Geologists at Work

This week we started our study of rocks and minerals. On Tuesday, we sorted rocks by particle size, hardness, color, texture, and layering. On Wednesday, we watched a BrainPop video on rocks and minerals and then went outside on a rock hunt. Each student found a rock they would use for our rock centers. We did our rock centers today and we had a blast. There were 5 stations: finding objects that were equivalent (good math vocabulary review :)) to the weight of the rock, studying the rock under a magnifying glass and drawing what we saw, determining if there was limestone in the rock by doing the vinegar test, determining if there was metal in the rock by using magnets, and finding out if the rock would sink or float in water. Here our some photos of our geologists at work:

Jump Rope for Heart

Well, I definitely went back to my elementary years today. Students in grades K-3 participated in Jump Rope for Heart today. All 2nd grade classes jumped together. (Yesterday, grades 4-5 did Hoops for Heart.) I participated in the jump roping and, boy, can I ever tell I haven't jumped rope in a while! The kids were really into it and that's great! We all had a blast and raised money for a very good cause.

Author Visit

Yesterday (Tuesday) Caralyn and Mark Buehner made a visit to McPolin. They have written and illustrated many children's books, including Snowmen at Night, Snowmen at Christmas, and Would I Ever Lie to You? Mrs. Buehner read Would I Ever Lie to You? to us and Mr. Buehner drew examples of illustrations for us. They showed us, from start to finish, how a book is published.



This is Caralyn Buehner reading Would I Ever Lie to You?



Here is Mark Buehner doing his illustrations.

Update

We will be finishing up mapping this week. Last week, we took everything we learned about maps and applied it to making our own map of an island. They turned out great! When you're in the school, make sure you take a look at them on the bulletin board outside our classroom. Some students even wrote questions to answer about their maps (e.g. What is east of the school?). Today, we starting making paper mache globes. Unfortunately, I was too into doing the paper mache and forgot to snap some photos. We will let them dry tonight and tomorrow and do the painting on Wednesday afternoon.



Here are a couple of finished products:





After spring break, we will be studying rocks/geology.