Last week we wrapped up a couple of our projects from our IB unit called How the World Works. We have been looking at and comparing different cycles that exist in our world. As you saw on our last post, our chicks hatched. We had a very good hatch rate this year. We ended up with 12 baby chickens and 1 baby quail in 2A. The chicks were adorable. We spent the week getting them out and holding them. We took them to a couple of kinder and 1st grade classes to show them off. We tried to get the quail out of the box, but it kept flying around the room. We were afraid it would get hurt (or lost), so we observed it mostly in its box along with a quail friend from another class. We were all sad to see the chicks go, but the lady at Bailey Farms was happy to see them come home. The chicks and the quail were starting to get their feathers, so a lot of flying was starting to occur! We had also been watching our butterflies going through their life cycle. Our caterpillars had finally changed into the chrysalis stage and on Friday, the butterflies emerged. Since it was a long weekend, we decided to go ahead and release the butterflies into the Pinkerton Patch so they could enjoy the beautiful plants there. On Friday afternoon, we had our very last guest reader of the year. We would like to thank Mr. Johnson for reading to us. We send out hugs to all of the parents, grandparents, and guests who came to read to the class this year. #weloveourguestreaders #youareawesome As a bonus, please enjoy the Field Day video below. We had a great time at Field Day this year. Thanks to all of the moms, dads, and other volunteers who worked hard to put it on! It is hard to believe we are down to our last 2 1/2 days of school for the year. I plan to enjoy every moment of next week with my sweet class!
1 Comment
Last week our chicks began hatching. It started on Saturday with our quail egg. Then on Monday, our little chicks started pecking their way out of the eggs. After a week, we are surprised at how much our chicks have grown. They are starting to get their feathers.
Chick Holding Day! Learners were excited to hold the chicks and try to keep them inside the tubs. The quail were so jumpy and fast, one jumped out of the tub and raced around the room under the tables!
On Wednesday, 2nd grade visited the Coppell Nature Park. We had an awesome time! We learned about plants, animals, insects, and solar energy. We were excited that there is so much wildlife right here in our own city.
Thanks to our fabulous chaperones!
As we continue our unit on cycles, we have included two additional insects to observe. We have prepared our incubators for hatching. We stopped turning eggs today and added more water to increase the humidity in the incubator. Hatching should be starting soon! Don't forget to check out our live webcam to see how the eggs are progressing: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dentonchickhatching In preparation for our chicks, we had a special visitor in class today. One of our former chicks from two years ago, Chickiedoodle, came for the afternoon. The class enjoyed seeing an adult chicken very close up! Chickiedoodle even visited the 4th graders who were in 2A when she hatched. Here is baby Chickiedoodle and adult Chickiedoodle. We ended our week with a wonderful guest reader! Thanks for reading to us!
May is moving along as we continue our exploration of cycles. Our egg hatching is over half complete. We are expecting our chicks to arrive next week!
Our next cycle that we have been exploring is a plant life cycle. We observed lima beans and located their parts. We also went on a nature walk to observe plants on the school grounds. After reading and comparing seed packets, we planted varying seeds in cups in our classroom. We are excited to see which seed sprouts first. And we explored how water travels through plant stems to get to the leaves and keep the plant alive. On Thursday, we had representatives from Southern Tray and the Paperboard Packaging Council come and speak to second grade about their Trees Into Cartons and Cartons into Trees program. They showed us how cardboard and paper boxes are made from pulp from trees and also how their company promotes replenishing natural resources by planting more trees than they cut down to use for their manufacturing. They also discussed the importance or recycling and reusing products. We were very excited that the representatives brought back the cartons that our class members decorated earlier and each carton had a tree inside. A highlight of the week for me was attending the Annual Pinkerton Senior Reunion, where high school seniors who went to Pinkerton return for a visit and to look at the time capsule that was put together while they were in elementary school. I loved seeing some of the children who were in my class in 2007. They have grown into beautiful and handsome young adults! I would also like to take a moment to thank everyone for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week. You all made me feel so special all week long! I am blessed to have the privilege of working with such kind and caring children and parents!
|
Hello and Welcome to 2A!Thanks for dropping by to see what is happening in our class. Please check back often for updates! Archives
November 2020
Categories |