" and " A Piglet Named Mercy."  We were excited to add them to our classroom in early March!

The Spaghetti Noodle Tower Challenge

We started our engineering unit last week.  We've learned that engineers build things to solve problems.  They use creative and innovative ideas.  We've also learned there are different types of engineers.  Some may create new things, some take things apart to see how they work, and some study why things don't work. 

Our first task we took on as engineers was to make a tower out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows.  Each small group was given a box with 30 noodles and 30 marshmallows.  Before the groups got started we discussed the importance of team work and using words of encouragement with each other.  I let the class know that it's okay to feel frustrated when your ideas don't work the first time and asked them how they would handle it.  They all agreed that as engineers they needed to just try a new idea if their first idea didn't work.  They students were so excited to get to work! 

After the first work session, it's not uncommon for groups to end up with snapped noodles and gooey marshmallows.  The class soon learned that marshmallows and noodles are not stable building materials, but they did not give up!  We talked as a class about what was working and not working.  Groups suggested ideas for other groups to try such as doubling up noodles to make them stronger.  In their next work session they were given 10 more noodles and 10 more marshmallows.  In their third and final work session, they were given an additional 10 noodles and 10 marshmallows. 

I loved seeing their teamwork and the support they gave each other.  I heard conversations such as, "That's a great idea!  Let's try that!"

The final step was to measure each tower.  Although it's exciting to build the tallest tower, I told the class that they all accomplished their goal by having a standing tower!  I was so proud of the cooperation and teamwork they put into this project.  Way to go 2nd graders!

Little Scientists

The students were so excited to begin our first science unit!  We began with learning about the scientific method.  We discussed the steps of asking a question, forming a hypothesis or prediction about what we think will happen, carrying out the experiment and making observations, and reporting the final results.

In our first experiment we asked the question, "How can we keep a banana fresher longer?"  We tried three different ways.  We wrapped plastic wrap around one of the stems, another was put in the fridge, and the third was put in a brown paper bag.  Each student made a hypothesis about which banana would remain freshest, or if it would even make a difference.  We recorded our observations throughout the week.  We found not much difference between the banana with plastic wrap around the stem and the one in the bag.  They both developed small brown spots throughout the week.  The banana in the fridge became a little browner all over but didn't become as spotted as the others.  Once we peeled them, we found them all to be similar.  Ultimately, the class decided the one in the fridge remained the freshest because it remained the firmest while the other two had mushy spots.

In our second experiment we asked the question, "Can we grow gummy bears?"  We weighed and measured each gummy bear before putting them in plain water, sugar water, vinegar water, and lemon water.  Each student made a hypothesis, and we weighed and measured each bear again the next day.  We were amazed to find just how much the bear in the vinegar water had grown!  Although the gummy bear in the vinegar water had grown the most, the bear in the lemon water was a close second.  The class brainstormed many other liquids they could try for this experiment at home!

Camp Out With a Good Book: Week 4

I Love to Read Month wrapped up last week.  The students wrote postcards about what they most enjoyed about the month.  These were up in the hallway for families to read at Books for Breakfast.

On Thursday Critters and Company presented a message about the importance of reading with the help from some furry friends. 

We had a lot of fun at Camp-Read-A Lot this month!