Students used iPads and a few Photo Editing Apps to create iPad Selfies.
This was a great one class period project and a fun activity the week we were kicked out of our tech lab due to Testing. Thanks Karen Bosch for the idea!
Some of the Apps we used:
Fotolr HD
Snapseed
Be Funky
Pixlr-o-matic
2nd graders embraced their creativity once again! They took the Pinkies Challenge. Pinkies is a new Ice Cream Shop in our area. The owners wanting to encourage creativity and have some fun during ART PRIZE, the event that brings artists from all over the world to our city, asked patrons to use provided materials and create something. The provided materials were pink paper, bubble wrap and two pink ribbons. The second graders enjoyed the challenge and our artwork is not on display at Pinkies. Voting is taking place now, and we are hopeful that a second grader will win an ice cream party for 10 friends (and 1 teacher?)
Embracing the Maker Movement and encouraging Creativity, I have created a Website, http://classcreate.weebly.com to share projects and other ideas. Our first idea, “What’s in the Bag?” gave students a brown bag with an assortment of items. They were tasked with creating something with the items in the bag (and the bag could be used as well) and three additional items from home. They were to bring the creation back to school to share with the class. The creations were amazing and all very different. I was thrilled and amazed with what the children came up with. I can’t wait to try this again!
The second graders decided to celebrate April Fools’ Day by sharing the News of 2nd Grade. Enjoy our first edition of 2nd Grade News – The April Fools’ Day Edition.
We are having fun with science! We are approaching our lessons with STEM education in mind. The STEM approach integrates Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Our first fun exploration involved pompom poppers created using a yogurt container and balloon. We had fun making them and sending the pompoms all over the classroom. Before we work with the pompom poppers again, we will figure out how we can measure and if we can control the distance and accuracy of our poppers.
Our second exploration made use of marshmallows and toothpicks. The second graders were given toothpicks, marshmallows and the direction to build the tallest tower. They were told the tower should be able to fit on the square paper base they were given. They explored ways to connect the toothpicks and marshmallows, and discovered connections that worked well, and connections that didn’t work so well. At first the children were putting several marshmallows on one toothpick, but eventually they figured out the best way to connect the marshmallows. The tallest free standing towers were about three toothpicks tall. We are going to learn more about building design and give the tallest tower challenge another try. We will also try to build a tall tower that can hold a cup with some pennies in it.
The second graders read and talked about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” They each wrote and illustrated their Dream for the world. They used the Telegami App to publish them. They can all be found on our class Kidblog.
Using the “I SPY” books by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick as inspiration, the second graders created their own I SPY drawings and then wrote rhyming poems to go with them. You will find the rest of the students’ I SPY pictures on our Students’ Kidblogs. http://kidblog.org/SS2nd/tag/i-spy/
Every year on Halloween the 1st and 2nd Graders don their Halloween costumes and travel to our neighbors at Clark Retirement Home and parade for all the residents. This event is a highlight for both the students and the residents. The residents often dress up as well and like to hand out candy to the students. The students enjoy the chance to show off their costumes and of course getting some treats.
1st, 2nd and 3rd graders were part of The Living Rosary on Wednesday. Thanks to the organization of Mrs. Dressander, we were able gather outside as a school with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students standing in for the beads. We were blessed with a beautiful day and it was a beautiful prayer.
Today was our second Skype Chat with our friends at St. Louis School in Maryland. During our first chat Mrs. Whiteford’s class taught us to sing the “Hail Mary” in Spanish. Today, after we prayed the “Hail Mary” together in Spanish, they led us in a game of Las Formas – Shapes. Mrs. Whiteford would call out the shape in Spanish and we would try to find it and write down the letter on the other side. It was great fun and we plan to play it some more on our own. Mrs. Whiteford’s class sent us the cards we need to play the game along with treats and plastic cups with their school mascot on them! We were so please to receive the package in the mail. We are thinking about what we can send back to them. We also want to come up with a game we can play with them and we will add a Spanish element to it.
