Friday, March 27th, 2015

Happy Spring Break to my lovely second grade students!

Today was a half day, with the morning spent at this month's Mass, which focused on the Stations of the Cross.

It was wonderful to chat with the parents who came this afternoon! I am lucky to have such supportive, involved families here at DISK. I appreciate the suggestions and continue to welcome your feedback.

Spring Break Homework:

• Complete Journey's Practice Book pg. 122-125.
• Write spelling words five times and choose eight words to create sentences with (from Communities pg. 168-186: unique, special, person, people, culture, point of view, explorer, pioneer, immigrant, country, world, route, heritage, religion, tradition, family, ancestor, holiday.)
• Complete your Science Fair paper. Everything but the results (what happened) and the conclusion (why it happened and what you learned) has been completed. I have encouraged the students to type up their results and save it to a USB to hand in on Wednesday, April 8th. I will edit the students' work and return it the following day so that they are able to get started on their presentation boards. If the students have time and are interested, they are encouraged to start thinking about how to design their presentation boards.

Special Notes:

*Thank you for all of the birthday greeting and treats! I am thoroughly spoiled by the love I receive from my second grade family! My dear coworkers, Ms. Zeng and Ms. Johnson put together a video of some of the students which I thought was too cute not to share:   Birthday!

*I hope that the students have a wonderful, relaxing spring break. I can't believe how fast time is flying! I want to make every moment count for my precious students.

Thursday, March 26th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• completed our IOWA tests! Congratulations and thanks to the students for working hard and being patient during this week.
• continued to learn about solid shapes in math class
• created Easter-related art in art class
• rehearsed for tomorrow's special Mass, the Stations of the Cross
• reviewed the portions of the Science Fair worksheet that was completed for homework; we will continue talking about the Science Fair tomorrow

Tonight's Homework:

• Complete Math Practice 8.1
• Complete the final draft of "Kenting Field Trip" on the paper provided.

Special Notes:

*Tomorrow is a half day, with the students being dismissed at 11:45. I have conferences with some parents. I look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress. If you didn't schedule a meeting and would like to chat, you are welcome to come up to the classroom after class and see me, or schedule a time with Ms. Lee.

*I have almost every students' quarter three major subject exams corrected, signed and returned. I just need a few more. Thank you!

Wednesday, March 25th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• read and discussed our latest story in Journeys during reading and phonics class
• continued our IOWA testing during math class and independent learning
• practiced our typing skills during computer class 
• practiced writing with voice during language and spelling class
• continued discussing the science fair during science class
• practiced using a bar graph and reviewed the key vocabulary and concepts from unit 4 in social studies class

Tonight's homework:

Complete the "hypothesis," "materials," and "experiment" portion of your Science Fair paper. Many of the students have finished some of this in class and have been directed to complete the remainder at home.

Special Notes:

*The students have been instructed to do their experiment and try to complete the remainder of their Science Fair paper during Easter break. I will share information in class and post information before the end of the week on the blog on how to create the Science Fair presentation boards if the students want to get started on their boards during Easter break.

Haiku for Kids

The students' homework for tonight has them writing a haiku (Social Studies Activity Book pg. 47.) We had a bit of time to learn about what a haiku was in class, it being:

• A Japanese style of poetry
• Consists of three lines: the first line having five syllables, the second line having seven syllables and the third line having five syllables
• Many haikus refer to something in nature or animals

We reviewed syllabification in class and wrote a quick sample poem to get the students prepared for their homework:

Miss Easterling's class (five syllables)
Is full of lovely students (seven syllables)
Who drive her bonkers (five syllables)

This was just a funny example of what they could do. I encouraged the students to pick any topic that might interest them (soccer, ice cream, mummies, etc.) and try to write a haiku.

Here is a link that the students can check out that explains a bit more about haikus and offers some examples.

I look forward to reading the students' first attempts at this style of poetry tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 24th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• continued our IOWA testing during reading and phonic class, language and spelling class, math class, and independent learning
• discussed the science fair during science class
• discussed how language influences our own and other cultures in social studies class

Tonight's Homework:

Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 46-47.
 

Science Fusion Website

Science Fusion Website!

New DISK Website

You can visit the new and updated DISK website at: http://www.diskg.net/

The Great Avocado Ripening Experiment!

The Great Avocado Ripening Experiment

March 16th-March 20th

Question: What do you want to learn?

Do certain storage conditions help avocados ripen more quickly?
 

Hypothesis: What do you think the answer to your questions might be?

I think avocados ripen more quickly when they are stored with other fruit.

Materials: What materials will you need?

5 avocados

3 brown bags

1 banana

1 apple

1 refrigerator

Experiment: Test your question by doing an experiment:

We are going to put our five avocados in different storage conditions. We will keep a data log of their appearance, smell, and texture.

