I Am Poems

This past week students worked very hard writing I Am poems based on the book "I Am America" by Charles R. Smith Jr.

First, we read the book together in class.  The message of the book taught us that even though we are all very different we're all a part of our country, the United States.

Next, students brainstormed ideas of words that described them as well as things they hear, see, taste, wear, and wish for on the chart below.

Then, students wrote rough drafts of their poems on the sentence frame you see below.

Finally, students wrote their final drafts and followed step-by-step directions to draw self portraits.

The final products turned out great!  All students did awesome work coming up with ideas and doing their best spelling to write their poems. 

U.S. Symbols

This past week we learned about U.S. symbols.  We began by learning that a symbol is something small that reminds us of a bigger idea. 

 

The first symbol we learned about was the Statue of Liberty.  We read a non-fiction book and watched a BrainPop Jr. video.  Then students worked on brainstorming words that described what the Statue of Liberty is, was, and has.

 

 

Students also made their own Statue of Liberty crowns.  Here's the whole class with their crowns, torches, and tablets just like the real Statue of Liberty.

 

 

Next we learned about the President and the White House.  Students made flip books that opened up to the facts they wrote all about the White House.

 

 

On Friday morning we learned about Mount Rushmore.  One of Brimhall's second grade teachers let us borrow her awesome replica of Mount Rushmore.

 

 

Each student created their own Mount Rushmore that included a photo of them!  On the back they wrote three facts they had learned about Mount Rushmore.

 

 

Later on Friday afternoon we learned about bald eagles.  We read a non-fiction book and looked at photos and watched a video from Mrs. Mohamed's trip to the Eagle Center in Wabasha.  We also took a look at a live eagle cam.  While we were watching we got to see a mother bald eagle feed her new baby eagle. 

 

To check out the eagle cam you can use the link below:

 

Bald Eagle Live Cam

 

Students followed step by step directions to draw their own bald eagles.

 

Reader's Theatre & Choice Time

This week students had a chance to perform a reader's theatre play for the second time this year.  Earlier this year students performed fall themed plays.  This time around students read spring themed plays to the class.  Everyone worked very hard all week long practicing and did a great job performing on Friday!

 

 

Here's a few photos of some of this week's choice time fun!

 

Space, Writing, & Teddy Bear Day

It's been a very busy week!!  Here's some new photos of everyone in our class! 

Earlier this week we practiced adding detail to our writing.  Students were given a prompt and then had to add information to make their writing more exciting.  Here's a few samples. 

On Wednesday we said goodbye to one of our classmates.  She is moving back to China with her family.  We will miss her very much!

This week we have continued learning about space.  Here is our new bulletin board with the constellations students created while learning about stars.

We have taken several days this week to learn about the planets in our solar system.  Students had a chance to paint planets using watercolors.

Then they put them in order to create their own solar systems.

Students have been very curious during our space unit and very excited about everything we have been learning!   Several students have created solar system drawings in their journals during quiet time.

Yesterday was Teddy Bear Day in our classroom!  Students had fun having their bears with them all day long.

Students had a chance to draw a picture of and write about their bears.  They are all becoming great writers!!

In library students have been working hard doing research on a Minnesota animal.  They will be writing reports that they will share during our big Minnesota program at the end of the month.

After checking their books out in the library students had a chance to read to their bears in the story circle!

We ended the day yesterday by attending an all school assembly to celebrate our March for Others Food Drive.  As a school we collected over 1,000 items for the food shelf at Roseville High School.  Thank you to those that donated!