December Recap

Wow!  I just can't even believe how quickly this year is zooming by!  December went by in a blink and I didn't even get the chance to share what we've been up to in room 8.  I'm so sorry for the delay, but better late than never!  Here are some December highlights!

Our Elf Projects

For this fun creative writing project the students were given the prompt that Santa was looking for a few new elves to help this Christmas season.  There were three positions open: the elf bakery, gift wrapping, and the toy workshop.  The students then completed an application applying for their desired position.  Next they wrote Santa three letters, one to persuade him to hire them as his newest elf, one to tell about about themselves as an elf, and last an entertaining story.  Whew!  Three thoughtful, letters to engage critical and creative thinking in one week!  It's amazing the level of work the students are capable of when they are excited and motivated!  As the last part of this fun project the students "elfed themselves" by creating an adorable art project.

Sharing writing with a buddy.

Helping with editing and revising. 

Working on our elves.

Creating!

I really thought I had a shot of the final projects and am so bummed I can't seem to find it.  Hopefully you saw your kiddo's project when it came home.

Double Digit Subtraction

I love this point in second grade because the students feel so big and important as we jump into big math concepts.   I'm so proud to say we tackled double digit subtraction with gusto and had a blast along the way.  Here are some songs we used to help us learn Blank Space  and Shake it Off.  Aren't those so catchy!?

Hard at work using base-ten blocks to add.

Collaborating with a partner.

Explaining why the addition strategy works.

Partners helping each other.

Addition math center, and scanning QR codes to check her work.

Playing a double digit addition game.

Addition Jenga

Addition math center, and scanning QR code to check his work.

Reindeer

Our study of reindeer was two fold, we learned all about these fascinating animals, and we also learned all about informational text features and how they help us as readers.  We wrapped up our study with the sweetest reindeer art project and a cinquain poem.  Please come see your reindeer in the art gallery!

Holiday Lights

We worked hard on this cute art and writing project.  Students brainstormed all sorts of winter/holiday themed phrases and then wrote an acrostic poem to go with their name,  They were such a cheery touch in our classroom this holiday. 

The Polar Express

What a special day this was!  The kids worked together to create the train and then we journeyed off to the North Pole!  A great time was had by all.  Even now I hear the kids saying they wished we still had the train in our class. Ha!

Special Polar Express storytelling.

Last but not least, a heart-felt thank you for all me lovely Christmas gifts.  Each one of you has blessed my heart with your generosity and kindness.  Thank you so much!

All Aboard The Polar Express

What an amazing adventure we had on The Polar Express!  I absolutely love seeing the kiddos creativity and imagination shine through this wonderful experience.  Thank you one and all for making this special day possible.  This is a magical memory that will be treasured.

Rudolph and Clarice

I just love the personality that shines through these happy reindeer!  After drawing their reindeer, our sweet second graders used watercolors, chalk, and sharpie to make their masterpiece come to life.  LOVE!

     

Holiday Lights

It's beginning to look very festive in room 8!

Our little cuties wrote sweet acrostic poems telling what you might find them doing over the holiday season.  I love that the students wrote a phrase and not just a word for each letter and the bright pop of color is so happy in our room!

Happy December friends!

Nonfiction Text Features and Polar Bears

All week we have been learning about informational text features as well as polar bears as we worked our way through a 13 page book.  Each page highlighted a different text feature such as caption, cutaway, fact box, illustration, map, glossary, table of contents, and so on.  We learned so many new and very important vocabulary words to add to our reading tool boxes.  This unit was very meaty and I am proud of our second graders hard work!  After becoming polar bear experts the kiddos wrote fantastic paragraphs about these amazing animals.  

Then the kiddos painted and drew some beautiful art to go with it.  

you tube- how to draw a polar bear.  LOVE!

To top it off we made "polar bear paws" to feel for ourselves how polar bears stay warm in the freezing arctic waters.  I wrapped students' hands in Crisco (fat) and dunked them in ice water.  This experiment totally worked and was such a concrete way to learn how the polar bears thick fat is so important for the icy conditions of the arctic.  

We have learned so much with this fun unit!