Butterflies!!!

Along with mealworms that turned into beetles, we had caterpillars turned into butterflies in our classes.  We enjoyed watching them go through the stages of their life cycle.  Today we told them good-bye and let them go outside.

Our butterflies stayed in a net cage.

The butterfly's inside wings were interesting.

The butterfly's outside wings were prettier.

Our Monarch butterfly in its net cage

A butterfly in the net

Mrs. M. lifted up the net to make sure the butterflies could get out.

A butterfly flying across Mrs. McLaughlin's hand

Checking in the net to make sure all the butterflies got out.

Good-bye, butterflies.  We loved having you in class.

What was left of the chrysalis after the butterflies came out

Sharing our Mealworm Books

We finished our Question and Answer books about mealworms.  We got to choose our favorite page to share with the class on the Elmo.

We read our books to choose our favorite page to share.

We used the Elmo to share our books onto the Promethean board.

We wrote and illustrated our books.

Writing about Mealworms

This week second grade learned about writing question sentences and statements and mealworms.  We are making a question-answer book about mealworms.

By Maribel
What do mealworms eat?
Mealworms eat apples, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes.

By Alyssa
What are the three body parts?
The three body parts are the head, thorax, and abdomen.

By DuQualyn
What do mealworms drink?
Mealworms drink off leaves.

By Kala
How do mealworms grow?
Mealworms eat and drink.

By Brooklynn
Do mealworms have a backbone?
No, they do not.  They have an exoskeleton.

By Jose in Mrs. Fink's class
Why do mealworms live underground?
Mealworms live underground so humans do not step on the mealworms.

By Lawson
Do mealworms slither?
No because they have legs.

By Ruthie
What do mealworms eat?
They eat carrots.

By Carlos
Do mealworms move?
Yes, mealworms move because we saw them move.

By Melanie L
What is a mealworm's life cycle?
Egg, larva, pupa, adult, those are the three stages of a mealworm.

By Alexis R
Do mealworms fly as adults?
The mealworm could fly when they are adults.  It has wings so it can fly.

By David
What do mealworms eat?
They eat apples.

Reading for Fluency

Second graders are working on building reading fluency.  One way to build fluency is for students to read a text over and over, making their reading sound less like a robot and more like talking.  Last week some of the students worked on a song entitled, "Stinky, Stinky Diaper Change."  This week we read "Red Riding Hood."  We read the words together as a class, then students practiced alone, with partners, or with small groups.  On Friday some of the students performed for the class.

Sharing our Writing

In our study of communities, we wrote about our own community and made a magazine page.  We learned about titles, captions, other parts of expository writing.

We read from the Author's Chair.

Listening to our friends

By Jose in Mrs. McLaughlin's class

I live in Mesquite, Texas.  My apartments have 2 bedrooms.  I live on the bottom floor, and there’s a little playground outside.  I like to go to the park.  I like to go to the swings, but I need somebody to push me.  I like to go to the slide.  The slide is fun.  I like to go to the monkey bars.  I throw out the trash with my brother.  I clean my room.  I  also wash the dishes.

Sometimes friends help friends read.

My name is Ronnie.  I love Hawaiian Falls because it is fun.  I love school because I get to learn about Math and Reading.  I love my teacher, Mrs. Fink.  My dad grew a garden full of green vegetables.  I have 4 bedrooms.  One bedroom is mine, the other 3 bedrooms are my sister’s and brother’s and mom’s and dad’s.  I garden because there is one there, and it is really fun.  My friends are the best friends ever in the whole entire world.  My teacher is the best teacher in the whole entire world.  I love lunch at my school.  I love my teacher, Mrs. Fink, because she has taught me a lot of things.

By Angel

My community is Mesquite, Texas.  I like to go to Olive Garden.  I like the food there.  I go with my mom and my dad.  They have stairs and tables up the stairs.  I live in a house.  I have a black bunny named Cynthia.  The people that live at my house are my little sister named Mariah, my mom, my nanny, my dad, and me.  Sometimes I do clothes activities.  I fold them and hang them up.  Me and my sister put them in the closet.  I also clean up our play area.

By Raiven

I have a house mixed with an apartment.  We have 3 rooms in our house and a 3rd story.  What I do at home are chores.  Now my job at home is to clean the tub out, and I have a job.  My bedtime is 9:00.  At 7:15, my job is to learn so I can go to a next grade like 3rd grade, 4h grade, 5th grade, or 6th grade.  My fun place to go is Abby Cats.  It’s a game place.  I like Abby Cats because they have lots of games like bowling or laser tag.  You can eat food there.  My favorite thing to eat is a jumbo hot dog.  They give you a lot of cheese on your hot dog.  I love my community.

New Website

Mrs. White's class discovered a new website we want to share this week.  It's called Sheppard Software.com.  Check out all the fun things we found!

Limo Rider

Congratulations, Josslyn!

Lots of Learning

Wow!!  There has been a lot of learning going on in Second Grade.  We have been writing about communities, discovering what scientists do, growing mealworms, and experimenting with science tools.  Ask a second grader to tell you about some of these things.

Scientists do many important jobs.

Our mealworms eat peas and potatoes.

Our mealworms live in oat bran.

Our mealworms are in plastic cups with air holes in the lid.

Lots of mealworms! What will they grow up to be?

We went outside with catching nets and hand lenses.

Students exploring for insects.

Catching nets are for catching flying insects.

Looking at an ant through a hand lens.

The ants were fascinating!

Are there any insects on the tree trunk?

Writing about communities

We have lots to say about our community.

A community is where people live, work, and have fun.

Working very hard on our writing

Writing makes us happy.

Limo Rider

Our school has two very special students every week.  One is the Super Star.  The other is the Limo Rider of the Week.  This week one of our second graders is the Limo Rider of the Week.  Congratulations, Cristian!