2nd Grade Makes Scarecrows

The 2nd graders practiced the Substitute part of S.C.A.M.P.E.R. by substituting building pieces for the straw in a scarecrow.  You can see some of their inventions in the short video below.

The students also learned more about tarantulas by using the PebbleGo resource from the library, and filling in a Depth and Complexity research sheet.  After a little more practice, they will soon be ready to research their own choice of animals.

Of course, after introducing the Zoombinis app to the whole class two weeks ago, the students were eager to try it on their own.  There is a lot of problem solving, patience, and observation required for this game – but it’s fun!

2nd Grade Meets a New Visitor

The 2nd graders have started their year of “Structures” by learning about the spider’s unique anatomy.  After discussing some of the Language of the Discipline and Details about the spider, they got a chance to see one up close and personal.  The Chilean rose tarantula will be visiting us for 2 weeks. After reading, Diary of a Spider, the students are doing a great job thinking about things from the spider’s perspective – even though they are a little timid of the large, hairy creature!

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…

2nd Grade Welcomes Jeffrey!

I know.  Tarantulas are not very cute and cuddly.  But they are fascinating to study.  So, I’ve borrowed one for 2 weeks for the 2nd graders to observe.  We are learning about animal structures this semester, and the tarantula has some unique qualities.  The students did some research, and created “Thinglinks” with some of the facts they learned.  I’ve included links to their pictures below.  Once you click on your child’s name, you can roll your mouse over the tarantula picture, and you will see some dots.  When clicked on, they will reveal some text about tarantulas.

Kylie, Ellie and Cooper, Nicolas and Brian, Connor and Luke, Aaminah and Keely, Cristian and J

I also included some of the pictures taken by the kids while they were taking a look at Jeffrey – some more up close and personal than others!

In addition to learning some facts about tarantulas, the students started some creative writing about some super hero spider powers.  We also worked more on programming with the Kodable app.  We talked about conditional statements, and how they hear them in real life, too.  (“If you clean your room, then you can watch T.V.”, for example)