Is There a President Among Us?

If I Were President. . .

We learned about Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and the impact they had on America. The kids discussed how they would change America if they ever became President. Then, they wrote a paragraph explaining their thoughts about how the future would be if America was ever in their hands.  I'd vote for them!

Valentine's Fun

We had such a great time celebrating Valentine's Day. First, we cut out a ton of hearts, taped them to our clothes and sneaked to the Principal's office and heart-attacked her office and covered it with  120 hearts. We were very quiet and sneaky and will be writing about it when we get back to school.

 Then, we decorated a folder to hold our Valentine's in and did some Math games.

Last, we had a super fun Valentine's Party. We play three math games, one spelling game and passed out Valentines. The kids didn't even realize they were learning. These kids are so much fun.

"ARRGH" Controlled Vowels

We learned how grumpy the letter r is if it has to follow a vowel.  In fact, it sounds like a mean old pirate and won't even let the vowel say it's name. We played a game called "R-controlled Pirates and the Golden Vowels". A word was given to the group. The Golden Vowel Girls had to chose the correct vowel to match the word given, then they hid. The R-controlled Pirates had to find the gold and both kids had to write the word correctly in their notebooks. Then, the kids changed jobs. They also worked on r-controlled vowels in a reading station. It made learning about r-controlled vowels 'arrgfully' fun, matey!

Fruit Loop Fun in Math

One of the second grade common core standards involves giving the kids a problem solving project. The question asked was: Is it possible for second graders to estimate then count the number of Fruit Loops in a large bag? When I first asked the question and then dumped the bag out onto a tarp on the floor, most of the kids said no, they couldn't count them, there were too many. I asked if anyone could come up with a plan. They thought and thought. It was really fun to watch them problem solve and throw out ideas. One of the kids said, "How about we divide them into groups of twenty?", another child said "It will be easier if we do groups of ten". They voted and decided that would be their plan.  They worked together to divide and count them. At first they were putting them into piles on the tarp until one student asked if I had any little cups. Great idea and super problem solving. They all went back to their desks and estimated how many there were before they started counting.

 After several minutes the kids noticed that it was getting really hard to count all of the cups so one of the kids suggested that they put them in groups of ten because it would be easier to count by hundreds. We had groups of hundreds all over the room. Another child suggested that we 'organize' the hundreds into lines. They went back to their desks and re estimated before they counted. They were so impressed with themselves that they could work together to count 340 Fruit Loops in one big bag! Super fun and they worked so hard! I was so impressed too!

Awesome Animal Reports!

Each of the kids did an amazing job on their animal reports. They were all so interesting.  We only have 20 students this year so I thought I was going to have do six reports but several students offered to do more than one. I was so impressed with their research and their ability to teach us about the animal they had chosen. Thank you to the parents for your remarkable support! You should be proud!
                                                                      A. Alligator

                                                                        B. Beaver

C. Corgi

D. Dugong

E. Elephants

F. Flying Squirrels

G. Gila Monster

H. Hyenas

I. Iguana

J. Jaguars

K. Kangaroo

L. Lion

M. Moose

N. Narwhal

O. Okapi

P. Peccary

Q. Quokkas

R. Roosters

S. Serval

T. Tasmanian Devil

U. Umbrella Bird

V. Vicunas

W. Walrus

X. Xantus Humming Bird

Y. Yellow-Eyed Penguins

Z. Zebra Shark