October Learning
Here we will post photographs of our class hard at work, so you can have a glimpse of life in our classroom!
Click on an individual photo to enlarge it. You can then arrow through the photos to see the pictures in the album.
Click on an individual photo to enlarge it. You can then arrow through the photos to see the pictures in the album.
Impromptu Dance Party
When there are only a few minutes left of class on Halloween, the only thing to do is to put on some Just Dance videos
to let our bodies move and groove!
to let our bodies move and groove!
Bingo for Books: Winners
Here are the winners of today's bingo game! Not so lucky this time? That's okay! We will play multiple times this year!
Bingo for Books
We practiced using a multiplication chart in today's edition of... Bingo for Books!
Mission Impossible
At this point in the year, students should have their 0, 1, 2, 5, and 10 multiplication facts memorized, So now we are working on speed! In this week's version of our Mission Impossible game, students tried to work their way around the circle and solve all of the multiplication facts (one per whiteboard). Each board had one factor of 5 and one factor that the students chose between 0 and 10. The goal is make it all the way around the circle before the music (the theme song to Mission Impossible) ends. A fun, fast pace way to practice our multiplication facts!
Reading Raffle Winners (10/28)
Books Won: Wish for a Fish: All About Sea Creatures, The Night Before Halloween, My Weird School: It's Halloween I'm Turning Green, Stink and the World's Worst Super-Stinky Sneakers, and Hazy Bloom and the Pet Project
Measurement
Technically, we won't complete our measurement unit the spring, but today we reviewed how to use a ruler to measure in both inches and centimeters. Students will need this knowledge to measure the side lengths of rectangles, in order to find the area of the shape. We practiced with a fun bats, spiders, and ghost measurement activity!
Sandbox Alert!
Our playground just got a new addition- a sandbox! The students were VERY excited to play in it at recess.
Magnetic or Not?: Experiment & Cut and Paste Activities
We learned a lot about what types of materials are attracted to magnets. Lots of students were shocked to discover that U.S. coins are not magnetic! We had a day of predictions / explorations followed by a day where student used their new knowledge to sort objects on a magnet/ nonmagnetic cut and paste activity.
Science: Attract & Repel
After learning the scientific terms "attract" and "repel", we practiced answering scientific questions on these topics with our partner. Students used their magnets to act out each given situation before recording their answers.
Magnet Exploration
After a deep brainstorm about what magnets are/ what they do, we got to explore with some bar magnets today. Partners worked together to discover what happens when north poles meet north poles, south poles meet south poles, and north poles meet south poles.
Reading Raffle Winners (10/20)
Books won: Definitely Dominguita: Knight of the Cape, Secret Coders: Secrets & Sequence, Hidden Figures, National Geographic: Deadly Creatures Collection, and Magic Tree House: Ghosts
Shaving Cream
Shaving cream is great for a lot of things. Today we use it to practice some math facts. Then we rubbed it into our desks as it works as a wonderful cleaning agent!
Arrays
Students partnered up for today's math activity. Partner A drew a rectangle on their grid and then described it to their partner (without telling them the area of their shape). Partner B had to use the clues to draw the rectangle in their workbook. Then partners compared rectangles and discussed what clues were helpful and what would have been more helpful. Then the partners switched roles. Today we learned a lot about how rows and columns are essential when describing the attributes of an array!
Tiling Shapes
Today, students were given shapes that had already started to be covered in tiles. We discussed what might be the way to continue to cover each shape with tiles, as each shape had been tiled a bit differently. Students then took out their tiles, and used their strategies to find the area of each shape. They quickly realized that they needed to adjust their strategies, as some of the tiling they gave us didn't work for the shape. We learned a great lesson today - when tiling a shape, we should always start in a corner and create rows and columns where we can.
ABC Order: Whole Class Sort
Groups did well with our first alphabetical order sort (see below). So, we had to kick it up a notch. This time, students tried to put their cards in abc order... as a class. There were some great student-led discussions about looking beyond just the first letter to place the words in the correct order.
ABC Order: Group Card Sort
To help us better use our reference books, we are reviewing a second grade skill - alphabetical order. This skill will help us better use the guide words at the top of the pages so we can find the words faster. In this activity, students worked together in their small groups to sort their cards into abc order and then discuss how they knew that they were in the correct order.
