Communities Unit: Visit from a Fireman

Teaching social studies has slowly - and charmingly - become one of my favorite parts about second grade. Communities is our (fairly broad) introductory unit.  Our second grade anthropologists are granted a blank canvas as we first observe and then analyze the function of communities within our own lives.  As the school year progresses, we increasingly move away from our personal communities and reach out to explore life on a more global level.  

I really enjoy these beginning weeks of social studies.  We are carefully, yet enthusiastically, analyzing our own lives.  We're gaining new insights about people and events happening close by.

Tyler's dad is a volunteer fireman stationed in Rockville.  He was kind enough to give us a very informative and entertaining tutorial about how firemen and firewomen serve communities.  He brought a great sense of humor - and all of his gear - to answer our pressing questions and allow us to make new connections.

Tyler is kind enough to try on all of the gear!

Mr. Fay details the channels of communication when calling 911

Almost ready... just need that helmet

We were all amazed at its heaviness.

Trying on the oxygen masks

Mr. Fay's presentation was an awesome learning experience because it was informative and so much fun.  This year we are very eager to have an open classroom, where family members and community helpers may visit to teach us something new.  We have had an excellent start!

Buoyancy Challenge - Creating Tin Foil Boats

The beginning of the year is rife with uncertainty.  Will my desk stay organized?  Will I be part of a challenging reading group?  Will there be a lot of hands-on science featuring a dubious variety of messy materials?  Will my teacher allow me to collect insects outdoors if I promise to write a brief lab report?  More than anything, though, will it be fun?

The answer to all of those questions, I'm hoping, is yes.  Especially that fun part.  Popular sentiment on "fun" in the classroom has finally shifted.  Now, more than ever, fun is recognized as an essential component of learning.  As it should be.

To marry science, math, and fun a bit further, we conducted a simple experiment with tin foil, water, and pennies.  The kids were tasked with constructing their own tin foil boats.  Concepts such as buoyancy and sturdiness had to be addressed.  Size constraints were put in place in order to keep the playing field fun.  

Austin, Griffin, and Alexa get to work

Celian's got a good plan

Putting on some final touches..

Ana Sofia starts loading the penny cargo.  Rather than playing mere witnesses, we tally up the final count on our charts

Daniel tests his boat on its maiden voyage

We're impressed that we have surpassed our predictions!

We use graphs to chart the results of each boat.

Tyler's exceptional boat held 73 pennies!

It's my hope that learning feels effortless when there is a constant and healthy mix of fun involved.

Language Arts Walk and Ocean Study

Last year, my second graders conducted a survey that asked all Lower School students to respond to some pressing questions about school.  We wanted unflinching honesty:  what school subject was most popular?  What did students like best about The Woods?  What could we do to improve as a school?


I was disheartened, but not surprised, to find out that language arts fell to lowly last place in terms of a favorite subject.  Math and science were vying for the popular vote, with social studies falling way behind.  Barely one student responded with a positive affirmation for language arts.


Individual voices do, in fact, matter:  those survey results made me reflect so much as a second grade teacher.  They made me brainstorm ways in which I could somehow hoist up language arts in terms of preference and esteem.  I realized that we somehow had to start having more fun as we were conducting daily grammar practice, learning how to write persuasively or informatively, and determining the differences between a verb and an adjective.


A tall order, to say the least.



Luckily, this year, the kids basically breathe enthusiasm.  They are eager, and up for, any sort of challenge that I present to them.  Instead of sitting around to learn about nouns, we decided to take it to the fields.

Conferring as we attempt to list as many nouns, verbs, and adjectives that we see.

Go Skyler Go!

Taking a language arts pit stop

Learning some pretty dry - but essential - material was actually fun.  The kids tried to one-up each other by finding the most interesting adjectives that they could.




I've also been very inspired by the work produced during our introductory science unit on oceans.  Last week, when informed that they would be asked to write a 4 paragraph report, 14 sets of eyes were the size of full moons.  She's joking, they thought.  We're seven, they thought.  Surely she means 4 sentences rather than 4 paragraphs....



