"Walk and Roll" In-Class Presentation

"Watershed Ambassador" In-Class Presentation
The New Jersey Watershed Ambassador Program visited on April 24.  This is a community-oriented Americorps program designed to raise awareness about water issues in New Jersey.  Through using a special 3D model of an area and water, ambassadors acted out water problems and educated students about solutions such as conserving water, installing rain gardens and picking up after pets. 

Great Swamp Assembly

Nature Scavenger Hunt

School Play- Finding Nemo!

Reading

We started another nonfiction unit! Students first reviewed the three types of nonfiction (reference text, biography and literary) and text features such as table of contents, captions, and bold words.  Next, students were assigned a National Park to research.  They were given sources like reference texts and websites to collect information. Students gathered information for location and size, animals, land and water features and things to do by underlining facts and then recording the information in an organizer using their own words. 

Writing

Throughout April, students finished their realistic fiction draft.  After, students revised and edited their work.  Writers went back to make sure they included all of the elements that were learned such as: show-not-tell, descriptive language, detailed adjectives and verbs, thoughts and dialogue, a lesson learned.  In addition to revising, students made sure they included capitals, punctuation and spelled trick words correctly and applied Fundations patterns within their writing.  Writers spent a few days publishing their final pieces by copying their draft to final publishing paper and using their nicest, neatest handwriting.  Students then drew and colored pictures to match.  Lastly, we had a writing celebration where each author got to reflect upon something they did well and something they would like to improve on in their next writing piece.  Everyone got to walk around, read each other’s stories and leave positive comments! 

Recently, we began our new nonfiction writing.  Students are learning how to put the information they’ve researched about their National Park in reading and putting the information into their own words.

Math

Our newest math unit is measurement.  Last year students used nonstandard units such as paper clips, markers, unifix cubes, etc. to measure things.  The second graders this year are using standard units of measurement such as: meters/centimeters and feet/inches.  Students had hands-on experiences measuring items, as well as comparing and ordering lengths and revisiting one and two-step word problems.  Students are now preparing for third grade and drawing their own bar models to help them solve.  

Science

Students observed that living things aren’t just found at the top of a pond as they determined there are many different kinds of living things in any area. We observed and categorized the living things in the area. Later, students noted that penguins don’t fly, but must move around in other ways as they compared three habitats to establish living things exist in different places on land and water. 

Reading and Writing - Students will create a slide presentation of their National Park research.  Slides will include photographs, lists and paragraphs with main ideas and supporting details, as well as a glossary.

Math - Next, students will be learning about shapes.  They will learn about lines and surfaces, as well as flat and solid shapes.

Science -  We will be learning how plants and animals survive in certain habitats such as the Rainforest, Desert, Pond and Ocean.