We almost had a full, uninterrupted week! It felt good to be back in our routine and we were able to get a TON done. I'd be surprised if they weren't awfully tired Friday afternoon!
Highlights from our week:
*Reader's Workshop: This week, we continue to "amp up" our reading power! We had fun as 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".
We learned that "Same Book Partnerships"...
1. Make plans for stopping and checking in after reading a section.
2. Don't just ignore the confusing parts...they ask questions and reread to figure things out!
We'll continue using our partner as a reading tool next week when we work on keeping track of longer books. As your second graders continue to grow as readers, the length of their books will too!
*Writer's Workshop: Our young scientists are doing an incredible job taking ALL the research and results they've gathered in their science notebooks and creating an "expert book" on the states of matter. The knowledge they've obtained and the way they are able to teach others is blowing me away! We will finish up these stories next week, enjoying celebrating and sharing them in typical Owl fashion, and then they will be sent your way.
*Math Workshop: We've begun our next math unit: Foundations of Multiplication and Division. The class has been SO excited to begin this work. This week, we focused on equal groups and building arrays. After building and drawing, we worked hard to write number models to match. Students could use repeated addition or multiplication number models to match their work.
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| Learning a new array game: Racing Rectangles! |
For additional practice at home, IXL has great foundational multiplication practice under the "Y" skill section. Please note, that while we have begun this work, memorizing multiplication facts is not a second grade expectation. It will be important your second grader continues working on their addition and subtraction facts for the remainder of the year :) Of course, if they're already fluent with their basic addition and subtraction facts, then they can absolutely get a jump start on learning those multiplication facts!
*Science: We continued to investigate matter this week and started exploring what can happen when you mix different materials. Through several quick experiments, we got some exciting results. We began by asking if two solids could be mixed together, which naturally led to the question: can solids change shape? Starting with one starburst, we used our hands to add pressure and heat, then combined all of our starbursts together. The result? Solids CAN change shape!
Later in the week, we watched what happened when we placed an M&M into cold water (the Owls already knew that our results would be different if we used hot water). After making a hypothesis, it was time to watch!
Recording observation after the 1 minute, 3 minute, and 5 minute mark, the Owls quickly realized that the M&M's candy coating had dissolved, while the chocolate center remained. We left our experiment up and running overnight and discovered that the chocolate STILL had not dissolved. Wanting to see if the chocolate would EVER dissolve, we left the cups out over the weekend---what do you think we can expect to see Monday morning?
*5th Grade Buddies: Our engineers were up for yet another design challenge this week. Switching things up, everyone worked with the same material this time, but was put to a different challenge! While some challenges required more patience, perseverance, and creativity, all groups worked hard to get the job done!
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Questions to promote "School Talk":
-Can solids change shape? What do they need in order to do so?
-What color M&M did you experiment with? What happened when you put it in cold water?
-Draw a 5 x 4 array.
-Which direction do rows go? Columns?
-What arctic predator did you learn about this week? What were some of its adaptations?
-What was a part of our guest author's presentation (Sandra Dodge) that made you laugh?
-What partnership book are you reading?
-What Lego challenge did you work on with your 5th grade buddy?
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Important Dates:
-100th Day Collection Due: Friday, Feb. 2nd
-Early Release: Wednesday, Feb. 7th
-Valentine's Day Class Celebration (kids only): Wednesday, Feb. 14th (more information to come!)
Winter Break, No School: Monday, Feb. 26th - Friday, Mar. 2nd
