This Week in Second Grade: Earth Day and Counting Coins

I might be one of the last to get out this Five for Friday post, because I just got home from...

1.) The big Ice Cream Social event! This year was a Fiesta theme! I was secretly hoping there would be some ponchos, mustaches and sombreros to wear for a photo shoot, but no such luck.

 Let's hear it for staff shirts, ponytails, jeans and comfy shoes on Fridays!

The PTO goes all out for this one~ there were coney islands, raffles, games, prizes, a DJ, karaoke and ice cream of course! We have several big events like this one spread out during the year. This is one happenin' place! My buddy went to school where I teach so he loves to help out at these events too. We got to work at the popcorn, pop and cotton candy tent. What fun! He refuses to pose with his mom for a picture but did a great job as official photographer! I'll take it!

2.) For Earth Day, my class took a paperless challenge! We did not use one sheet the entire day. It was a little challenging to fill a day this way, but we did it. Our school is a designated Green School. We document our activities such as this to submit in our report.

Here the kids were given dice in dice from Lakeshore to roll. They rolled two, 2-digit numbers, and used the calculators to find both a sum and a difference.

The day after, we went back to using paper but had some great discussions about the three Rs using this Earth Day PowerPoint and a cute and educational booklet from Aimee Salazar's Earth Day Unit.

3.) The class always loves a guest speaker. One of my favorite classroom parents works as an environmental consultant. She consults with companies and acts as a government advisor in the event of a toxic spill. She did some neat demonstrations for our second graders to show how a spill can effect the groundwater supply and how a clay barrier can help. She illustrated the drilling process for sampling using straws. 

4.) One of our sweet young students is battling cancer and is homebound right now. Our school has had several fundraisers to help the family. These thoughtful students regularly send videos to our Lucas. Each class delivered a special hello. On his birthday, the whole school gathered to sing to him via video.

5.) We are reviewing for MAP testing next week. We put together this adorable money sorting wallet project for a last hurrah and to review those zeros they seem to get tripped up with.

Adios Amigos!