Can You Feel the Vibrations?

Last week our story, Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman was about a boy who was deaf.  His classmates went on a field trip to a concert.  They used balloons to feel the vibrations of the music.  They were also able to meet the percussionist who played in her stocking feet to feel the vibrations.  Why do you think she did?  Many of the pages also had sign language to correlate with the text in the story.

Mr. Dauphin gave us a special treat.  He shared about each of the percussion instruments in his room and about sound vibrations.  We were able to try them out too, just like Moses' class!  Be sure to watch the video below to hear our efforts!  Thank you Mr. Dauphin!

Sign Language

We had the honor of Neila Hand (a former student) and her mom Rosemary coming to visit the second graders last week.  We'd learned about sign language from our reading story.  The kids had been practicing spelling their names using the alphabet, but they were able to give us a better understanding of the importance of sign language.  Mrs. Hand signed while Neila interpreted.  The students were able to learn how this form of communication is beneficial.  The mother and daughter pair also showed us different ways to sign things, as well as how sign language is different from the written and spoken word.  They've left some book for us to look at too.  Thank you Mrs. Hand and Neila!

Virtual Stores

We've been practicing money during math.  Everyone has made a lot of progress with identifying coins, determining values, counting coins, adding money amounts, and making change.  So, we decided to conclude our money unit by creating virtual stores along with Mrs. Griffin's class from Georgia. 

Day 1: Mrs. Griffin's Class created Mrs. Griffin's Sweet Treats.  So many yummy options were available for a reasonable price!  They shared a SMARTnotebook file with us through Skype.  Groups of students went up to the SMARTboard to choose their purchases.  They were given $2.00 to spend.  They told the other class what they'd like to buy.  Both classes added up the amounts and asked each other if they agreed.  Next, all students determined the change.  Kids congratulated each other on their efforts.

Day 2: Mrs. Griffith's Class created the Peculiar Pet Place.  My students created the store during centers.  They chose their images from the gallery and inserted them into SMARTnotebook.  Then they determined prices.  Students chose odd pets, food items, pet accessories, and toys for their imaginary store.  The rest of the Skype call went the same as above. 

 

Both Mrs. Griffin and I were impressed to see how many different ways students solved the math problems.  We're already reflecting and talking about next year!  This was a wonderful collaborative project! 

Virtual Stores: Collaborative Project on PhotoPeach