We have started a new unit in science about plants. The children are learning about the parts of plants and this week we focused on seeds. Using Mystery Science, the students made paper versions of three seed flier designs to learn about seed dispersal. We conducted experiments both indoors and outdoors to compare the three designs and see which worked best at helping seeds travel out of the shade of the tree. The big ideas for the week are that seeds can travel by wind, water, and with the help of animals.
The students have continued to learn about ways to record data in various charts and graphs. This week we focused on bar graphs and line plots. Students worked in pairs to roll rice and make graphs to record the frequency of which numbers were rolled. The children also created animal homes of their choice with the STEM bin materials this week. Homes for birds were a popular choice! We will review Chapter 9 on Monday and Tuesday with review pages coming home. We will test on Wednesday.
We launched our writing unit on poetry this week. The children practiced looking at everyday objects - markers, shells, rocks, straws, etc. - with "poet's eyes". They were challenged to see the items in new ways, and then write down their observations. Next, they created free verse poems about the objects. The students also learned how to change the line breaks in poems to vary how the poem sounds when you read it aloud. So far, the students are being very creative with their ideas!
Our Native American Museum presentation to Mrs. Craden's first grade students was a success! The first graders were able to rotate to each group's presentation to learn about all four regions of Native Americans we studied. The second graders did a great job of teaching!
In math, we have started Chapter 9, which focuses on data and graphing. So far, we have covered the first three lessons on tally charts and picture graphs. We will continue the chapter after spring break. Students spent time this week exploring Bloxels, which is a way students can design their own video games. They worked in pairs to create a character with the Bloxels and then use the app to turn their blocks into a digital creation! The students practiced their adding skills by totaling how many of each color of block they used to make their characters, and then adding those subtotals together for a grand total.
We celebrated the end of our Informational Writing Unit by having students read each other's published books in small groups. Then, the children filled out award certificates for each other based on the writing skill they felt was best achieved by each child. They did a great job complimenting each other's work!
We also did a quick write for St. Patrick's Day on things that we feel lucky to have in our lives.
Have a wonderful and relaxing spring break week!
