Grade 2 Polar Animals

Second Grade has enjoyed their research on polar animals. Their nonfiction reading helped with their writing and then all this was turned into an iPad project using the app chatterkid.

Here are their final projects.
Click on each picture below. Did you know all those facts?

View on Flipagram

Personal Narrative with a Halloween Treat

Mrs. Madden's class took a twist to their personal narrative writing.  Students wrote stories about Halloween and then added their own creative touches.

After creating illustrations for the beginning, middle, and end of the story, students used the iPad to take pictures.

Mrs. Madden helped students edit and record their story in the app Book Creator.

Click on the personal narrative tales below. Be prepared to be entertained.

Mrs. Ford's Friends Share Their Personal Narratives

Second Graders in Mrs. Ford's class have been working on writing personal narratives. Students brainstormed how to narrow their ideas down just like the "seed of a watermelon".

Mrs. Ford helps students edit their stories.

After creating a hard copy of their colorful illustrations, students used the iPad to take a picture of their picture. We even learned how to edit the photos.

Using the app Book Creator the final recording was completed.

Here are the digital versions of these hard working students' personal narratives.

How to...

Students have been busy writing Informational/Explanatory: Factual Reports and Procedural Writing (How-to) during the month of May. Classes have explored multiple ways to address this type of writing.

In some rooms you will see students filling in graphic organizers before they begin their final drafts.

You may even see How to Poetry being composed on the computer.

A group of first graders decided to showcase their work in a green screen video format. Click on the picture below. Warning: You will be hungry at the end!

The children in second grade have been reading procedural text and learning how to write procedural text incorporating transition words (i.e., first, next, then, finally). The children chose a topic of interest and created their own “How To” books on Book Creator. The children learned how to add their own voice to their books allowing them to practice their reading fluency skills. The children also learned how to add and import photographs into their completed books. Needless to say they are very proud of their “How to Books.”

Option 1 digital device:
Click on the title, download, and Open either in Book Creator or iBooks on a digital device.  Be sure to click on the speech bubble to hear the text.

Option 2 PDF for a computer:

Click on PDF.  Read the pages of the story.

Option 3 Book Read Aloud:  Listen to the story being read by the author.

How to Do a Back Hand Spring    PDF     Book Read Aloud

How to Do a Cart Wheel    PDF     Book Read Aloud

How to Do a Palm Strike in Karate     PDF     Book Read Aloud

How to Hit a Softball     PDF     Book Read Aloud

How to Ice Skate     PDF     Book Read Aloud

How to Make a Clay Dragon    PDF     Book Read Aloud

How to Make a Rocket     PDF     Book Read Aloud

How to Skateboard     PDF     Book Read Aloud

Famous People

A Second Grade reading and writing curriculum area is the study of biographies. Students read and research about a Famous Person who has made a difference. The project begins during library class where Mrs. DeFrank displays all the biographies for the students.  It is an exciting time watching the selection process. This year Mrs. Madden's Class decided to take their new knowledge and create a digital project to share. After researching and writing their report, students then wrote a short script from the first person perspective of their famous person. Costumes were discussed and students practiced and practiced before filming in front of the big green screen.   Famous People from Mrs. Klipfel on Vimeo.
Mrs. McCarthy's Class also added a digital component to their learning.  Her students created a paper version of their famous person.  Each student then wrote a first person script for their famous person and practiced for fluency.

This is also a green screen project but this time the paper famous person was in front to the green screen.  Can you see the green stick holding him in place?  Do you know why it is green?

Using the app Green Screen by Doink the paper version was transported to a different time and place.

Can you guess why this famous person was recorded in front of a red screen?

Hint:  Look at the color of her dress.

  Mrs McCarthy Presents Famous People from Mrs. McCarthy on Vimeo.

Biographies

Grade 2 has been immersed in the study of biographies. The Common Core State Standards require students to "describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text"  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3: Informational Text. One great way to get students to understand historical events in sequence and to see the connection between the events is to have them read biographies.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.10
"By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range."

 

Dress Rehearsal for Famous People Performance

Students used the FREE app ChatterPix and took a picture of a drawing they created for their report.  The app allows you to record a 30 second clip.  We then put all the short clips into iMovie.  The links below use SafeShare.TV for us to share the Grade 2  Masterpieces.

