From Start to Finish

Have you ever wondered how something is made?  

Where do we get the resources to make all the things we use every day?  

These were two questions that helped launch a unit of study as we traced the development of a product from a natural resource to a finished product. 

We began with an open sort of items and students were asked to sort them in any way that they thought would make sense.  We learned there was one secret way to sort the times.  

The different ways we sorted

Things we use and Trash

Things that are not flexible and Things that are flexible

Plants and Not Plant

Things you find inside and Things you find outside

One group guess the secret sort:

Things that are made by man and Things that are made by nature

Each group took a picture of their sort using our classroom iPad and then shared it with the class using AirServe to explain their thinking. 

Then we went on a walk around our school to find more examples of natural resources.  We took pictures of what we found using our classroom iPad.  We also read a passage from our social studies textbooks and viewed a video about natural resources to get more information.

Next, some students were given a clip art picture of a natural resource and a man made product and mixed around the room, using a Kagan cooperative learning strategy.  Students had to find their partner by matching the natural resource to the man-made product. As groups found each other, they were given a corresponding book from the start to finish series that explained how the product is made from the natural resource.  

After having time to explore each of the different books in the series, students broke themselves into groups and three and each group selected one of the books they would like to explore further.  

Groups read the book and discussed the process.  They then made a Flow Map (Thinking Maps) to trace the development of a product from a natural resource to a finished product. 

Because we wanted to share our learning with others, each group also created a short video to explain the process using Educreations.  We were inspired byt the book Tomorrow's Alphabet as we created our titles.  We added a QR code to our maps and sent an email out to our campus inviting students to view our work.  

 We also learned how to use the i-nigma app to scan other groups QR code to view their videos.

This unit addressed the following enduring understandings:

People depend on their physical environment, including natural resources, to satisfy their basic needs.

All goods begin with natural resources.

Below are the Educreations projects we made:

We Are Thankful

The week before Thanksgiving, we reflected on the many things we have in our lives.   While having toys and gadgets are nice, we learned about children who do not have opportunities to go to school, go to bed hungry every night, don't have a bed, and don't have running water.  We discussed the difference between wants and needs and how lucky each of us to have our basic needs met.  During Thanksgiving it is tradition to pause and state something you are thankful for.  What are you thankful for this holiday season?  

Wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday season.  May the attitude of gratitude fill your lives beyond the holiday season!

The Second Grade Superstars

Created with Padlet

Holiday Card Exchange Project

Our class is participating in the Holiday Card Exchange Project this year.  We will be participating with classrooms across the United States and Canada. Each participating class will receive a card and information about each city of the classrooms in our group. 

I have created a map that shows where we have sent cards to.  We are creating a visual in our hallway of all the places we receive cards from.  As we receive cards we hope to communicate with some of the classes through Skype and/or Twitter.  

The kids and I are excited to learn more about the different places we receive cards from.  We will update you on our learning!

Digital Citizenship PBL: Learning Safely and Responsibly.

Last week brought a close to our first project based learning experience of the year.  I have recently shared information about launching our PBL, updates on our PBL, and how we collaborated with experts virtually.  After lots of learning and fun, we were ready to share what we had created.  I completely forgot about taking pictures during the presentation, so I am grateful to Su Brusco for sharing this picture with me. 

Click on the image below to see each group's presentation.

The kids did an amazing job during their presentations.  They did the everything from the introduction to facilitating the question and answer session.  I was so proud of them, but more importantly, they were proud of themselves.  

Our class wants to thank the following people who helped and supported us during this learning experience:

Mrs. Brusco and Mrs. Nickols for helping us launch our learning.
Mr. Froese, Mrs. Windham, and Ms Lamb for answering our questions
Ms. Brant for helping us with technology
Mrs. Gwyn and Mrs. Roberts for meeting with us and providing feedback
Ms. Fry, Ms. Casida, Ms. Garrett, and our parents who attended our presentation

While this was a wonderful learning experience, it was also a great deal of fun!

