Halloween Fun & Field trips!

                                         Pumpkins decorated as a favorite character 

Our visit to the Tacoma Musical Playhouse's production of "How I Became a Pirate", based on the eponymous book.

Scenes from a busy week:

Starry night at the pumpkin patch, a project in art class with Miss Angela

A visit to the Nordic Museum in Ballard. It was fun to see replicas and real items from the Vikings! 

A math lesson involving Starburst candies, then a science lesson on making  our own Starburst "dough"

Here are some highlights from a very active two weeks:

Our class loves yoga time! We follow along with Cosmic KidsYoga.....

Minecraft and pirate themes make being healthy more fun!

On Grandparents and Special Friends Day, the adults were able to experience an example of  Seabury's inquiry-based learning process by experimenting with magnets.

We used a STEM approach for literacy. After reading the book "After the Fall" by Dan Santat, the students designed and built some contraptions that Humpty Dumpty might have used.

We were able to pre-view a box of Viking replicas from the Nordic Museum in Seattle, which we will be visiting in a few weeks. The students were surprised to see how heavy a helmet or chain mail head covering was!

We learned about caravans and planned an inventory of what we would take with us if we were explorers setting out on the Silk Road to China. We had some lively class discussion about how difficult it would have been to walk over 7,000 miles, not knowing what to expect. It's not easy for a 7 or 8 year old to imagine a world without GPS!



We collaborated with the first grade Navigators class for s study of the Spice Islands. We had to identify mystery spices.

We began  mapping the routes of the explorers as we study them.

One of the students' favorite activities was a science project making their own chalkboard slime. We learned about the chemical reaction that creates slime.

There are many myths about Vikings, but there are some  things we do know. The Vikings had their own alphabet. The letters were called Runes.
This week we investigated Runes by making our own unique Viking Rune nameplate tablet out of  polymer clay. We then baked them to harden.

Much information exists about Viking ship construction, since archaeologists have uncovered some well preserved artifacts. Each student made their own replica using some of these facts:

And for a group collaboration project using S.T.E.A.M. principles, we began building a large viking boat. The students planned every part of the construction, from deciding where to put the mast to how to attach the dragon figurehead. Here are students "in progress".

We learned another mindfulness technique for being aware of when to speak and when to keep the thought silently in your head until a more appropriate time, using any easy 3 part rubric. This is a skill that children (and let's be honest, some adults!) need to practice until it becomes a habit. 

                                                   (Courtesy of Counselor Chelsey at Teachers Pay Teachers)

For our integrated studies about Vikings, we used a picture strategy to answer the question "If there are 20 benches on a Viking Boat, and each bench holds 2 oarsmen, how many oarsmen are there?

The students discovered there were several different ways to solve the problem.

We began our self-regulation strategies studies. Self regulation is the ability to be 
aware and in control of our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
We learned about Rock versus Clay problem solving strategies. Like a rock, rock problems are things we can not change and have no control over. We must learn to cope with them. Like clay, clay problems are things we can do something about and exert some sort of control over. We used Model Magic to represent the clay. The students came up with very clever ideas!

Here at Seabury, we like to encourage and acknowledge students' personal interests. One of the students, who enjoys magic tricks, showed us a way to make a paper clip float.

The second grade Treasure Seekers are off to a great start! The SS Scout set sail right away.

During our first few days, we made antique world maps to kick off our studies about explorers. We painted them with strong brewed tea to make them look old.

                                                                                                 

This week we welcomed a new friend into the classroom, a crested gecko we named Luna.  We then started some research about lizards. We have so many great questions to discover answers to.

Some students who thought they might not want to hold a lizard tried it and enjoyed it. We were surprised at how soft she was, and her beautiful eyes.

We celebrated International Dot Day on Friday, joining in the worldwide event. Dot Day is based on Peter Reynolds' amazing children's book that celebrates creativity, courage and collaboration. The theme is "Mark your mark and see where it takes you".
There were school wide special events and projects and games. Our classroom hosted Twister, the Ultimate Dot Game!