The weathering process is not gentle; it creates some of the worst natural hazards, including rock falls, landslides, and debris flows. If we are to be safe from these hazards, we have to design solutions to protect us. Today students designed and compared solutions to protect their “homes” from rock slides. We used a hill modeled out of cornmeal.
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We were asked if we wanted to participate in the "Operation Christmas Cards For Our Troops." Of course we said yes! So today we spent a little bit of time making cards that will be mailed to service men and women serving over seas. Operation Christmas Cards (OCC) started in 2009 with the goal of sending 10,000 cards to our troops deployed. In just 7 short years, 2 MILLION cards have been shipped to our brave men and women. People from every state and many countries around the world fill out or hand make holiday cards to thank our service members and remind them that they are not forgotten, that they are appreciated and supported for all that they do. Click here to learn more about this great program. Water is incredibly powerful - even powerful enough to move the earth’s surface! Heavy rains wash away dirt and rocks, creating canyons - this process is called erosion. Most canyons have rivers flowing from them, and as time passes the water continues to carry away dirt, rocks, and sand. Because of this, canyons continue to grow deeper and wider over time. For today's science activity students used a model of rain and land to explain what causes a canyon to form. Our land was made out of cornmeal, salt, and water.
In nonfiction texts it's important to have an idea of the overall structure and to know which information supports the topics. Topics are sometimes even broken up into subtopics, with information supporting those smaller pieces. Sometimes these topics and subtopics are separated with headings and subheadings. We have begun using a chart/outline to help us keep track of the information an author is presenting. First, we find the topic -- what the whole section or chapter is mostly about Next, we find the main idea -- what specifically did that chapter teach us about the topic? Last, we find the supporting details -- what did we learn that was connected to the topic and main idea? The pictures below were from an activity today where students were given an envelope with four "supporting details" and they had to determine the main idea of the envelope. Today we started math with a fun game of Sparkle. Ask your child how to play this game! We practiced skip-counting by 10's from different numbers (both on and off the decades). This was a fun brain warm-up to get us ready for the open number-line strategy that will be introduced later this week. Next we made measuring strips and used them to measure objects around the classroom. I wasn’t able to be at school today, but thanks to Ms. Alexander here’s a picture of second grade wearing their hats!
Last week we explored how rivers flow from high points of the earth’s surface to low points and into the ocean. Oceans are usually next to sandy beaches - but how did all of that sand get there? As the rivers flow toward the ocean, rocks collide into one another causing them to break into smaller pieces. By the time those rocks reach the end of the river, they are tiny rocks - or sand! Today students investigated the effects of rocks tumbling in a river. From the results of their investigation, they constructed an explanation for why there is sand at a beach. Students were then given an important vocabulary word to help with their explanation -- erosion. Changes to the earth’s surface can happen slowly through the process of erosion. Students have improved so much on their reading fluency. Watch the videos below and be amazed at how much better each group is getting. I can't wait for the next performances, as I know there will be even more growth! |
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