Students are given a math challenge on Fridays to show their understanding of a two step math word problem. These can often be challenging because it takes perseverance and attending to precision in order to make sure the problem is not only solved, but students must also explain their process.

They were given on the word problem and an out line of how to create the poster. The poster must include a title, model, pictures, and algorigthm. The title should be creative, but related to the word problem topic. The model and picture seem similar, however the goal of the model is to represent the number using base-10 "sticks (tens)" and "cubes (ones)." The algorightm is our "fancy pants," "super smart," "professor" word for a math sentence.

The students did an excellent job!

Below are their posters with their answers.

Students are encouraged to express themselves in many ways. Sometimes as a adults we assume that they can only do this by writing simple sentences or drawing stick figures. With the technology resources that surround us every day students must be wondering if they are able to do those "adult" computer programs, but no one ever gave them the opportunity to explore.

This week students used a presentation format called Prezi from www.prezi.com. This online program is very similar to a PowerPoint, but much more interactive. I took a course in my master's program that centered around this form of presentation and a lot of my colleagues thought it was too difficult or too elaborate to use. Well after two very basic lessons with our second graders, they took off with this program and created amazing presentations that were better than any I saw in college!

Click the read more button below to see how adaptive and amazing our second
graders can be as they explore this tool of presentation. We will definitely be using this in the future and I know the kids are eager too, as well!

Sometimes it is really hard to explain our thinking in math. And who knew you could write it down? Well, second graders can! We decided as a group what is the perfect way to write a math explanation in a step by step process. Then we created our own math problems and solved them by EXPLAINING the answer, not just writing a number. Its more important to know what your process of thinking is than what the right answer is.

Below is the mathematical practice for career and college ready standards.

Construct viable arguments. 
Mathematically proficient students understand and use stated assumptions,
definitions and previously established results in constructing arguments. They
make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements to explore the
truth of their conjectures. They break things down into cases and can recognize and use counterexamples. They use logic to justify their conclusions, communicate them to others and respond to the arguments of others. They reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the context from which the data arose.

After visiting the fish hatchery we were able to learn that Pacific Salmon rely on two diverse ecosystems to survive and reproduce. These salmon must reproduce in a shallow water ecosystem and survive in a larger ocean ecosystem. Salmon repeat their migration year after year in order to keep their species alive. This migration is also their life cycle. Check out our comic book strip of a salmon's life cycle and migration though ecosystems.

Here is the supply list we need for our project next week! Also, don't forget Back to School Night on Monday! I really hope to see everyone there!