Happy President's Day!

Writing and Sharing

One of the tech items we are lucky enough to have in our classroom is a document camera (code name: Goose).  It makes sharing work easy and the kids love to show what they've done!  Here they are working on writing how to build a snowman (sequencing).

Scholastics Top 100 Books for Kids

There are a few more days left on the countdown, but it's fun to see how many you have read! 

http://www.scholastic.com/100books/

Valentine Prep

Just a reminder to send in covered boxes for our Valentine celebration on Tuesday!  Also, please send in any decorations for boxes (stickers, etc...). 

Don't forget to send in your child's special snack (Party in a Box) on Tuesday, as well! 

Plant a Kiss!

Emily and I made it to the Blue Bunny this morning for the Plant a Kiss! book launch party.  Emily wore her very special shirt that her friend Peter (H. Reynolds) gave her for her birthday last year!  It was very appropriate for a "Plant a Kiss" party, as you can see!  Mr. Reynolds is such an inspiration, but I was also thrilled to meet Ms. Rosenthal.  I love her book Cookies: Bite Sized Lessons, and am looking forward to reading some of her grown-up books!
I also grabbed the latest edition of Hutch Magazine while I was there.  Hopefully some more of my students will become staff writers for the edition due out in June! 

Animal Projects

Second Graders did such a FANTASTIC job on their animal reports and projects!  Not only did my students have a chance to share their work with classmates, but we also visited the students in Mrs. Poelaert's and Miss Spiniello's classes.  Each student was assigned a student in each of the other classes to interview about their animal.  The interview questions allowed students to ask important questions, but the conversations that continued AFTER the assigned questions were asked were fun, interesting, and so engaging!  To hear second graders carry on conversations about characteristics that distinguish different species as vertebrates (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish) or invertebrates, about adaptations that allow creatures to live in different environments, diet, distribution, and so much more is incredible! 

Projects included puppets, dioramas, poster displays, clay models, Powerpoint slideshows, video, and more!  The students seemed to enjoy the project and obviously took great pride in presenting their work.  I also think they were impressed by their friends, as well.  It is wonderful to see students inspire each other.

Below is a short photo book that I put together.  Unfortunately a couple of students are missing, but I will add them to the page if I can get photos of them with their projects.  Enjoy!

Digital Learning Day!

In recognition of Digital Learning Day, our class created a Wallwisher wall to show what we have learned about mammals! Wallwisher is a fun, easy tool that is great for collaborating to share ideas or organizing ideas. Perhaps a good tool to use to take notes while preparing to write this month's biographies? Enjoy checking out some mammal facts!