Dictionary Practice
We are working hard on how to reference books. Today we worked on finding a given word's part of speech, pronunciation key, and definition in a dictionary. Many students will practice this skill independently next week during our morning menu time.
Kenny D
Since we earned our first glitter paw, Kenny D came to spend the day with us. He learned some new math skills, and got to listen to some great stories!
Glitter Paw Reward: Art Time
For our first glitter paw reward, our class voted to have some creative art time.
We sketched, colored, cut, and pasted to make some very creative projects!
We sketched, colored, cut, and pasted to make some very creative projects!
Tiling Shapes to Find the Area
The beginning of our area unit has us learning how to use square tiles to find the area of a shape.
Today each student was given a different outline of a shape and they had to cover it with squares. Then students worked together to determine the area of their shapes (in square units).
Today each student was given a different outline of a shape and they had to cover it with squares. Then students worked together to determine the area of their shapes (in square units).
Ordering Shapes by Their Area
Students were given a small handful of tiles, and used them to build a shape. Then groups worked together to determine the order of the shapes from smallest area to largest area.
New Math Unit: Area
This week we started a new math unit on finding the area of a shape. Today we started with determining which shape in a given set is larger, or as we now call it, has the greater area.
Ketchup & Pickles
Our pile of unfinished work was growing quickly, so we did an incredibly motivating activity this week- Ketchup & Pickles. Any student who was caught up on their classwork got to pick an activity to work on. Today's options included lots of fun STEM toys and Play-doh. Everyone else was given time to catch-up on their missing work. As soon as they finished their work, they got to jump into the activity of their choice. We had lots of fun and got lots of work done at the same time.
A win-win!
A win-win!
Reading Raffle Winners (10/13)
Books Won: Stink and the Super Galactic Jawbreaker, Dragons in a Bag, Mysteries According to Humphrey, and Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away
Snacks!
We had some wonderful people donate funds to our classroom, through Donors Choose, and these funds purchased us some snacks for students to enjoy during snack time. Students will be welcome to have their snack from home, or a snack from our new snack bin. We will have a new snack option each day, until our supply runs out. The first few items arrived right before snack time on Friday, so students were able to enjoy a Fruit by Foot fruit snack!
Math Review: Jeopardy Game
To review for our first math test, we played math Jeopardy as a review. This game covered graphing, multiplication, and arrays- all the topics that are on the first test. The tests are online, but scores will be sent home next week (once everyone who was absent takes the test). Scores will come home the same day that the unit one workbooks will be sent home. We did many, but not all of the problems in the workbook, so they can be used at home to supplement skills as desired.
Reading Raffle Winners (10/6)
Books Won: The Legend of Spooky the Square Pumpkin, Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles, Diary of a Wimpy Kid #17, National Geographic: Why?: Animals, and Lola Levine and the Halloween Scream
Responsibility Brainstorm
The social skills trait of the month is responsibility. Students will learn about this trait all month long. We started with a quick video of kids giving their definition of this trait. Then students worked in small groups to tell how they would use responsibility in a given situation. We will add to these brainstorming sheets throughout the month.
Arrays
In second grade, students use arrays to model repeated addition expressions. In third grade, we make the jump to using them to model multiplication equations. Today we started by using colored tiles to build arrays to match equations and to use a given number of tiles to build different size arrays.
Math Group Work
We are working very hard in math this week! While still reviewing graphing and working on ST Math, we are continuing our study of understanding why and how multiplication works. This week we threw learning how to use variables in various parts of an equation into the mix! Today students worked together to solve a problem in their workbooks. Then some had the opportunity to share their strategy with their classmates.
2-Column Notes
We are working on learning to organize our thoughts before we write. BPS is continuing to use the 2-column note model for a graphic organizer. Early this week we completed a 2-column note organizer as a class for a story we read together. Today, partners worked together to complete their own version for our new story. Later in the week, we will review their thoughts and fill in any gaps as needed, before we turn them into a writing.
Equation Task Card Sort
As a part of unit on multiplication, we are learning about equations (vs. expressions) and how they relate to multiplication models, diagrams, and situations (word problems without the question). Students worked together to match cards with equations to their representation counterpart.