Week of December 16, 2013

We were busy finishing our windmills this week. We also had a read out and winter celebration before break and some of us got to see the preschoolers perform a play and some songs!

Week of December 9, 2013

This week our 2nd grade engineers were busy investigating how various objects catch wind to complete tasks. For example they learned about windmills, wind turbines, and sails and the jobs they complete. Just like mechanical engineers they investigated the properties of different materials and created their own sails and windmills. Like all good engineers, students continued to modify their designs and improve them to make them efficient! It was so much fun watching students take pride in their hard work and act like real mechanical engineers! We also decorated and tie dyed our white T-shirts! We used yellow and blue to represent Columbia Heights colors. The shirts will remain at school and we will use them for various school events including field trips throughout the year. They look awesome! We finished up our Place Value unit this week in math. We moved onto more story problems involving adding and subtracting ten along with comparing and ordering numbers. Is your child practicing their basic facts at home? During writing students are continuing to work hard on their individual fiction stories by making sure they include characters, setting, problem, events, and a solution. Can you believe it is almost Winter break? Only one more week of school until students and teachers are off for two whole weeks! (December 21st-January 5th).

Week of December 2, 2013

It was a busy and exciting week in the Learning Studio after having a nice long break! We jumped right back into learning and having fun. We had a community gathering with the entire school and got to share our PBL Google presentations with everyone. It was fun to show off our hard work. We also celebrated December birthdays with a popcorn party in the studio! In STEAM we have begun our engineering unit. It is very exciting as students are learning all about the Engineering Design Process and what mechanical engineers do. Students are creating and testing their own sail designs while learning about technology and wind. In writing we are starting new fiction stories. Some students are writing mysteries, fantasy stories, and realistic fiction stories. Ask your child about their fiction writing! In math we continue to practice place value and representing numbers in various ways. We also worked on story problems involving adding 10 facts. What a great week!

Week of November 18, 2013

The 2nd graders worked really hard preparing for their show. Here they are at both their afternoon and evening performances.

Week of November 11, 2013

This week we enjoyed performing good deeds for others in our North Park community. We did these as a part of our Project Based Learning project.

Week of November 11, 2013

We had fun this week doing good deeds for members of our North Park community for our Project Based Learning project.

Week of October 28, 2013

We have been busy this week working on our project for Project Based Learning. We created a survey and found out about some of the needs in our North Park community. We also wrapped up Quarter 1 this week with a celebration! We came to school in our pajamas and enjoyed a Read Out together. What a fun way to end the quarter!

Week of October 21, 2013

This week our second graders began working on our Project Based Learning (PBL) project, 2nd Grade CaReS. Our driving question is, "How can we, as second graders, meet the needs of our North Park community?" We started with brainstorming a list of ways we already help others or how others have helped us. We then identified the people that make up our NP community and went on a tour of our building. Next, the students collaborated in pairs to write a survey question that they will give to the staff to determine what needs they have. Eventually, we will perform "good deeds" to help our NP community. Each day during PBL we take time to share the good deeds we have done recently. Each good deed is written on a leaf and added to our Giving Tree. We are excited to see our tree grow!

Week of October 14, 2013

Our young meteorologists explored the weather condition of wind in various ways with bubbles, wind vanes, anemometers, and pinwheels.  They used these tools to determine wind speed and wind direction.  

Week of October 7, 2013

This week was a busy one, learning about weather, clouds, rain, and temperature. We also learned about the 6 traits of writing and personal narratives.

Week of September 30, 2013

This week we worked on making numbers in math, we had the Homecoming Pep Fest and had fun exploring science!

Week of September 25th

Can you believe September is over? It's been an exciting week in the learning studio! Take a look at all the fun things we've been up to!

