Being a Business Owner

We have started our economics unit in Social Studies in which we learn about using money to buy what we need, want, and to help people.  We've discussed the importance of saving our money.  The students have learned that in order to have money to spend or save, you need to earn money.  We invited a 6th grade student to visit our classroom to talk about his egg business that he has been running for about 4 years.  He talked with the class about the responsibilities that go along with running his business and the expenses he has for his business. 

Today we took a field trip downtown to a local business The Granary.  The Granary is a coffee shop that also includes smoothies, hot chocolate, ice cream, and more on their menu.  The students were able to take a tour and talk with the owner, Kristin Asleson, about how she runs her business.  We learned about the details of running a business such as coming up with a business name and menu, what the best sellers on the menu are, where the ingredients come from, and so much more!  We learned that doing your research before opening your business is so important.  After the tour the students were lucky enough to enjoy a scoop of ice cream.  Thank you so much Kristin!  We had a great time and learned a lot!

Thanksgiving Fun!

Earlier in the month we read "Turkey Trouble" by Wendi J. Silvano.  In this funny book, the turkey tries many different disguises to escape becoming Thanksgiving dinner.  Using this as our inspiration, the students had to create their own disguise for a turkey along with a letter to the farmer as to why the disguised turkey should not be eaten. We focused on creating very specific reasons that go along with the chosen disguise.  We put our turkeys and letters together in a class book that the students love to read!

We wrote letters to our families telling them what we are thankful for.  The class came up with many sweet ideas.  "You make me laugh."  "You are nice to me."  "You take care of me and feed me good food."  These second graders have a lot to be thankful for!  We made cute watercolor turkeys to go along with our letters.

Our day ended with Turkey Bingo that we play school wide.  If the students get a bingo, they have to gobble down to the office to collect their prize.  The kids have so much fun with this, and we even had a winner in 2nd grade!

Fall Tree Art Project

I love this art project.  These tree silhouettes with the colorful background remind me of trees in the early morning sunrise.  They did a beautiful job!

Our History Studies

We recently finished up our Social Studies unit on history.  In this unit we learned about the history of Lanesboro and Minnesota.  The students made their own timelines to show the history of their lives in chronological order.  We studied the Dakota Native Americans who lived in Minnesota.  The students learned about how the Native Americans lived and how their lives were tragically affected when the settlers came to America.  We used Native American symbols to create our own artwork.  Mrs. Lieb visited our classroom to share Native American artifacts that her family has collected on their home farm for several years.  A big thank you to Mrs. Lieb for sharing these items with us!

Comfy Cozy Day

On Thursday we celebrated earning a Banana Bingo with Comfy Cozy Day.  The students wore comfy clothes and brought in blankets and stuffed animals to make our learning day more comfortable. 

Authors Share with First Grade

During 1st quarter we focused on writing personal narratives as we learned what good writers do:
-choose topics we are experts in
-add specific and interesting details to our topic
-write in complete sentences with capital letters and end marks

Each student chose his or her favorite story to publish and share with others.  We met up with first grade on Thursday.  We read our stories to a first grade friend and also listened to their stories.

Happy Halloween from 2nd Grade

The students had a blast showing off their costumes as we walked through the costume parade.  After the parade the students enjoyed snacks and played classroom games.  It's always so fun to see all the costumes throughout the elementary!