January 17

Repost: The Perfect Snow Day

My second grade class completed this writing project in 2014. Today’s snow in Georgia motivated me to repost. We haven’t had measurable snow here since 2018!

I’ve added these additional two stories for background information. Click here for an animated version of The Snowy Day. Click here for Snow Day!

Original Post:

We recently completed a project that we took through the writing process-prewriting, rough draft, revise and edit, final draft, and publish. Our final drafts are displayed in the hall, and we have received many compliments!

Prewriting:  We read There’s No Day Like a Snow Day, and afterwards listed activities we could do if we had a snow day.

We wrote our rough drafts using a sticky note graphic organizer. This system allowed us to easily rearrange our sentences during the revising process. I instructed the children to write a paragraph with a main idea, supporting details, and a closing sentence. Then, we listed ways we could make our writing more interesting-varying sentence length, beginning sentences in a variety of ways, including figurative language (alliteration, similes, or onomatopoeia), descriptive words, and greater detail. One of my goals was for them to use transition words, such as first, next, later, afterwards, and finally.

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Then I met individually with each child to help them revise (clarity, language, and sequence) and edit (punctuation, capitalization, and spelling) his/her rough draft. We copied our rough drafts in paragraph form. We are learning to indent the beginning of a paragraph.

Finally, each child made a snow setting and glued a picture of him/her into it. I took these pictures during our blizzard dress down day.



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This was a lot of work, but the final products and the skills the children mastered made it well worth the effort!

January 11

It’s All in a Name!

Yellow rump warbler visits always make me smile!

Animals receive their names for a variety of reasons and the following book explains what names tell us about an animal. How many animals could you add to their lists? I immediately thought of bluebird and red-eared slider. Click here for the Safeshare link.

For a fun follow-up, ask your children to create an animal and give it a name. Will it be named after a physical trait, how it moves, where it lives, the sound it makes, or the food it eats? Or present a photo or a video of an unfamiliar animal and brainstorm names for it.

Some animal names are actually incorrect, like starfish and jellyfish. Neither are fish at all! Can you think of any others? Children will enjoy this humorous story! Click here for the Safeshare link.

If you want to continue with this theme, ask children or other family members why they were given their names. I have found many children do not know. Interview grandparents to discover why they named their parents as they did. Search for the meaning and origin of a name on a website or in resource books. Do all cultures follow the same naming traditions? This is an interesting study.

Chrysanthemum is a fun story about names. Click here.

January 7

False Alarm

It has been my desire to spot an owl while on a hike. I have heard the call of a great horned owl at dusk, but I’ve never seen it.

It is easier to spot owls during winter months because leaves are off the trees, and it is therefore easier to see their silhouettes. On one of my recent walks, I noticed something that I thought was an owl, but when I took a closer look with binoculars, I realized it wasn’t a real owl after all. So disappointing! The search goes on. I did some additional research to improve my chances of finding one of these elusive birds of prey. One of the clues I will look for is whitewash, splatters of thick chalky white excrement on the ground and on tree branches found around owl roosting spots.

This hunt reminds me of Owl Moon, one of my favorite winter picture books. The illustrations are exceptional, and there are many examples of figurative language. Click here or here to watch the story.

See the source image

Click here for the Safeshare link for the informative video about owls below.

January 6

Birds of Many Colors

Just look at the colors of the birds visiting my suet feeders-cardinal, bluebird and goldfinch!

Click here for the story, My Colors Book Early Birds, written for very young scientists. This book introduces the concept of onomatopoeia (a word that suggests the sound that it describes) and simile (a figure of speech that compares two unlike items using connecting words such as like or as).

December 18

An Outdoor Family Tradition

When I first read this book, I believed the family was off to choose their Christmas tree, but there was a delightful surprise awaiting me. This charming story is sure to be a favorite with nature enthusiasts.

Click here for the Safeshare link to the story.

See the source image

Start a new family tradition and make edible ornaments for the birds. One of my favorites is a pinecone covered with peanut butter (natural is best) and rolled in birdseed. Hang the pinecones with twine and in the spring, the birds can use it for nesting material.

December 3

Another Use for Amazon Boxes

Many of us are receiving boxes this time of year. They are a great tool for engineers! Create something with boxes as a family or assign the activity as a virtual assignment. Use the following books for inspiration:

Click here and here for the Safeshare links.

See the source image

Click here for the Safeshare link.

See the source image
Because she isn’t able to purchase a dollhouse like her friend, this young girl decides to make her own with cardboard.

See the source image
Click here for the Safeshare link.

See the source image

There are many ways to attach cardboard with minimal tape and glue.

Check out a kit called makedo. The kit includes screwdrivers, screws, saws, and a variety of other items to build with cardboard. Click here for more information about makedo.

Click here to learn about five tools to cut cardboard safely. Children can easily and safely make straight cuts with Klever Kutters.

I have found canary scissors a useful tool for home and school. If cardboard boxes are too difficult for little hands to cut, use cereal and other food cartons.

See the source image

Click here for additional inspiration!

December 3

Did You Catch the Palindrome?

Did you catch the date on December 1st? It’s a palindrome! In fact, all the single digit dates this month are palindromes.

Palindromes are words, numbers, or phrases that read the same way forward and backward. Bob, dad, did, mom, peep, radar, race car, pop, toot, eye, Anna, madam, civic, and level are all palindromes. Can you think of any others? Try to write an entire palindrome sentence: Dee saw a seed.

When you add two palindromes together, the sum is another palindrome!  232 + 141 = 373

November 22

Sticks!

I am reposting this entry with some new ideas to connect writing, reading, art, science, and math.

Go for a hike and collect sticks. When you return, lay them out and begin to compare and describe them. Think of ways to classify your found objects into groups by length, width, or texture. Are some curved, while others are straight? Do you see lichen on any of the sticks. Write the sorting words on cards and place them next to your groups. Are some sticks equal in length? Choose one stick and then place the sticks that are shorter than that stick on one side and longer on the other. Order the sticks by length. Create shapes with the sticks. Below you will see a trapezoid and a parallelogram. Form letters or words. Is there a way to make a round shape or letter? Outdoor classrooms are the best!

After reading, Not a Stick, take turns dramatizing what a stick might become or do this activity to introduce the story. Divergent thinking is hard work!  Who is speaking to the pig? The character is never shown. Safeshare Link for the video below:

Safeshare link for the video below:

Give each student a piece of paper with a stick already glued on it. What will that stick become?

November 19

An Attitude of Gratitude

I’m Thankful Each Day by PK Halinan is one of my favorite children’s books about the concept of gratitude. Although it is a fitting book to use around Thanksgiving, this delightful story is appropriate to read anytime.

I'm Thankful Each Day

Safeshare link for video below:

He also wrote Let’s be Thankful.

Board book Let's Be Thankful Book

Create a class book in which each student contributes a page for something he/she is thankful. At home, ask your child to take photographs of people, places, events, animals or items for which he/she is thankful, print them, and make a book. Write text on each page. It will be a sweet keepsake to read each Thanksgiving.