Mrs. Madden's Class Video

Mrs. Mack's Class Video

Mrs. Austin's Class Video

Mrs. McCarthy's Class Video
 

 

Trip to Antarctica

Second Graders participated in the presentation "TFK Live from Antarctica!" with Suzanne Zimbler, Assistant Managing Editor, TIME For Kids and Jaime Joyce, Assistant Managing Editor, Education, TIME For Kids, with David Bjerklie, TFK Science Writer.

For more information be sure to check out the Time For Kids website.

 True or False: (answers below)

1.  Antarctica is located at the North Pole.

2.  Antarctica is a continent.

3.  The United States is bigger than Antarctica.

4.  The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was in Antarctica.

5.  Antarctica is a desert.

6.  There are polar bears in Antarctica.

 

1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. False

 

 

Butterflies and Moths

For the past few weeks, the second grade has been studying butterflies and moths.  The classrooms had butterfly nets hanging from the ceiling and the students watched the life cycle right before their eyes. It is always a fun day when the newly hatched butterflies are set free.
The students in Mrs. Madden's class worked on comparing and contrasting butterflies and moths.  The students also spent time researching and writing the details in a venn diagram in order to complete a compare and contrast writing piece.

 

Click on the picture to test your knowledge of the life cycle of a butterfly.

Flash Player is necessary to view this site.

 

Click on the butterfly to color online.  Flash Player is necessary.

 

 

The students used the app educreations to share their new knowledge.

  Sam and Trevor     Daniel and Noah      

Matthew and Max

   

Joelle and Grace

  Ashley and Louie

 

Charlie and Olivia

  

 

Ella and Grace

Anna and Sarah

   

Meet Kevin Henkes

Kevin Henkes Live!    

   

  Kevin Henkes was live in the Steward School Library!  Steward School Second Graders were lucky enough to participate in a Live Webcast this week with Kevin Henkes filmed at the Bank Street College Of Education New York and sponsored by Greenwillow Books.

Kevin Henkes is the creator of nearly 50 books for children. He has written both picture books and novels; his picture books include Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse; Chrysanthemum; and Kitten’s First Full Moon, a winner of the Caldecott Medal. Among his novels are the Newbery Honor Book Olive’s Ocean and the upcoming middle grade novel The Year of Billy Miller.
Mrs. McCarthy's Class

"We learned how to say his last name correctly.  Kevin has two children.  His new book is called A Year With Billy Miller- and he read part of it to us.  We found out he wrote forty-seven children's books.  He uses a typewriter instead of a computer.  He doesn't have a cell phone.  He's old fashioned.  We didn't know he wrote stories about people we thought it was only mice.  He's 52 years old.  We have a lot of his books in our school."

 

Mrs. Madden's Class



"Our second graders had a wonderful opportunity this week to meet the famous author, Kevin Henkes through a live podcast. He has written 55 children's books, and our classroom favorite is Chrysanthemum. We learned that Mr. Henkes was an artist at a very young age, has always loved to read books and published his first when he was only 19 years old. I wonder how many students in my class will one day be famous artists and authors?"

 

Happy Mother's Day

 

 

Mrs. McCarthy's Class sends a Mother's Day message to their Moms.

 

Click below to hear how special these Moms are.

Biographies

News from Second Grade:

"The lives of many famous people who have made a difference in the world have kept us engaged in reading and writing this month. Second graders have been introduced to the genre of biography and have read about people such as, Mother Teresa, Amelia Earhart, Louis Braille, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Each student chose a famous person and wrote a research report about them. On April 10th, the second graders had a 'Famous People Performance' in which they took on the persona of their chosen person. In addition to all of our reading and writing activities, we enjoyed a performance about Amelia Earhart funded by TESPTO."

Mrs. McCarthy's Famous People

         

Mrs. Clark's Famous People

     

The Arctic

As our weather turns colder and colder with a sprinkling of snow, the Second Grade has been hard at work studying the Arctic.  They have learned about the climate and animals that live in this cold region.

They know that the Arctic is a polar region located at the northernmost part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Denmark, Norway, the United States, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland.