Science Day

Our school did the most wonderful thing this week - they decided to host a school-wide science day! We promoted it for weeks so by the time the day finally came the kids were SO excited about their activities. Throughout the day, the second grade students traveled from room to room and viewed a hilarious science presentation, heard from a true chemist, investigated magnets, learned about bubbles and air, made gloop, and learned about animals from an expert. Every single station hit on second grade standards in an engaging, fun way. By the end of the day I was left with a group of exhausted, happy, educated second grade scientists who couldn't stop raving about all of the fun activities they did during the day. I can't wait until next year when we get to have another science day!

The day began with a great science presentation! Here the presenter, with the help of another teacher, is demonstrating how air travels when force is applied to it.

The stations I taught all day dealt with magnets and racing cars! Students investigated the cars and learned that you could make them move by placing two similar magnetic poles next to each other. 

After a bit of practicing with the cars, we had a race to see who could make their car move the fastest without actually touching it with your hands - only magnets!

After the races were done and a winner was declared, students created chalk mazes and tried to stump their partner. We learned that turning these cars using just magnets was VERY difficult!

What a wonderful day we all had! It was a great last day before Spring Break! Enjoy your week off :)

Mock Elections

One of our key standards in second grade social studies is the community. After studying the job of mayor and the importance of this occupation, the students had an election and five candidates ran for the position of "mayor". With the help of their fellow learning club members, they were given a chance to develop a platform and come up with a speech to present to the class. Their speeches were inspiring and highlighted many important wants and needs, such as longer recess, more use of computers, no more strange noises from other students, and no shoes in school. It was interesting to see where their priorities lie! After a tough competition, the students elected their classroom mayor. Let's hope they're really up for this big job!

Here are two candidates giving their speeches in the front of the classroom. You couldn't take your eyes off of them as they spoke!

Bulletin Boards

This is just a short post to share a few math bulletin boards we have on our 2nd grade hallway. We are blessed with three bulletin boards to decorate and decided to keep one always reading, one always math, and alternate the last board between science and social studies. I've taken on the math bulletin board and have had a great time coming up with fun ideas! 

Our 2nd graders "hunted" for shapes around the school!

After investigating fractions in our classrooms, this board reinforces how fractions are all around us!

Floating Magnets

We've been studying magnets this week and the students have had a great time seeing what attaches to magnets, how much weight a magnet can hold, and learning about its north and south poles. Out of all of our investigations, however, the students most enjoyed figuring out how to make a cup float using a pencil and two magnets. We brainstormed lots of creative ideas, but in the end the students figured out that the north and south poles would allow the cup to float on the pencil. They had a great time moving the "magically floating cup" up and down the pencil. We have one more week of magnets and I'm excited to continue to allow the students to explore them through fun activities!

Black History Month

As February comes to a close, I thought it would be a great time to share a little bit about how we celebrated Black History Month in our classroom. The month kicked-off with each classroom decorating their door. A large variety of historic African Americans were showcased on the doors around the school, but I decided to spotlight Al Roker on our door. Not only is he a current influential African American, but he studies weather every day (which is a second grade standard) and he has a wonderful book club for kids. My students helped put the finishing touches on the door by writing about their favorite type of weather. We also read James and the Giant Peach as a class, which is a book that was featured in Al's Book Club for Kids. 

In addition to our wonderful decorated doors, our school had an African American read-in. For one full day, we invited influential African Americans from our local community into our school and had them read to our classrooms. We were lucky enough to have two readers come to our room and, boy, did my kids LOVE it! We had an excellent time celebrating Black History Month and my students learned a lot about the many African Americans that have influenced the world around them.

Flat Caroline

Our class had a wonderful new student join us this week! My precious cousin, named Caroline, is a second grader in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and her class just read Flat Stanley. I was very excited when she asked to send her Flat Caroline to Columbia because it meant that not only would I get to meet a new friend, but my students would have a new classmate for a few days. After showing Flat Caroline around our capital city, I took her to school with me to introduce her to my students. My students adored her, just as I suspected they would, and did a great job of teaching her all about our classroom and school. She played with us on the playground (it was cold, so my students made her a scarf out of toilet paper), ate lunch with us (yum!), and traveled with us to Puerto Rico. We had a wonderful time and my students liked meeting another flat friend. We were sad to see her go, but would welcome her back anytime she's in the Columbia area!

Math Concept Day

We had a half-day this week and my second grade team decided to switch up our usual half-day routines and try a math concept day. The students traveled from room to room and participated in hands-on, engaging math activities during four, 30 minute rotations. Each teacher targeted a different major math standard - graphing, money, geometry, and measurement. I got the chance to do measurement in my room and boy, did we have fun! The students let toy cars go down ramps and measured how far they went (hello, 5th grade force and motion!) and also measured their friends' heights in centimeters and inches. It was interesting to see how the different measurements compared. All in all, it was a fun day and I'm already looking forward to the next half-day so we can have even more math fun!

 Students worked together to measure how far their cars went. It was interesting to see how the rougher carpet (friction!) effected the distance the cars went!

The students had to use multiple yard sticks when measuring their height. They learned to add the two lengths together to find out their true height!