Welcome to Mrs. Waugh's second grade 2014-2015! I look forward to sharing my classroom with you! The pictures I have posted today show the class working in small groups during our reading block.

I call this activity "Whiteboard Work."

Armed with white boards and dry-erase markers the assignment is to take turns writing and testing each other on the words from the lesson.

As the groups progress through the words, I walk around to observe and monitor what's happening.The kids love the student-lead activities and I love that they can experience working in group situations.

Yippee for Dr. Seuss!

What a fun week! Dr. Seuss's birthday was March 2 and second grade celebrated in many different ways last week!

Our Book Buddies from the AP English class came as usual on Tuesday afternoon but this time they each read a Dr. Seuss book to the class.

The next day our Buddies came back to help us make our Cat-in-the-Hat craft.

  

Our Book Buddies

We love having our Book Buddies come to read with us the first Tuesday of every month! Our buddies are from the AP English class and are 11th and 12th graders. Their teacher is Ms. Donatelli.

We get ready for our buddies by choosing our books and thinking about where we want to sit.

There aren't enough buddies to go around so we have to double and triple up. But we still love it!

Each month we get to read with a different buddy from the week before. Until we start all over again!

City Scapes - Art with Mrs. Waugh

This class absolutely loves to draw! I showed them an example of what our winter city scape would look like and they went to work!

How Habitats Can Change

We are learning about animals and their habitats. We have been talking about what kinds of things can change or affect a habitat and what that means for the animals. This class constantly impresses me with their creativity and enthusiasm for showing me what they know! What's even more cool than them regurgitating the information that I have given them is that they often take those ideas and come up with their own scenarios! A teacher's dream! Take a look at their amazing pictures.

What happens when there is too much algae...

What happens when there's a forest fire...

What happens when a there is a flood...

What happens when there is over-fishing...

What happens when the coral reef is polluted...

What happens when there's a forest fire in the mountains...

Another flood scenario

And more flooding

Armor of God!

In November, we started our study about the Armor of God. This has been a tradition in my second grade class for many years.

Once we have gained understanding of the meaning and symbolism of each piece of the armor, the students undertake the project of making a tin can soldier complete with all his armor.

This project involves paint, glue, tape, paper, etc.! The kids love it. After getting the basic instructions, they are welcome to embellish their soldiers as they wish. some like to add hair, pouches for their swords, designs on their shields, etc.

While waiting for our Helmets of Salvation to dry, we worked on Christmas trees to decorate our classroom door.

The students have memorized Ephesians 6: 14 - 18. We "put on" our armor each morning right after we say the pledges to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible.

...and here are our soldiers for God!

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. And pray, in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6: 14 - 18