It is so exciting going back to school and better yet I finally have a second year at a school I love! With this year there will be a lot of new challenges, but a lot of great new adventures to come! Below is the classroom supply list. Also, check out our class Amazon Wishlist (click here).
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Baby Volcanic Island Eat Its Older Neighbor By by Megan Gannon, News Editor 4/6/2014 Landsat 8 snapped this image of Niijima and Nishino-shima, now one island, on March 30, 2014. View gallery A new volcanic island, called Nishino-shima, emerged from the ocean on Nov. 20, 2013. As a seafloor volcano continues to erupt in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean, a newborn island has swallowed its neighbor whole, images from space show. In November 2013, a baby volcanic island rose from the sea out of a volcanic blast in the Bonin Islands about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Tokyo, on the western edge of the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a hotbed of seismic activity. Named Niijima, the newcomer boiled the sea and spewed steam, ash and lava fragments into the air. Some thought the small black cone — which sprouted just offshore of a larger volcanic island called Nishino-shima — might slip back into the sea, vanishing under pounding waves. But Niijima kept growing. [Stunning Pictures: Japan's New Volcanic Island] Now a satellite image taken March 30, 2014, by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 shows that Niijima has actually overtaken Nishino-shima. Together, the conjoined islands measure about 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) across, officials with NASA's Earth Observatory said. The landmass has also tripled in height since December, now rising more than 196 feet (60 m) above sea level. The smashed-together islands mark the top of a giant submarine volcano that had not erupted since a major outpouring in 1973 to 1974, according to the Japanese Coast Guard. Lava flows are now most active in the southern portion of the new landmass, and plumes of ash continue to rise, with tiny particles seeding a stream of white cloud puffs overhead. "The intermittent, pulsing shape of the cloud stream might be a reflection of the volcanic eruption itself," officials with NASA's Earth Observatory wrote. "Strombolian explosions are essentially bubbles of lava and gas rising from Earth's interior in pulses. Underwater, sediment appears to be stirred up in a green plume that stretches eastward from the island." Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
There was an abundance of information at the CUE conference in Palm Springs. I was able to take in so much without getting too overwhelmed. There were many other teachers there seeking information on how to become a better teacher in this new age of technology. Project-based learning was one of the main features of the conference. This teaching strategy was explained by many presenters by stating that it should be focused on how to use technology in research and demonstration of learning. But, the greatest “takeaway” was realizing that project based learning is all about the process and not the product. This means that it is about the journey that the students take and not the end result a student will produce. The product represents their passion for learning and should not be judged or evaluated in any way. Teachers should focus on facilitating learning during the research process so that the students direct their own learning, yet are lead to the particular standards that are required of the grade level. All in all, I enjoyed every moment and I am re-charged to begin innovative methods of instruction. Taking off to the Reading Rainbow 3D Printing... Crazy! 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! Mathematical Practices are standards that support the Common Core. They do not dictate a specific computational skill, but they emphasize critical thinking skills and applications that allow children to approach any level of difficulty with the appropriate thinking skills needed to solve a mathematical problem. As a district we have focused on a few of these skills. As a teaching professional I found three of these practices are most valuable to the stage of learning our students are at: CCSS.Math.Practice.MP4 Model with mathematics. CCSS.Math.Practice.MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically. CCSS.Math.Practice.MP6 Attend to precision. To practice these concepts in the classroom we discussed three ways to model with math (a term we are using to combine the three mathematical practices above). When modeling with math students can draw and create math problems. They will draw a math problem by using hand drawn "sticks" (tens) and "cubes" (ones) to show a math sentence. Or they can use actual manipulatives of sticks and cubes to move around the pieces to show a math problem. The third way to model with math is something that is very unique to our school. Students can use the Number Pieces app on their iPad to represent a math sentence. We feel so lucky as a class to be able to model with math in THREE different ways. To make sure we are modeling, using appropriate tools, and attending to precision we are practicing every day in math centers. Students will use all three tools (drawings, manipulatives, and iPads) to represent one math problem. Currently we are focused on vertical math sentences to "show our work." Students are working towards explaining with words and writing how to use each of the tools to demonstrate a problem, ensuring we are attending to precision. Students understand that "Ms. Cowan only cares about the work and not the answer because if you did your work correctly there is no need for Ms. Cowan to check the answer." Check out the pictures** and video below to see how mathematical practices are being demonstrated by our brilliant second graders! For more information on Common Core and mathematical practices click here. To download the Number Pieces app click here. **Blog will be updated with more iPad pictures...technical difficulties (:
This week we accomplished a lot in a little time. With how much time we had off the students, surprisingly, did not let too much "fall out." As excite as the kids were to get back to school, so was I with all that they were able to do. Now that we have our iPads and computer stations up and running it has been great working with all of the students in smaller groups and more frequently. This week we worked on the reading skill of drawing conclusions. As a group activity students had to investigate items in a bag and determine which AVCC staff member it could be. Just like a detective they used the clues to make a statement about each bag. They all did really well as was able to figure everyone out! Next, we brainstormed some of our favorite memories and categorized them. Students needed to use their grammar skills of alliteration and onomatopoeia to write descriptive stories as well as inventive (maybe yummy) ice cream flavors. With all this accomplished they proved that they can work together in small groups independently, work cooperatively with a partner (during buddy reading of "Catalog Cats"), and follow directions by learning two new iPad apps. They are growing up quick and fast! In Math I feel very confident that we nailed subtraction. And most if not all students were capable of subtraction with regrouping, which is a very hard concept even for third graders. Check out below our activities below in the slideshow. In an effort to create better communication I will be posting every Friday on this blog. The goal of the Friday post is to (1) inform you of the upcoming week's activities in the Newsletter and (2) display activities, projects, and concepts completed through out the current week. The newsletter and other information will still be sent by email, but every Friday afternoon I hope to publish all of our activities accomplished through out the week and inform you of the following week's goals. To easily access the newsletter please go to the Newsletter page on this website by clicking above in the menu. As we get back into the swing of school there will be a few changes to the classroom. Now that we have computers we will be able to do small group more effectively. This means students will be provided with more small-group/ one-on-one attention that is focused at their learning level. There will also be small changes to the homework. Spelling groups will stay the same for the next couple of weeks, but they will eventually change to spelling patterns that meet or enhance your student's individually spelling ability. Each week student's will also work on a book report. For students who are reading chapter books, they will write a book report about a chapter they are reading. There will be a couple different of formats students can use. Be sure to look for those different book report forms on the documents page of this website. Look for these changes starting in mid-late January. For now homework will stay the same as in the previous trimester. To see our Family History Project video and slideshow of the Holiday Party please check your email for the link. The link will take you to a new blog that is password protected and will be updated with videos and pictures of activities in the classroom. Check your email for the password. Here are a few of our student's cute Melting Snowman poems. Students created either a stanza poem or an acrostic poem about a snowman. Then they wrote each stanza or acrostic line on parts of the snowman. Then you can turn each part to uncover the poetry. They came out to be very adorable!
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. EcosystemsAfter 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. |
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AuthorMrs. Cowan loves photography, horses, coffee, tennis, hiking, more coffee, and her animals. Teaching is my greatest passion and I live everyday to find new and exciting things to share with my kids! Twin Oaks ElementarySchool WebsiteCategories
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