19th day in the classroom

On Thursday in Mrs. Almonds classroom, she had me take individual pictures of three of her students who were the students of the week.  Each student had filled out a piece of paper all about themselves, so she had me take that paper for each one of the students and then put the information in paragraph form and then post it on her blog for the class and their families to see.  After that I went outside with the students to recess.  When we came in, they had a science test, so I headed over to Mrs. Greenfields class.

When I got to Mrs. Greenfields class they were learning about the moon.  They each had their moon journal out, and They were discussing things that they know about the moon and then writing it down in their moon journal under "Things I already know".  She then showed them some moon books that she had in her library and told them that during centers the next day she wanted them to learn things about the moon and write under "Things I learned".

After that they had their "Mad Minute" which is where they try to answer 30 math problems in 1 minute.  It is very competitive.  If they do it, then they get to dance with the teacher on the rug to music while the rest of the students finish their problems.  She always does mad minute on Thursdays, but this time she challenged the advanced students by giving them a sheet with 40 problems instead of 30 to see if they could do it in 1 minute.  They were very excited.

After mad minute, they worked on their scholastic readers and then she read to them on the rug until it was time to go.

18th day in the classroom

Thursday I went to Mrs. Almonds class and the students were working on their art project.  After art I took them out to recess.  During recess Mrs. Almond called her "math teacher" to ask her a question about why a fractions problem didn't work that one of her students tried.  It was interesting to see her use her resources to figure out how to help her students in math.  Then she discussed what she learned with the students.  It was a great teaching moment.  She called it her "favorite wrong answer of the day"  because the students learned so much from it.

In Mrs. Greenfields class the students were working on the smart board answering some questions and learning about plant life and writing up a scientific experiment.  For their science experiment in class they are going to discover if they can grow a plant without a seed.  They wrote their question, their hypothesis, and what they are going to do.  Then they all got to plant a plant from a leaf clipping of another plant.  They were very excited to grow their own plant.  After that they sat at the rug and Mrs. G. read to them until it was time to go hime.

17th day in the classroom

Yesterday in Mrs. Almond's classroom the students were learning about different kinds of rocks in science.  They made an "igneous rock" in the form of fudge.  All the different ingredients represented different minerals, and then when they boiled the "minerals" that represented the extreme heat it takes under the earth to form the rocks.  The kids loved it and then they got to eat their "igneous rocks".

In Mrs. Greenfield's class the students were having their weekly math competition with the other 2nd grade classes.  Mrs. Greenfield's class won the competition again.  They have never lost a competition this year.  Each class lines up and then one student from each class is given a math question.  The first student to answer it correctly gets back in line, the other student sits down.  The last class standing wins.  After that, the students went outside for recess.  When the students came back inside, they worked in their March riddle books, which have riddles that the students have try to figure out about spring and gardening.  Each student  took turns reading the different riddles and then answering them.  After working in their riddle book, the students went to the rug and Mrs. Greenfield read to them until it was time to go home.