Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, what is happening in our room?

We kicked off our thematic units for the year starting with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. The class really enjoyed not only reading the story, but getting the chance to interact and experiment with a real coconut as well! We performed a taste test and then each student went around the classroom surveying whether his/her peers thought it was "yummy" or "yucky". 

Everyone got the chance to touch and shake the coconut. They all enjoyed listening to the coconut water swish inside :).

A picture of a student completing the class survey.

A student touching the inside of a coconut.

Every student wrote their name on a coconut and cut it out. Following cutting it out, they stuck it under "yummy" if they liked it or "yucky" if they did not like the taste. Surprisingly, "yummy" won!

In addition to our taste test, we also created our own class book called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Look Who's In Our Room. Everyone filled out a page with their name and a picture of themselves. 

One of the last things we did was create a "name" coconut tree. They jumbled up the letters in their name and placed them all over their tree. You can find all of the "final products" hanging outside our classroom :).

2013: First Week of School!

Welcome to our classroom! We have a wonderful group of 16 this year that are fun, loving, caring, curious and full of energy! To kick-off our school year, we read a story by Heidi Butkus called, Wiggles First Day at School. It talks about all the things to do and not to do at school through the use of a fun, spotted dog named Wiggles. Below is a picture of the book and a photo of some students working hard to create their very own Wiggles!

March Madness!

March is always a busy month. We're always trying to cram in as much as possible right before spring break!

 

We loved learning all about Groundhog Day. We read a book all about this special day and the infamous animal, the groundhog. We even graphed whether we thought he would see his shadow or not! Too bad his prediction hasn't held true this year :).

In math we focused on the different types of patterns we see. We learned about AB, ABBA, ABC, and AABB patterns. Below is a student who is working on a pattern assessment.

Thought this was too cute to not capture. This was on "wear your favorite team" day. Everyone loves Hester :).

 

 

Presidents' Day "Write the Room"

One of my favorite activities to do right before wrapping up a unit is something called "write the room". This is when the students go around the classroom searching and recording all the different words and pictures that we spent the week learning about. In recognition of Presidents' Day, our class spent the week learning about two of our most influential presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We also learned about all the different American staples (American flag, bald eagle, etc.).

 



"Reading Buddy Fridays" with Ladel the Comfort Dog

2nd grade and pre-k have teamed up this year to start a new program called "reading buddies". The program is designed so students can develop relationships with other children outside their own classroom and to strengthen and develop reading skills (comprehension, voice, fluency, etc.). It is proven through research that the more children are read to, the better readers and writers they become (Fountas and Pinnell are two well-known professors that have researched this finding, find them on Google :)). Ladel is our school's comfort dog from the organization, Lutheran Church Charities. She is a service dog and has traveled all across the country bringing Christ's love to those that are in need. She is great! Enjoy the pictures :).

 

 



Mystery Readers

Every Friday we have a "mystery reader" come in and read to the class. The kids really enjoy a fresh face in the classroom and the creative touch their own mom and dads bring to the world of reading. If you haven't had a chance to come in, feel free to contact me. We would love to have you :). Here are a few of our mystery readers from this year :).

 

Claire, Grace, and Charlie's mom

 Jacob's mom

 Carter's dad

 Jacob's dad

 Terry's mom