What is a community?

Click the link below to go to the smore site titled "What is a community?".

http://www.smore.com/7j41

Doubles and Near Doubles Math Fluency

Click the link below to access the Smore site for doubles and near doubles math fluency practice.  

http://www.smore.com/vs5d-math-fluency

Turkey Lunch and Parent Visit

Today, our parents were given the opportunity to visit our classroom and discover what Ballard's Believers is all about.  Students were prepared to present on various important parts of our daily routine.  These presentations included nonfiction, math, reading data, writing, the 7 habits, and technology.  Students chose to present at their station in various ways.  Some of them made videos, one created a PowerPoint presentation, one group made flyers that graphed reading data, one group made a math brochure, and another group presented what technology is and how we use it in our classroom.  We were excited to share our learning with our parents.  We also enjoyed having a chance to thank our parents for believing that we can be successful this year.  Our turkey lunch was delicous and we left today with full bellies and full hearts.

Jennifer and Carina share their PowerPoint presentation about writing in Ms. Ballard's class.

David shares our reading data with his mom and mamaw.

Shawn shares his math brochure with his grandmother.

 Rebecca and Toni dressed professionally so that they could greet visitors with a

smile at our classroom door.

Noah, Destiny, and Karen share their video about nonfiction reading and research with Amber's parents.

VOTE TODAY!

Today is Election Day!  Please get out and vote today!  In our classroom this morning we are learning about Election Day and the process of electing a new president of the United States of America.  Here are a few links we will be using in class to spark our questioning skills and research for answers.

1.  http://pbskids.org/democracy/
2.  http://www.congressforkids.net/Elections_electionday.htm
3.  http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/campaignandelectionkit.html
4.  http://www.diffen.com/difference/Barack_Obama_vs_Mitt_Romney

3rd Graders Visit Our Class to Collect Data

Dana 3rd Graders visited our classroom last week to collect and record data.  They took the data back to their own classrooms and graphed it using bar graphs.  We were excited to watch the process they used to collect data.  It helped us to understand productive ways to collect and record data in 2nd grade.

Xavier answers Hunter's question while Hunter records his data.

Chloe holds up the question her group asked my class.  They also listed the answer choices so 2nd graders would know how to spell them.

The yellow table group answers Joel, Elizabeth, and Bryant's question.

Researching Life Cycles with the MacBook Air Lab

Life Cycles Research

We are researching life cycles of frogs and butterflies.  Use these links to help guide your research.  Be looking for pictures soon of Ballard's Believers researching using our new MacBook Air Lab.

Life Cycles Smore

NC Wise Owl

Fire Safety

Today Sparky, the Dana Fire Department, and the Henderson County Dispatcher visited our school for a fire safety assembly.  They talked to us about how to prevent fires, and how to safely react to fire.  We learned so much from their presentation and we were so glad to see Sparky!  Check out the links below to follow up with fire safety at home.

Sparky

Sparkles The Fire Dog

Arthur's Fire Safety, PBS Kids

iPads in the Classroom

Click here to link to our Wildcats Technology blog post!

Constitution Day

Monday was Constitution Day.  Our class studied the preamble to the Constitution and determined the purpose of the document.  We also compared and contrasted what it was like to live before the Constitution was written and what it is like to live in now.  For further research and information about the Constitution, see the links below.

Scholastic:  Celebrate Constitution Day
Scholastic:  Know Your Constitution
Constitution Day Power Point:  Click the Yellow Highlighted Text
The Preamble Scramble

Our Learning Styles

This first week of second grade has been inspirational.  It has inspired me as the teacher to prepare lessons that are engaging and exciting.  These kids love to learn, read, and grow.  I am excited about this school year.  After some quick fluency assessments and one-on-one discussions I have learned that I have a smart, determined, inquisitive group that is ready for a challenge.  I am looking forward to giving them those opportunities.

Our favorite activity this week was an assessment of our learning styles.  Each student took a survey and determined the best way that he or she learns new information.  After we found the results of our surveys, we got into groups based on our learning style (or "multiple intelligences").  In these groups, we discussed activities that each of us can focus on to help us learn.  It made us more aware of our strengths and weaknesses, and how to address them.

Students got to take their picture with a label for their personal learning style.  Then, students wrote about how they were going to use this information to make their year the best it can be!  I am excited to have such a variety of learning styles in my classroom this year.

Hint!

