Estimation Machine

As many of you know we have a new addition to our classroom – the Estimation Machine! Estimation is an important skill for our second graders to develop and it's one they will continue to revisit through the years. The Estimation Machine is a really fun way to bring that skill to life in the classroom.

Many of you guessed at Open House how many erasers were in the Estimation Machine!  On Friday we went through and counted how many erasers were actually in the Estimation Machine.  We brainstormed possible ways to count all the erasers: group them in 10s, each table would receive a pile of erasers and we would add up each table’s erasers count with a calculator, and counting my ones.  We took a class vote on what strategy to use and the groups of 10 strategy won.  Students did a wonderful job working with their partners to make groups of 10.  We added all the partnerships together to find out how many erasers were in the Estimation Machine.  Many jaws dropped when we realized 510 erasers were in the Estimation Machine.  Many students thought there were between 100 and 200 erasers in the Machine. Students jaws dropped even more when we went through the estimation guesses and realized Caitlin’s brother had guessed 510!  He made a perfect estimation!

Since Caitlin’s brother was closest, Caitlin has taken home the Estimation Machine to fill for next week.  Next week the student whose estimation is closest to the actual number will take the estimation jar home to refill with a new item. This cycle will continue throughout the school year.  Some suggestions for items to put in the Estimation Machine are:

-       Animal cookies

-       Beads

-       Beans

-       Bolts

-       Bottle caps

-       Crayons

-       Cotton balls

-       Corks

-       Drinking straw halves

-       Erasers

-       Gumballs

-       Goldfish

-       Macaroni

-       Marbles

-       Marshmallows

-       Nuts

-       Paper clips

-       Pasta

-       Puzzle pieces

-       Rubber bands

-       Seashells

-       Stickers

-       Sunflower seeds

-       Toothpicks

-       Washers

Thanks to all of you who made an estimate at Open House!  Your responses made for a room full of excitement on Friday morning.

500 Warm Fuzzies = Dance Party!

500 Warm Fuzzies = Dance Party!

Mystery Skypes This Week

This week we had TWO Mystery Skypes!

Mrs. Merced’s 2^nd Grade Class

On Wednesday morning we Skyped with Ms. Merced’s 2^nd grade class. During our Skyping session each student had the opportunity to ask or answer a question. When a question was asked our class answered the question and then Ms. Merced’s class answered the same question. We were very lucky to have Ms. Betsy as our recorder. Ms. Betsy recorded all of Ms. Merced’s students’ answers.

After our initial Skyping session we used the answers from Mrs. Merced’s questions to formulate a question to enter into the google search engine.  We worked on formulating questions which would help us locate Mrs. Merced’s state.

For example, one of the questions asked during our Mystery Skype was: What famous person was born in your state?  Mrs. Merced’s class answered: Abe Lincoln.  Using the answer from Mrs. Merced’s class we formulated a search question: What state was Abe Lincoln born in?

Students were divided into partnerships and began to type in their question into google to help them determine where Ms. Merced’s class was located.

Some answers to our specific questions were:

What is your state bird? (Red Cardinal)

What food festivals happen in your state? (The Taste, Burger Fest, BBQ Fest, Ribs Fest)

What is your state animal? (White tailed deer)

What college(s) are (is) in your state? (DePaul)

What famous people are from your state? (Michael Jordan and Barack Obama)

What is your state famous for? (Abe Lincoln, Deep Dish Pizza, Lake Michigan and Michael Jordon)  

What is your hometown sports team? (Blackhawks, The Fire, White Sox, Cubs, Bears and Bulls)

Once partnerships brainstormed possible state locations for Ms. Merced’s class we compiled a list of our guesses. The last step in our Mystery Skype process is to develop “We think” statements. 

We think you are in Illinois because Abe Lincoln was born in Illinois.

We think you are in Illinois because Illinois is near Lake Michigan.

We think you are in Illinois because Illinois’ state bird is the red cardinal.

We think you are in Illinois because Illinois is famous for deep dish pizza.

We think you are in Chicago because Chicago is named the Windy City.  We learned that Chicago is name the Windy City because it is near Lake Michigan.

On Monday we are going to Skype with Mrs. Merced’s class and find out if our guess is correct. We want to thank Ms. Merced and her class for taking time to Skype with us! They had amazing questions and worked incredibly well as a class. We are so excited to be blogging buddies with Ms. Merced’s class!

