Worm Week - blah

I wasn't really planning on ever having a week revolving around worms. I pretty much think that worms are totally yucky and I am not the type of person who doesn't mind touching them. Put them on a fish hook? Never. So, it was one of those things in the classroom that just happened.
First of all, we are studying rocks and soil in science. We did an experiment on comparing different kinds of soil. We are so lucky to have a wonderful retired couple who love science and provide a lot of our science stuff that we need. So, each student had three different soil samples to compare.

Yes,a few of the samples contained some worm friends. Don't get me wrong - this was an awesome experiment and the students loved it. I was just avoiding the worms samples like the plague!

We read a chapter book during our read aloud time each week. I try to choose one that is related to what we are doing in science or social studies. It seemed like a perfect book - Chocolate Covered Worms. This is a perfect book for second graders!

At the end of the week, what would you do if you were me? Yes of course, make some chocolate covered worms!

They are easy to make. Melt chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and a little bit of butter in the microwave. Stir. Toss in some Chinese noodles and stir. Put in the refrigerator. They are delicious.

Some of the students loved them, and others weren't so trusting.

All in all, worm week turned out to be pretty fun.

The Tiny Seed

This week we had a fun time studying Eric Carle books. Our main story was The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. It is a great story to learn about seeds, plants and the seasons.

We read the story together every day. We completed a story study too.

The students had so much fun making Tiny Seed collages - just like Eric Carle. It is amazing!
The first day ... they chose which illustration that they were going to try and make so that they knew what colors to paint their paper. You have to paint the whole paper.

The next day they cut and glued their illustrations together. We used some bird seed to represent the seeds.

The pictures came out pretty cute - and Eric Carle-ish!

At the end of the week, we did a Literature Scoot as an informal assessment. I placed the cards on tables all around the room and students moved from one to the next. It is so much better than sitting in your seat taking a test. The students love doing these and they have no idea that they are being assessed. 

Yes ... tricky!

It sure was a fun week. Eric Carle books are the best!!!

Slim the Lizard Science Experiment

Science fun!!!  The first story in our reading series is called David's New Friend - it is about David and his first day at school. There is a pet lizard in his new class named Slim. One of our first science standards is to learn about science and the scientific method - so we decided that it would be fun to do an experiment with Slim. We purchased lizards that you can put into the water and they grow. (You can just google "growing lizard" and find the different places to purchase the lizard). I got mine at Steve Spangler. The students loved it. This is Slim on our first day. On day one we did the Purpose, Hypothesis, Procedure and Day One observations. We observed him for the next five days.

 

We looked at Slim, weighed him, measured him, and passed him around to record how he felt. Then, we recorded our observations and drew a picture.

Here is Slim on Day 5. My how he's grown!

This is a fun experiment to teach students about the steps in the scientific method. Here's the booklet I made to record each day. It's a freebie - have fun!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Scientific-Method-Slim-the-Lizard-Experiment-1434500

The Rainbow Fish

It has been a great start to the school year. My class is absolutely adorable and wonderful. I always begin the year with the "Friendship" theme. We begin each day, all year, with "The Friendship Rap" and talk about how to be a friend each day at circle time. One of my very favorite friendship stories is The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. The students love the story and it teaches a great lesson. An important reading skill that we are working on at the beginning of second grade is "retelling" - beginning, middle and end. As a reading/writing activity, the student wrote a summary of the story and what lesson the Rainbow Fish learned.

I put the Rainbow Fish craft at a center. First, the students painted the Rainbow Fish with watercolors.

They had so much fun putting the tissue squares on the Rainbow Fish. We used some squares of foil for the beautiful, shiny scales.

One of my centers all year is "Text-talk". We used the Rainbow Fish book and the Text Talk cards (for any literature story). It is on my next summer to-do list to make text talk cards specifically for the Rainbow Fish book, but for now these worked just fine!

The most exciting and fun Rainbow Fish activity is making the Rainbow Fish bracelets. When I tell the students that we are making Rainbow Fish bracelets, they all want different colored beads and I tell them that I am sorry but these are the only beads that I have.

Yes, we go to recess soon after that. You can imagine the excitement when their bracelets suddenly become the colorful Rainbow Fish bracelets of their dreams. SO MUCH FUN!

Speaking of school, off to grade papers. Blogging is so much more fun. Have a great weekend.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Rainbow-Fish-Literature-Scoot-2022643

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Let's diet tomorrow - maybe!

There are two different types of teachers ... those who spend the summer eating like everyday is a vacation and put on those summer ten pounds ... and those who come back to school all in shape and skinny. Those types say, "I exercised every day and it's so easy to diet when we aren't at school and I'm not tempted by all of the food around school." Puh-leez!

Well, since none of my clothes fit me and I'm trying on everything in my closet to find something to wear to school tomorrow - you can probably guess which type I am. Seriously, an extra seven hours a day for leisure - you have to eat good things at least a few of those hours ... every day ... for two months.

We just finished our first week of school. I was going to diet this week, but then the crazy busy things that we all face the first week happened and I needed lots of chocolate - and comfort food. So, I'll try again this week! I think that the visit with my closet has possibly motivated me a little bit.

Speaking of comfort food, here's the absolute best Mac and Cheese recipe for the crock pot. If you haven't started your school year diet yet, you really must make it.

It's easy.
CHEESY CROCKPOT MAC AND CHEESE
   1 lb. macaroni (cook following pkg. directions but half the time)
   1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
   8 oz. extra-sharp shredded cheddar
   1 quart milk
   1 stick butter, cut into small chunks
Mix all together in a crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy, for tomorrow we may diet!!!

Meet the Teacher

We had "Meet the Teacher" yesterday so I got to meet my new students. They are so very adorable this year. I decided to have WISE OWLS as my theme this year.

 I always have trouble deciding on what to put on my bulletin board. I put clothespins up so that I can easily change it with student work during the year. The first thing that I will put up is a story that they write about why they are a wise owl. That's the plan anyway.

I bought a cute little owl for each student (I had a gift certificate to Amazon - they have some cute ones at Oriental Trading too) and they absolutely loved them. Each student is to give their little owl a name and I wrote a poem to go with it to put by their bed the night before school starts to help them sleep. I wish that I had one myself to help me sleep Sunday night too.

I can't wait to hear the stories about the little owls' adventures. I am going to have the students write a story about them too. So much fun!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/OWL-themed-signs-for-Meet-the-Teacher-1396238