St. Patrick's Day

The past week has been a blast in our second and third grade classroom! The sneaky little leprechaun, The Leprechaun King, has been visiting us up until St. Patrick's Day and he did some crazy things to our classroom. He liked to make messes, leave notes for students, and leave his green/sparkly little footprints all over the room. Many times he left a note and a coin for students if he saw them listening really well throughout the school day. On Friday, the leprechaun even visited my desk and made a mess on it! To go along with these leprechaun visits, students created Wanted Posters for our classroom leprechaun where they included a picture of the leprechaun as well as a detailed description of what he looks like. Here are some pictures from a few of the leprechaun visits and a few of the Wanted Posters that we hung throughout the school.

To end this crazy week, on Friday we joined our 6th grade chapel buddies for some St. Patrick's Day activities. In Mrs. Smith's classroom, students had the opportunity to play some St. Patrick's Day minute to win it games. In my classroom, students were given a large pile of pennies and were told to create a 3 inch tall, 3 inch wide arch using only pennies. It was interesting to watch each pair of chapel buddies try to accomplish this difficult task!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sound Makers

For the past few weeks our second and third graders have been learning about sound in science. They have learned that sound can have different pitches and volumes. So, to practice this knowledge, second and third graders had the opportunity to create some different sounds in the classroom using popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and straws. Students were given instructions on how to make a homemade harmonica using these items and then they were given the challenge to change the pitch that their harmonica produced. Students loved experimenting with the sounds that their harmonica could make and all of the students were able to create a different pitch with their instrument.

After students created these harmonicas in the classroom, they were then given the challenge to create their own instrument using materials that they have at home. Students drew out their plans with the knowledge that their instrument would need to change in both pitch and volume in order to receive full points for this project. Students excitedly walked into the classroom on Friday morning with their homemade instruments, ready to play them for the rest of the class. All second and third graders did a fantastic job of playing their instrument in front of the class and demonstrating how they could change both the pitch and the volume on their instrument. Great job students!

Spelling Bee

Yesterday four of our second graders and four of our third graders had the opportunity to participate in the school spelling bee. All eight of our students did an amazing job and everyone enjoyed watching them spell up on the stage. Great job second and third grade spellers!