Titanic Report of Information

Our second graders are publishing their Information Reports as we wrap up Lucy Calkins Unit of Study for Lab Reports and Science Books.  Connor wrote his report about the Titanic, a subject he is PASSIONATE about.

 Because his report is so interesting, I e-mailed Robert Ballard.  What a wonderful surprise to get the mail today and find a letter and autographed picture addressed to Connor!

 

If you'd like to see Connor's entire 14 page report, please click the link below.

Titanic Report of Information

We couldn't be more proud of the work our students are doing as we implement the new Units of Study in second grade this year!

The Beginning of Our Own Information Reports

We are entering Bend 3 in our Information Unit of Study and our students have chosen their own topic to write about.  Some topics bouncing around are: gymnastics, rollerblading, skateboarding, swimming, playing basketball - soccer - baseball, biking, and playing the piano.  We have drafted a Table of Contents and are working on chapters of our books.

Here are some pages which we found particularly helpful and engaging...

This page from Will's book explains the importance of having your bike examined regularly to stay safe.

Briella dedicated a page to appropriate gymnastics attire.  

Courtney made sure to bold the words she will add to her glossary.  She also encouraged her reader by saying don't give up.  Soccer wasn't easy for her when she was little.  

Logan's introduction tells the reader to get healthy and strong by using pedal power and riding a bike instead of taking the car.  

As we study nonfiction mentor texts we expect to see labeled diagrams and 'how to' instructions pop up in our reports.  Students can't wait for writers' workshop each day!

Catapult!!!

For our second scientific experiment, we designed a catapult to launch a ping pong ball and cotton ball.  

As scientists, we asked the question - Which would travel farther?  

Again, we wrote up our materials and procedure page, make a hypothesis, and conduct the experiment 

three times - recording our results each time. 

   After our conclusions were published and discussed, we asked the question...

                                                                 Time to get to work!

Informational Writing via Lucy Calkins

We began our new unit of study by Lucy Calkins, Grade 2 Information: Lab Reports and Science Books.  Our students designed and conducted a force and motion experiment using ramps.  

Each child gets a 5 page packet and a writing partner.  They create a hypothesis by asking a question starting with, "I wonder what would happen if..." Then they list the materials they will need and the steps (procedures) they will follow.  On the next two pages they write their predictions (hypothesis) of what will happen.  The classroom is filled with energy and excitement during the writers' workshop where the children conduct their experiments.  Some of our students wondered if the height of the ramp would matter - 6 inches vs. 12 inches.  Others predicted that a small car would roll farther than a linker cube.  To gather accurate results, they tested each experiment three times and recorded their data.  Finally, the last page in the report documents the results and if the student's prediction was correct (conclusion).  

In our classroom, we only had one plastic toy ramp and several small toy cars, but our clever kids created ramps using big books, white boards, clipboards. and paper towel rolls.  

Stay tuned for the next bend in the unit when we will be creating catapults to launch cotton balls!