Pumpkin Book Reports

Wow!  The pumpkin book reports were amazing!  I love to see the characters come to life and the kids love presenting their very first book report.  Job well done kids!  We learned about several super books that are now on our reading bucket list for sure!

Bats, Bats, Bats!

I am so proud of our second graders hard work on our study of these interesting creatures of the night.  We closely read informational text all about bats to gather facts and key information.  Then each student made a bat fact book.  This cute little book then became their graphic organizer to help them write an informative paragraph about bats.  To top it off each student drew a scientific diagram and labeled key parts.  Our kiddos are certainly growing as writers and I couldn't be happier.  They are gaining independence and confidence in their abilities. So proud!

I can't believe this is the only picture I snapped.  I thought I got the students in action.
I guess I need to be sure to snap more action shots!

Pumpkin Science

Hello friends!  Wow it has been awhile since I have last shared.  My apologies.  Life has been busy, busy, but we have sure been working away in room 8. :)  Over the last few weeks we have been doing some pumpkin science.  Students worked in teams to investigate both the outside and the inside of their pumpkin.  Then we posed the question, what will happen when soil, water, and sunlight are added to the inside of each pumpkin.  Each student formed a hypothesis, we conducted our experiment, then we patiently waited (only a couple of days) to see what would happen.  Low and behold sprouts grew like crazy!  We have been monitoring our pumpkins' progress each week and writing about the changes seen.  Our plan is to plant our pumpkins right in the ground because they are decomposing and sprouts are shooting out of every opening.  I think we might be starting our very own MATES pumpkin patch!  Please be on the look out for your child's pumpkin science book to be coming home soon.  I'm sure your little scientist will have a lot to share with you. 

Pumpkins and Cats

It's beginning to look festive in room 8!  We finished our first Halloween project yesterday.  The students created these oh so cute pumpkins and cats by carefully folding paper to divide it into fourths.  Then they gave their pumpkin or cat a personality and added adjectives to describe it.  Super cute!  Let's see... that's math, art, and grammar in one sweet little package.  I'll take it!

Our First Book Report

We sure enjoyed sharing these super book reports today!  Not only was everyone excited and proud, but they did an excellent job as well.  I am looking forward to hearing from more second graders tomorrow.  There sure are a lot of fantastic books out there!  My teacher heart is beyond happy about how much our second graders LOVE books! 

Bats, Bats, Bats

Funky Little Bats!

We have been having lots of fun with informational text.  The students practiced their close reading skills, wrote their own bat facts book, drew a scientific diagram labeling the key parts of a bat, and wrote an informative paragraph to share their knowledge.

Here's a fun SONG we sang while learning about these interesting flying mammals.

Poster and Pumpkin Book Report

Dear Parents,

  For this trimester’s book report I have something very fun and festive planned for our second graders!  Each student will be creating a book report poster telling all about a narrative book of their choice, then they will use a pumpkin to create the main character of the book. 

  For the poster, written responses must be in complete, thoughtful, neat sentences.  Illustrations and other details should also represent best effort work.  Feel free to add details that will bring the project to life!

  As for the pumpkin ... it is time for our second graders’ creativity to shine!  The only criteria is that the main character of their book must be clearly depicted.  I have shown the kiddos some examples online and they are oh so excited to make their own projects!  I added the link on our blog that shows some fantastic examples for reference.

  Projects are due Monday, October 27, 2014.  This gives one week to find a book, one week to read it closely, and one week to work on the project.  Homework will be light during the last week so everyone has enough time to work.

Thank you for partnering with me in this fun creative project! 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.

                        Happy Reading,

                          Mrs. Lara      

For examples click HERE.

Some Highlights From Our Week

We sure have had a fantastic week in room 8!  The children are learning so much and there is certainly no shortage of smiles. :)  I am so very proud of our delightful second graders.  They make my heart swell. <3  Here is a little snap shot of our week...

Having more fun with nouns and adjectives.

We made our own version of the song My Favorite Things renaming it My Favorite Nouns.

Leraning all about addition and subtraction fact families.

Finding out if a peach will sink or float using the scientific method to guide our experiment.

Writing a Guess Who riddle for our Purple People Eaters.

Creating folk art pictures of our families in art class. 

And here's our sweet little FLIP

Have a wonderful weekend friends! 

Help Needed for Pumpkin Fun

Next Tuesday from about 10:30-11:30 we will be doing some pumpkin math and science!  I already have two fabulous parent helpers at that time, but I would really like to do this project small group.  Therefore I am looking for two more parents that can come in on October 7th from 10:30-11:30.  Please comment below if you are available.  Thanks so much!

I am also gathering those little round pumpkins for this project.  I think they might be called sugar pumpkins?  they look like this:

I picked up three last night at the market but I still need 7 more.  If you happen to see them while shopping and can pick one or two up to send in by Monday that would be great!

Thank you!

October is Here!

At times like these I wish we were in the South so I could cheerfully say... "It's Fall Y'all!"  Did I even spell that right?? Did you hear the twang??  #californiagirl #whatarebootsandscarves

To greet this special month we have started in on some festive projects in room 8 (even if it is a beautiful, hot, sunny day that feels like summer.  Just wait till we write our Fall poems -we get all our good material about this season from books I tell ya!).

Anyhoo... I do love this time of the year so bring on the pumpkins!  This week we have been making these adorable pumpkins and kitties.

This project started out as one of my favorite math lessons on finding half of a shape. Over the years it has turned into a gem integrating art, math, and grammar skills.

After creating their pumpkins and cats, the kiddos added their own unique personality and creativity, which they then described with descriptive adjectives.  I LOVE how they turned out, our room is feeling festive, and my little loves had fun learning and were super proud of their projects. A win Win WIN!

Tomorrow we make our Purple People Eaters - I can't wait!