Let's catch up, shall we?
The week before Thanksgiving was filled with engineering excitement! After exploring each stage of the engineering design process (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve), the projects were solely student lead and constructed. It was amazing to see their brains churning with ideas.
Each group began with the same "Ask", which was based on two TEKS (The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills state standards):
TEKS2.5D Combine materials that when put together can do things that they cannot do by themselves.
TEKS 2.3A: Identify a problem and propose a task and solution for the problem.
While the Ask stage looked similar, the groups moved on to the Imagine stage where they brainstormed by themselves what their engineering project would look like.
Once the students imagined, I created groups based on similar ideas. Authentic collaboration began as they agreed to disagree and made one Plan encompassing all of their ideas, or as they students would call it, a diagram. This is the stage where their ideas transferred from their imaginations to paper. They drew diagrams of their projects and made lists of materials they would like to use when the time came to create. They learned about constraints like not enough time, lack of materials, and short on funds (money). All real world issues!! Next, the class began the Create stage of the engineering process the very next day. Most of their supplies consisted of tape, cardboard, markers, string, cotton balls, plastic bags, scissors, and small box-like containers. I got to clean out my garage of all of the recycled materials I had collected!!
I think almost the entire class would say that the Create stage was the most fun stage of the process! The students were able to bring their plans to life and see what worked and what needed to be changed. This is also the stage where they realized how important our Christie core value of being resilient is when engineering. You all sure do have some of the hardest working and opinionated 7 and 8 year olds I've ever met!
Last, but certainly not least, came the final stage of the Engineering Process: Improve. This provided a time for the students to make changes and/or improvements to their projects in any areas they saw fit. Some of my students were still making improvements during the eExpo! They did not want to stop!
Thank you to all of our friends and family who joined us for the eExpo. We had a blast sharing our creations with you and are so appreciative of your support! :)
The week after Thanksgiving had us working ourselves back in to the groove of school life.
In Language Arts/Social Studies we studied:
- r-controlled vowels (ear, eer, ere), for example: here, fear, cheer, deer, dear, steer
- homophones- a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning, and may differ in spelling. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise"), or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too.
- Expository Writing about Plano's motto/logo for this school year "Make Your Mark", which focused on how a community hero has made a mark on the students' lives through their words and actions. The students also added how they will carry on that hero's legacy. (These turned out to be so sweet and I cannot wait to share them with you at middle of the year parent-teacher conferences at the end of January/beginning of February. This date has yet to be announced.)
Math:
We are continuing to challenge ourselves in Math with that "regrouping" word! The students have been hard at work adding 3 digit numbers. One of our lessons even challenged us to use mental math to solve the 3 digit addition problems!
Science:
In Science we read "Juan Daniel's Futbol Frog", which is a story about a young boy who discovered a lost frog at his futbol (soccer for Americans) game in El Salvador outside of the rain forest. Juan Daniel's new frog friend is in trouble and the boy engineers a membrane to keep the frog alive. Over the next few weeks, we will be learning about how membranes function and applying our knowledge of the needs of a basic living organism. The class will split up in to small groups this week and next to study the "membrane" of a raisin in different elements and then go on to design their own frog habitat with a model membrane that delivers the appropriate amount of water for Juan Daniel's frog friend. Stay tuned for more on this!
IMPORTANT DATES:
* Hour of Code: Friday, December 11- 1:00- 2:00 pm
* 2nd Grade Winter Party: Thursday, December 17- 1:30- 2:30 pm
* End of 2nd 9 Weeks Assembly: 8:00 am for K-2 on Friday, December 18
* Early Release (12:00 pm) Friday, December 18
* Winter Break: December 21- January 4
* Student Holiday/Teacher Work Day: Monday, January 4, 2016
* Classes resume on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
A letter will be coming home this week with a designated item for your child to bring for the Winter Party on Thursday, December 17th.
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