Paraphrasing and Plagiarism

For the month of April our second and third graders will be working on paraphrasing chunks of written information so that they are not plagiarizing. We first discussed that when we copy a written work word for word, that is called plagiarism and it is actually against the law. So, in order to make sure that we are not plagiarizing within our own writing, we then talked about how we can paraphrase instead. We discussed how paraphrasing is when we take a chunk of writing and we put that writing into our own words. We went through a few examples of paraphrasing together until students understood exactly what they were supposed to do. Students were then placed in partner pairs, given an iPad and a piece of paper, and they were given instructions to research a specific state within the United States. Students used a website called Kiddle (a student form of Google) to safely research their specific state. Of course, before they did their research on their own, we also discussed how to decide which link to click on in order to get the information that they are looking for. Students were given approximately 15 minutes to research their state and paraphrase the information that they discovered on their piece of paper. After their research was done, each partner pair had the opportunity to share the information that they wrote about their state. Students loved having the chance to research a state of their choice and then teach the rest of the class about their specific state. Below are a few pictures of students as they worked through this activity!

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!