Connecting to the QAE monthly theme of GRATITUDE, I'd like to thank you all for meeting with me for conferences. While collecting student work, scoring and writing reports can be a demanding, the outcome and time spent talking with you all is so rewarding. It is refreshing to meet with parents committed to their child's well-being and understanding of the partnership we have. I am thankful for countless things in my life and I want to let you know that I'm thankful for our kids and all of you!
|
Our class had the great pleasure of going to the Mercer Slough Environmental Center on Tuesday. We walked in the beautiful woods and wetlands areas, went on a scavenger hunt, took soil samples and conducted tests on them. We spent time in the lab and learned all about Soil Adventurers–F.B.I. (fungi, bacteria and invertebrates). We found millipedes, centipedes, worms, pill and sow bugs, slugs and other fascinating creatures in the soil and saw them magnified on "bug t.v.". Learning from the Mercer Slough docents in nature's classroom was a nice way to wrap-up our soils unit and carry on into our water exploration. A BIG banana slug thank you goes out to our drivers and chaperones for making this field trip possible: Karen, Rebecca, Muneer, Jennifer, Tanea, Lorraine, & Robin! The bounce test in actionWe had the pleasure of learning from Shaun O'Neil, a QAE parent and King County water treatment expert. I am proud to announce that our second graders know more about our local water treatment process than about 95% of adults do. What we learned was fascinating and will hopefully raise more environmentally conscience citizens out of all of us.
Here are some of the things we learned:
We are fortunate to live in an area where we get our water from the mountains, is available in the twist of a knob, and gets treated thoroughly before being sent out into Puget Sound. Most cities get their water from the same place it gets sent back out (such as Lake Michigan in Chigaco). Unfortunately there are many countries that do not have treatment facilities that purify waste water before being put back into the water source. This is one reason we have the global water crisis and this is where our learning will take us next…
It was a lot of fun to have Mr. Mike come from Seattle Tilth and do a "Soil in a Box" presentation with our class. We enjoyed his humor and the over-sized, sunglass-wearing worm that accompanied him. We learned some interesting worm facts such as how many hearts they have, the myth behind if a worm would live if it were split into two, and that all worms can have babies. If that's not all, we discovered how valuable worms castings are (and that it's a fancy/scientific name for saying worm poop!). Ask your child to tell you about it. We thought that the giant worm that Mr. Mike brought in was funny, but we came to find out that there's really an earth worm called the Giant Gippsland, that's about the same size!
I would like to thank Ms. Leland for helping us with the behind the scenes work and arranging more learning opportunities for us. And a BIG THANK YOU to the QAE PTSA for funding our guest speaker-it's fun to have entertaining experts work with our kids. So, have you been wondering what those empty milk jugs were going to be used for? The students have been filling them from puddles that have formed generously over the last couple of weeks. Today I told the class that we were going launch our first Project Based Learning unit on WATER. After this they predicted what we were going to do with the jugs. Answers varied from making a giant puddle on the playground and testing how water drains in different soil to adding up how many jugs there are or that we were going to weigh them. Well no one guessed what we actually did. With the help of Mr. R's enthusiasm, all three second grade classrooms gathered in the play court where he gave us a task. He set us off to carry the nearly 8 pound jugs around the playground. After this exercise we gathered back in class to discuss how it felt and why we did this. Due to the windy and rainy conditions we only did a lap or two around the school. In this short time most thought it was fun but we all agreed that the water got heavier and the job got harder to do the longer you carried the gallon. Some found that carrying it on your head, using two hands, or switching hands along the way made the job easier. Some kids made a connection that some people don't live near water and they have to go get water to bring home. This simulation will guide us to further study.... We then created a Padlet of what we think we already know about water. Our initial thoughts about water: Wow, the kids already know a variety of things about water. I'm excited to see where their curiosities take us now that we have launched into the great be-known.
{If you've been wanting help carrying in the groceries and your child thinks the milk is too heavy to carry, they should think differently now! Thank you for providing the jugs!} 
 Hello families! Let's be part of the solution! Here are some useful math resources you can have fun with at home or on the go! Math in Focus Home Access Families now have access to digital versions of Math in Focus textbooks, as well as some online activities connected to them for home practice. From home, the online resources may be accessed from any computer: http://spscatalog.seattleschools.org/onlineresources In order to access the Math in Focus textbooks (and other online resources) from home you must log on:
Math AppsHere are a few math apps that are free, easy to use, and build foundational math skills. Thank you to our Math Specialist-Lara Francisco for sharing some of her current favorite apps.
Enjoy!
We rode the Metro
We walked beneath the needle We learned about cooperation, inclusion, and friendship from a mongoose, muskrat, and tailorbird. Had a picnic city lunch on a beautiful October day. Many thanks to our chaperones:
|
|
RSS Feed