Electricity Stations

In science we are rotating through different electricity stations. Students are constructing snap circuits, series and parallel circuits, and looking at insulators and conductors. 

Here is a visual that may help with capacity. 

Westward Expansion

This week we are lucky to have in depth lessons on the Louisiana Purchase with retired Truman teacher Mrs. Jardon. She is teaching us all about Lewis and Clark and their discoveries of the new territory West. 

1:1 Computers!

Woo hoo look at this full cart of computers!  We are so fortunate to have a computer for each student in our class. We have signed technology contracts and practiced bookmarking important sites we frequently use.  We no longer have to borrow from other rooms for a complete set and everyone can type their informational report!

Math Review Fun

Connect four anyone?  We reviewed for a math test today by playing the game connect four. The students were on teams and the goal was to get 4 post-its in a row. We didn’t have a winner, but we had a great review. Test tomorrow!

Writing Celebration

On Thursday we celebrated our first informational writing unit. The students had the chance to read each other’s writing and write compliments. Next week we start book 2!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

We had a great Valentine’s Day today. We made catapults that could fling conversation hearts across the room. We also tried knocking down a cup tower. We have some great engineers in our class designing these catapults with limited supplies. We had a brief power outage this afternoon too and we went outside to run in the fresh air. 

Olympics in Math

To celebrate the Winter Olympics this week and next week our math stations will have an Olympics theme added to them. We have some snowball throwing and jumping, but using measurements to tie in the math. 

Jump Rope for Heart

Check out these jumping beans at Jump Rope for Heart today!

Making Salt and Pepper Dance

Today we did an experiment in science making salt and pepper dance. We used fabric (or hair) to charge a balloon. The negatively charged balloon then causes a reaction with the salt and pepper. Try it at home!

Buddy Time

Today we met again with our buddies from first grade. We talked about being mindful and made a little mindful flower. 

Continental Congress

Today students participated in a whole class debate. They were in their loyalist and patriot roles and they debated whether the colonies should leave Great Britain. Some were nervous at first but they really got into it!

It’s Debatable

Today we practiced our debating skills with the class split in half. Half of the class were Patriots, the other half Loyalists. They were debating whether the colonists should leave Great Britain. I think they enjoyed debating, but found it is a bit more challenging than they thought it would be.