2H Class Blog!: Apr. 16th News

Bring on the spring temperatures! 2H had a ball soaking up the rays this week!

Highlights from our week:

*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!

*Reading: This unit, we will continue to "amp up" our reading power! This week we learned that one of the most powerful reading tools we have is.....OUR PARTNER! Students had the opportunity to choose the same book as their partner to practice using this great "tool".

Later in the week, each reader was given an "Emergency Reading Tool Kit" equipped with a special mechanical pencil and lots and lots of post-it notes. One strategy readers can use when they're stuck at a confusing part, or if they want to hold on to important information, is to "stop & jot" their thinking on a sticky note. We had a lot of fun practicing using our tool kits during various shared reading experiences. They really enjoyed going off to use their tool kits independently. They have a lot of powerful, deep thinking going on!

Next week, we will review all of the strategies we've learned this year. We will then set individual reading goals. It's hard to find what you already do really well as a reader, and what you'd like to work on, but these Owls will be up for the challenge!

*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 seat 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 week.

To officially launch our plant unit,the Owls were in for a special surprise when they learned Mr. Healey, on behalf of Urban Tree Service, sent each second grader a special gift. Each student received their own spruce sapling to take home and plant! We owe a huge THANK YOU to Urban Tree Service! The Owls were SO excited!!! What a great kick off to our latest science unit!