The Human Body

To culminate our unit on the human body, the kids worked in groups of three to create a lifesize diagram and then cut and pasted a brain, lungs, heart, and stomach inside. Next they created a concept map around each organ and system (eg. skeletal system). Finally they added any other important information they could remember.

Today We Made Blood

To show our class the consistency and make up of blood we mixed the following candy together:

red blood cells = red hots = 44% of our blood

white blood cells = white jelly beans = 1/2 of a % of our blood

platelets = sprinkles = 1/2 of a % of our blood

plasma = Karo syrup = 55% of our blood

The kids enjoyed visualizing each part of their blood and understanding the proportions and purposes of each.

The Digestive System

Today in science we used a papertowel roll to represent our esophagus. We wrote the word mouth up at the top opening and then taped a plastic baggie to the bottom. We wrote the word stomach on the baggie. When we tried to put a cracker in the top hole it didn't fit so we used our hands to represent chewing and let pieces of the cracker fall through the esophagus and into the stomach. There was a little stomach juice (water) already in the baggie to help the food digest. We used our fingers to move it gently around as the stomach muscles churn. This could not have looked more realistic! One student didn't break up her cracker enough and it got stuck in her esophagus. Talk about a teachable moment... that's why you have to chew your food before you swallow it! She was able to cough it back up and chew it more before she swallowed it.

The shin bone's connected to the ...

To start our unit on human body parts and their functions, we created skeletons using beans and pasta. The kids did a super job listening and thinking about what each item represented!

Have you completed all of your homework?

Today is Friday. If you've completed all of your homework and turned it in on time, you are welcome to wear your favorite socks and/or slippers in class. We've seen some interesting slipper animals, cars, holiday themes, and lots of great colors! Here are just a few of our awesome students that completed their reading and math homework this week!!!!!!!

Lotsa Latkes

One of the songs from our second grade play is titled "Lotsa Latkes." What better way to bring meaning to the children that by frying lots of latkes in our classroom? Fortunately, Mrs. Morris has a blender recipe and our wonderful parent helpers stopped by to cook. While enjoying the traditional potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce, the children also learned about a menorah, and played dreidle with Hershey Kisses gelt!

Once On A Housetop

What a wonderful experience we've had getting ready for and performing our second grade play! Once On A Housetop taught us all something new about the many holidays celebrated in December. And we learned a little something about chimney sweeps as well! Over the weeks we sang songs, danced, and improved our fluency by reading and delivering our lines. When the time came to perform - the kids were outstanding!