What a difference a week makes.



This week, we open our writing folders with the cool confidence.   We read tucked away in corners or fully focused at desks.  We use our graphic organizers to map and to plot our drafts.  We find new facts and we use our own words in retelling them for an audience.  We get to work.

Daniel puts the finishing touches on his seahorse report

Griffin is motivated and focused!

Ana-Sofia is constantly smiling in the face of hard work!

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Back in the Dark Ages, when I was working in the private sector, I had a boss who was an excellent programmer and techie; the sort of enviable person who found time to keep pace with all of the latest industry-related developments while still carving out time to read Bulgakov.


His favorite quote was "Work smarter, not harder".  I am not a person enamored with quotes, and I don't normally pick them up as mantras, but those four words floored me.  The simple sentiment changed my professional life.


(I constantly catch myself muttering these words when I'm knee-deep in paper scraps, with hands covered in marker smudges, trying to formulate the next effective learning experience... all educators can attest to the fact that the teaching life is NOT for those who like to move leisurely.)


Work smarter, not harder.


What does this mean for the life of an elementary school student?


It means so much:

Critical thinking

Working smarter means thinking critically.  It means that we utilize textbooks but we do not rely on them for answers.  It means that often, if not all of the time, there is more than one excellent answer to an open-ended question.  Second graders can pick apart a very broad question about what a community is.  They go off on amazing tangents (Even animals have them.  - awesome thought!) and they investigate all aspects of the subject.  We learn and question together.

Creative problem solving

Mia is tenacious in her quest to complete the Tangram puzzle.

It means being given a (seemingly) daunting task, and pushing through it.  It means trial and error.  It means that you have to make adjustments in your thinking during the course of your work.  It means recognizing that "difficult" doesn't equal "impossible".

Collaboration

This team works on their tower made of marshmallows

Tyler, Austin, and Celian developed a very strong model.

There's nothing like a room full of engaged seven year olds.

Collaboration is probably my favorite effect of the work smarter mantra.  We rely on each other.  We find out our specific talents and we recognize the talents of others.  We communicate respectfully and excitedly.  When our marshmallow towers inevitably fall, we don't get angry but rather look for a new solution together.

This year is going to be an awesome experience of practicing these new skills.

(Trivia Postscript:  "Work smarter, not harder" is attributed to Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge McDuck.)

Back to School!

"Back to School" is a phrase that simultaneously exhilarates and brings on the jitters.  I admittedly felt a little queasy this morning as I climbed into my car, last minute supplies (marshmallow towers, anyone?) stuffed into flimsy plastic bags.  This ill feeling was fleeting - and did not temper my excitement.  The queasy feeling, I think, had to do with the ENORMITY of a school year.


One year.  To meet new brilliant minds.  To figure out quirks and iron out wrinkles.  To develop inside jokes and creatively work and collaborate to the point of exhaustion.  One year to analyze ocean zones and build robots; to teach the beauty of a good hink pink and to inspire research skills on par with lofty academics in ivory towers.


One year to face obstacles and to misplace lunchboxes.  One year to deal with scrapes, proverbial and physical.  One year to instill confidence in young learners while nurturing risk taking and encouraging creativity.


One year to become familiar with rhetoric and use these new talents against an unsuspecting teacher.  One year to grow so closely as a school family, through tricky math problems and glue sticks and microscropes.


It is daunting to think of all that is ahead of us.


Daunting and so, so exciting.


After a jam-packed day spent in the company of incredible friends, volunteers, and thinkers, my queasiness is gone.  Bring it on, new school year.  Our class has got this :)

A little bit of sugar in the morning never hurts the level of enthusiasm.

Our first science unit centers on oceans.  The kids will each research and create their own ocean animal report.  They'll also try their hand at dioramas.

Diego and Austin do a little detective work to determine what makes our school a community.

Relaxed while simultaneously hard at work!

Mr. Powers lets us tour his cramped office... all of those supplies are donated and will be sent to families displaced by a fire.  School community in ACTION!