Vocabulary Day 2015 was a success! Each child found an interesting vocabulary word in their reading. They then looked up the word in the dictionary and recited the definition to other 2nd grade classes. I enjoyed seeing their creativity shine! What I have loved most is seeing them use these new vocabulary words in their everyday vocabulary and writing. What a wonderful (AND FUN!) learning experience.
I have just LOVED getting to know your kiddos the past couple of weeks. I can tell this is going to be a wonderful year...full of learning and full of laughs! Here are a few pictures I snapped recently: I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged. It's already JANUARY. Honestly this year is going by in the blink of an eye. December-- December was such an eventful month in our class. Between the PTO performance (which by the way was precious!), our class party, the Three Billy Goat's Gruff play, our Holidays Around the World PBL and Frozen Friday with our buddy class we were busy bees in 2B! On a personal note, I had such a relaxing break, but I am excited to start the spring semester. We have so much left to learn in 2nd grade. :) Happy Thursday! I can't believe October is flying by so quickly. I seriously feel like October began yesterday. Honestly though, WHERE IS THE FALL WEATHER? We had a tease, but it's back to the hot, Texas weather...sigh! Here are a few things we've been doing in 2B... Johnny Appleseed We absolutely loved learning about Johnny Appleseed a few weeks ago. The kiddos did many different activities involving John Chapman throughout the week such as conducting research, watching videos, reading books, creating thinking maps, informative writing and so much more. I found a lot of the children enjoy history more than they thought. At the end of our week long study, we celebrated his life by enjoying homemade, crockpot applesauce. This was my first time making it, and let me tell you, it was delicious (if I do say so myself!) Weather PBL We are wrapping up our weather PBL. This was a new PBL this year, and I think the kids have learned just as much as I have. It has been so interesting to see the weather conditions in all the regions of the world. It has opened our eyes to how different parts of the country live, what they wear during this time of the year, etc. Last week each PBL group split up and Skyped with a meteorologist from their particular region. I have the West region and we skyped with a meterologist named Kathie in Oregon. Ask your child their favorite part of our PBL! Below are some pictures I snapped the other day when they were doing some cloud research. Bar graphs/pictographs In math we have been focusing on bar graphs/pictographs and writing/solving word problems based on our data. Yesterday I had each child find a partner and create a graph then write a word problem to go with it. They also started constructing their own graph of choice today! We had a discussion about how we would use graphs in the real world. They had some really impressive responses. Turns out, we can use graphs every day, depending on how we want to compile our data. It is really great to see those "ah-ha" moments, light bulb moments go off when they understand something, especially in math! Don't forget our Fall Poetry Celebration on October 30th. I can't wait to hear all of those precious kids recite their fall poems.
We have been so busy learning in 2B that I have forgotten to post! Weather PBL: We have been learning about all of the different tools that meteorologists use to forecast the weather. They have been getting into their PBL groups, researching on PebbleGo or another credible source, and then creating the tools. It have truly enjoyed seeing all of their creativity shine. One of the things I love most about PBL is seeing them collaborate, communicate and critical think as a group. As a class, we have had several conversations about how sometimes working as a team may be difficult, but it teaches us to compromise. Ask your child the weather cycle song they learned. Hopefully it WILL get stuck in your head like it did ours! The learners' will begin learning about clouds this week as well. :) The Weather Cycle Song Weather travels in a cycle yes it does, Weather travels in a cycle yes it does, It goes up evaporation, Forms a cloud that's condensation, Comes back down precipitation... YES IT DOES! Below are some videos I took today! We took the weather vanes they constructed and watched them in action! Some groups had more luck with their stabilization than others. Popcorn Adjectives: Another focus we have been discussing is using adjectives (describing words) in our writing. We did a fun (Ok, boring word--enjoyable, pleasant, lively) time coming up with adjectives to describe our yummy popcorn! I have no idea why the pictures are uploading sideways. Bummer! Thank you so much for your constant support and for sharing your adorable children with me. Happy fall y'all!WOW! I can hardly believe that we are already in our 3rd week of school. Time flies when you're having fun! We launched our first PBL today by looking at pictures of our peers in different states, seasons, clothing and climates. We discussed each of the pictures, and I think the kiddos were surprised to learn that the weather is different when you're not in Texas. I am excited about the Weather PBL. It will incorporate Science, map skills, Language Arts and SO MUCH MORE! Additionally, we are almost done setting up our journals for the year. This is one of my favorite parts of second grade. It is always refreshing to see the children reflect on their learning through journaling! Today we also took class pictures for the yearbook. Enjoy! :) We had such a busy and exciting first week in 2nd grade. I enjoyed getting to know the new group of sweet kiddos. The first week was full of "get to know" you activities. I hope the children learned as much about me as I learned about them! It is always such a joy to see everyone's personalities shine through. I can already tell this is going to be a memorable year with a group of such talented, creative and lively learners. We created "All About Me" books, face in hole maps describing their interests, acrostic poems with their names, "Math About Me" with numbers about their lives, read Chrysanthemum and discussed what makes us wilt and bloom, completed our first science experiment with 2A, and MUCH MORE! I'm sure you already have, but ask your child what their favorite thing we did last week was! :) I am looking forward to week 2! I hope everyone had a relaxing, fun-filled 3 day weekend. -Ms. Fertsch P.s. Sic'em Bears! How cute are these two? |
Ali FertschIt is my third year as a second grade teacher in Texas! Archives
November 2015
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