End of the Year Shenanigans

The end of the year came and went faster than ever before!  Of course, it was marked with some wonderful learning experiences.   During the month of May we start noticing all of the dandelions turning into seed pods.  I love watching the kids on the playground make a wish a blow those seeds away!  This is the perfect opportunity to tie in those magical flowers with science and writing.  It was also the perfect way to wrap up our life cycles unit.  We discussed what happens when we blow those seeds, and where those seeds came from.  Then we created our own dandelions seed pod flowers, along with a short writing piece telling about our 3 wishes.  The black and white photo just makes them that much more special...

 

Speaking of life cycles, we had a fabulous time hatching chicks in room B4!  

Day one was marked by placing the eggs in the incubator.  Each day, a couple of students rotated the eggs and we tracked the chicks' development in our chick journals.

On Day 21 we noticed a little crack in the egg.  The chick was using it's egg tooth the break through!  The next morning, we had 3 chicks hatched and drying in the incubator! Take a look at those empty eggs...what a great science lesson! 

When the chicks' feathers had dried enough, we put them in the brooder and gave them a name. 

 There were lots of names suggested, but in the end the 3 names that we chose were... 

Mrs.  Cuddles

Jeff

Cutie Judy

The kids LOVED being able to watch them run around and pet/ hold them!! How fun! 

We also tied in our math unit about 2D and 3D shapes with chicks!  The students each chose their own shape and turned it into an adorable chick!  

The last month of school was marked with field trips, parties, and ocean animal research! 

Our field trip to Animal Land was a blast!  We saw lots of different animals and got to play with all our  Pashley first grade friends.  One of the highlights was the safari ride and getting chased by those rude camels!  

 

The students worked extremely hard on their ocean animals research reports! I was so proud of all their diligence.  They used iPads, computers, and books to take notes.  Then they practiced turning those notes into their own words.  They wrote a rough draft and a final draft.   We practiced reading them many times using the microphone and podium. 

The students also created the cutest self portraits of themselves snorkeling with their ocean animal in the background! 

I loved the setup of the room... I still can't believe how many audience members we fit in our classroom!  I think it was probably around 50!  

The students read their reports so well and I think their parents were proud.  I know I was!  (Thank you to Mrs. Puglisi for the pics!)

After we were all done with our reports it was time to PARTY!  We were ready to have our marble party!  During the persuasive writing unit, the students learned how to write an opinion piece, as well as how to persuade somebody to do something or to think a certain way.  As a culminating activity, the kids had to write a letter to me trying to persuade me to have a certain type of party.  They learned to remember who their reader would be and to say things that would persuade that reader.  I wish I took some pictures of the final drafts because I was so impressed!  All of the students were so polite and said things that they knew I would like!  In the end, I decided to have a picnic party.  Two of the students convinced me that this would be the best choice considering the nice weather, the healthy food choices, and that "I could get a little break" while the students ate.  OK!!

The food was delicious and the star sunglasses from Mrs. Heritage were a nice touch! :) 

It was such a fabulous year!  I loved working with each and every student and I am so excited to be looping with them all.  Thank you to all the families for the great partnership... we made a great team!  I can't wait for more second grade fun with you all!  I hope everyone has a wonderful summer.

Clarkie has plans of enjoying the summer and keeping this momma busy!! 

Lots more from B4!

Well here we are... it's been awhile and I think it's time for a little re-cap of the goings on in room B4 in the last few months.  I am about to share LOTS of pictures, and I will do my best to not babble too much.  No promises though... sometimes I just can't help myself!!

I'm about to take you wayyyyy back... to March! When things were a little colder and a little less green.  Well except for in room B4.  On St. Patty's Day we were all very green and we even ate some green food! Take a look...

The students also completed their Irish Proverbs.  These always come out so funny! They finish the Irish saying and then learn what the real saying means.  It's one of those "kids say the darndest" type of things!  I love how literal they all are! 

This little leprechaun really enjoyed his first St. Patrick's Day as well!  

In March we also studied the Solar System.  The students learned about the moon, the stars, and the planets.  After reading a great book called Postcards from Pluto, they created their own postcards.  They were instructed to pretend as if they were visiting a different planet within our solar system.  Then they had to write to their families from the planet they were visiting, using information that they learned about that planet.  They also had to write their address on the address lines of the postcard and create a design on the picture side of the postcard.  They came out great! 

 

We also made these cute rocketship and moon crafts.  We painted the moon with white paint and flour.  That gave it great texture, like the moon.  We used a water bottle cap to create the craters.  Then we wrote facts that we've learned on the rocket ship. 

We also celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday!  We read lots of Dr. Seuss books and studied his style of writing.  We found rhyming words in his books, looked for opposites from the foot book that were written all around the room, and played a Dr. Seuss addition game.

One of the Dr. Seuss books that we read was called Horton Hatches the Egg.  It is about a lazy bird, who lays an egg.  The bird does not feel like sitting on her nest, so she asks Horton, the elephant to sit on it for her.  Horton does whatever he can to follow through with his agreement, and it is not easy!  One day, while Horton is performing in the circus, the lazy bird flies by and decides to watch the show.  When she gets there the egg hatches!  To everyone's surprise, a bird does not hatch from the egg!  Instead it is an elephant-bird!  After reading this book, the students create their own silly animal mix-ups.  They create them with an app called Superimpose and then use Google Docs to put the finishing touches on them!  It's really quite the process, but is totally worth it.  Kids from other classes love stopping by in the hallway to check out these funny animals! I created one too! 

While we were studying Dr. Seuss's style of writing, we were also doing our Author's purpose unit.  We learned that Dr. Suess wrote to entertain us, but also to persuade and inform us! During reading groups, some of the kiddos wrote about the author's purpose in their book on the white boards.  It also makes me so happy to see the organization of the books, the white boards, and their tissue boxes (which is where we house the dry erase markers, erasers, and word cards that each student is working on).   It's the little things... 

We kicked off the month of April by creating our spring cinquains.  After all, April is poetry month!  The students wrote their own cinquains about a spring topic, and then typed them and printed them at computer class.

Then the students wrote about what they like to do when it rains.  They decorated their umbrella and did their writing underneath!  Take a look... 

 

Someone else likes to put on his raincoat and watch out the window as the rain falls...

We are hoping that all of those showers bring some nice May flowers!