2nd Grade News
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Liberty Science Center Trips

1/22/2017

 
Second graders ventured off campus to the Liberty Science Center this week.  We were excited to get an opportunity to use our observing skills in an environment with so much to see and do!  Students took part in a Young Scientists Lab experience about Green Roofs.  We thought about the question, "Why are green roofs important?" and learned about how green roofs help cool cities down, alleviating the urban heat island effect.  We learned about how green roofs are made and constructed our own models, layer by layer.  (Students were excited to learn a fun fact: our own MKA Upper School has a green roof!)

After our workshop, students had time to explore the exhibits a bit.  We were able to use our whole bodies to learn about the world that surrounds us.  Students climbed in an infinity climber that was several stories tall.  Students tested our senses when we traveled in pitch dark.  Without the use of our eyes, we relied on touch and sound to get us to the end of a dark maze.  We saw different exotic animals and insects in their habitats.  It was fun to learn in another classroom than our own, to engage all of our senses, and to build our S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills by exploring this wonderful museum together.

Math Station Previews and OMCs

1/20/2017

 
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​2nd grade mathematicians previewed unit 5 math station activities, which introduced concepts in 3-D and 2-D shapes as well as review content such as telling time and math fact fluency practice. Math Stations incorporate a bank of varied activities that students are to select from and complete during math workshop. The activities included in Math Stations help to reinforce unit related concepts and math fact recall. Students keep track of the math station activities that they complete on their math station tally log that stays in their math station folders. Some of the activities utilize educational technology resources, others are paper and pencil and math manipulative based. Students can also choose to work independently or join a partner in a cooperative math activity. Math Station work extends practice time with math content, fosters autonomy as students make choices for themselves and fosters risk-taking and exploration during math times in class.

Friday review sessions of our Optional Math Challenge extensions (OMCs) are going very well as students come together to share the strategies they used to arrive at solutions for the weekly problem assigned. Mathematicians are also beginning to note there can be more than one way to solve a problem and that some math problems can have more than one solution.

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Reading to Retell

1/11/2017

 
​Second Graders are learning to pay careful attention to what we read. To this end, we are practicing to focus on the important parts of a story in order to retell the story. We have learned that most books include a setting, main characters, main parts, a problem, solution to the problem, and a specific ending. We can now recognize these parts of our books and are taking notes about them in our reading journals. We are reading slowly and making sure that our notes provide a clear guide for us to retell our books. Beginning next week, second graders will use the notes in our reading journals to guide us through a recorded retelling of our books. It is our hope that when others hear a telling of the important parts of our stories, it will guide them to understand more about the book as well. 

Atlas Explorers

1/5/2017

 
Second graders were excited to reconnect and reunite after winter break!  Students returned to class ready to dig in and explore a new tool: atlases.  They pored over these new texts, noting questions they had, things they learned from their atlas, and things they noticed as they explored. The children have discovered that atlases contain pictures, graphs, and maps to help us learn about places in the world.  This atlas exploration helps to launch our geography unit, in which students will learn about maps and map features before delving into a collaborative study of the regions of the United States.  ​

Second graders are also hopeful that this winter will bring snow to make recess experiences even more fun.  Please remember to send appropriate outdoor clothing for the season, especially if snow has fallen.  Hats, gloves, boots, and snow pants (or extra pants) are required in the winter months.  Please remember to mark all items with your child’s first and last names.  (Weather permitting, children go outside daily.  If the temperature goes below 25°F, recess will be held indoors.)  Thank you for your help and Happy New Year.

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