Grammar Update

We worked this week with both singular and plural possessive pronouns, including: my, our, their,  and your.  We also reviewed the capitalizing of proper nouns.

Matt Wilhelm visits Dryden!

The children had a very special guest visit them at school yesterday afternoon! Matt Wilhelm not only performed some amazing tricks on his BMX bike for the children, but he also spoke to the kids about never giving up, following your dreams, and always treating others with respect. Here he is performing a jump over a few of our favorite people at school!

Leilani is a STAR!

We celebrated Leilani's super-star day at school yesterday! Both Leilani's mom and dad came in to visit with us. Leilani showed us a really neat experiment using a 2 liter bottle and a tub of water. She showed us that when the bottle was full of air, it floated on top of the water. But, when Leilani filled the bottle with water, it sunk to the bottom of the tub of water. We learned that a submarine raises and lowers itself in a very similar way in the ocean. Cool! Then, Leilani and her dad read a brand new story to us- it was a "Happy Birthday" story written by Dr. Seuss. It got us imagining the most wonderful ways to celebrate a birthday!  We are so lucky to have such a sweet, sparkly, and hardworking girl in our class this year! Hooray, Leilani!

Australian Animal Research Projects

The children have once again amazed and impressed me with their home learning projects! After watching 20 student presentations this week, we learned about 20 unique and interesting animals that are found only Australia! The children have become experts on animals that we knew very little about before- some animals we didn't know even existed!  These animals included: the kangaroo, emu, cassowary, blue-tongued skink, quokka, rainbow lorikeet, lyrebird, salt and freshwater crocodiles, wombat, dingo, tasmanian devil, platypus, kookaburra, the frilled lizard, thorny devil, koala, wallaby sugar glider, and the echidna! We saw shoebox dioramas, posters, clay models, and even power point presentations full of fascinating facts! It's so much fun to see what a 2nd grader can do! Way to go, class!!

Here are some pictures of our projects!

Amazing Australian Animals Link!

Australia Commercials

Here is the link to our Australia Commercials! The children learned so many specific details about their territories! They did an amazing job of incorporating many of their persuasive writing phrases, too!  After watching these commercials, it's hard to choose where to visit first...

2-2's Australian Territories Commercials Link

G'Day from 2-2!

It's hard to believe that our Australia unit has come to a close. The children worked SO hard to learn all that they could about each territory! We discovered new words, rare animals, beautiful and amazing landmarks and places to visit, and a number of similarities and differences between the United States and Australia! The kids truly have become Australia experts! I will be attaching the children's commercials so you can decide for yourself which territory you would like to visit- they all sound amazing to me! I'll also post some pictures of their Australian animal research projects- we learned all about the echidna, the kookaburra, the blue-tongued skink, and the wombat today!

Here is a link to a few pictures from our Australian "barbie" just before Spring break. Thank you to Mrs. Strimling and Mrs. Katsogianos for ensuring that everything ran smoothly! We had an absolutely bonzer time with our cobbers! Australian Barbie

Maggie is a STAR!

Maggie was our super sparkly super star this week! We loved seeing Maggie's photos from home. We heard all about her awesome cousins! Maggie's mom and dad popped in on Friday afternoon to help Maggie with her experiment. She showed us 3 liquids that all had varying density (water, vegetable oil, and corn syrup). Maggie dropped a few paper clips into each cup and showed us how the density (or viscosity/rate of flow) affected how easily a magnet was able to pull those paper clips back out. The water had low viscosity (the paper clips moved easily through it) while the corn starch had high viscosity (the paper clips moved slowly through it). What a cool experiment! Maggie read "The Emperor Penguin's New Clothes" to the class after we all took turns sharing why she is an amazing girl! What a great week you had, Maggie!