We have been talking in great detail about animal classifications, habitats, and Ohio's environments. Today, there was true excitement in the air as the class was able to pick their animals for the research projects. They cannot wait to get started! 
Today, as our study of Ohio plants and animals continues, we planted our own little garden to talk about the plant life cycle. We planted sugar snap peas (which the seeds are actually the peas- the kids were fascinated with that). They each made their own label, and found their own spot. We talked about the basic needs of plants, and how we were going to provide these needs. Then, we made predictions about which day we thought we would start to see some sprouting. It was an exciting morning here in 2nd grade!
Today we started our nonfiction writing unit. We had such a good time! We began by looking at a book that answered such questions as what is earwax made of, how many hairs are on my head, how high until my balloon pops, and my personal favorite if a deaf person speaks in sign and reads lips, do they think in sign too? 
This week, we have been reviewing our love of nonfiction texts! We started by reading the books Actual Size and What Do You Do With A Tail Like This, both of which are by Steve Jenkins. We then moved into comparing fiction and nonfiction using the books Frogs and Frog and Toad are Friends. Today, we selected 11 books from the library on sharks (so each set of partners could have their own book), and reviewed the features that made that text nonfiction. We looked at things such as the index, table of contents, glossary, etc. We also talked about what these elements bring to nonfiction, and why they are important. It was really exciting to see how much the kids were loving the books about sharks. There were a great deal of "ooh"'s, "oh my gosh", and "look at that"s coming from our classroom. And, at the end, the nonfiction section was the most popular place during read-to-self time. It was a wonderful day!
Today in math, the students were introduced to a new computer game (in addition to Dicewars) that I came across in my class the other night. It is called railroad repair, and it is a pretty challenging game. The basis is not only in logic, but decimals (parts of a whole) as well. You can get to the link here. We hope you enjoy it!
Today in reading workshop, we started looking at how authors communicate what characters are saying in stories. We started by reading the book Somebody and the Three Blairs, taking time to stop and look at all of the conversation that was going on. We selected three sentences from the story, so that we could study dialogue, tone, and pace (along with the usage and placement of quotation marks). Here are the sentences we looked at:
The class has been working so hard on their famous person projects. To walk in here during content time you would see integration of technology, teamwork, collaboration, and a true excitement for learning. They are having a great time working on these (I think the use of all different forms of media). I am so proud of them, and they are incredibly proud of their work. They are counting down the days until our open house! I want to send a special thank you to those classroom moms who have come in and helped during their volunteer time. The time you have spent working with the kids and their research projects is priceless to all of us. You are fantastic!
Today, our visiting artist-in-residence, wowed us with an extremely fun assembly! Baba Jubal shared some wonderful beats, songs, and stories that are rooted in his African heritage. We had such a great time, be sure to check out some of our memories (I will be posting a video later today)!
I was sitting on the couch this evening, watching TV, and looking around for some new math websites to use in our classroom. I came across this site called Math Playground, which I think the kids are going to love. It gives them problems in the set-up that they are familiar to (part- part- whole, now how do they work together). I am very excited to introduce this website! You can click the icon, and it should take you directly to the site. If they like them, have your child comment on this telling their favorite part. It will really get children wanting to try new things!
We are so excited! The incredibly talented author/illustrator, Loren Long, is coming to our school tomorrow! He is the author of one of our classroom favorites, Otis, as well as the illustrator for our project book, Of The I Sing. You can read some of his bio here. 
