Today, among many other things, we have read How the Grinch stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss. In these strange times that we are having to live, the message of this story is perfect for us to realize that maybe Christmas is more than just food, decorations and what we buy in stores …
The tale inspired us to create our own Who-ville, named after the town where the Grinch lives. Each one has drawn a house with a Christmas atmosphere and I have been placing them in a mural to create our own town. We hope you like it. Merry Christmas.
The story is told in just 338 words. However, Maurice Sendak’s illustrations and the plot are so powerful that a seven-year-old’s mind is instantly engaged.
We have read this book just for the pleasure of reading, but without forgetting the illustrations : the challenge for each child was to draw what they would be like if they were a “wild thing …”
I’ve always liked this quote from the great Dr. Seuss. Precisely, when we talk about the nervous system, I like to remind my students that they “have have brains in their heads and feet in their shoes. They can steer themselves in any direction they choose.”
This quote will also introduce them to The Cat in the Hat and to stimulate their imagination:
I guess you know what the mind of a primary school teacher is like… As far as cats are concerned, I cannot mention them and forget the unique Pete the Cat…
His style, his attitude, his way of dealing with problems, his that way of understanding life … We all need to learn that.
Again, I take advantage of an inexhaustible source of inspiration…; to create, in this case, a pair of shoes as cool as Pete’s:
I have taken advantage of the #ERASMUSDAYS 2020 to speak to my year two students about our project for the first time. We have seen the cover of our blog and we have talked about the countries where all the participating schools are located, paying special attention to the flags of each country. We really liked them. And here comes our first contribution … We have mixed the flags of Norway and Spain, and this is the result …
and the flags of Bulgaria and Spain…
We saw various transformations using this video … And then we invented our own mix of the flag of Spain + Norway….
and Bulgaria and Spain.
We would really love to see more flags invented by the children in your schools.
I share a small post in which I explained to the parents of my year two students a dynamic that I use in class to help the children understand the concept of place value.
In short, the number 2 does not have the same value in 32 as in 254. The reason is that our number system uses only ten digits, with which we can write any number. When we have more than nine units, the tens appear. It would be interesting if your children could see the water meter, or the gas meter, so that they could see an example from real life. At the moment we stay here, in the units and the tens.
To reinforce this idea of place value, in class we use dice and we make a clamp using the index and thumb fingers, where we place the numbers in their correct position. Have a look at this photo:
The number we are representing is the number 28, two tens and 8 units. The tens die is larger than the units die. To place the dice correctly, we must make the clamp with the right hand. The small die of the units must be placed on the inside, next to the hand; and the large tens die on the outer part. It is an apparently simple exercise, but it requires thinking about several aspects at the same time: right and left, large and small, fine motor skills … In this way, at home you can practice: for example, you can dictate numbers to check that they place the dice correctly. You can also do mental math and have the result shown to you by using the dice. The routine we use in class is: “1- I listen; 2- I think; 3- I place the dice and 4- I show the result. It is a very powerful, manipulative dynamic that helps to work in a very concrete way a concept that for many children is still very abstract. Learning is better if, as in this case, children listen, think, place in their hand … In this way we are making many parts of our body intervene, which makes the concept we are working on get to the brain from different routes.
We’re not going to waste energy talking about this weird way to come back to school. I would like to highlight, however, that children are behaving like true champions, respecting so many, many rules, and doing everything they are asked to so that everything goes well. These days, we have insisted a lot on the importance of hygiene, which has become essential in this new situation. Here are some of the drawings that we have made to remind us the importance of school hygiene and also to decorate our class.
We hope you like them.
To insist on the importance of washing our hands, we have drawn a “coronavirus” on our hand, and it must be erased throughout the morning. Mission accomplished!
Last week I proposed a challenge to the year two students: draw their self-portrait following some tips: SELF-PORTRAITS autoretratos. With great pride I share some today. They are amazing.
There are many ways to cut paper, such as fringing, cutting straight lines, curved lines, zigzags, right angles….
It is a wonderful activity as it helps develop hand muscles, eye-hand coordination and bilateral coordination. We have used our cutouts to build these creations.
You all know that Salamanca is a wonderful city to enjoy its streets and the life that always fills them. In the following creations, we can see which buildings came to mind to year two children during lockdown.
Casa Lis
Casa de las Conchas
La Catedral
Casa Lis
La Catedral
Biblioteca “Gabriel y Galán”
Casa de las Conchas
La Catedral
Impossible not to think about the hospital, which appeared in the newspaper every day…
Others flew with the imagination or remembered other cities…
There were also some who built buildings and glued to open windows…
Last week, my year two students during their “literacy class at home” described a “Crocofante,” an animal half “crocodile” and half “elephant.” Later, in Arts & Crafts class I proposed them to mix two animals to invent a new one … I share with you some of their FUNtastic creations.
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