Reader's Workshop and Animal Fantasy Dioramas

Our superstar students were very busy this week during Reader's Workshop. The beginning of the week was dedicated to one of our favorite books, Jan Brett's The Mitten. After reading this story, we created our own mitten craft to use while practicing the skill of retelling. In the spirit of full disclosure, I did have to glance once (or twice!) back in the book to remember the correct order of the animals as they climbed into the mitten. {Mole, Rabbit, Hedgehog, Owl, Badger, Fox, Bear, Mouse....SNEEZE!} *Ask your child if they can retell you the entire story at home! : )

Later in the week, we transitioned to learning all about reading dialogue. We worked on how to identify when someone in the story is talking, how good readers read dialogue and how it helps us to better understand what is happening. The students did a great job demonstrating their new skills by marking up a copy of the classic Frog and Toad story, Spring. Not only did they apply everything they learned from the mini-lessons, but they also read with tremendous expression, which helped us to really differentiate which character was talking and when.

Awesome job by our rock-star readers! We will conclude our Animal Fantasy genre study at the end of next week and will be diving right into our next unit of Fables and Folktales. : )

Before you go...please be sure to check out the pictures of our Animal Fantasy dioramas. The students did a fabulous job bringing their creative ideas to life. Each student chose their own animal, the animal fantasy setting they wanted to create (a human dwelling, an animal habitat, or an animal habitat with human furnishings) and the text bubble of what their character was saying. I was completely blown away by the level of creativity and imagination demonstrated by my students- the end results are incredible! : )

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Thank you for a great season, Patriots!

While the end result of the AFC Championship game wasn't exactly what we were hoping for, we are grateful to have gotten to cheer on an awesome team throughout the entire season. Way to go Patriots, we are so proud of how much you accomplished this season! We'll be back next year! : )

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STEM Challenge: Tallest Cup Tower

Thursday afternoons are quickly becoming a class favorite in 2-F and for good reason! While we love and enjoy all of our learning time together, the past couple of Thursdays have been extra special, as we have gotten to combine our awesome class meeting/wellness lessons with STEM challenges. This past week's challenge: the Tallest Cup Tower, which consisted of working in groups to build the tallest tower we could using 75 plastic cups.

Prior to building, we had a class meeting where we met on the rug to talk about what expectations we had for ourselves and for our classmates/teammates. Our conversation centered around the idea of 'What a GREAT group/team is'- what it LOOKS like, what it SOUNDS like, what it FEELS like and how we can try to achieve this type of positive group environment. I even demonstrated some of the different ways that group members might talk to each other while working on a challenge (the GOOD and BAD ways-- thank you to Alex R. for being such a great sport even as I was modeling the ways NOT to speak to teammates). I think the kids were definitely a little caught off guard when their lovely teacher actually modeled poor listening, arguing and not respecting other's ideas- which albeit unconventional, worked to perfectly model my point! A huge part of group work is how the members interact with one another and that is ultimately a big reason for eventual success or failure. The students also got to share about past group experiences they've had and the reasons why some groups worked and other didn't. At the end of the day, being a successful group member takes a lot of hard work! : )

Now onto the challenge itself...the tallest cup tower seemed like a pretty simple task, until you actually tried to do it. It was incredible to watch the students work together, come up with a game plan, build the tower, see it fall, regroup and then start again. They were able to witness and experience why it is so important to hear and value the ideas of others, while understanding that very few things are ever accomplished perfectly on the first try. After about twenty minutes of group work, we came back together and I worked to build a tower (using their input) while we all sat in a large circle. The kids shared their observations and while I was the only one actually building, their thoughts, encouragement and positive energy made it feel like we were all working as one. At the very end, they were all just as nervous as I was about how we were going to be able to make our tower stay standing- the last few cups were a huge challenge (HELLO! SUPER NERVOUS TEACHER and SHAKY HANDS!) But as you can see from the photo below we accomplished the task and it even stayed standing until the next morning- how about that for solid construction?!

Thanks so much for reading- stay tuned for our next STEM challenge! : )

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STEM Challenge: Paper Chains

I am SO excited to report that today was our first official 2-F STEM Challenge. The challenge was presented to the students using the poster found in the collage below. In anticipation of our first challenge, we spent time last week talking all about what STEM is, what it stands for (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and the different types of activities/lessons that we might be experimenting with. We also talked about what expectations we had for ourselves and our peers, how we could work together in a group (if it were a group challenge) and the best ways to make the most out of every STEM minute we have!

Needless to say, after last week's awesome introductory conversation, the students were SO thrilled to be given their first challenge. The Paper Chains challenge was one that I found while researching STEM ideas online and I loved it for several reasons, but primarily because, 1. it wasn't extremely labor intensive, rigorous or intimidating and 2. it lent itself perfectly to natural conversations about how we think and problem solve, as well as how we perceive others and how they may think about the same thing a completely different way. During the challenge we paused to talk about our own problem solving abilities and comfort level with creativity, as well as how to recognize and appreciate the fact that each of us brings our own special set of ideas, feelings and thoughts to a particular group/challenge situation. I overhead one of my students say "I love STEM, we get to think and make stuff, but we also get to see how other kids think too!" *Talk about a teacher's heart being COMPLETELY melted! (Insert once again, 'I LOVE MY JOB!')

When we initially started, there were definitely a couple of students who were a bit hesitant and I could tell they were searching for more guidance and direction- but the best thing I could do (and what I did do : ) was remind them to just have fun, use their creative brain power, envision what they wanted it to look like and to remember that there were tons of different ways to succeed in this challenge. And let me just say, when the initial worries wore off (about 4 minutes in!) they did an absolutely amazing job! Perhaps one of the most impressive parts of the challenge was seeing at the end of the lesson that no two future-engineers had the same chain. Each chain was unique and it highlighted their ability to explore and utilize their creative and critical thinking skills. Seeing them all 'think outside the box' made for one super proud teacher. In the words of my students "I can't wait for our next STEM Challenge!"

*A very special THANK YOU to all of the families who have sent in items from the STEM Supply List! It makes these types of projects/lessons possible- thank you again! : )

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