LIquid Races

What are Liquids?

This is the question we have been asking too! We have been observing the properties of soilds and now liquids are our main focus this week. We have looked carefully at three particular liquids, corn syrup, dish soap, and water. We used our five sense to make careful observations, but we had one more property in mind. How can we tell how thick a liquid is? How can we look more closely at this property? Why by having the first ever Sunshine Farm Liquid Race!

Our liquids found their mark on a sheet pan and the race was on!

Race Results, First Place: Water, Second Place: Dish Soap, and Third Place: Corn Syrup!

As one Second Grader so wisely put it, "The thinner the liquid, the faster it goes!"

Stay Tuned for the Liquid Races Movie!

Balances,Rulers,and Measuring Cups..Oh My!

How do you Measure Matter, you might ask?

Why with balances, rulers, and measuring cups of course! Measuring Matter is all about using the right tools and we are learning to measure, record, and read our data.

-Students put solids in order by mass (how much matter a solid has) in grams by using balances

-Students put solids in order by length in centimeters



-Last but not least we looked at how we measure liquids (using a measuring cup)!

Our Local Artist

A big Yee-haw to our local artist from the Sunshine Farm! She created an amazing piece that now hangs in the Jacksonville Second Harvest Food Bank here in Jacksonville. Not only is the artwork amazing, but the cause is incredible! Our student created this piece with the guidance of very own art teacher here at Chets and in two days the masterpiece was ready to go. We are so proud of the work done by our growing artist and the heart behind the work!

Check out our Art Teacher's Blog:

http://cceart.blogspot.com/2010/10/our-local-artist-macy.html

We are Wild about Reading!

Here at Sunshine Farm we love to read!!!
Not just one genre, but poetry, non-fiction, historical documents, fables, directions,you name it! This passion for reading is spreading across our school like wild fire and our amazing leadership team has created posters that can be found all over our school to encourage us to read from genres galore! Our principal even volunteered to be slimed if we met our school reading goal and will continue to demonstrate how passionate she is about reading and the reading goals of our students! Yee-haw we just love to read :D!

Check out our amazing principal and our school reading posters!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/holtsman/sets/72157625190413105/show/with/5147703532/

Alien Video!

Watch how this Alien taught us how to edit our procedurals!

Untitled from Jessica Shaffer on Vimeo.

Compass Odyssey

Our school has recently been gifted an amazing new resource for our students.Please take advantage of this resource at home to practice reading comprehension.We have already have assignments ready for your student and their log-in and password on

their binder gets them into the program :D!

https://odyssey.duvalschools.org/childu/index.html?SSL=1

Practice Makes Perfect

Next week, there isn't any homework except...the play!!! On Monday, we will be sending home your student's trial lines to practice and try-out this next week and after the four-day weekend.
Please also take the time to practice the songs and the hand motions using the videos below :).

1 Once on a Housetop from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.

2 Ashes to Ashes from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.

3 Big Red Fella from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.

5 Lotsa Latkes from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.

Matter Begins

What is Matter? Our Second Grade Students are on journey to answer that Essential Question through a series of hands-on labs led by our observations, wonderings, and conclusions. We appreciate your support in this unit with an overwhelming response of supplies in quick fashion!!! Thank you, Thank you!!! Please don't forget to send an empty, clean water bottle with your student as we observe Matter.

At present, we are looking at matter in its solid state and learning to measure its mass with balances. Ask your student what unit of measure we are using with our balances and which item they discovered was the lightest in their group :D!

Aliens and Peanut Butter and Jelly!

Well, this week on the Sunshine Farm,we had a very unusual guest stop by and ask about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! We are right smack dab in the middle of learning about Procedural Text and Writing and this was a great moment to show off!
This alien had never had a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, but requested that we explain how to make one step by step. :)

We took our Martian Friend to meet our neighboring class and the alien gave our instructions for making peanut butter and jelly recipie a try. Unfortunately, she ended up getting more on her than the sandwich. We learned a valuable lesson about what needs to be in our Procedural Writing and went back to our classroom for revisions and continuing our unit.

A Relaxing Day on the Farm

Here at the Sunshine Farm, we are as busy as bees growing as Second Graders and getting ready for our holiday festivities. We sang all the way to our field trip location, Sykes and Cooper Farm and entertained our parents and our bus driver with our Holiday Play practice! Our rehearsals start next week :D! Today was a day of relaxing and enjoying a day on a working farm! We enjoyed seeing farm animals up close, walking a trail through a corn maze, eating an outdoor lunch, playing in corn kernels, bouncing around the playground, and picking a pumpkin to bring home. Ask your student about their favorite part of the day and what they learned about corn!
Enjoy some photos from our day :) there will be more to come!