I am so excited to see all of my students tomorrow for the first day of school.  Please be sure to check out the Cat's Meow Blog for important upcoming dates to be aware of.

If you want to start the school year off strong, build your background knowledge about what we will be exploring this week.  Do some research tonight or tomorrow about the Mars rover, Curiosity.  We will be talking about NASA's purpose of the mission this week as we dive into our new social studies curriculum.  Let's get started!

See you tomorrow!

Leader in Me

As most of you know, our school applied and accepted a grant to receive Leader in Me teacher training.  This training is going to help our teachers to encourage leadership in their students.  It goes along with the 7 Habits of Happy Kids that we follow at our school.  Here is a video that shows elementary students discussing the habits and how important they are.  I am excited to begin learning more at the teacher training that begins tomorrow, and I am looking forward to seeing you on the 27th.

NCCAT @ Ocracoke Day 4: Off-Roading On the Beach

We got to ride in the back of a 4 wheel drive truck on the beach.  We discussed the politics behind the laws that allow people to drive on the beach.  Driving on the beach makes the beach more useful.  It is easier to haul things to and from the beach if you have on off-road permit.  It is an issue for some people due to the dangers beach driving can pose to the living organisms on the beach.  What do you think?  Should people be allowed to drive on the beach?

 From the top of a tall sand dune.

 A beautiful Ocracoke Sunset over the inlet.

NCCAT Connecting to the Future Teachers

If you look carefully, you will see two structures standing in the distance.  One is on the right and one is on the left.  The left structure is the Ocracoke Lighthouse.  The right structure is the water tower that provides water for the people in the village.  Think about the importance of these two structures.  Are their any important structures like this in Hendersonville?

NCCAT @ Ocracoke Day 4: The Wild Pony Pen

Research the wild ponies of Ocracoke. I can't wait to share with you what I learned about them! Their history is incredible.

NCCAT @ Ocracoke Day 3: Ocracoke Lighthouse

 Ocracoke Lighthouse on a beautiful island morning. This lighthouse was built in 1823. How many years ago was it built?

 The spiral staircase inside the lighthouse. The round brick wall is 5 feet thick. Can you estimate how many bricks were used?

After our seafood dinner, a storm started brewing in the Pamlico Sound.  Do you think that the weather here is the same as in Hendersonville?  Take a look at this weather map and decide for yourself.  (HINT:  You are near "AVL."  I am near "HSE.").

NCCAT @ Ocracoke Day 2: Sea Turtle Release

The national park service hosted 14 loggerhead sea turtles' release into the ocean.  They had excavated the sea turtle nest because the sea turtles were in danger.  What kinds of things could have been endangering the sea turtles?

 Ocracokers and tourists going to watch the release of the sea turtles.

 A park ranger tells the crowd how important it is to give the turtles plenty of room, to not move if they wash up in the waves, and to not use a flash on any cameras.  Can you infer why we were't aloud to use the flash on our cameras?

Video of the release of the loggerhead sea turtles.

NCCAT @ Ocracoke Day 2: Kayaking in the Pamlico Sound

Kayaking along the shore of the Pamlico Sound with Amy, another teacher from North Carolina.  We saw a sea turtle swimming in the ocean a foot away from our kayak!  Check back for more about sea turtles.

Ms. Wilson and I at the fishing canals.

These are the fishing canals off the Pamlico Sound.  They are filled with wildlife!  We saw lots of birds, fish, hermit crabs, and more!  Imagine an island village less than a mile from here.  How do you think the village of Ocracoke effects this wildlife?  What part do the ocean and the wildlife play in the lives of people in the village?

NCCAT @ Ocracoke Day 2: Ocracoke Lifeguard Beach

 The west facing side of the sand dunes.

Beach mile marker.

 East facing side of the sand dunes.

 The Atlantic Ocean

Kayaking pictures soon to come!

NCCAT @ Ocracoke Day 1

Hello!

Ms. Wilson and I made it to the Outer Banks!  We had to leave at 2 a.m. to make it to the 11:00 p.m. ferry in Cedar Island.  Can you figure out how long we had to drive?

 This was the ferry we had to ride.  It was cool to drive my car onto the boat!  The ride was fun.  It took 2 hours and 15 minutes to get from Cedar Island to Ocracoke Island.

 This is the NCCAT building.  It is surrounded by water.  It is the first building you see when you get off the ferry.  We are so glad to be spending the week here!

Ready for a fun week of learning!  Stay tuned.  We can't wait to share our photos and updates with you!