Math Brawl

 Today we gathered in the dining room for the second grade math brawl.  After completing a qualifying test, the top eleven students in the grade level were invited to participate.  Our class had three students in the competition.

There were two rounds of DIFFICULT questions.  Four children "survived" the first round and went to the finals.

 The children from our class held up signs and cheered for their classmates.

Zachary has a mind for math and WON the whole brawl!  We'll be sure to pull for him as he represents our school in the district math brawl next week!!  Good luck Z-man!

Who loves a good read aloud?? WE DO!!

Our second grade day is set up perfectly!  We have a 2 1/2 hour ELA block in the morning.  At 11:40 we go to lunch, followed by recess, and then resource.  When we come back from music, art, or PE we spread out on the carpet in the gathering area and relax for some read aloud time.  Mrs. Morris shares some of her favorite chapter books with us.  

Right now we are reading Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby Age 8.  The main character is eight years old and starting third grade.  Just about our age as we finish our second grade year.  

Before this chapter book we read Cynthia Rylant's The Van Gogh Cafe.

Some other favorites from this school year include Dan Gutman's Jackie and Me, Louis Sachar's Sideways Stories fromWayside School, and Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan.

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!

A Visit from Lester Laminack

Lester Laminack, the famous author, visited Chets Creek yesterday.  He traveled all the way from North Carolina to talk with our teachers and students.  The second graders were entertained as he told us all about the inspiration for many of his books. He also carries with him a small notebook and pen in his pocket.  He refers to this tiny notepad as a "spy book" where he writes down ideas for stories.  He finds ideas everywhere... Walmart, the airport, a kindergarten classroom, etc. Our second graders are very interested in getting their own "spy books" to record their story ideas too!

Lester Laminack told us about the time in his life when he was a fifth grade teacher.  Did you know he was known for pulling teeth?  He was inspired to write the book Trevor's Wiggly Wobbly Tooth by real life experiences.  

When he was 9 years old he rode his bike to his Grandmother's house every Saturday.  He helped her by mowing the lawn. Years later, as an adult, he was walking in to a grocery store when the sweet smell of cookies sparked a memory of being nine and making teacakes with his mammaw on Saturdays.  Bingo - the inspiration for another wonderful book! 

 Our class has enjoyed reading other books by Mr. Laminack: Three Hens and  a Peacock, Jake's 100th Day of School and Snow Day!

 We'll continue to think about Lester Laminack's visit and his books when we write our own stories.

Picture Perimeters

Why measure accurately?  In this lesson first we practiced measuring the length and width of a 4 x 6 photograph.  We discussed how pictures are framed and how we know what size frame to buy.  During the work period, we measured different pieces of artwork that students in our class produced in the art lab to measure the dimensions (length and width) and then calculated the perimeter of the picture.

We recorded our thinking on our student sheet.  We all used inches so we could discuss our results with our table groups.

We brainstormed times you would use measurement (when you want to know how tall something is, the distance between two points - how far away something is), how long or how wide an object it...

Then we practiced....  We found the more we measured the more accurate we became and the easier it was to measure.

One of the misconceptions was with a piece that was 18 " wide.  When we measured 12" we were accurate.  A boy put his finger down to mark his place and then proceeded to measure 5" on the other side of his finger.  In our closing meeting, he told us he knows his finger is one inch and learned to mark his spot with the tip of the pencil instead so he would get an accurate 18" instead of the 17" he recorded.

The two most important questions students answered, discussed, revised and answered again were written on the bottom of the student sheet:  Why is it so important to measure accurately? and What did you notice about the actual length and width compared to the perimeter?  Made for an interesting closing meeting.

The first time I saw this lesson was when my mentor Suzanne Shall taught it for a demonstration lesson a few years ago.  She developed it and we "borrowed" it.
Post by Mrs. Morris

One Last Trip to the Garden

Yesterday we harvested the collard greens that we planted in the fall.

This shows what they looked like mid-winter.

 Dr. Zenk gave us some directions.  We worked in three stations, pulling the collards, transplanting marigold plants, and weeding the potatoes.

This is our bountiful harvest!

The next day in the classroom, we cooked the collar greens.  First the pot was filled to the rim.

But then they cooked down and turned dark green.

We enjoyed trying them.  They were delicious!!

Stop and Jot

Today we taught our students something very important.  Our first thought is not our BEST thought.

Let me say it again.. your first thought is NOT your best thought.

In the past we told our kids to make connections.  They made shallow connections such as, I've used chopsticks before, I like to eat rice, I have a cat.  Now we know better.  We need deep connections.  Everyone uses their background knowledge to connect to a story/movie/game/etc.  But what else do you think?

Today we introduced a Jot Lot.  Our kids already know about stopping and jotting.  This gives them a place to show off their work.  No names are needed, you simply place your sticky note on your number.  Reading each others notes helps to grow their thinking.

We crafted our lesson from Falling In Love With Close Reading.

 We looked at the character in a narrative story using the point of view lens from chapter 5.

Then we read the book Everybody Cooks Rice.

Hmmm. What is the main character thinking? What text evidence do you have to support this? We wrote our first thought on an orange sticky note.  Then we read the book AGAIN talking with our partners about what was happening and used a new lens, what does the author want you to learn from this book. What is her point of view? What evidence do you have to support your thoughts?  This time when we stopped to jot on pink stickies, our thinking was better.  First thoughts - she was looking for her brother.  It was dinner time. 

Second time around -

 all her neighbors have different skin colors but cook the same foods in different ways.

Carrie learned about different cultures and what they eat.  She also learned that everybody eats rice. 

Our closing conversation was about people being basically the same, but also different.  We located each country on a map, of course, and talked about the variety of cultures in Carrie's neighborhood. 

I'm sure, the more we use the Jot Lot, the better our responses will be. But it's not just for reading, this can be used as a place for exit tickets in math, and for scientific thinking as well!