It's December in Our Town!

Yes, it's that time of the year when we learn about all of the holidays people celebrate in December.  What a better way to learn than by singing and dancing?  Here's a glimpse of our second grade play, performed on December 10th.

Our Holiday Play on PhotoPeach

From Garden to Table

Last week we harvested some sweet potatoes and today we got to eat them.  Many of the potatoes we dug up were purple and so... the sweet potato pie was PURPLE!  It tasted great!

Harvesting Sweet Potatoes

Getting ready to clear the vines.

Pulling up vines and putting them in the compost pile.

Digging for potatoes.

Showing off our prizes.

About 15 pounds of potatoes!

Pumpkin Math

On the last day of October we carved six pumpkins. Yes, we did carve faces into them and yes, we did use candles to light them up but our lesson was much more interesting than just that. First we did some estimating. How heavy was our pumpkin? How many seeds did it hold? What was the circumference? Then we actually measured to find the answers to our questions. After writing our conclusions, we carved faces and lit them up.

Estimating

Scooping seeds out

Sorting the seeds

Finished project

Catty Shack Field Trip

We had a WILD time on our field trip to the Catty Shack. It was interesting to see such BIG cats up close. The roar of the tiger gave us all shivers! Visit their website for more information. www.cattyshack.org Our field trip to the Catty Shack on PhotoPeach

Patricia Polacco Author Study

In our school we start each year with a vertical author study on Patricia Polacco.  We all begin with her auto-biography, Firetalking.  Each grade level has chosen to read five or six books containing the appropriate content for that age of children.  In second grade, we watch the Reading Rockets video visit and enjoy reading Thundercake, Rechenka's Eggs, Natasha's Doll, Thank You Mr. Falker, and There's Something About Hensley's.  This week we concluded our study with a webquest.  In groups of four, the students searched three wesites for information about our author.  When all of the questions were answered, the children created a poster to share what they've learned.  Our last activity was to write Patricia Polacco a letter telling her what our favorite book of hers is and why, giving her a compliment, asking her a question, and pointing out something we've noticed about her work. At this point we consider her a friend and feel as if we know her.

Patricia Polacco Author Study on PhotoPeach

Picture Day

Today we looked our very best and waited anxiously to be called downstairs to have our pictures taken.  These photos will be in our school yearbook and perhaps twenty years from now will resurface in some form of social media bringing back memories of our childhood and elementary school days.  Say Cheese!  

Socks and Slipper Club

Do you complete all of your homework and turn it in on time?  If you do then Friday is your day!  Students can wear their socks or slippers in the classroom and relax if they meet our homework requirements.

Choosing Independent Reading Books

Each Friday we return the books from our independent reading bags and choose ten new ones for the following week.  We have loads of books in our classroom!  Students are encouraged to pick out a variety of genres.  Some favorites include fictional picture books, poetry, nonfiction books - particularly about animals or earth/space, Magic School Bus, and series chapter books - especially Magic Tree House or Junie B. Jones.  After filling their bags, the children get comfortable and read all around the classroom as you can see from our pictures.

Bullying Lessons

After reading this new book over the summer, Bullying Hurts by Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth, we've been following the lessons to show the children how alike we all are.  Now that we've entered into "Layer 2" we are reading books that show some differences.  Our kids were silent, hanging on every word and picture, as we read Ian's Walk by Laurie Leers and Karen Ritz, a story about two sisters and their younger brother who has autism.  Even though our students are only in second grade, there is no doubt that they "got" the point of the lesson as you read their comments on our board. 

 

Here are our awesome second grade adventurers!  We've only been in school for two weeks but we've already got our rituals and routines down.  We enjoy reading the books in our new classroom library.  As writers we are learning about personal narratives.  We're discussing the processes of science and tools a scientist could use.  In math we are interacting with our calendar and love humpdaaaayyyy!  Life at the Creek has never been so good!

The Adventures of Chet the Bear

This is our class bear, Chet. He travels home with our student of the week for an adventure. The kids in our class write about his week at their home in his journal. Sometimes they even take pictures and put them in his journal. Chet enjoys his time getting to know our kids families.

Boosterthon Fun Run

Today we participated in our Fun Run to raise money for our school. 21 of our students brought in pledges from a total of of 11 states. The Boosterthon team set up a special track on the field and our kids ran 35 laps! We are so proud of them! Boosterthon Fun Run on PhotoPeach

Harvesting the Winter Crop from our Garden

Months ago we planted collard green seeds in our classroom and outside in the garden. We compared the growth and then transplanted the classroom plants outside. We've been watching them grow and finally our patience has paid off - big time! We harvested some huge collard green plants. After cleaning them we cooked them, adding bacon and butter, and then devoured them. Delicious! Collard Greens from our garden on PhotoPeach

UNF Habitat Field Trip

We had a beautiful day to walk the trails at the University of North Florida. Our ranger guides pointed out a variety of habitats. We saw a water moccasin and opened a carnivorous plant. UNF Field Trip on PhotoPeach

100 Days Smarter

On the 100th day of school we shared collections, wore 100 items, went on a Hershey Kiss scavenger hunt, and wrote about hundreds of thing. We even listed foods that we would NOT like to eat 100 of. It was a wonderful day. Hard to believe we only have 80 more. 100th Day of School on PhotoPeach