Brining Experts into the Classroom Virtually

As we were working on our Digital Citizenship PBL, the Smart Hawks team realized that they needed more information about using Smartboards safely and responsibly than they were able to find online.  We decided to invite Ms. Heather Lamb with Smart Technologies to Skype with the team so they could learn more.  Mrs. Lamb was so incredibly accommodating and sent the team several documents in advance. The team crafted some questions and were excited to collaborate with Mrs. Lamb.  

When it was time to make the phone call, all I did was was get Skype set up and the team took over from there.  We are so grateful to be learning in this time where technology helps us break down the walls of our classroom.  We also realize how lucky we are to be learning in a district that embraces 21st century skills.  If you would like to learn more about how our district is transforming so "All students enjoy thriving productive lives in a future they create," please visit the Lewisville ISD Strategic Design website.  

Exploring Sound

We explored sound through an open inquiry experience during a recent science investigation.  We borrowed some instruments from our amazing music teacher and the students spent some time examining them to learn how they produce sound.   

Then students explored a variety of materials we lovingly called "junk" and the our creative learners went to work designing instruments.  Below is a video that chronicles our learning.  

Mobile Version for viewing on Smartphone:

Here is a recording of the first live performance of the Superstar Junk Band. Enjoy!

listen to ‘Exploring Sound with @2ndGrSuperstars’ on Audioboo

Lessons Learned from Blogging with my Students

Two weeks ago, our class began blogging.  A great deal of learning, practice, and discussion went into the weeks leading up to students crafting their first post.  We also learned how to compose meaningful comments.  These were all important lessons; however, during these past two weeks I have also learned what a powerful tool blogging can be for a variety of reasons.

Blogging is powerful when is a choice not a requirement.  In our class, blogging is (and always will be) a choice. Each week I do have an optional blog challenge.   Students may respond to the blog challenge, post about any school appropriate topic they would like, or choose not to post at all.  In the past two weeks, students have composed over 100 posts.  Some students have more posts than others and that is fine.  We write in class every day.  Now that we have learned how to blog, blogging will one choice in how we can publish our work.  Blogging provides an authentic audience for our writing; however, we do have other outlets as well.  

Blogging allows us to connect with other students.  We have a class in Canada that we have connected with in Kidblog.  It has been very interesting for us to read what second graders in another country write about--surprisingly we write about very similar things.   

Blogging provides a wonderful opportunity for us to discuss digital citizenship and safety.  We are learning how to leave a positive digital footprint.  We have discussed how to choose our words carefully and have had to edit some of our posts and comments to be sure we are mindful of others feelings.   We also had a situation where one of our learning friends in Canada asked one of our students where they lived.  Because I have our settings set so I have to approve all comments, we were able to turn this into a teachable moment and talk about putting personal information online and how to respond when someone asks us questions like this.  

Parents are powerful partners in blogging.  Before launching our blogs, I obtained each parents' permission.  I explained the purpose of our blogs and how I saw us using them.  I also explained that I wanted the blogs open so families could comment on them.  Even though some parents were apprehensive, 100% of them gave permission with the understanding they could opt out at any time.  So far, I have had overwhelmingly positive comments from parents about our blogs.  It is important to me that they know they have a voice and choice in their student's online presence.  I also have a team of parents who serve as blogging volunteers.  They help me comment on blog posts, and they write the most amazing comments!

Blogging allows us to tear down the walls of our classroom and allows families and friends to communicate with us.  In the past two weeks, we have had over 360 comments (and counting) to our posts.  I had been worried that we would not have very many comments.  That simply had not been the case.  Grandparents, cousins, aunts, big sisters, and parents comment on our posts. We have had comments from all around the United States and Mexico. I love reading these comments and knowing that blogging has allowed student families to see what is happening in our classroom.  

I am excited about the learning opportunities that blogging has brought to our classroom.  I would love to hear how other classrooms use blogs and what they have learned.