Where is our clothing made?

This week in Social Studies we continued our discussion of goods and services by exploring where our own clothes are made.  The students made observations about which parts of the world seem produce more clothing.   Children learned about countries that some had never heard of before, such as Vietnam, Haiti and Indonesia.  Some students noticed that one clothing brand produced clothing in two different countries, very far apart from one another.

Dissecting Seeds

This week in science the students dissected seeds!  They identified three parts in each seed (seed coat, stored food, and embryo).  It was fascinating trying to find the future root and leaf on the embryo.  The students used iPads to photograph their seeds and label each part using an app called "Show Me!"

Arrays

This week in Math we have been working more with arrays. Practice with arrays is a very helpful beginning step in learning multiplication facts. Seeing 2 rows of 6 dots each, and 12 total dots, helps children to make the connection that  2 x 6 = 12.  Students are also making connections that a different array, 3 x 4 = 12, shows that another arrangement (fact family) has the same total (product) of 12.  On Thursday we created arrays using geo-boards. Some students chose to write  repeated addition number models, while others wrote multiplication number models. 

Ex. 5 x 5 = 25 vs. 5 + 5 + 5 +5 +5 = 25

Valentine's Day

Thank you to all the parents who helped to make the Valentine's Party so special.  The children had a wonderful time exchanging sweet notes and enjoying yummy snacks together!

Goods & Services

Here are some of the titles we've read in our social studies exploration of good & services:

Partial Sums

The students are continuing their practice with the partial sums strategy for adding double and triple digit numbers, this week using base ten blocks as a visual:

Farmer in the Classroom

On Friday we were fortunate to be visited by John Harnois from Harnois Farm.  He brought along a hen from his farm as well as chicken eggs,  and taught us all about raising birds on his farm.

Author's Chair

Here are a couple snapshots form our most recent Author's Chair, a wonderful time to share our writing with one another.

Graphing

Learning how to graph is an important skill in second grade. Last week the students gathered data on how many pockets they each had on that day, then tallied up the results, and created both a picture graph and a bar graph to represent the data.

Assembly Lines in Action

In Social Studies we have begun learning about "Goods and Services" and today we worked in mini assembly lines to create a product, to simulate how workers produce goods in factories.  Each child had a different job in the assembly line, and each "factory" created six games, one for each child to take home. The children showed some amazing team work and efficiency!