Wow! Second graders have been working hard the last two weeks. As an extension of our study of growth mindset and making mistakes, students participated in a cooperative problem solving challenge where they had to work together to stack a set of cups. That doesn't sound difficult, right??? Well...they couldn't touch the cups AT ALL! That's right, no touching the cups. Students were given string and a single rubber band and had to solve the problem of how to get them stacked together! This was a great exercise in communication, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, and perseverance!!!
Our next task had us brainstorming ways to fill each other's buckets! After reading the story, How Full Is Your Bucket, students worked in small groups to generate a list of things you could do to fill someone else's bucket. These lists were compiled and then reviewed by the class. Students had to think of ways to take their ideas and condense them down to one word so that we could make an A-Z book of bucket filling ideas. For example, students said that one way to fill someone's bucket was to include them in the game you are playing. We took this idea and said, "I is for include." Each student was given a page for our A-Z book and had to (1) write the word to go with the letter, (2) write a sentence showing how that word fills someone's bucket, and (3) illustrate the act. The completed book with everyone's ideas, will be bound and put in the class library for students to check out and read!!!
Our next task had us brainstorming ways to fill each other's buckets! After reading the story, How Full Is Your Bucket, students worked in small groups to generate a list of things you could do to fill someone else's bucket. These lists were compiled and then reviewed by the class. Students had to think of ways to take their ideas and condense them down to one word so that we could make an A-Z book of bucket filling ideas. For example, students said that one way to fill someone's bucket was to include them in the game you are playing. We took this idea and said, "I is for include." Each student was given a page for our A-Z book and had to (1) write the word to go with the letter, (2) write a sentence showing how that word fills someone's bucket, and (3) illustrate the act. The completed book with everyone's ideas, will be bound and put in the class library for students to check out and read!!!
In math we started looking at related facts and how these can help us solve problems. Students were introduced to new vocabulary (equation & variable) and practiced identifying the greatest number in an equation even if the equation was written with only variables. Students had to them generate related facts. This lead into working with word problems. Students solved single step word problems of the following types:
Join (result unknown) Join (change unknown) Join (start unknown)
Separate (result unknown) Separate (change unknown) Separate (start unknown)
In solving these word problems, students had to model the action of the word problem using a part/part/whole model, write the equation to match the action of the word problem (and included a variable for the unknown part), and then use the related fact that had the variable as the answer to solve the problem.
Join (result unknown) Join (change unknown) Join (start unknown)
Separate (result unknown) Separate (change unknown) Separate (start unknown)
In solving these word problems, students had to model the action of the word problem using a part/part/whole model, write the equation to match the action of the word problem (and included a variable for the unknown part), and then use the related fact that had the variable as the answer to solve the problem.
In social studies, students have been studying citizenship. Through their studies, students have learned the traits of responsible citizens, the rights, responsibilities and privileges of being a citizen, and what makes the American people diverse and wonderful! To reinforce their learning, students worked in cooperative groups on an especially difficult challenge. Using their critical thinking and problem solving skills, students had to pair decoders with puzzles then solve these puzzles in order to find key vocabulary words. Once the words were found, they had to be paired with either their definition or an example! The puzzles proved to be very challenging, but the students are persevering and will continue to tackle this challenge in the upcoming week! Here are some examples of the puzzles they have to solve.