2nd Grade Gets an Intro. on Citing Sources

I realized that I had missed a very important step when the students did their animal adaptation research – citing their sources.  Today, I showed them how to find the citation information on the World Book Encyclopedia articles they used for their superhero projects.  They will be doing more research this year, so this is a skill they need.

Then they worked on creating superhero trading cards on their iPads to accompany the cartoons they made about animal adaptations.

We also passed out and discussed their GT report cards, which should be brought home today. Parents, please discuss the folder contents and the report card with your child, cut off the signature edge from the report cards, and return with the folders and signed sheet as soon as possible. Any papers in the pockets do not need to be returned.

The students did problem-solving centers today. They seemed to enjoy the Superhero Math (some of them chose division sheets this time!) and the Tangrams so much last week that I kept those stations in.  They also worked on Math Analogies and some mixed math skills.

2nd Grade Superheroes!

2nd grade started learning about the 6 “Thinking Hats” today, and used the Activboard to start applying them.  A couple of the students already knew how important it is to “think about your thinking” (metacognition), which is the blue hat.  The other 5 Thinking Hats are a way of visualizing the different types of thinking needed for various situations – Judgment, Benefits, Creativity, Feelings, and Information.  We will be working more on this in the upcoming weeks.

The students polished up their superhero stories, where they each imagined waking up with spider powers like our tarantula visitor, Jeffrey. They used the iPads to make themselves into comic book superheroes as an illustration for their story. (Don’t forget that you can click on each thumbnail below to see a larger version of the photo.)

They finished out the day working some more on coding on the Kodable app.  Several of them learned about the “repeat” command”, which allows them to use less commands.

Next week, the class will have a new, surprise visitor, as Jeffrey returns to Region 20.  I wonder who it will be…