Penguin Love

 Mrs. Cockrell LOVES penguins, and when she was out sick the week that we were supposed to study them, she was so sad!  We HAD to learn about penguins, so we did it the following week!  We read a lot of books, watched a lot of videos, read magazines, checked out Nat Geo Kids, and more.  We are definitely learning about all the places you can go to find out information about a topic.  This is great for our upcoming research project that you'll hear more about very soon!  :)

Please enjoy our pictures below:

 

 Left: Penguin Craftivity via Ms. Fultz's Corner (not our lovely librarian--different Ms. Fultz!)

Right: Penguin Book with Tree Map (idea found on Pinterest via Jean's Crafty Corner).

 

Tree Map about Penguins

 Penguin facts put into complete sentences

 I love how each penguin book looked so different!

Some wanted to use googly eyes, and some wanted to draw their own.

 Lots of great information!

 Some students added their own flair to their penguin craftivity! 

Love this penguin daddy protecting his egg.

 Penguin with earmuffs!

 Hair ribbon!  :)

 Love the earmuffs and speech bubble!

 Excited about all the new facts!

 Heart-shaped penguin!  :)

 Girly penguin!

They did really well putting their facts into complete sentences.  We are working up to writing paragraphs that flow, using a topic sentence and closing sentence.  2nd grade is a big year for writing growth!  Trying to get them prepared for all the writing in 3rd!  

Thanks for checking out all our hard work.  Not all the students wanted their pictures on our blog, but I hope you were able to see their awesome work when they brought home their projects.

Kinder Buddy Fun!

We've gotten to spend quite a bit of time with our Kinder Buddies lately!  We've been helping them do some research in the library since we are becoming better and better at finding books in the library. 

Our buddies from Mrs. Keith's class met us in the library with their research journals, and each 2nd grader helped his or her buddy find books on the topic they chose to research.

It is SO neat to see our 2nd graders being such good mentors.  Some of the kiddos who are more reserved and shy really light up when helping their buddies, and it is really special to see them build that relationship.  :)

We got together with our buddies to share our arctic knowledge and to help them finish up their Martin Luther King, Jr. projects.  Check out some photos below:

 

Arctic vs. Antarctic

We have been learning TONS of really cool information about the arctic and antarctic regions of the earth.

We have read several fiction and non-fiction books and are really enjoying reading about the animals that live on the North and South Poles.

Here are some fun websites that your child may want to explore more at home.

National Geographic Kids-Creature Feature

Native American Research

Here are some photos of our presentations about the Hopi tribe:

"Hopi Research Projects"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!