Don't you just LOVE the smell of new books??!!

 

We are trying a new reading program called Wonders!

It is fully aligned to the new Common Core Standards and full of challenging fiction and non-fiction selections. The vivid, detailed photographs are breathtaking and engaging for the students! 

Students immerse themselves in the stories through vocabulary previews, writing opportunities, and comprehension connections through whole class and guided reading group lessons. 

Each unit has a Big Idea and Essential Questions for each week in that unit.

We are beginning with 

Unit 4: Big Idea: How do different environments make the world an interesting place?

This week's  

Essential Question?: Different Places-What makes different parts of the world different?

The children are really excited to be learning about such global topics across the curriculum!

We will keep you posted!

 

Working with Mrs. Pocock, our 2nd Grade Teaching Assistant, on Wonders vocabulary words!

 

STEM & Three Little Pigs 

with our Kindergarten Reading Buddies

We got together with our Reading Buddies to design houses for our little pigs that would withstand the wind of the Big, Bad Wolf! We collaborated with our buddies and thought critically about our designs. We then built a house together and tested it with the wind from Mrs. Luft's or Mrs. Blencowe's hairdryer! 

Our sturdy houses are on display in the Taylor cafeteria right now!

Be sure to check them out!

 Wiggle Centers are popping up all over Taylor School!

When students needed a quick way to get their wiggles out during these long winter months, they would visit one of the Wiggle Centers located by their classroom. 

There are 3 steps to the center. 

Then it's back to class!

Research shows active kids do better at school and perform better during the day and in their schoolwork!

Darby and Riley entertaining us with some authentic Irish Dancing!!

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We used our Engineering cart to design Leprechaun traps! 

 

That tricky Leprechaun even left his mark on some of our homework!

 

Happy Halloween from Mrs. Luft's Class!

We played bingo, made a pumpkin keepsake out of fabric and a toilet paper roll, played I Spy, and made our own Witches' Brew snack!  

Thank you to all the parent volunteers that made this wonderful event possible!

Have you ever raised honey bees? 

Today we learned, from one of our own classmates, about how her family raises honey bees!

 She brought in an actual honey comb that the kids got to touch and smell. She explained to us how the honey gets squeezed from the honey comb when it's ready!

When the honey comb is burned down, you can make wax! She brought in a sample of honey wax to pass around! Since we have been learning about Matter, the students got to see the real life example of how first the honeycomb is a solid, then as it burns or melts it becomes a liquid, and then it returns to a solid state in a different form as it hardens into wax! Such sensational second grade scientists!!