Unit 2: How the World Works

Central Idea: People use their understanding of natural laws to manipulate objects. 

We have had quite a busy first term! During this unit we learned about forces and simple machines! We talked about push and pull, and how machines help up use less force to move an object. In the pictures below we were miming push and pull and our friends had to guess which one we were showing! Can you tell if we are showing push or pull?

When learning about simple machines we learned about wedges! we made different kinds of paper airplanes to see which were most effective at reducing air resistance!

We made our own recycles cars when learning about wheels and axels!

Students worked in teams to create their own Rube Goldberg machines to complete a task. A Rube Goldberg Machine is a complicated machine used to complete a simple task. 

We were also able to have swim lessons this unit! It was great seeing students become more and more confident in the pool. Thank you Ms. Saya for instructing our swim lessons. 

In math, we learned about telling time to the quarter and half hour. We practiced reading a clock and comparing analog and digital clocks. We also learned more about subtraction this term. We learned different subtraction strategies for subtracting two digit numbers with regrouping. We learned about the column method, subtracting on a number line, and using number bonds and what we know about addition to subtract. 

In reading, we have been working in small groups to grow our knowledge of different spelling patterns using Words Their Way. We sort our weekly words into their spelling patterns and look to find similarities in their wounds. We are starting to get used to our Reading Rotations and being independent in our reading. Ms. T helps us in class during this time and we are all able to get more small group support. Ms. Kapra came to read to us and teach us about refugees during World Refugee Week!

We had so much fun at Japanese Culture Day! It was a great opportunity to learn more about our own culture and the culture of the country in which we all live! During the festival in the gym it was fun to see so many parents helping out! We enjoyed all of the different stalls and games!

Have a great summer and I am looking forward to continuing to grow and learn in second grade!