Thank you to all our families who participated in Student-Led conferences! We practiced so hard and did some really great reflection that will help to steer our growth goals as we head into the second half of the year. Whether at home or at school, I had many great compliments on how well the conferences went. Thank you for giving your student this opportunity to share the wonderful things he or she is doing in class.
Many parents remarked on how neat the Educreations presentations were. Educreations is a great app you can download on your Ipad to create whiteboard presentations with voice-overs. We have been using them to show what we know how to do in math and in reading.
As we continue to use this app to record ourselves, you can check out your child's work by going to www.educreations.com and asking your child to sign in using his or her lunch number and the password hte105.
Thank you for making this such a valuable reflection and learning opportunity for our class!
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
1,000 cm Marble Tracks & Learning Points
We have officially begun building our marble tracks! After working hard these past few weeks to learn force concepts and measurement skills, our class was so excited to start. Thank you for sending in the wrapping paper rolls, paper towel rolls, masking tape, and other supplies. Below is a picture of our first day- not as messy as I had thought we would be.
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| Our class begins the great marble track project! |
This project is a great culmination to our learning. In second grade, we learn that a force is a push or a pull, and explore how an object starts and stops moving, changes direction, and changes speed. We explore the concepts of gravity, friction, and momentum and their practical application, but are not responsible for remembering the terms and their definitions. All of these concepts are applied to our marble tracks.
In measurement, we studied the difference between the us standard units (inch, foot, yard) and metric units (millimeter, centimeter, meter) and developed a comfort distinguishing between them. We established reference points to help us remember about how long each unit is. Finally, we practiced using a ruler correctly to measure in both inches and centimeters. We also used this as an opportunity to problem solve- what if an object is longer than our ruler? How might we find out how long it is?
In addition to providing us an opportunity to practice the skills and apply the concepts we have been learning in math and science, these projects are a great illustration of the design process and trial and error. The amount of failure we encounter with these projects is staggering- every new twist or turn or ramp has to be tested, redesigned, tested again, and on and on. I love seeing how resilient and motivated the students are to continue trying again and again. They also must make their track structurally sound- sturdy enough to move every day. Finally, students are learning valuable lessons on teamwork.
We hope to finish out tracks by Friday, February 21st, and I will keep families informed of a "publishing" celebration for these projects :)
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Problem Solving
In math, we have been working on solving addition and subtraction stories that include two digit addition or subtraction. This is extra tricky, because the problems require reading skills, critical thinking skills (as we decide what kind of math is needed, and what the "unknown" is,) and our math skills! We know lots of ways to solve two digit addition problems, and are working on learning two digit subtraction problems. We recorded our thinking in our Math Journals.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Video Games & Technology
We have been learning about how technology changes over time during our unit on video games. We spent several weeks learning about past video games, and created several timelines to show how video game consoles, controllers, and graphics have changed over time. Despite our lack of schema about video games from the old days (and with some important input from parents and even Mrs. Willis,) we were able to explore some key differences between past video game technology and current gaming systems.
Next week, we will be looking at where video games might be going in the future. Stay tuned for some of our predictions- today's second graders could be tomorrow's gaming innovators!
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| Our last timeline explored how graphics have changed over time through Mario, one of the oldest video game characters. |
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| Students noticed many changes in computer graphics. |
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| Mr. Mcmann, a parent from Mrs. Hite's class, came in to share his knowledge of video games on Tuesday. |
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Happy Veteran's Day
Happy Veteran's Day from Miss Miller's class! In addition to writing letters to veterans and participating in our Veteran's Day assembly, second grade had the opportunity to video chat with Lcpl. Willis (AKA Miss Miller's fiance) live from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, today! We asked some great questions about Veteran's Day, life in the military, and what it is like to be a United States Marine. Thank you to Mr. Willis for taking time out of his day to chat!
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| Students were able to speak to Lcpl. Willis and hear about life in the military. |
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| We came up with some great questions! |
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