First Stop: Video News

Another great week has passed in second grade.  If you ask the kids, I’m guessing their highlight might have been our much anticipated reading party.  Given that we are a democratic classroom, the kids voted on what kind of a party they wanted.  Turns out, they wanted PJ’s, popcorn and a movie.  Little did they know, the “movie” was going to be an episode from the original (1970’s) educational series called the “Electric Company”.  Boy was it rad!

In addition to our reading party, we did lots of great, collaborative work this week in math.  We are learning some very challenging subtraction, where you need to subtract with zeros in the middle of the top number.  Some students actually took on the role of teacher, showing their friends how to do these kinds of problems.  The results were amazing!  Who needs adult teachers anymore?
In addition to working on some tough math, we experimented with awesome plant science!  We learned about pigments in flowers, by crushing up petals and extracting the pigments using rubbing alcohol.  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.  Below is one proud student sharing his small moment book with the class.  This is one of many impressive pieces of writing that your children will complete throughout the year.  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!