Famous American Foldable (VA SOL2.4)

We've been studying Famous Americans these last couple of weeks. Virginia changed their Social Studies Standards and now 2nd grade has 10 Famous Americans to study. I started the unit by having students create a foldable of all of our historical figures, then I went back one by one to focus on them. 

I'm using a variety of books I own and access to Mackin Via and Scholastic Bookflix plus video clips from Brain Pop and Discovery Education to teach them. Each day consists of a book/video clip and some type of activity. At the end of each lesson, I give the students a SMART Tag (brag tag) for that person. I got that idea from Doris Young over at Third Grade Thinkers! I never thought of students earning academic brag tags until I read her post. 

To create the foldable, I took a 12x18 white sheet of construction paper and folded both sides inward. Then I cut so that there were 5 flaps on each side. I had students cut and glue the names on the front, photos on the inside flap and contributions underneath the flap. Then we drew and colored symbols over the names of them to help us remember why they're important. It took us about 2 class sessions, an hour, to complete the foldable. 

Content Vocabulary Talks

Whew... the first nine weeks is over, 27 parent conferences have been had and report cards are finished! This was by far the most overwhelming busiest first quarter of school I've ever experienced! If this is any indication of the rest of the school year, my goal is to squeeze out a blog post monthly because who know's if I'll have time to do more than that!

I wanted to share an idea I've been doing with my third graders in math. I saw the idea while in a teammate's room. She had a Science Anchor with (animal) vocabulary words on it. At the top of the chart it said "If the answer is _____, what is the question?" So if the answer is "instinct," what is the question? Students had brainstormed possible questions and she had listed the final question next to the vocabulary word on the chart. 

I immediately thought about the math vocabulary bulletin board in my classroom. I had been wanting to do something with the words after I remove them. I've decided to only keep them up for the quarter and then take them down for the next quarter's words. So, everyday I've chosen a "review" word from last quarter and posed this question...

• The answer is angle, what is the question?
• The answer is difference, what is the question?

I then give them a couple minutes to talk with their face partner or shoulder partner about possible questions. Then students share out their questions and I record them on the chart paper. I reread all the questions and students again talk with their face or shoulder partner about what they feel the "best" question is for the vocabulary word. We then decide the best one and I put a bubble around it. 

 This is a strategy that can be used in any subject. It really taps into the higher level thinking as they can't use the answer in their question. Some questions are more on the mark than others but with discussion those students are realizing how their thinking may have been too specific or not specific enough.

Can you see yourself using this strategy in your classroom?

The Math Vocabulary Cards were purchased from Amy Lemons and created any word cards that she didn't have that I needed. 

Presidential Cookie Contest

During the 2008 Election my teammates and I decided to hold an election using the Presidential Cookie Recipes from Family Circle.

Here's a picture of the team election bulletin board.

2nd Grade Election Results



Cookie A Recipe- Michelle Obama



Cookie B Recipe- Cindy McCain

I had such a blast doing this that I had to do it with my 3rd graders in my new school back in 2012. I've created a document with the recipes and ballots. Last time I had 4 parent volunteers make the cookies and send them in. Each student got one of each cookie and marked their choice on the ballot. They placed the ballots in a ballot box and the teachers tallied them over night. The teachers annouced the winners the next day. *Beware of food allergies!*

 

The recipes for this year have been posted on the Family Circle website, click here for your very own copy.

Do you think you'll use this idea in your classroom? What other election activities are you doing?