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!