2H Class Blog!: Apr. 17th News

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Mrs. Healey’s Classroom News (4/17/16)

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Hello Sunshine!

*Math: Our math unit took an interactive and engaging turn these last two weeks as we began exploring measurement. After attempting to use a nonstandard unit (second graders!) to measure our classroom width, we quickly realized the importance of standard units! Students have been becoming experts at using various measuring tools and have been having a lot of fun measuring lengths and heights of classroom objects (although they've been having the most fun exploring the tape measures and finding lengths of body parts!). We'll wrap up this unit before vacation and start Unit #8: Geometry when we return.

For extra practice with measurements skills, try some of these activities at home:
Curious George Non-Standard Measurement - great for reinforcing estimating skills!
Measurement Weebly -collection of measurement games

*Reading: We've begun our final, major reading unit of the year. This unit, Series Book Clubs, pushes children to follow books through a series getting to know the characters (who are the stars of their books!). I've been beyond impressed with their engagement, stamina, and participation in this unit---and we've only just begun! Ask your child about the series they've been reading in class. Hopefully they can tell you lots about it! :)

*Writing: We've begun our latest writing unit: poetry! Students have been busy reading and writing poetry. While the thought of poetry can be somewhat intimidating, these second graders have been filling the air with truly beautiful words, phrases, and lines.

We'll continue to use our poets' eyes and look at things that give us BIG feelings and see things in NEW ways over the next several weeks. This beautiful weather will give us great opportunity to find inspiration in nature!

*Science: With the wax museum (and Jack's beanstalks!) under our belt, we have a lot more time and energy to devote to our science experiments. When observing our beanstalks, we noticed some grew, some didn't, some grew a LOT, and some just started. What causes this? What do plants need to grow and thrive? After a great science talk, we decided to PROVE what plants truly need to survive. Using pea, carrot, bean, and flower seeds, each student helped plant a seed to contribute to our experiment. Each table was set to experience a different variable. Our control plants and will receive water and sunlight; others will receive water and no sunlight; some will receive no water and sunlight; and some will receive no water and no sunlight. We set our predictions and will be carefully observing our findings over the next few weeks.