Week of September 16, 2013

It has been an eventful week in the learning studio now that we have established daily and weekly routines. The students have really enjoyed our daily brain breaks and getting their wiggles out while participating in Adventures to Fitness. Students have been using their creativity to illustrate and create beautiful pieces of art to display in the studio. Come check it out! Students continue to explore various forms of technology that we use in the studio including many apps on the iPads, logging into their own websites on both desktop and laptop computers, and using computers as a tool in math. This Friday was Pinwheels for Peace! It was such an exciting afternoon as all the students of NP gathered outside to form an enormous peace sign and exchange peace statements with their peers. It was such a great week and we can't wait for all the exciting activities to come next week!

Week of September 9, 2013

We had a really busy and fun second week in the Learning Studio. Here are some more of our bright faces!

Week of September 3, 2013

Look at us...we are in 2nd Grade this year! Happy first day of school!

Week of June 3, 2013

Week of May 20, 2013

What a fun and busy week! We spent Tuesday morning at Silverwood Park. We played games, created recycled art work, viewed our classmates' artwork, played drums, and did some hiking. On Friday we went to Blooming Heights where we had a picnic. We also did some planting. We also played plant BINGO and spent some time on the playground.

Week of May 13, 2013

This week we continued to work on our STEAM projects, completed Track & Field day and completed unit 12 in math. We also got to see the 1st grade show!

Week of May 6, 2013

This week we continued fiction stories and persuasive letters in writing. Many of us "voted" during our Junior Achievement sessions this week. We took our Unit 11 math assessment. We continued to observe our plants and work on our projects in STEAM.

Week Ending May 3, 2013

One hope for next year for many of our second graders is to have a Learning Studio in 3rd grade.  As you can see from the photos, the Studio furniture allows each child to learn in way that is most comfortable for her or him, whether it be on the floor, on a chair, standing or on a soft bench or cushion.  We are excited for our second graders to learn in a new Studio next year.  Remodeling begins this summer!

Week of April 22, 2013

This week we turned over the job of taking daily photos for this blog to our camera-savvy second graders.  One child was chosen each day to be responsible for taking photos of their fellow mates.  This gives a unique perspective to the photo album that you are sure to enjoy!

Week of April 15, 2013

This week in 2nd grade many of our scientists were hard at work planting and learning about wheat. We explored many new videos, games, and books to help with our exploration. Some of us have also started learning about the important role that insects play in pollination. We will all be engineering hand pollinators in the next few weeks.

Week of April 8, 2013

This week in 2nd grade we were super busy starting our New Plants unit! We planted brassica seeds and rye grass and alfalfa seeds (to make a lawn). We will be recording our observations over the next few weeks as we watch our plants grow and change. Some writing groups were also busy this week writing persuasive letters to Mr. Cacek. The students were given the task to convince Mr. Cacek that the other grades in the school should or should not have a learning studio. The letters were wonderful to read and a few are here for your perusal!

Week of April 1, 2013

After a nice relaxing week off, we were back to working hard in the Learning Studio. This week we reviewed and practiced some of our rituals and routines. We enjoyed going to the Community Gathering on Thursday and celebrating April birthdays with a popcorn party. Thursday evening was Fine Arts Night.

Week of March 18, 2013

2nd graders this week had fun dressing up for the different days of Spirit Week. We had hat day, Columbia Heights colors day, dress up day, wacky day, and pajama day. We are starting a new STEAM project, where students work with partners and choose a technology project to show what they will learn about plants. On Friday, we went to a music performance where we heard some Native American instruments and singing.

Week of March 11, 2013

After spending six weeks learning about the properties of solids and liquids and then applying our knowledge to making play dough, we have finished our STEAM projects! Each child has a technology creation that demonstrats some of the things we have learned. We spent each afternoon doing a STEAM Expo, where students were able to share their work with one another! BlogThis!

Week of March 4, 2013

This week we have been working hard to finish up our STEAM projects for our presentations next week. In math we started unit 7. We are learning about patterns and rules for adding, subtracting, and looking at data. It was a short week because of a snow day on Tuesday!