Nearby Nature

Thank you to our wonderful Nearby Nature volunteers for a great lesson on Friday! Students learned that animals are either herbivores, carnivores, omnivores or insectivores. The shape and design of animals' teeth give great clues about what that animal eats. Students then explored various animal skulls and tried to determine the type of animal it might be based upon its teeth and eye location. (Eyes in front born to hunt. Eyes on the side, born to hide.)

We also got up close to an amazing moose skull and antlers!

Reader's Theater: States of Matter

We had a great time introducing our new science unit, States of Matter, with a fun reader's theater! Everyone had such clear, expressive voices. Great Job!

Weaving Kindness

Kindness and empathy have been a crucial part of our social curriculum in first and second grade. So when I heard about the K.I.N.D. (Kids Inspiring Nice Deeds) project, I knew I wanted our class to participate! The K.I.N.D. project combines art and empathy. Student artwork is donated and given to those in need of a little love and encouraging support. (Hospitals, nursing homes, etc.)
Last week Sarah Ahrens, an art teacher extraordinaire, taught our class about Tibetan prayer flags and their connection to sending love and kindness out to the universe. She then gave us a weaving lesson and the class made beautiful weaving art to donate to the K.I.N.D. project. Our weaving circle was a magical experience!
Thank you, Sarah!

Mix-It-Up!

Last week we celebrated Mix-It-Up with our middle school buddies. It was wonderful to have the 1:1 help while our class typed their Expert Books into google slides.

Reader's Theater

Reader's Theater is a great way for students to build fluency and expression in their oral reading.  This group performed, "Counting at the Zoo" for our class. Stay tuned for more reader's theater in January.

The Hour of Code

It was amazing to watch these kids persevere during our Hour of Code! The app  "Lightbot" had all of our minds working hard while learning a little about what it takes to write a computer program.

Expert Books: Long Ago

We are wrapping up our study of Long Ago with Expert Books.  Each student has chosen 3-4 big ideas about life long ago to write about. (Topics include school, clothing, chores, food, etc...) They are full of so much knowledge! It is incredible to watch them WRITE, WRITE, WRITE! Once our books are complete we will create google presentations and teach others all we have learned about life long ago.