Mrs. Giammusso's Class: Classroom News: Geometry, BeeBot, Writing Celebration, and E.C.O.

Another busy week in the second and third grade! On Monday, our second grade class started a new geometry unit with a discussion about the features of two-dimensional shapes. We talked about the names of various polygons, such as triangles, quadrilaterals, hexagons, and octagons and counted the number of sides, angles, and vertices on each polygon. This was a great opportunity to talk about the meanings of word parts, such as "tri" and "quad". Throughout the week, students created shapes on geoboards and sorted polygons based on their number of sides.

On Friday, we also used our geometry shape cards in a sequencing activity using BeeBot. Students were given a description of a shape on the mat and then created a short program with a sequence of steps that would lead BeeBot to that location on the mat. BeeBot also made an appearance during our greeting in morning meeting on Thursday.

On Tuesday, both 2/3 classes went outside for E.C.O. lessons that focused on Becoming Coyotes. We played a food chain tag game that helped us to understand the relationships between the populations of rabbits and coyotes, as well as the importance of plants in the food chain. Students worked in groups to create skits that told about events that often happen in coyote's lives, such as the birth of new pups, finding food, or rejoining the pack. We learned about the many different sounds that coyotes make to communicate with each other. Then, we moved from the field to the woods for a "coyote scent" game, in which groups hid a "pup" and then used a spray bottle with a balsam or mint scent to mark their path. Other "coyotes" in our class had to follow the scent to find the pup.

The third graders invited the second grade writing classes to join them for a writing celebration on Wednesday afternoon. It was a wonderful opportunity for second graders to hear the interesting "expert books" written by their classmates in Mrs, Christy's writing class and to learn about some ways to "lift the level" of their own writing.

Groups finished performing their animal plays for each other this week. Each group also led the class in a Moving Through Space movement activity, in which we moved according to the verbs they had selected for their animal group. We were very busy scurrying, slithering, fluttering, hopping, and moving in many different ways. Students also worked on their final animal group and adaptation assessment. I have been so impressed the ways that students have been demonstrating their understanding about animal groups, features, and adaptations through their artistic creations and in writing!

On Friday, I sent home information about our upcoming student led conferences and a sign up sheet. Please return the form or email me with your first choices for times as soon as possible. I will send a conference confirmation note home by next Friday.

Animal Verbs Movement Activity