Students have been learning all about Matter. They learned that all objects are made of matter and that different materials are used to make different things. Students also learned that matter can exist in different states and understand the difference between solids, liquids and gases.
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Albert Einstein said, "Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better." Students traversed along a trail and observed how the natural processes of erosion and weathering can change the earth. They were mesmerized with a variety of rocks, minerals and fossils that they viewed in a hands on activity and were dazzled with the opportunity to dig up a shark tooth. What a great day of exploring the outdoors and learning a little about how different forces helped sculpt the earth's surface.
Students enjoyed a visit with a naturalist from The Reserve at Mission Viejo. Our visitor introduced students to some of the key concepts to"Our Changing Earth" project. During the presentation students joined Thomas the Paleontologist as he journeyed
to Rainbow Mountain. Along the way, students were thinking like geologists and talking about changes in the earth, how the earth’s resources are useful to humans, and how to distinguish between rocks and minerals. In writing, our class has been working on informational writing. Informational writing is different from narrative writing, because when you write an narrative paragraph you can make up details using your imagination. With a informational piece, you have to write true facts. With the Step Up to Writing program that we have adopted this year, students have become very familiar with the writing structure of an informational piece. The writing stoplight helps guide the students to include a topic sentence (green), key ideas (yellow), examples or explanations (red) and a conclusion (green).
This week students had the opportunity to work with a partner to pick out key ideas and examples from an informational text, create a topic and concluding sentence. Next week, they will be using the stoplight guide to pick out key ideas and write an informational piece on the country that their ancestors came from. Happy New Year! I hope you all had a peaceful winter break and a beautiful holiday. We are back into the swing of things in 2nd grade. For writing this week, students spent some time reflecting on things they were proud of in 2015 and their goals for the New Year- 2016. One of my favorite goals a student came up with was "Do things the first time my parents ask!" After students brainstormed and finished their pre-writes for the 2015 reflections and 2016 goals, students had an opportunity to peer edit. Students really enjoy checking each other's writing and giving each other suggestions on how to improve the writing. During the peer edit, students were checking each others writing for capitalization, punctuation and adding greater detail. Here's a look at what peer-editing looks like in the classroom.
This week we continued our study of maps with a look at the different types of landforms that can be shown on a map (mountains, hills, plateaus, canyons, valleys, islands, etc..) Students were fascinated with the clay model that included several different landforms. Don't be surprised if your child asks to make a clay model at home. We talked about how we are surrounded by a variety of landforms in California.
In reader's workshop, students were introduced to "Questioning" a reading strategy that good reader's use to clarify ideas, deepen understanding and make predictions while they read. Encourage your children to ask questions as they read. Questions keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. Some questions don't have answers but inspire thinking. This week students are learning about various types of maps, and the map basics, like map keys, map legends, and the compass rose. Maps are representations of the Earth's surface. Maps are abstractions because they show simplified versions of surface features. They are designed to show detailed information about a limited number of topics. A map can show many things that a picture cannot show. Maps look different in many ways from a photograph of the Earth.
![]() Students are bringing their family history to life with their Suitcase Story Presentations this week. Wow! Students are doing an awesome job as they proudly share their family heritage! You could tell an incredible amount of work went into these projects. The presentations gave students an opportunity to share what they learned about their family roots and gain a better understanding of why America is thought of as a mosaic of cultures. ![]() Students created a "Statue of Liberty" art collage after charting some interesting facts about the gift from France. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France meant to celebrate our countries’ shared respect for freedom. This is certainly what it symbolized for millions of immigrants who arrived in New York Harbor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. More than forty percent of Americans today have an ancestor who arrived in the United States at Ellis Island. Students have been sharing some of their discoveries from the ancestor investigations that they are working on for homework this week. We can't wait to see their Suitcase Story presentations. |
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand." Archives
June 2016
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