Animals of Africa!

We have started our first science unit on the animals and habitats of Africa. We are lucky enough to have a teacher on our team that took a trip to Southern Africa this summer! The wonderful Ms. Kate lead the "Theme Kick-Off" by showing a beautiful slideshow of many different animals she saw first hand. The students thought it was so neat that she had seen them all and anxiously were asking her questions. There were many "oh's and ah's" heard around the room as pictures of giraffes, hippos, and a newborn elephant appeared on the screen.

To teach the four habitats that we have chosen, we have mixed the classes into four groups that will rotate through each classroom throughout the next month to learn about Africa from each Synergy teacher. We are all teaching a different habitat that we have chosen to focus on and the animals that live there, while we will be focusing more broadly on Africa within our own classrooms as well. I am teaching about the animals that live in the trees and sky, Ms. Kate, about the animals living in the bush, Mrs. Eaton, about the animals in the water, and Ms. Rogers, about termites and underground animals. At each station the kids are getting the opportunity to see videos and pictures of the animals as well as create their own drawings of the habitat. We have been talking quite a bit about predator and prey , as well as camouflage and if the different animals of a certain habitat use that as a defensive strategy or not. To open the discussion of camouflage we showed this video in the link below. It is not of an African animal, but it is such an amazing example, that it couldn't be passed up! The kids loved it and I am sure would love to show you and quiz you to see if you can find it. Wow, is nature spectacular! Camouflage Link

The students have been very intrigued by this unit so far and it has been a blast sharing with them the many animals of the trees and sky. While these are sometimes thought of as not some of the most exciting, because they are not the lions, cheetahs, and elephants that grace Africa's savannah, the kids are enjoying hearing about the Chimpanzees, Gorillas, monkeys and birds that do live in either the savannah or the jungle. It is fun to hear their reasoning about why certain animals can not live in the jungle, but instead in the savannah, and vice versa. My first group shared with me that gorillas would not do well living in the savannah, because it is too dry and they do not have anywhere to hide. I thought to myself, "this is a smart crew, we're going to get a lot done"! Another animal that has made quite a hit is the secretary bird. Ms. Kate got an awesome picture of this bird and shared with us that while she was in Africa the guide told them that the bird got this unique name from the feathers on its head resembling a quill. The students loved this little fact and quickly wanted to know more, always a wonderful thing!

Mini Week Number 2!

Wow! For only just finishing our seventh day of school on Friday, we have already done so much! It has been a very smooth transition back with the benefit of spending all last year together. From the first day, it was very apparent to me that the students had missed one another and were glad to be back together. Without my prompting, they went up to each other and began chatting about their time apart and the fun things they had done. It was great to see how comfortable they still were with each other, despite the separation of a couple of months. With no need for name games, we have jumped right into playing games and activities to help us practice cooperation, explore with the new and improved classroom space, and share about our summer adventures.

On top of their comfort level with one another, it is also apparent to me in other ways that this is our second year together and that this is a class of second graders, the new leaders of our school. During Readers' Choice time, the students have been asking deeper and more meaningful questions while I read a book aloud to them as well as when they are reading independently. When I look around the room during this time, I see students deeply engaged in their books, laughing to themselves and eager to share that story with a friend during partner reading. I have also been hearing many phrases such as, "May I use that marker when you are done with it?" followed by the response, "Sure!". It's very exciting to see these things happening regularly as we have just started out!

Another new and exciting aspect of this year is we have a fun twist to our three main school rules, 1. Be Safe 2. Be Kind and 3. Be Responsible, that were introduced last year. Now every time a student gets caught exhibiting one of these school expectations, they receive a "Warm Buzzy" or even a "Golden Buzzy" if the behavior was seen on the playground. They then add their buzzies into our classroom Honey Jar and when ours is full we have a classroom celebration and add our collection to the big Bee Hive in the front office. When that Bee Hive is full, we have a school wide celebration! The students have been very busy earning both Warm Buzzies and Golden Buzzies and we have already emptied our Honey Jar quite a few times into the Bee Hive in the office. Each time we walk by the students look in to see how many more we need until it is full--we are getting VERY close!

With the new routines of the classroom continuing to be introduced, this upcoming week we will be busy diving back into Bridges, Fundations and beginning our first theme on African Animals!

Welcome Back!

This free photo collage created with Smilebox

Summer Fun

Hi Girls and Boys! I hope that you are all having a wonderful vacation. I can't wait to hear about all that you have been up to! If you want to share with me before we see each other again, feel free to send me an email, I would love to hear about it!
I have been spending a lot of time with friends and family having BBQ's, eating creamees, swimming and riding on my new bike. The picture above is of a camp on a lake that I visit each summer. Whenever I think of a perfect summer day in Vermont, I imagine a sunny day at this camp with my friends and family. We canoed, kayaked, and jumped off a boat in the middle of the lake. Have any of you canoed or kayaked before? It's one of my favorite summer activities. I also took a relaxing break in the hammock with a good book. Have you read a new favorite book this summer? To end the wonderful day we had a campfire and made s'mores. I have also been getting excited for next year and second grade. I stopped in at the school to see how our new classroom space is looking. The project has not started yet, but everything was moved around and it looked quite different. I will take pictures next time to show you!
I found a couple of new fun websites and added them to the blog. One has some fun math games, even a skateboarding game, and the other is a site where you get to create your own Mad Lib by picking nouns, verbs, and adjectives to make a silly story. Check them out on a rainy day and let me know what you think!
I think about you guys all the time and hope that you are just having a great time!

Fun in the Sun!

Make a free digital slideshow

Poetry Practice!

I couldn't help but post a couple of little quick clips of the kids practicing their group songs and poems. They have been working so hard for a couple of weeks now and they are all getting excited for the upcoming performance. We hope to see you there to celebrate all of the students' hard work!

Sorting Rocks as Scientists!