Veterans Day Activities!

Thursday and Friday we worked on a few Veterans Day activities in our classroom. 

Thursday, we gathered what we knew and what we wanted to find out about veterans on a KWL chart.  Then we saw a powerpoint, read Pebble Go and an article about Veterans.  We took notes as we learned.  Last we talked more about Veterans and what they can, have and are.  

Friday we took time to write a letter to some Veterans.  We brainstormed a list of words and phrases we might use in our letters.   We wrote the most beautiful and thoughtful letters!  They turned out awesome!

Thank you to all the men and women who have served!  We appreciate all you have done for us and our country!

Hippos are HUGE!

Today was an awesome day in the library!  We learned some amazing facts about hippos. 

Ms. Z read us another Star of the North Picture Book Award nominee.  Ask your child what he/she remembers about the book.

She also showed us this quick video:

Star of the North Picture Book Award

Today in library we started reading the Star of the North Picture Book Award nominees.  This is a picture book award voted on by only students who are in Kindergarten, First or Second grade in Minnesota.  There are 10 nominees and in the spring we will vote for our favorite.




Today, Ms. Zbacnik read Good Night Owl.    Ask your child if they can tell you about the story using a familiar structure,  beginning, middle and end. 




She also told us about beginning chapter books that are good for Second graders.  Here are a few:

Making Parachutes and Research!

A few weeks ago we learned about parachutes as a part of our Air and Weather Science unit.  We made parachutes to bring home at the end of the lesson.  We had to listen and follow directions to complete the parachute.  I was very impressed by how the students worked together to help each other.













We also did our first mini-research project in the library with Ms. Z.  We learned about The Golden Gate Bridge.  It was hard at first, but everyone did a great job working hard.

Buddy Time~!

We had a special visit with our Fifth Grade Buddies right before Fall Break!  Here are a few pictures of the fun!

Science Extraveganza!

We have started our first Science unit:  Air and Weather.  This week we spent time exploring air!

Here are a few things we learned:

Air is a form of matter.  It is invisible and takes up space.  Air interacts with objects and is all around objects.  Air can be compressed and compressed air can move things.  

Today we looked at air and water!  We used vials, a tub of water and paper towel for the experiment.  We tried to keep the paper towel dry while submerging the vial in water!  Ask your child how he/she was able to do it.

We experimented with compressed air and learned about air pressure.  It was a super fun experiment!

Author/Illustrator Event!

Thursday was a big day!  We were lucky enough to have Julie Fogliano and Christian Robinson visit our school.  Julie wrote When's my Birthday? and Christian made the pictures for it.  

All ready to listen to the presentation!

Julie shared with us how she researches her topics by "spying" or watching them over time.  She creates lists of what she sees so that she can include that information in her books. 

Christian shared with us how he gets ideas for his illustrations by looking at other books and the world around him.  He also told us that he makes a lot of mistakes before he gets the illustrations just the way he wants them.  He talked about his process and the various tools and materials he uses.  

He called on kids to suggest an animal and then he drew it for us!  He was amazing!  

At the very end, as we were leaving, he drew a picture of a Bengal Tiger for us!  It was so cool!