Finally Here: Day 176: Haiku Hike

Monday, June 6, was Day 176.  To keep my students involved, we spent a portion of the day on a "haiku hike."  We read the story Haiku Hike, which is a student-published book from Scholastic.  I love the book because the students explain what a haiku is, use haikus to lead us through their hike in the woods, and give extra little facts about the things they write about. 

After reading the story and giving a few more examples of haikus, I took the children on a hike on the school grounds.  I told them to write any ideas they could think of while observing their surroundings.  I told them to focus on movement (i.e.,swaying), color, shape, feel, etc.  I was amazed at the number of things they were able to find: lilacs, blackberry bushes, spiders, robins, butterflies, forget-me-nots, poison ivy (on the other side of the playground fence near the fields), ants, cherry trees, daisies, and so many other things.

When the hike was over we came back to the room and I gave the children a few minutes to look over their notes and add to them.  Then I went over the expectations of the haiku, stressing the syllables in each line (some children like to count the words instead).  After that, the students began drafting their poems.  Through several drafts, syllable checks, format checks, and spelling checks, all of the students were able to publish a haiku with an illustration.  Below you will find a few examples:

If you can't read it, it says:
Daisy
Soft as a blanket.
White, yellow, green. Colorful. 
Swaying in the breeze.

This one says:
Hostas
Soft green and white leaves.
The back of the leaf is rough.
They are small and wide.

The children really enjoyed the experience and were very proud of what they had done.  I was proud of their effort and creativity.  Try this one with your kiddos!

Day 172: ABC Book Pictures

I posted last week about the ABC Book project I'm doing with my class.  Here are some pictures of the final project from last year. 



Cover




First page

 I plan to make the text larger this year and add more pictures for the items the students come up with this time.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Day 167: A Visit From the Weatherman

Day 168 saw a visit from a local television weather forecaster.  One of the science units in second grade focuses on weather.  The students learn what a meteorologist is and does, what tools are used to forecast the weather, what the water cycle is and how it relates to weather, how seasons change, and what dangerous weather is.  As an extra step, I also have my students do research reports on different types of dangerous weather.  So to find out that an actual meteorologist from TV was coming to visit the school....!  Well, that was just the highlight of the students' day!

When he visited, he started off with some weather-related jokes.  One of the student favorites:  "What is a tornado's favorite game?  Twister!"  After that, he had student volunteers come up to help demonstrate things like the four elements of weather (temperature, wind, air pressure, and humidity), the water cycle, how thunder is created, dangerous weather, and safety tips for dangerous weather. He also showed students some of the tools he uses and let them take a look and try them out.  He also show them his "pet tornado," a device the creates a tornado in a jar at the flip of a switch.  (I think everyone wants one now!)  At the end, we took a group picture of the students with him and he broadcast it on the 5:00 newscast.  So the students got a chance to meet a local celebrity, learn a bit, and be celebrities for a day themselves.

It was a good day.

Day 163: Talent Show!

Day 163 began the talent show season in my grade level.  In our reading anthology, the final theme is called "Talent Show."  Basically, the theme shows how people can have many different kinds of talents; not everyone who has a talent is a singer, dancer, or musician. 

As a wrap-up to our reading anthology theme, my grade level puts on a talent show.  The students are allowed to do traditional talent-show performances, but we also allow things like art displays, joke telling, dramatic/comedic readings and monologues, sports demonstrations, and acrobatics.  In past years we have had everything from cheer leading, hula hooping, dancing, and singing to musical performances, jokes, photography displays, and magic tricks.

The students perform for our grade level only, and performance is optional.  Parents and grandparents are invited to watch the show, and refreshments are served afterwards.  The children really like the chance to show off talents they may not have been able to show otherwise.

Our show is not until June 8, during the last week of school.  I'll let you know how it turns out!  

Day 158: Mother's Day

Today we worked on Mother's Day projects.  I know some teachers do theirs a few days ahead, but I find that sometimes little ones have a hard time keeping a secret, so I do mine a day or two before the weekend.

I've done various projects through the years, but this year we made cluster pins for Mom.  The students worked with me in stations to hot glue crystal beads onto pin backings.  Why pins?  I had the idea of "My mom's a jewel," and it was the easiest project to do with my kiddos.  (And, I had a hard time finding the proper cording for the necklaces I had originally planned to do!)

Result?  The students loved it!  I provided a range of colored beads, ranging from clear to gold to champagne.  Some of the beads also had an iridescent sheen on them.  The students planned out the beads they wanted to use (one even painstakingly picked out only her mom's favorite colors), and I helped them glue their designs (and reglue escaped beads!).

While the beads were setting, we created our cards.  Then we wrapped our pins in felt and tissue paper (a little cushion for the trip home!)

Here are some pictures of a final product:

Top view.  Isn't it purty?

Ooh.  Sparkly.

Day 157: Cinco de Mayo!

Day 157 was Cinco de Mayo.  We did a few things to learn about the day.  First, we viewed a short video on Brainpop Jr..  (For those of you not familiar, Brainpop Jr. is a website that provides short videos, quizzes, and activities on all topics for students in grades K-3.  Brainpop (without the junior) is for upper grades.  Check it out!)

Then we read a bit about Cinco de Mayo and made tissue paper flags. The flags are supposed to mimic the ones used in parades or fiesta celebrations.  Seeing as I work with second graders, more intricate designs could be a bit hard for most of them.  Anyhow, the students enjoy cutting the patterns (and it's a good review of symmetry as well!).

To make the flags, you take a sheet of tissue paper and fold it into quarters, lengthwise.  Then you fold that length in half so the free edges touch.  Then you cut the paper similar to the way you cut designs for a snowflake, being careful not to cut too close to the fold lines.  Otherwise the flag will fall apart once it's opened.  Open the flags and hang for decoration.

Day 155: Inspiration

A few months ago (and sometime last year) I was sent an e-mail called "What Teachers Make."  I only recently found out the name of the author of this poem (which was actually published several years ago).  If you've read it, you know how funny it is.  If you've not, then you are in for a treat.

I was sent a link for a video of the author himself reading the poem at an inservice.  Reading it online is one thing, but hearing it said by the author himself takes it to a whole new level. The author, Taylor Mali, is not only a teacher, but a comedian, performer, and slam poetry artist.  That said...

Sit back and hold on to your hats. 

Enjoy and be inspired!