Back to School

Tomorrow if the first day of school! Summer went by so quickly, but I am looking forward to another great year at TCE. I will be teaching 2nd grade again, and this will be my 5th year at Town Center. I hope to consistently use this blog to communicate what we are doing and learning in our classroom this year.

Guided Math - Part 2

If you come into our classroom during Guided Math, it might look and sound a little busy....because it is! Students are working independently all around the room at different stations.

Here is a peek into our classrom during Guided Math.


Students hard at work using math strategies to solve problems in small group time with the teacher

Students creating subtraction story problems on a google presentation in the Technology station

Students showing and explaining strategies in their math journals

Students working on independent work

Students playing a game in the Games Station to reinforce skills previously learned

What's the Matter?

The students have been learning about solids, liquids, and gases. They have participated in hands-on investigations about each one to learn about the characteristics of each.

How do we know that gases take up space?

Subtraction

We have been learning to subtract 3-digit numbers using several different strategies. The students have practiced subtracting in parts, adding up, and subtracting back.

Students:
1. Which subtraction strategy do you think is the easiest to use?
2. If my problem was 321 - 248, how would you solve it?
3. How do you use addition to check your answer?

If you need help remembering which strategy is which, watch me explain the srategies by clicking HERE.

Guided Math

I organized my Guided Math stations a little differently this year (thanks to the inspiration from a fellow teacher at my school), and it has worked very well. We try to get to our groups 2-3 times per week. This is how it is organized on my board.

I have 5 stations.
-Small Group
-Independent Practice
-Games
-Technology (usually something on the SMART board, laptops, or ipods)
-Math Journals

The students rotate through each station, usually staying at each for about 15 minutes.

If they need anything for any of the stations, it is organized in the corresponding file folder. They know where to find the materials for each station, so management is pretty easy.

Students: What is your favorite guided math station?

Engineering Unit

The students have been working through the steps of the engineering design process for the past couple of weeks.  (Imagine, Plan, Design, Improve, Share)  We have been studying industrial engineering.  Their task was to design a subysystem for a potato chip factory to move a load a certain distance across the floor and then up to the table.  They had to think about the amount of fore it would take as well as the ergonomics.  They did a GREAT job being creative and using the data they collected when testing the simple machines to help them create their plans. 

Watch our animoto below to see the students in action!

Simple Machines

We have had a great time learning about simple machines!  The students participated in stations today to test out the amount of force needed to move a load.  They used levers, pulleys, wheels and axles, and inclined planes.  They are getting good practice using the spring scales and measuring in Newtons. 

The students will be taking the data they collected to help them plan and engineer their designs for a subsytem.  Their task is to move a "sack of potatoes" a certain distance and then lift it onto a table.  Stay tuned to see what they create!