Sci Works

As we breezed in to March, our second grades anxiously anticipated a special trip across town to Sci Works to learn more about "Sound". We had a terrific day. Enjoy a few pictures from our travels!

Famous Americans

February arrived and we began our Famous American Unit of Study. One of our favorite literature studies was about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Our second grade classes were quite fortunate to attend a special play entitled "The Freedom Train", where we learned even more about life in America when Harriet lived. Take a quick peek at our literature quilt project!

Winter Celebration

Sliding on into December, it was time to complete our infamous "Reindeer Unit of Study" with a big celebration. Our wonderful parents applied their magical touches and Room 309 became a Winter Workshop!

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My blog postings have been "missing" for a while as we delved into our new Common Core Curriculum. I am finally finding some "time" to share these beautiful children and the lovely work they have created this year. Enjoy!!! Now Presenting...Our Story Skeleton Book Reports

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Project O.R.E.O.

Do you LOVE Oreo cookies? We do! This year we are again participating  in the online technology project O.R.E.O. with other students around the globe. Our task was to work in teams, estimate the number of cookies we thought we could stack in a tower before the tower tumbled, and then actually stack the cookies in a tower. You can enjoy these snapshots of our work, but you'll have to wait to see the results of our "cookie stacking"! Thank you parents for supplying the Oreos! Stacking the cookies was fun and sampling these delectable treats was even better!



2012 Project O.R.E.O. on PhotoPeach

Monarch Butterflies

We are learning more about life cycle in our Science classes. Enjoy these pictures of our Monarch Butterflies!

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It's How We Learn Our MATH!

Shh! .... We're on the road to becoming MATH experts!  Teaming with partners, Sharing our strategies, Games galore and much more...that's how we are learning our Math!

It's All About How We Learn MATH! on PhotoPeach

A Trip to the Butterfly Farm

Who doesn't enjoy watching the flutters and flights of butterflies? On Wednesday our second grade classes boarded buses and traveled to the Butterfly Farm. We had a terrific time learning more about these fascinating creatures and stepping inside their "greenhouse habitat". We also enjoyed a "close-up glimpse" of quite a few jets preparing to land at the airport. Amazingly the children thought to compare the "flight similarities"! You can easily see how much we enjoyed our trip...Look at our precious faces in this video!

Celebrating America

We celebrated Constitution Day by learning more about the "Framers" of our American Constitution, our thirteen original colonies, and even writing our own Class Constitution. Of course we needed to create a special Red, White, and Blue project after we learned that these colors represent courage, purity, and fairness.

Meet the Cast!

                Welcome to our Second Grade Class! Our new "STARS" are off to a terrific start as we begin our exciting "Journey to the Core". Tuesday Folders were sent home today with our class newsletter. Next week our newsletters will be posted on the class website. Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us!

Mad Scientists!

This quarter we are learning about "Matter". Can you name three states of matter? Just ask these little experts, who certainly are enjoying our student teacher's hands on activities!

2012 PTA Musical

The "Shining Stars" of MES stepped onto the stage and captured the hearts of the audience yet again with this year's musical "Rock and Roll"! Enjoy the show...and stay tuned for future Red Carpet Performances from this talented group!

February Happenings

Snowed In!

Like all children, we dream of snow days. It seems that our North Carolina weather just wasn't going to provide snow, so we decided to have our own "Snow Day".  Using our igloo and imagination, a Snow Day became a reality on February 29th. We engaged in snowy Math, Reading, and Writing activities and took turns reading inside our class igloo. Of course we had to have some treats! Preparing hot chocolate and smore's provided some fun math and reading opportunities. Eating seems to make all learning activities just a bit more interesting!

Arctic Animal Projects

The children completed some outstanding Arctic Animal Projects which were shared in class and displayed outside our classroom. They researched an animal of their choice, recorded their information on a graphic organizer, and then wrote a report. Enjoy their beautiful visual products! 

"Freedom Train" Field Trip

Our second grade classes certainly enjoyed our Harriet Tubman Thematic Unit. We all had the pleasure of traveling to Winston-Salem State University to see a play entitled "The Freedom Train". The children thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining experience. What a special way to help us truly understand some of our American History! Enjoy the slide show created by Mrs. Federico, our Salem College student teacher.

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Celebrations!

 MARDI GRAS

We are in the midst of a "Maps and Globes Unit" in Social Studies, so what better way to find our place on the map than to visit our neighbors. Of course we just just had to "dig a little deeper" to discover more about people and places. Our class is always looking for ways to celebrate and find interesting ways to use math, reading, science, and social studies concepts, so with the click of our Smartboard, some Dollar Store manipulatives, library resources, a trip to Harris Teeter, and some helpful moms, we were on our way to learn more about "Mardi Gras"!

     

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 PRESIDENT'S DAY

Our student teacher found a unique video about our US presidents. The children wanted to watch it again and begged for the link. Here's the video for all to enjoy!

I really need to put more hours in a day. When someone finds the secret to doing that, let me know! Our school days are quite busy, even though we haven't had too many picture posts to keep everyone updated. The igloo is almost complete. The children encountered some "structural problems"  so they had to do some problem solving to complete the ice house! We have decided to have our own "Snow Day" next week since the North Carolina weather has just not co-operated. For the past two weeks we have been very involved in a "Harriet Tubman Unit" and attended a play at WSSU on Friday. We certainly enjoyed the "Freedom Train" performance. We will continue to read biographies and learn more about famous Americans in our literacy groups. Our class is also completing some global technology projects with other students. You can check out our projects here: Setting the Stage for Success Wiki and Winter Wonderland Wiki.

A few weeks ago we completed a mini unit on the Chinese New Year. Here's a picture of our lovely group in the masks they created! Don't you think they're beautiful?

Introducing..."The Bunnies"

Our children are in the midst of presenting their Arctic Animal Reports, which have been truly amazing! What a treat to have these beautiful bunnies visit our class! Kate found a creative way to share the "Arctic Hare".