It has been busy the last two weeks in second grade! Second graders began their study of place value in math. My students worked hard to understand numbers to the thousands place. They built numbers to the thousands with place value blocks, wrote numbers in standard and word form, then learned how to express the number in expanded form! They completed a book of egg-citing place value where they selected an egg from an egg carton and cracked it open to find 4 digits. They had to create the greatest number possible with those four digits and record the number in the book in standard, word, expanded, and picture form. They also enjoyed playing a lively game of place value Go Fish!
In reading / LA, we used our story about Jackie Robinson and answered a variety of questions about the text! Students learned how to take key words from the question as well as textual support of the answer and combine them write detailed, solid answers to show complete comprehension. We wrote answers in a way that if you didn't know the question that was asked, you would still have a clear understanding of what we talked about. Here is an example:
Q: According to the author, how is Jackie Robinson a hero like Charles Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong?
A: Jackie Robinson is a hero like Charles Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong because like
Charles Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong he was the first to do something that no one else had done. He was the first African American major league baseball player.
Students have also been learning about Google programs and the amazing collaborative features these programs have to offer. Working in teams of 2 or 3, students have selected a famous person that has had to overcome a hardship. They have begun researching this person to gain insight into the hardship he/she had to overcome, how they overcame it, what their childhood was like, and contributions they have made to history. Their research is being compiled in a Google Doc where students can work and add to the document at the same time! Once the research is all gathered, they will then create a Google Slide show to share with classmates!