Ice Cold

At the end of the year for the past two years, Mrs. James' class and our class join up to make coolers out of everyday objects.  This activity is a great way to wrap up the year, end our Water Unit, and get kids working together cooperatively.  Students constructed their own original coolers to see how long they can keep an ice cube cold. 

Buenafication Day

In honor of Earth Day, students at Buena Vista University hold an annual tradition known as Buenafication Day.  At the elementary our 2nd graders were able to lend a helping hand to the BVU students as they bagged soup ingredients for those in need. 

The People of Japan

As our unit on China and Japan come to a close I had the students jigsaw read a book about Japan.  The activity has students read one section of chapter from the book and present the information to the class.  We read the book in pieces and put them together like a puzzle.  

For their presentation students then made a slide show on Google Docs slideshow the pointed out the key ideas from their section.

Japan - Introduction

Japan-Celebrations and Games

Japan-Community Life

Japan-Rulers and Warriors

Japan-The Arts

Japan-then and Now  

China & Japan Units

Our second graders are currently studying the countries of China and Japan.  As they learn about the cultural attributes of each region, they also connect those ideas to their current American culture.  If you are used to discussing your child's day when they come home from school, ask them about these two countries.  If you don't normally discuss your child's day at school, take a few minutes each day to do so.  

This blog has a link to our class's symbaloo page (basically an online bookmarks page) that will take you to numerous websites with great information about China and Japan.  Feel free to explore these sites in order to further engage in discussion with your child about what they are learning!

When clicking on the symbaloo link, you may have to search for our China and Japan webmix on the website. 

#parentsarethefirsteducators

Iowa Assessments

Starting Tuesday, January 29th our school will be administering the Iowa Assessments.  In second grade this is the first year students take these tests.  They are a cumulative assessment of what students in second grade should be learning in Iowa.  As a school we are "graded" based on how our students perform on these test.  More importantly, as teachers we are able to get a clear look at what our students are achieving and how to teach them each year.

There are many things you as a parent can do to help give your child an advantage on performing well on these exams.

1. make sure they are getting the correct amount of sleep each night (8 hours)
2. start they day off with a healthy, filling breakfast.
3. read with them at home and limit TV, computer, and video game time

How will your children spend their Winter break??

As we get set to prepare for Winter break, I've wondered what some families do as their children will not be in school for more than 10 days.  This will be my first break with a child of my own, and although he will only be a few days past two months old, I thought of how I might spend time with him while I have it.  As well has how we will spend future breaks together.  So I thought of a list of ideas that might help pass the time, keep your child's mind in good "thinking" shape and strengthen our relationships with our little loved ones.  

1. read together
2. read together and plan a craft that goes with the book
3. read a book together that has a movie about it, and watch the movie with hot cocoa
4. if we are lucky enough to have snow, get outside and play in the snow
5. bake or cook together, pass on a traditional recipe to your child
6. do some redecorating or much needed "winter cleaning" together
7. play board games
8. play a video game with them
9. build something together (using legos, pop-sickle sticks or any other household items)  
10. Ask your child what their favorite thing to do is and plan a play date with them.

Dissecting an eye!!!

Today our class was able to take information they learned and see it in real life.  Thanks to our own nurse Twyla and some willing nursing students, every student was able to watch the nurses dissect a cows eye and see the parts of the eye that we've been studying in the past few weeks.