Classroom Connection – Page 4

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, Travel

Explore North America

March 19, 2017 No Comments

To kick off our continent exploration unit students first got set up with some papers and a place to store them. Just like for Holidays Around the World from December, I gave students a manila folder so they could decorate it and use it for storage. Stowed inside to start were a blank world map and reading packet. With those things situated we were ready to begin! Love the look of this resource? Check out my blog post Seven Continent Exploration for a link to the TpT store where I found it. I thought it would be best to start with the continent […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, Travel

Seven Continent Exploration

March 14, 2017 1 Comment

We have finally reached the part of the social studies curriculum I have been dying to get to since my grade change to second grade, an in depth look at the seven continents, yay! The holidays around the world unit we did in December was a great intro to the seven continents, but now students will dive deeper into each continent. Not to mention they will get to listen to countless anecdotes of my travels (trust me they love these). My passion for travel and learning about countries could not have found a better fit. Now is the time to install a love and […]

Classroom Connection

The Power of Reading

January 20, 2017 No Comments

This year a big initiative in our school is to promote more free reading time in school. The studies show that the more students read the better readers they will become. This seems like common sense but so many times as a teacher, I feel like instructional time during the day should be spent providing instruction or students practicing skills taught. If an administrator walked through my room and saw students just sitting and reading would they think I wasn’t doing me job? Well after reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, with a group of teachers at school the power […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, Travel

Schools Around the World

January 12, 2017 1 Comment

I couldn’t be more excited about the story in student’s anthology this past week called, Schools Around the World. I mean could there have been a more perfect story for me to talk about?! This week has given me a chance to share with students my travels and visits to schools around the world. Sharing my experiences went perfectly with the text. Students started the week by listening to the story online and answering a few questions on our classroom blog. Later in the day we talked about some of the things they learned in the story and how that connected to […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, Travel

Holidays Around The World

December 15, 2016 2 Comments

Starting next week my students will begin a big journey traveling around the world. And while we will be doing this trip virtually, since a teacher salary is not quite enough to buy a class set of multi country plane tickets, I know students will love it. At each country we stop at along the way we will take a close look at how people from that country celebrate the holidays. These are some of my favorite lessons to do with studnets and this year it will be even better. This year in addition to readings, videos, doing a few […]

Classroom Connection, Food

Ugly Vegetables and Fruits

November 1, 2016 No Comments

Our story for the week is called The Ugly Vegetable by Grace Lin. It focuses on a family that grows Chinese vegetables in their garden rather than flowers like the rest of their neighbors. The little girl in the story wonders why her families garden is so different from everyone else’s and calls the vegetables they grow ugly. This story prompted great discussion on diversity and how just because something is looks different doesn’t make it ugly or bad. There was a great lesson at the end when all the neighbors come to the house where the vegetables are cooked into […]

Classroom Connection, Science, Social Studies, Travel

States of Matter Around the World

October 25, 2016 No Comments

Science is universal. Take the states of matter for example. No matter where you go in the world matter will still be matter. We are currently studying states of matter and of course I have been thinking, “How can I take this study international?” Well I think I have found a way. Students are gearing up to start a big science project that integrates science and technology. Using information they have learned so far about the three states of matter we focus on, solid, liquid and gas; students will go on a scavenger hunt outside around the school to take pictures […]

Classroom Connection

Global Read Aloud

October 9, 2016 1 Comment

Our school is participating in the global read aloud this year and I couldn’t be more excited. The book for 2nd and 3rd graders is The BFG by Roald Dahl. With fun made up words and fantastical elements, I can’t think of a better book than The BFG. During a portion of our reading block some students from all three second grade classes come to my room for a reading small group. Over the next few weeks I will read aloud The BFG and we will discuss it. While that is something we could do with any book, what makes this book […]

Classroom Connection, Food, Travel

Fall Foods Near and Far

September 27, 2016 1 Comment

Fall has finally arrived! Besides the onset of cooler weather, wearing cozy sweaters and acclimating oneself to back to school routines, there is my favorite fall tradition of going apple picking. What made this fall even better was hearing from my family in Finland. They may not have gone apple picking, but they were gathering food as only the Finns can do. Back in the States, it doesn’t matter where I go, all that matters is that each fall I find a weekend to go and fill a bag with more apples than I could ever possibly consume on my own. […]

Classroom Connection, Travel

Family Connections

September 23, 2016 1 Comment

This week in school my students read a informational text about family. During our readings of the selection we took a close look at the family to better understand and learn more about them. We asked questions like, what kinds of things do they like to do? How many people are in their family? What hobbies do the people in the family have? There was so many great points to look at and compare to students’ own families. This story was also a perfect opportunity for me to make a connection to global learning. How could I do this? Well, I […]