First Stop: Video News
Another great week has passed in second grade. Â If you ask the kids, I’m guessing their highlight might have been our much anticipated reading party. Â Given that we are a democratic classroom, the kids voted on what kind of a party they wanted. Â Turns out, they wanted PJ’s, popcorn and a movie. Â Little did they know, the “movie” was going to be an episode from the original (1970’s) educational series called the “Electric Company”. Â Boy was it rad!
In addition to our reading party, we did lots of great, collaborative work this week in math. Â We are learning some very challenging subtraction, where you need to subtract with zeros in the middle of the top number. Â Some students actually took on the role of teacher, showing their friends how to do these kinds of problems. Â The results were amazing! Â Who needs adult teachers anymore?
In addition to working on some tough math, we experimented with awesome plant science! Â We learned about pigments in flowers, by crushing up petals and extracting the pigments using rubbing alcohol. Â Also, we learned how the xylem and phloem carry water and nutrients up through a plant, through the flower-dying experiment.
We are reaching an exciting milestone in second grade, as many kids are beginning to publish their first books. Â Below is one proud student sharing his small moment book with the class. Â This is one of many impressive pieces of writing that your children will complete throughout the year. Â Stay tuned for an informal publishing party.
Finally, we were graced, yet again, by a fabulous guest reader, who read a book about Chanukah.  We are already getting excited for latkes!  I encourage everyone, even aunts, uncles, and grandparents to come in and read to our amazing class!