Baby J Comes to Visit!

A few weeks ago we had a fun surprise when Mrs. Blair's baby stopped by for a visit!  We've heard a lot about him, so it was fun to get to see him in person.  He even brought us some Twinkies!

Fire Safety

This week we had a fun experience visiting with some local firefighters!  They brought a firetruck and an ambulance for us to see and taught us about what it is like to ride in one!

 Don't worry, it was just a demonstration! :)

We also got to do a relay race where we practiced shooting a fire hose!  It was a fun, and WET, adventure!

Science Girl!

We had a fun experience last week when one of my former students, a 4th grader now, came and helped us with science!  She had prepared an experiment to demonstrate how water can travel up the stem of a plant.  It was called "Walking Water".  Here are the instructions, in case you'd like to try it at home!

You will need...
* 3 clear cups
* 2 different colors of food coloring
* 2 paper towels
* warm water

Instructions:
1. Place the three cups next to each other so they are touching. 
2. Fill the cups on each end, 3/4 full with warm water (leave the middle one empty!)
3. Drop 5-7 drops of food coloring into the water (one color for each cup with water in it)
4. Fold the paper towel into a long hotdog shape
5. Create a bridge from the outside cups into the center cups

We let our experiment sit overnight and when we came to school the next morning the water from the outside cups had traveled into the middle cup and formed a new color!

Welcome!

Welcome to Mrs. Blair's 2nd Grade class blog!  This blog is designed to keep parents updated on what is happening in our classroom throughout the year!  Since I have so many full-time working parents, this is a way for you to have a look into what is going on at school without actually coming in! 

This year has already gotten off to a great start!  I have 20 cute, smart and funny 7-8 year olds to hang out with every day!  What more could a teacher ask for? :)  Here is a little digital tour of our room.

Here is our Objectives board.  This is where students can find the daily objectives listed for each subject.  This helps us to remember what the focus is for that day, and which Common Core standards we are hitting in each subject.  The Must Do/May Do list is where students go to find out what they should be working on at any time.  When they finish everything on the Must Do list, they check out the May Do list for other choices.

 This is our art cupboard! (My favorite)  On the outside students can look at the Did You Know fact of the day to learn a fun fact.  This is also one place our class rules are posted.

 Here is our rug and Smartboard.  We do a lot of whole class instruction and discussion here.

 We look at our calendar each day and talk about the weather, upcoming events and the number of the day!

 Part of our class library.  On these shelves I choose books that go along with what we are learning, or books by favorite authors for children to choose from.  We also have a class leveled chapter book library and picture books sorted by topic.

 A shot of the whole room.  We love bright colors and Dr. Seuss in 2nd grade!

I am looking forward to another year of fun in 2nd grade!