Ronald McDonald

Today we had an assembly where Ronald McDonald was talking to the school about using our talents to help other people.

Goods and Services

Today we started our discussion about economics.  We talked about needs and wants.  Then we talked about how people get what they need and what they want. That led to a conversation about what they want to be when they grow up.  We learned that most jobs are either making a good or doing a service.  Ask your second grader what they would like do when they grow up and whether that job is making a good or doing a service.

Soil

Today we were exploring what composes soil and where the parts of soil comes from.

Salt Dough Landforms

We have been talking about ways to show people what we have learned.  One way we have talked about is making a scientific drawing.  We also talked about making a model or a small version of something is a great way to share knowledge.  Today I made some good old fashioned salt dough (homemade play dough). Then we made models of the landforms and bodies of water that we have been learning about.  Notice in the pictures how they have the landforms interacting with each other.  The water is flowing down the mountains to make rivers.  Rivers are flowing into lakes and oceans.  There are even some really good examples of rivers at the bottom of canyons.  They are really getting this!

Fire Safety

Today one of the fire trucks from the local fire station came to Willow Brook to talk about fire safety. We did not have a chance to visit with the fire fighters, but we did talk about fire safety at the end of the day.  I asked all of the second graders to go home and talk to you about your families plan in case there is ever a fire at your house.

Education City

This week we have started using a computer program called Education City.  Education City is going to help us practice all of those tricky grammar patterns that we find in the English language.

This week we are playing a game called Terror Temple, which is teaching the class about collective nouns.  They will be learning that groups of nouns often have a special name. Here are some of the examples that we will be learning.

cows-herd
ants-army
lions-pride
fish-school
wolves-pack

Just like Dream Box, Education City can be played from home.  Ask your 2nd grader what you call a group of sheep.

1/2 Day Fun

We had a lot of fun today.  There were a lot of interesting show and tells shared.  A few of the friends were nervous about sharing in front of the whole class, but everyone did great.  Here are a few pictures of our 1st show and tell.

We also met our Kindergarten buddies for the 1st time.  Our buddies are in Mrs. Gartland's class and today we did a lot of get to know you activities.  Ask your second grader what they learned about his/her buddy.