Ms. Atiyah started our week's Morning Meeting by celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As she explains, "We read a story called, Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. The book was about the childhood leading into adulthood for Martin Luther King Jr. and how difficult it was being black and being separated from whites. Martin Luther King Jr. believed in being fair and sharing your opinions in a nonviolent and peaceful way. After the read aloud we played a game together called Four Corners. I read aloud several "about me" questions that separated the whole class according to their answers. For example, "If you have brown hair, go to corner one." "If you have blonde hair, go to corner two." "If you speak a second language, go to corner three." "If you have a spring birthday, go to corner four." Then I went on to say that, "All the children with spring birthdays would have lunch from Jimmy Johns." That's when the true objective of this game came to terms. The other students moaned in grief and quickly became upset because they all said it wasn't fair. We had a very heart filled conversation about how it made them feel to be excluded because of things they could not change, like their birthday. That is why Dr. Martin Luther King's dream and how he fought for equality is so important in how we live and interact today."
SCIENCE OF SNOW AND THE WATER CYCLE
During Morning Meeting, we did a science experiment finding out how frost is formed. Ms. Atiyah put about 10-15 ice cubes in a metal tin can, covered the ice with one cup of iodized salt, then sealed the can with the lid. About 10 minutes later the students did an observation noticing water forming around the edges of the container. During the next observation about 20 minutes later, the students noticed frost forming around the edges and the bottom of the can. We discussed that when water vapor becomes a liquid it is called condensation. Condensation forms when the air is cooler on the inside of the container than the outside. Then the water or condensation begins to freeze and forms frost.
Last week, we also shared a biography about Wilson A. Bentley. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Mary Azarian is the 199 Caldecott Award winner for the most distinguished illustrations. Bentley was born in Vermont in 1865 and had a great love for snow crystals and nature in general. He was the first person to photograph snowflakes and we are lucky enough to have several copies of his book in our Lim Family Library. Bentley's book was his "gift to the world" and it's amazing that his photographs were taken over 100 years ago! This week, we will make our own "snow catchers" and wait the for flakes to fly! Hopefully, we will be able to recognize some of the similar ice crystals that Snowflake Bentley photographed.
We began a review of "fact families." Second grade is the year when we help children build automaticity with their single-digit addition facts and subtraction facts up to 20. We call this "fact power!" Once these facts are memorized and can be solved quickly, computation of harder, multi-digit problems becomes easier. A fact family is a series of three related numbers that make two addition equations and two subtraction equations. For example, the numbers 3, 7, ane 10 are a fact family:
3 + 7 = 10
7 + 3 = 10
10 - 3 = 7
10 - 7 = 3
Your child was introduced to fact families in first grade and last week, we reviewed this idea and practiced making the different equations. It's important for children to not simply have their math facts memorized but to understand the relationship between numbers. Fact families are also used with multiplication and division in the third and fourth grades.
FAMILY MESSAGE JOURNALS
Family Message Journals were sent home in your child's backpack on Friday. Please print a letter in reply and return the journals early this week. It really means a lot to your child to read your letters. Because of Parent-Teacher Conferences on Friday, we will not write in these journals this week.
As soon as I resolve some technical difficulties, I will post a video of our Whooping Crane Dance Party and the latest Mystery Reader pictures! Stay tuned!
Stay warm and enjoy your week!