Student Led Conferences

Our students have been working diligently to prepare for our student-led conferences. For weeks they have been reflecting on their learning. The students are also practicing by sharing their portfolio with their peers. We are looking forward to sharing our learning with our families Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

The Mystery of our History

Our students have traded the job of a scientist for that of a historian. They are discovering how clues from the past inform us about history. To kick off our expedition, the students witnessed a surprise disruption in our classroom (the specials teachers ran into our classroom tracking down a "mouse"). Through this disruption, the students learned about primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are recorded by a person who witnessed the event and secondary sources are recorded by someone who has gained knowledge about the event. After comparing the primary sources they wrote about the event to the secondary sources their family wrote, it was discovered that primary sources are more authentic compared to secondary sources.

To apply the student's learning to the real world, the students are historians of the Highlands Ranch Mansion. During fieldwork at the mansion, they will examine primary and secondary sources to learn about the history of the mansion. Then, they will use their knowledge to create a children's tour guide for the mansion to use during tours. Our first fieldwork opportunity brought excitement to our crew, and we cannot wait to visit again!

Adding Double Digit Numbers

Over the past few weeks, our mathematicians have been learning efficient strategies to add double-digit numbers. First, we learned how to add using the hundreds chart. Next, we learned how to add using an open number line. Then, we learned how to add by breaking a number up into tens and ones. Finally, we learned how to add numbers using compensation. Our mathematicians each have expressed a strategy they feel helps them be the most efficient and accurate when solving math problems. Our next step is to learn how to solve one-step and two-step story problems.

 

Fossils Tell of Earth's Changes

Second grade has kicked off a new expedition that helps us understand how fossils tell of Earth's changes over time. In this expedition, students are taking on the role of readers, writers, and paleontologists. In order to help us better understand the role of a paleontologist, students have been reading a text titled Stone Girl, Bone Girl. This text tells the story of a famous paleontologist, Mary Anning, who discovered one of the most important fossils to date. We also made the connection that the popular rhyme/poem "She sells seashells..." was written about Mary Anning!

To understand the role of a paleontologist even further our students visited Dinosaur Ridge for fieldwork. During this fieldwork, our students learned about the different dinosaurs that roamed in Colorado. Our students were shocked to learn that Colorado used to have a beach that dinosaurs and alligators inhabited. The students also took on the role of a paleontologist to dig for dinosaur fossils and bones. In the future, the students will be reading informational text and writing narratives about discovering fossils.

 

Holiday Party!

Today our crew spent the morning celebrating the holidays together! We decorated ornaments and ate yummy treats. The highlight of our party, however, was when our crew had the chance to show the Habit of Character of compassion. Our crew spent the majority of our party creating tie blankets for patients at a local children's hospital. The students loved working together and realizing their efforts were going towards helping others. Thank you to Kimberly Eloe for organizing this event! Also a huge thank you to all of those who volunteered and/or donated supplies to our party. Happy Holidays!

Junior Achievement

Today we had two special guests, Mr. Tim and Mr. Conor, join us from Junior Achievement! These two guests are business professionals in our community who volunteer their time in classrooms around the district. Mr. Tim and Mr. Conor helped our crew reach our financial literacy standards focusing specifically on money, jobs, and business ownership. First, they shared with us all the essential components of a community. We learned that a community needs citizens, government, businesses, and money to thrive. Next, we learned that businesses sell goods or services to make a profit. To help us understand this, the students acted as bakers in a donut shop. They worked together to produce as many donuts as they could in a short amount of time without defects. The students had to determine if they produced enough donuts that they were able to sell, or if they were unable to make a profit. After, the students learned about the purpose of taxes. Our crew loved learning from business professionals in our community!

Celebration of Learning

Thank you to all of the families that joined us for our Celebration of Learning Tuesday evening! The students were thrilled to share their learning with you and perform the "Beaver Rap." The Celebration of Learning is important in our community because our students get to take on the role of a teacher! I will keep you updated when our poetry and technical drawings have been published into our book!