Data Table:
 

Time	Fridge	Desk	Bag	Bag & Apple	Bag & Banana
Day 1	dark green, no smell, hard and bumpy	dark green, no smell, hard and bumpy	dark green, no smell, hard and bumpy	dark green, no smell, hard and bumpy	dark green, no smell, hard and bumpy
Day 2	green, stinky, hard and bumpy	green with dark brown spots, no smell, a little softer and bumpy	dark green with brown spots, smells a bit sweet, a little softer and bumpy	green with dark brown spots, no smell, a little softer and bumpy	dark green, no smell, a little softer and bumpy
Day 3	dark green, no smell, hard like an ice cube, bumpy	dark brown with green spots, no smell, softer and bumpy	brown with dark green spots, smells sweet like salt water, softer, bumpy	a little brown, no smell, softer in some parts, bumpy	dark brown with a little red, a little smelly, softer, bumpy
Day 5	dark green, no smell, hard like an ice cube, bumpy	dark brown, a little smelly, ripe!	dark brown, a little smelly, a little too ripe!	dark brown, a little smelly, too ripe!	dark brown, a little smelly, way too ripe!

 

Results: What happened during the experiment?

The avocado in the fridge did not ripen. The avocado ripened fastest with the banana in the bag, next fastest with the apple in the bag, third fastest with the apple and bag and ripened the slowest (but still ripened) on the desk alone and without a bag.

Conclusion: Discuss your findings and answer your question:

Different fruits give off different amounts of ethylene gas as the ripen. The avocado left inside the brown paper bag ripened quickly because the bag was able to trap a lot of the ethylene gas. If an avocado is left in a a bag or other enclosed space with other fruit that also release ethylene gas, that avocado will ripen even more quickly than an avocado left in a bag alone. The avocado ripened the fastest when left with a banana in a bag because bananas give off a bit more ethylene gas than apples. The avocado left on the desk didn't have a bag to trap the ethylene gas, so it didn't ripen as fast as the others. Cold temperatures slow the release of ethylene gas, so the avocado in the refrigerator ripened the slowest.

Monday, March 23rd, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• received encouragement for our IOWA tests at the weekly assembly
• took our weekly spelling quiz and took turns sharing about our weekends during language and spelling class
• took the first portion of our IOWA tests during reading and phonics class
• started our new chapter on solid (3-D) shapes in math class
• learned about different customs that various cultures celebrate during holidays in social studies class

Below are some pictures taken last Friday: 
 

The students made guacamole from the avocados used for our experiment.

 Eden and Shannon read Shel Silverstein books.

The students decorated kites to fly on the playground.

*Tonight's Homework:

• Complete the reading response handout. The students can write about any Journeys story that we have covered or another story that they have completed recently.
• Correct spelling tablet, get signed and return tomorrow (Tuesday, March 24th.)

The spelling words for our next spelling quiz (Monday, April 13th) will come from Communities pg. 168-186:

1. unique
2. special
3. person
4. people
5. culture
6. point of view
7. explorer
8. pioneer
9. immigrant
10. country
11. world
12. route
13. heritage
14. religion
15. tradition
16. family
17. ancestor
18. holiday

Special Notes:

*I have returned your child's third quarter major subject exams. Some children have finished correcting their exams, but most haven't. They have been instructed to complete their corrections at home and to return them signed by this Thursday, March 26th. I can assist students out who are having specific difficulty completing their corrections. Thank you!

*We will continue our IOWA testing this  Tuesday-Thursday. The students are instructed not to prepare at home, but to focus on getting a good night's sleep and a filling breakfast to give them the energy and mental clarity they need to perform their best.

*I have stapled the latest newsletter and a form that provides information about summer camp to your child's assignment book. DISK summer school will run from June 1st-June 26th.

Friday, March 20th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:

• reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and continued working with suffixes in reading and phonics class
• practiced expressing our opinion and giving reasons for our opinions in language and spelling class
• took our quiz on chapter 7 in math class
• finished observing our avocados (as some were already ripe!), and stated the results and the conclusion to our experiment during independent learning, we finished up the experiment by making guacamole
• reviewed the key concepts and target vocabulary from unit 7, lesson 1 in science class
• practiced our typing skills in computer class

Tonight's Homework:

• Write spelling words five times and choose eight words to create sentences with (from Journeys pg. 288-289: millions, choices, drift, simple, weaker, wrapped, disgusting, decide, dozen, teeth, visitor, aquarium, litter, dolphin, octopus, starfish.) Prepare for Monday's spelling quiz.
• Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 118-121.

Kenting Field Trip

I hope the students had fun in Kenting! We had time to visit the beach and play a water relay game and build sand castles. The students had lunch from McDonalds, and then relaxed on a grassy field before we headed back. I wish we had more time to play out on the beach! Thank you for packing your child's health insurance card with him or her, as well as healthy snacks. I promised them ice cream at the end of the day, but we returned to school late, so it will be a Friday treat! Below are some snaps of the day. You can check out some more at Ms. Zeng's blog: 1st Grade Awesomeness .