Flat Stanley, Pumpkins, and Rubrics

Since my class is learning about maps, we are participating in a Flat Stanley project! Each child colored a Stanley (some of them were a little TOO creative for my taste), and we will mail each one to someone far away. Since many students didn't have anyone to send him to, many of my wonderful Facebook friends (some of whom are "real life" friends as well) offered to be the recipients. I'll post pictures and let you know where Stanley ends up very soon!

I posted earlier that we are doing pumpkin investigations in science. So far, we have measured the height and circumference of the pumpkins, and tested whether they would sink or float. When each group put their pumpkins into the water, they were astonished! I realized later that I hadn't taken pictures. I'm very sorry I didn't because the looks on their faces when they saw the pumpkins float was priceless! 

We are also researching and writing about pumpkins, which has been fun. We started by making this chart, and posting what we already knew about pumpkins. Then, we went to do research, and added new learning and misconceptions to the chart.

Our chart with what we already know about pumpkins.

My "Smarties" hard at work on their pumpkin research!

We haven't completed the reports yet, but I know they will be great!

This is an activity from the Clutter-Free Classroom. You can find it here.

And now for the rubrics part! Heather at Peacocks and Penguins is having a rubric linky party! I thought I'd share my Kindergarten Beginning Writing Rubric! I know I teach 2nd grade now, but people really seem to love this! I'm so glad people are finding it helpful!

I now have smaller and more copier-friendly versions here. I loved using this when I taught K!

 

If you'd like to share your experiences with any of these topics, feel free to share below!

Bubblegum, Maps, and More!

Second Grade is a whole new world for me! Thanks to "Bubblegum Science," my class enjoyed learning about and using the scientific method.

Thanks to Marie Cote for creating this activity!

She also included a craftivity for the children to report their results. Here is a picture of a few of them:

It was hard to find all pink balloons, so I let the children choose from regular balloon colors. They look so cute hanging in the hallway!

We are also learning about maps, and read the book, Me on the Map, by Joan Sweeney. Soon after, I saw a cute idea on Pinterest that went along with the book. This inspired me to put my own spin on the activity, and make it into a flip book. Here is the result:

You can check out more of this flipbook here. I plan to use it with my class this week!

Please follow my blog if you haven't already, and spread the word! I'd love to see this continue to grow! I'm also open to comments and suggestions if you have any!