Panther Pride

It is a blessing to live in a community that is encouraging and supportive. These characteristics are evident in our town, our school district and especially our elementary campus. 
   
Our youngest Panthers had the opportunity to practice these traits on Friday.  We spent a few minutes of the morning creating signs and encouraging our football readers.



After lunch, we were able to help send our High School varsity volleyball team to their playoff game to cheers and waves.

We are proud to be Panthers!

A FORCE is any PUSH or any PULL

 Science has been a time to explore and experiment with force.  We have pushed and pulled in lots of creative ways.  Gravity dropping games have been one the most exciting discoveries so far!

PBL Conclusion

The time finally arrived to share our board games that we have been planning for weeks.  We spent the afternoon playing, learning, and sharing.  It was a great experience.

Our Brookeshire's Field Trip was also a big success.  We are beginning our study of economics and there is no better place than a grocery store to learn about it. This field trip allows us to discuss things people want and need.  We are learning that we have to make decisions about what we buy and that isn't always easy.  We will discuss producers and consumers and how products get from being a resource to the store shelf.

We scanned items.

Brookeshire's takes recycling seriously.

We went into several freezers that keep the products fresh and safe to eat.

They gave us lots of treats like these apples,

and these smoothies.

Very talented and hard working people showed us their skill.

Thank you, Brookeshire's!

Inquisitive Minds

A third grade friend earned a reward to read to another class and she chose US!  We enjoyed hearing her expert reading and storytelling skills.  

We wrote some fantastic sentences with our sight words last week and then went on a 'museum walk' to see the work of our classmates.

During our Project Based Learning (PBL) we completed some workshops to extend our learning.  For this workshop, we investigated what adding heat to ivory soap would do.  It was a very surprising result.  We determined that temperature definitely can effect the physical properties of a material!

In this PBL workshop, we learned and reviewed many of the concepts we will need to complete our final project.  We learned the differences in solids, liquids, and gases and how they can interact.  We watched as materials were combined to create something new.   And we observed as temperature played a part in changing the physical properties of materials.

Who knew Science could be so delicious?

The most exciting part of PBL is the investigations learners are doing independently.  They are asking relevant questions, seeking plausible answers and thinking deeply.  They are inquisitive, creative, and problem solving people.  These skills will serve them well throughout their lives.

We added a "new" and very popular way to work on words.  This typewriter belonged to my mother when she went to college.  I have thanked her many times for donating it to our classroom.

What We Have Learned So Far

The most important thing we have learned so far in second grade is that we are ALL GENIUSES!  We all have things to teach each other and we all have things to learn (even Mrs. Gentzler).

We teach each other how to think about math.  We share many ways to solve the same problem.

We have great ideas about writing.  We have begun peer editing to share our ideas and help each other become better writers.

We give each other "two stars and a wish" when we discuss our writing.  We share to things we love about our friend's writing and give one 'wish' or suggestion on something our friend might add, revise or edit.

Math is in the real world.  When we were learning to name fractions, one learner shared that they had seen 'thirds' on a car before.  As I was driving in Dallas that same night, I took a picture so the class could see this fraction outside the classroom, too.

Terrific Tuesday

     Working with others is a skill every human must have to be successful in life.  Treating others with respect and kindness is something we take very seriously in our classroom.  We have many opportunities during the day to practice being productive together.

Read to Someone

We read aloud to partners EVERY DAY. This helps us build our confidence as we become independent readers.

Math Partners

We play games and practice skills with a math partner every day.  We will keep the same partner for most of the year so that we can build a relationship of trust and fun!

PBL

We launched our first Project Based Learning unit last week.  We began by learning who our team mates were and making a learning contract with each other.  Each learner has a different role with different responsibilities to help the team be successful.





We began DIY projects today.





One project included a bubblegum investigation.  Does your bubblegum change (get harder) when you drink ice cold water?  Why?








One group dug into our Science text to learn some matter vocabulary.  Next, they discovered solids, liquids, and gases around the classroom and created a graph to show their findings.  






Another group used books to learn more about materials and sort pictures into groups.




The fourth team used online resources to learn about how matter changes and investigated how the temperature of water plays a role.

Some of my favorite quotes about our PBL include:
"We taught ourselves!"
"Not just one person had to do all the work.  We all helped out." 
and
"I learned a lot."

It truly was a 'terrific Tuesday.'

Week of September 28, 2015

We had a great time practicing our math facts with card games.

We are learning to revise our personal narratives.  Our 'New Eyes' are helping us see what may need to be changed or moved in our story.

  We used a 'Retelling Rope' to help us retell stories.

Here is one student using his retelling rope during Read to Self time.

Settling In

The beginning weeks of the school year are always a fun challenge.  It is a time of building relationships and learning expectations.  We have spent much of our time learning how the day works and what amazing people we get to see each and every school day. I am including some photos of our first few weeks in second grade.