Being a student is easy. Learning requires actual work” —William Crawford

In technology at Saint James the learning fun never ends! This week students built robots and wrote code that enabled their robots to drive! Their task was to build a robot with an attachment that would move small pieces of pipe to and from designated areas. Second grade students were surprised at all they were able to learn!
Last week, we were invited to attend the Middle School Colonial Days Fair. Students listened as middle schoolers shared all the had learned about colonial times. Presentations we’re exceptional and we were so happy to attend.

This week second grade learned all the ways to spell the long vowel sound letter u makes: u, u_e, _ew, and _ue. In second grade, we like to have fun as much as we can so, shaving cream spelling was a must! Second graders at Saint James are not given a list of spelling words to memorize, rather they are tested on their knowledge of the different spelling patterns sounds make. This strategy helps students with spelling and reading.

We are also researching animals and their habitats. Students were able to use personal Chromebooks to discover basic facts about animals and also interesting information they would like to share. Students will use the information they gather to write research papers and present their findings to their peers in Lower School.

This Friday, our class attended the First Grade Zoo. We listened as first graders shared presentations about zoo animals.
We are always busy learning here in grade two and we love it that way!

Second grade had a visitor last week! Mae the Boykin Spaniel came to Lower School for show and tell and the second grade was in love! We all took turns playing, petting and loving on Mae. Since her visit, there have been many class discussions on what type of pet would be a good class pet.

We recently read the folktale Stone Soup. Second grade learned about the elements of a folktale. Folktales are passed from generation to generation and always teach a lesson. Good always prevails over evil in folktales. In the folktale Stone Soup a stranger convinces a village suffering from drought and famine to share their food with one another and learn the lesson of looking out for one another and sharing with those in need. Our essential vocabulary word was contribution. Each villager made a contribution to the soup and learned to be happy together again. This week students brought their contributions to class and we enjoyed a bowl of stone soup together. Some of the class love the soup and other we’re not so thrilled. We all had a great time feasting together!

What a precious way to end the first half of our second grade year! Candlelight was a beautiful service and the children really performed well.

Second grade had a blast in the Candy Cane Lab. We made predictions on which liquid would dissolve the candy cane in the shortest amount of time. Most students thought the carbonated soda would win, but we quickly learned the hot water dissolved the water fastest! Science Friday’s are so fun in second grade.

Second grade is ready for a much anticipated Thanksgiving holiday. We have made the most of this term by learning as much as we possibly can and having fun all the while! Our latest reading unit was all about Earth in Action! We studied earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes and completed our study by creating our own creative eruption volcanoes.

Working collaboratively is an important part of being a a student at Saint James. Students worked together to classify and categorize community jobs and their importance.

Our class also had a unique opportunity to listen to fourth grade present their Native American study. We learned many thing about local Native American tribes like what they hunted or planted to eat, items they made to trade as a form of money, and also games they played.

We ended this week with some leaf painting fun! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The last bit of October was filled with pumpkins and one very fun Fall Festival! Thank you Mrs. Denise for organizing an amazing day for the kids at St. James. Second grade took a hayride around campus, toured the middle school pumpkin patch and played games at the carnival. Second grade extends a big thank you to middle school students that helped design and run the games!