Cause and Effect/Sequencing Through History

 

Over the past few weeks the students have been learning about timelines, biographies, and cause and effect.  Together we have read about many famous Americans and identified their greatest contributions to our society. In addition, we explored how life would be different today if these people had never lived. The following are some activities that the students participated in:

 

-Reading/Researching famous Americans

-Sequencing important events in their life on the Smart Board and with Cards

-Having group discussions/debates on the why these people were important and how life would be different without them

-Demonstrating some of the important influences that they have had (we turned off all of the lights and tried to do our schoolwork without any electricity)

-Writing essays on famous Americans and why they are well known

- Completing a home project where the students created a timeline about their own life (this is my favorite!)

Adkins' Party Rockers

Congratulations to all of our amazing 2nd graders as they performed tonight in the 5th season of JBE So You Think You Can Dance. They all did an awesome job! The singing, dancing, and speaking made it a show to remember!

 

 

The crew!!!

 

And our fantastic judge..."Lariah Carey!"



Learning About Life Cycles

 

Over the past few weeks the kids have been learning about the life cycles of plants and animals. Together they have built their background knowledge, researched specific plants and animals, and wrote reports on a life cycle of their choice. Here are a couple of snapshots of the kids hard at work!

Literacy Week!

We kicked off Literacy Week this year by surprising the kids Monday morning looking wacky in our character costumes. The kids loved seeing us like this and it got them excited for some of the week's upcoming events.

 

 

We paired up with a kindergarten class and got to bring some of our favorite books to read to the kids. It was such a great surprise to hear the kindergarteners reading to us too!

 

 

Mrs. Homan took a break from her busy job at the county office to read one of her favorite books, Verdi, to our class. The kids really enjoyed the fun plot and colorful illustrations.

We even took the time to mix a little math with our reading. The kids voted on their favorite genre and we created a class bar graph with our data. 

Holiday Fun!

 

Although we do work A LOT in second grade, it's always great to have some time for just plain fun! Here are a couple of pics of the way we celebrated our last week of school in 2013.

 

We started out with a snowman breakfast. I decorated all of the tables and desks to "transform" the room after the kids left on Thursday.  When they came in Friday morning they were very excited. They got to decorate their pancakes will all sorts of sugary goodness before digging in!

 

 

 

 

Next, we had some winter centers.  The kids really enjoyed playing Pin the Nose on the Snowman! Thank you Mrs. Fields for helping out with this one!

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we had a good old-fashioned Florida snowball fight...that is with toilet paper of course! The kids each got a roll of tp and a partner. They had to make one person into a snowman by using the whole roll of paper. When everyone was wrapped up, their partners ripped it apart and everyone made "snowballs" and got to throw them around the room. Such fun!!

We ended the day watching Christmas movies in our PJ's, exchanging books, and opening our special Christmas bags. I know I loved watching the looks on the kids faces and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it too! Merry Christmas everyone!!!