Ms. Avery’s 3^rd Grade Class

On Thursday afternoon we Mystery Skyped with Ms. Avery’s 3^rd Grade class.  This Mystery Skype was run differently than any of our Mystery Skypes before!  Half of our class gave clues and the other half of the class used iPads to do research during the Mystery Skype. The research group had to listen very carefully to the clues Ms. Avery’s class was giving our class, they then had to use the information to guide their research.  During our Mystery Skype with Ms. Avery’s class we found both the state they were located in and the city!

The clues that helped us locate which state Ms. Avery’s class was in were:

We are part of the Western United States and the Mountain West States.

 

The Grand Canyon is in our state.

 

We are one of the four corner states.

 

One quarter of our state is made up of the Navajo Nation.

 

Our first guess was correct… We guessed Ms. Avery’s class was located in Arizona.

 

The clue which helped us figure out what city Ms. Avery’s class was located in was: Our city is the 6^th largest city in United States.  We correctly guessed that Ms. Avery’s class was in Phoenix!

 

We had a great time Mystery Skyping this week!

Post-it Notes

In Reading Workshop we have been working on becoming stronger readers. One way to become a stronger reader is for students to stop and think while they are reading. Sometimes while students are reading they have a great ‘aha moment’ and want to write down information so they can share with a friend, a teacher or a parent. One way that you can write down information is on a Post-it note.

Post-it notes can be used for many reasons in our classroom. Good readers use Post-it notes as a reading tool. Post-it notes show places where students have done real thinking. Students can use a Post-it note for many reasons: on a page they wonder about, a page that is funny, a page that is interesting, a page that is confusing, a page where something new is learned, or, a page with something important.

Below are pictures that show where “real thinking” has happened during Reading Workshop. We also have a short video (below) of students reading their Post it notes.

 

Dot Day

Yesterday we celebrated International Dot Day in our classroom.  We started off the day by reading the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds.  As a class we discussed the “big idea” of the book – never give up! After the Read Aloud each student colored in their own dot.  With the help of Ms. Betsy students placed their dot on the floor, opened the colAR Mix app and watched their Dot come to life (3-D).  Students then took a screen shot of their 3-D dot and uploaded the photograph of their 3-D dot to the classroom website.  In the afternoon we were able to look at our classmates’ dots and comment on them.  For more information on International Dot Day click here.  We can’t wait to comment and learn about other classrooms thanks to International Dot Day!  Below are some photographs of our 3-D dots.

 

 

 

 

Second Mystery Skype

Today we had our second Mystery Skype of the school year. Our classroom Mystery Skyped Mrs. Nieman’s third grade class. Mrs. Nieman’s class provided us with the following clues to help us guide our research:

     -We have a mountain in our state
     -Right now we are experiencing a mixture of climate changes from 60 degrees to 90 degress
     -We are close to another country
     -We have 3 mottoes on our state flag
     -Earvin Magic Johnson was born in our state
     -We have a famous island
     -We produce more cereal than any other state
     -We have famous sand dunes
     -Henry Ford is someone famous from our state

After our Mystery Skype we used the clue’s Mrs. Nieman’s class provided us to formulate questions. We then typed our questions into the Google search engine.

Our classroom believes Mrs. Nieman’s class is in Michigan because:
    - Michigan borders Canada. (We discussed how we have a connection with Mrs. Nieman’s class because Vermont also borders Canada.)
     - Michigan has a famous island called Mackinac Island.
     - Michigan produces more cereal than any other state.
    - Henry Ford is from Michigan.

Tomorrow we will be Mystery Skyping with Mrs. Nieman’s class to see if our Michigan guess is correct!

Internet Safety

On Tuesday, students watched Router’s Birthday Surprise. As a class we discussed what kinds of fun things we can do online (blogging, Raz-kids, XtraMath, Mystery Skype). Router’s Birthday Surprised taught students about the four rules of internet safety. Each student signed an Internet Safety Pledge which explains the rules for online safety. Below is a copy of the Internet Safety Pledge (and rules) we discussed. As a class we learned that the “rules” are meant to keep us safe online and also at home. The Internet Safety Pledge will be sent home with children’s homework on Monday. For more internet safety information please click here.

My Rules for Internet Safety

Map of Our Hearts

In Writing Workshop we have been learning a lot about each other and the materials in our classroom.  Last Friday, we began Writing Workshop by thinking and drawing about the things we love and hold in our hearts.  All of these thoughts help us to become better writers because we could write about them every single day.  We have so many stories about the things we hold in our hearts that sometimes it is hard to pick just one to write about.  Students shared the things, people, places they hold in their hearts.  Students then drew the things they love.  Below are students’ “Maps of Their Hearts”.