Math this week brought with it some interesting characters...inchworms, footworms and yardworms! The students have been hearing the sequel of Jack and the Beanstalk titled "Jim and the Beanstalk." In this story, Jim gets to explore a bit of giant land and finds out that there are huge worms that live in the giant's garden. These worms help each other out by giving piggybacks across the garden. Inchworms are as big as you'd expect, each one inch long. Here you can see the inchworm rulers the kids made, each with twelve worms and a foot long. This is where things get a bit more interesting. Footworms are each one foot long and as you can see, come in a variety of colors and patterns. And finally we come to yardworms. These gentle giants are, as I'm sure you guessed by now, each a yard long. This unit is a fun one for students because they get to exercise their creativity in the creation of the worms. But that's not all. The students also had to solve all sorts of tricky questions involving these worms.
They were using standard units of measurement, converting inches to feet to yards and back again, and using critical thinking for questions such as these.... Can two footworms carry 27 inchworms across the garden? Explain your thinking. If there are a 100 inchworms waiting for a piggyback ride, how many inchworms would 1 yardworm and 2 footworms be able to take in the first ride? How many inchworms are still waiting for their ride? Tell Me a Story...
1/20/2018
This new storytelling activity during Morning Meeting has been a big hit with the second graders. Tell Me a Story is a deck of creative story cards with just pictures. The way we play begins with each student getting 3-4 cards which they can then play in any order when it's their turn to further the story. Someone starts by laying down a card and saying 1-2 sentences about their card. The next player then chooses a card to lay down and add their own 1-2 sentences to further the story. This is a great activity for several reasons. First of all, it is inclusive and everyone has a turn to be creative and add to the story in their own way, while simultaneously building upon a collective storyline.
Secondly, the second graders really have to listen and pay attention to each other in order to follow the previously played card to continue a coherent story. They communicate ideas and suggestions to each other easily, while still respecting each student's contribution to the plot, no matter how crazy it might be. The third thing that comes out when we play this game is how to use transition words or phrases to continue events in the story. Things like "Meanwhile..., Suddenly..., However..., But little did they know on the other side of the world..." are now being naturally used not only in this activity, but also in the student's writing as well. These are all great skills that are reinforced in a ten minute game! Writing Workshop: Hot Wheels Edition
1/13/2018
It's been a busy first week back at school after break. The second graders have started several new units of study in different areas, but the hands down favorite so far has been the new informational unit in writing workshop. There are several different types of informational text the students will be learning how to write in this unit. The first text that the students are learning about is how to write a lab report. Since we've studied the scientific method this year, students were familiar with the verbiage. They were super excited when they realized that they could bring in their favorite Hot Wheels cars to experiment with. While this activity was focused on the writing components of a lab report, students were also actively engaged in critical thinking and measurement skills as they did two experiments - one series of test runs on the carpet and another on a bare floor. While we still have a couple of things to master, such as periods and capitalization issues as well as making sure to record measurements accurately, the second graders are well on their way to independently writing a thoughtful and well-planned lab report!
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Marcella HitchcockMs. Hitchcock teaches second grade, is a mom of two, an avid reader, lifelong learner, and a seeker of sunshine! Archives
March 2021
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