Geology and Geometry!

How serendipitous that we are studying rocks and shapes at the same time in Room 210!

Second Grade geologists have been describing and sorting rocks by their properties- size, color, shape, texture, among others.  They have learned that minerals in rocks make them different colors and that weathering is when rocks are changed by wind, water or other rocks.  Next they will learn some new vocabulary to describe rocks based on their size: boulder, cobble, pebble, gravel, sand.  Ultimately they will ask- and answer- the question "Is there an earth material smaller than sand?"

In math, students have been describing and sorting shapes by their properties as well.  There are alot of new geometric terms to learn. Students have learned that polygons are closed shapes with more than two sides.  Four-sided polygons are called quadrilaterals and those that have four right angles are called rectangles.  A rectangle that has four equal sides is called a square! Next they will explore fractions as equal parts of shapes.

Back to the Routine

A week after what felt more like April vacation than February, the kids (and teachers!) in Room 210 are back into the routines of the classroom.  We returned from the vacation to start up some exciting new curricula and activities. 

Our non-fiction books are finished and published and the students are enjoying reading each other's work.  The authors feel pride when they see classmates picking their books out of the bin.  On Thursday, March 2, we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by reading what we think is one of his first books, Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose.  I own what appears to be an original printing- it certainly looks old!  We took away the message that it is important to be kind and generous, but sometimes you have to look out for yourself and speak up for what you need. 

For the past few weeks we have been reading a variety of fables and talking about the morals they present.  We will next move onto discovering the elements of folktales, specifically those from Japan, as we begin our cultural study of that country.  The students will start their study groups to learn about certain aspects of Japanese life so they can teach the rest of the class.  We hope to gather some knowledge of Japan before we go to the Children's Museum in a couple of weeks.

This coming week we will be putting on our "poet's eyes" so that we can explore writing poetry.  We will read and analyze all sorts of poems to develop our craft.  

We are well into our "mix-up math" routine to tackle our place value unit. It has been fun for both students and teachers alike to work with different children on a variety of assignments.  

You may have heard from your child that we are helping a friend of mine pilot a kids' program called "Imagination Station." It consists of group games and activities that incorporate drama and improvisational skills.  Lynda will visit our classroom several times over the next few months.  

As always, everything we do in the classroom is underscored by the basic courtesy and respect we expect from one another.  Thanks for all you do at home to support this!

Halfway Day!

The students in Room 210 marked the 90th day of school with an A+ day on Friday.  They were focused on their work, being productive, but more importantly, they worked together on various tasks, both academic and playful. We did an activity where, sitting in a circle, kids can share anything on their minds.  Each child can have only one turn or choose not to share at all.  What makes this something new is that we didn't go around the circle, nor did we raise our hands.  We just waited for the right time to share in a conversation, much the way adults do.  The class loved it!

As we begin the second half of the year (!!!), we are finishing up our information books in Writers' Workshop.  The students have been able to share their expertise on a topic by producing a book containing the non-fiction text features we have learned.  We will share our finished books with other Second Grade classes in the coming weeks.  Our next writing unit is Poetry- something completely different!

We also conclude our science unit- Pebbles, Sand and Silt.  Your children are quite the geologists! We have learned that clay is the smallest earth material that we can barely see.  We have been introduced to new vocabulary and concepts such as weathering and erosion.  We will take a short break from science as we spend time learning about Teosinte, our sister city in El Salvador.

In math this week we begin to focus on place value, an important building block for much of the math that comes in the future.  The class has done some activities that require them to apply not only their math skills, but also their cooperation skills.  I have been very proud of them in this area!

Finally, in reading, after several weeks studying non-fiction books (nicely complementing our written work), we will spend time reading folktales and identifying the characteristics of this genre.