Three for Friday

Here are three highlights from today:

First, we had time this morning to work with a partner to read Splash! a story about water.  We were on a hunt for captions and verbs ending in -ing.  It was a fun way to work together, read and learn!

After lunch and recess we have been reading the first few chapters in various series books.  We have read almost ten different series so far and we are loving it!  

Today we read the first book in the series Dragon Slayers' Academy.  One of the funny parts was when the wizard granted a wish to Wiglaf's pet pig.  Wiglaf wished that the pig would be able to talk.  So the wizard granted his wish, except the pig was talking in a different language . . . Pig Latin.  Pig Latin is when you take the first sound off the front of a word, put it on the end of the word and add -ay.  For example, dog would become ogday.  We practiced saying names of students in our room and some other useful school words.  It was pretty fun!

This afternoon we  started our dandelion art project.  It is a multistep process, so we had to take time to let the different layers of paint dry.  Here is one finished project.

The Physics of Sound

Today we had a special presentation by Dr. Flaten from the University of Minnesota.  His daughters went to Brimhall and he lives in the neighborhood. 

He came and shared information with us about the physics of sound.  Here are some things we want to remember:

 - Sound is invisible.

 - Sound is represented in waves.

 - Sound has a pitch - high or low.

 - Sound causes vibrations.

Ask your child about the cool tools he had to measure sound and the very last thing he showed us.

More Duck Rabbit

This afternoon we wrote our final copies of our Duck Rabbit writing.  We also had a chance to illustrate a duck or a rabbit.  The finished projects look pretty convincing!

Duck Rabbit

Today we worked on our very own opinion writing.  We read the book Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.  In the book, we are presented with the duck rabbit drawing and given reasons as to which animal is represented.

Students had to go back and write about what they thought the animal was - duck or rabbit.  They had to state their opinion, give three reasons and then state their opinion again.  Ask your child which animal he/she thought was represented in the book.

Hey, Little Ant

Today we read Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose.  We read it as a way to talk and start writing about our opinion.    In the book, the boy is faced with the decision about whether or not he should squish the ant.  The ant and the boy each give reasons as to the decision at hand. 

Next students worked in partners to create a list of reasons to squish and not to squish.  It was harder than it looked.  Last, students made their choice and wrote a paragraph to tell their opinion and reasons.  Ask your child about what he/she thought the boy should do.

Dance Party!

This afternoon we had our Dance Party!  As a Second grade we earned a Dance Party for showing Bengal Pride in the hallways, bathrooms and lunchroom during the month of April.  As a group, we earned 575 Bengal Pride tickets, the most in the entire school!  We worked very hard and the reward was well deserved. 

The Dance Party was complete with a special surprise snack.  We enjoyed the dance and had a wonderful time together! 

Magazines!

Today in Library Ms. Z introduced us to some fun magazines and the magazine section of the library.  We talked about what types of magazines are made for kids our age, what we might find in some specific magazines and how to treat magazines if we check them out.  She also talked a bit about advertisements and their purpose in magazines.  We were all very excited about a new section in the library.

So many choices!