Science: Native American Houses

The girls learned about some of the properties of the materials used in our Structures unit by experimenting to see how they could be manipulated and put together. After studying Native American tribes throughout the country in Social Studies this fall, they were asked to pretend that they were Native Americans living on the Bryn Mawr campus 800 years ago. The girls walked around the campus woods to visualize the materials which would have been available then. They thought about how people would have constructed their houses. Then they integrated what they learned about the materials we worked with in order to design and make models of those houses.

It was important to plan before starting construction.

The structure was anchored to its base.

The framework was prepared.

The structure was checked for rigidity.

Bracing was provided to make the structure more rigid and sturdy. The next step is to add a roof and walls.

From the Library

In Library we read two books in which characters are swallowed whole by lions: Maurice Sendak's beloved Pierre, and then Mac Barnett's Chloe and the Lion. Ask your daughter how these books were alike (not very, except for the lions) and how they were different. We then moved on to two books about coats: Jim Aylesworth's My Grandfather's Coat, in which a young immigrant sews himself a wedding coat and wears it until it's worn out, then makes from the good parts, a smart jacket, and then a snazzy vest which he wears to his daughter's wedding, a beautiful tie, and then a toy for his grandson. A mouse uses the remaining scraps for her nest. Finally nothing is left of the coat except the story about it. We then read Lauren Mills' The Rag Coat. In this story the leftover bits are put together into a patchwork coat, each rag with its own memory and history.
Girls have been challenged with reading, before the end of the school year, a book from our paperback offerings and a book from the sometimes-overlooked bottom shelves.

Scratch Jr.

The girls have been working hard in the Scratch Jr. app.  We have learned how to delete, add, and edit a sprite, add more sprites, change the background, and use the majority of buttons.  Using these skills we have created a race with three sprites that move from scene to scene.  We will continue our work in Scratch Jr. this month.

Art: Color is Complicated!

Mrs. Hiivola has introduced a new unit that explores the relationships between color and feelings.  The girls learned that warm colors communicate high energy feelings like angry or excited and cool colors communicate low energy feelings like sad or calm. They began their color resource journals by mixing swatches of color that they will name based on things they know, touch, see, smell, feel, remember, etc.  

Happenings in Second Grade

   The wagon is packed and the Bryn Mawr second grade is about to hit the Oregon Trail! We have packed many things that will help make our journey a smooth one.  The girls have enjoyed bringing in items for our wagon.  We have sacks of flour, horses, dogs, books, quilts, pots and pans, and food. Great job, girls! Here is a picture of our packed wagon.

 
  The girls are also excited to begin writing in their pioneer journals.  Each girl will keep a personal journal as we travel along the Oregon Trail.  The journals will be on display during the pioneer picnic as well as our crafts. We are looking forward to beginning our crafts with our parent volunteers on February 12. Thank you in advance for your help!!

 
                                               WAGONS HO! OREGON OR BUST!

French: Qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans ta chambre?

In French, the girls have been learning how to describe objects within a room. In pairs, they created scripts where two or three characters greeted each other and asked and answered questions about their rooms. They used the app Puppet Pals to create videos of their conversations. They were très créatives and everyone loved watching their classmates' creations.

Here, the girls are hard at work developing their scripts.

Everyone enjoyed presenting her project to the class. All of the girls should be very proud of their hard work!

Brush Bot Video

All grades in the Lower School participated in the Brush Bots Winter Olympics.  Here is a compilation video of everyone's hard work.  Enjoy!