2nd Grade – The Grass Is Always Greener Mrs. Rumberger, Mrs.Weger, Miss Weller 

One of my favorite things about 2nd graders is the independence they gain at the end of the year. They are practically 3rd graders.

A favorite project by the students and teachers is our yearly character study. After reading many books throughout the year students have certainly found a few favorites.

The students chose two favorite characters that they have read through the year. Then, the teachers assigned partners with one of the characters. Partners read and reread books of the chosen character.

Students completed a graphic organizer. To aid in the completion of the GO, the students were given a list of character traits. Students in 2nd often know the meaning of the character traits but have not had enough exposure to them to be able to recall them unassisted.

The graphic organizer contained a column for the trait and a second column of the evidence of the trait – in accordance with Common Core. They found character traits and evidence for the character in 6 areas: says, does, thinks, feels, looks, and what others say about him/her.

Next, students drew their character on large chart paper. (Thanks to a mini lesson from our art teacher Mrs. Comp @MComp_oliveART ) They embellished the character with material, glossy paper, yarn and buttons. They also painted they character with watercolor.

Finally, students labeled the character with the traits and the evidence. Their final product lined the walls of the hall.

May 21 was the culmination of our 3 Little Pigs, STEAM and Project Based Lesson. Earlier in the year, we read various versions of the 3 Little Pigs. As one of the rotations during math, students worked in pairs to construct a house from a list of given materials. The materials had costs assigned to them. The students were given the task of constructing a house that could withstand the wind of a hair dryer, an air compressor, and a leaf blower while spending the least amount of money. Students worked for 2 days to construct their house. It was then given the hair dryer test.

After the hair dryer test, they could contact an engineer to ask him questions in order to improve their construction with their purchased materials. Can you spot the ones that needed redesigned?

After the redesign and reconstruction the houses were given the leaf blower test.

To start the time, Skyler gives a brief rendition of a few lines from the 3 Little Pigs.

And the winner is!

Hands down this house was the sturdiest and most economical!

A special thanks to Carol McLaughlin, @missmac100 of my PLN, for sharing this great unit!

Motivating students to practice 2-digit addition and subtraction to provide rigor can be challenging. This past week the 2nd grade teachers had no difficulty motivating students to practice, thanks to Livingstone Kegode, a teacher at Cheery Children’s Educational Center in Kibera, Kenya. Students eagerly visited Livingstone in small groups via Skype. With whiteboards, markers and erasers students huddled around a small table and computer to practice their skills. They were eager to show him what they could do.

Small group time started by giving the students simple problems and progressed to story problems. He provided positive feedback and encouragement. Students wanted to be the first to hold their whiteboard in front of the camera for Livingstone’s approval. Calling the students by name, he could be heard saying, “Very good,” or “Concentrate.” Livingstone concluded by letting the teacher and students how well they had done and any areas of concern. Before saying goodbye to Mrs. Weger’s students, he shared his dinner, cow intestines and ugali (maize flour cooked to a porridge or dough). There was no motivation needed for computation; however, motivating students to have supper with him may be more difficult. Thank you for your time, Livingstone.

Today we had our first Skype with the Cheery Children Educational Center in Kibera. Kenya. Sharing by Skype brought the walls down in our room and allowed our 2nd graders to travel around the world. The contrast in the two cultures was stark. The similarities were refreshing. All 90 students, 30 from Cheery and 60 from Greenwood, were enthusiastic and full of questions and fun.

Our session began with Cheery students singing for us. We then sang Happy Birthday with them to one of our students.

We then shared our Fundations digraphs.  A Greenwood student led the drill with both classes.

Next was the question and answer time. The questions made us smile because we realized we were very similar. Many of our questions were the same as theirs. However, some answers were very different. Surprising to the students, many of the answers were the same.

Here is what we learned about our new friends in Kenya.

• They all walk to school.
• Their favorite foods are spaghetti, hotdogs, cabbage, and pizza.
• When they go home from school they clean their homes and wash their clothes.
• They have very different animals – giraffes, monkeys, hyenas, tigers, elephants.
• They have 7 subjects that they study.
• They go to school Jan., Feb., Mar., May, June, July, Sept., Oct., Nov., and are off school April, August, and December.
• The hottest months for them is December and January.
• The coldest it gets is 20° C which is about 68°F.

We ended our time today doing the Hokey Pokey together!

None of our students have ever traveled to the country of Kenya. Many have never traveled out of our state.  I believe today the idea of life in Kenya and other places outside of our county became very real to all our students. We are looking forward to our next adventure with Cheery Children Educational Center and other classrooms around the world.

On the 100th day of school we wrote about our life at 100 years old.

On the 99th day, using the Old Fart app on our iPads, we took photos of the students and then allowed them to choose their facial features of when they are 100 years old. Aside from the apps name, we found this to be the best app for 2nd graders to age their face and add features free of charge.

On the 100th day students began writing about being 100. To prevent students from copying our example, we modeled the writing, by pretending we were an infant rather than an old person.  We brainstormed ideas in our four-square. Square 1 – describing words. Square 2 – what we will wear. Square 3- what we will say. Square 4 – what we will do. We then turned our four-square into a paragraph, edited and published.

Before displaying in the hall, we included a current photo of each student.

There is laughter in the hallway when looking at these old faces and reading about their lives. Many look like and will act like their grandparents!

 

I am thankful to have the opportunity to teach at Greenwood Elementary. The staff here is wonderful. I am especially thankful for many students they brighten my days. Here are some I am particularly thankful for this year. (They are in no particular order.)

I am thankful for Amiah. She is kind and an avid writer.

I am thankful for Gabe and his energy. He is so fast at thinking of an answer and getting his hand up.

I am thankful for Ethan and his love for hunting. He makes me thankful for the outdoors.

I am thankful for Chase and his love for weather. His tornado facts amaze me.

I am thankful for McKenna. She is so good at being exact and careful.

I am thankful for Sammy. He has turned into a voracious reader!

I am thankful for Alex. His handwriting is beautiful and inspires me to have beautiful handwriting.

I am thankful for Taylor. She is always willing to help me.

I am thankful for Tristan. His knowledge of rules for spelling words amazes me!

I am thankful for Jordan. He works hard at writing and forming his letters.

I am thankful for Kyle. He is a trusted kid on the playground who makes sure everyone is included.

I am thankful for Katelyn who is always thinking of others and made each student a bracelet for HER birthday.

I am thankful for my other Jordan. He loves to read and can never take enough books home.

I am thankful for Austin who can draw anything I need on my anchor charts.

I am thankful for Braden who everyone wants on their team at recess.

I am thankful for Nathan who is a super blogger and commenter.

I am thankful for Lilly who expression when she reads makes me smile.

I am thankful for Waren who always has a story and loves to share it with me.

I am thankful for Levi who works hard and knows my codes.

I am thankful for Lillian who reads closely and knows what authors are saying but not writing.

Our first week of school is complete. The students are learning what a 2nd grader looks like and sounds like. In the morning, we learned what the Daily 5 and the CAFE Menu were. We practiced building our stamina during Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Listen to Reading. While working on our stamina we practiced the CAFE strategies Check for Understanding, and Cross Checking. In the afternoon, we practice addition facts and writing our numbers. We have been trying to improve our addition speed by learning touch math. Many students have their addition facts memorized to 20. Those kids are fast. The week flew by. Next week will be filled with more learning, building stamina, and of course fun.