Yum!

We have been a part of the Cook Shop program throughout the year.  (If you've missed prior posts on it, click here.)  One reason we participate in this program is to encourage kids to try - and retry - new foods.  When we read through the recipe our room is often filled with statements of, "but I hate that food!" or "oh, that food is gross!" or "I don't like that food!"  But minds are quickly changed when that food that had been disgusting to them only seconds before suddenly becomes part of a complete recipe they helped to create.

Many of us don't like certain foods on their own - but once in a recipe we find that the food compliments the other ingredients well or that it tastes differently when mixed with other ingredients.  Such was the case yesterday when we made our protein recipe of Three Bean Fiesta!

Our recipe was as follows:

- One can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- One can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
- One can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- One can of corn, drained and rinsed
- Two cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- One red pepper, finely chopped
- The juice of three limes
- Four teaspoons of honey
- 1/2 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of pepper

During this whole process, many students seemed hesitant to try some of the ingredients.  We chopped and mixed all of our ingredients together.  Then tried it all together (One, Two, Three, Let's Eat!).  One rule of Cook Shop is that everyone has to try the food.  Another rule of Cook Shop is that you can't "yuck someone's yum" - meaning you can dislike a food but you have to remember it is your opinion and another friend's opinion may be different.  If someone likes it, you shouldn't tell them they are wrong about it.

For the first time in Room 205, there wasn't a single yuck among us.

This high in protein snack is delicious and healthy.  We even used low-fat proteins (compared to many animal-based proteins) too.

Try this one at home with your child using different ways to eat it.  We tried it on spoons and on crackers - what about on whole grain chips?  Or on vegetable slices?  Or on a large lettuce leaf, rolled up like a tortilla?  Or a whole grain tortilla?  The possibilities are endless when it comes to eating healthy.  Enjoy!

Our Plants Are Growing

It's been one week since we planted our brassica seeds and they are certainly growing!

Our brassica seeds after 7 days

Our plants range from 1 inch to 2 inches tall and they have many leaves on them.  As scientists our job is to observe and record what we see.  In our recording notebooks we have been drawing accurate sketches, taking written notes on what we observe, and marking important dates on our science calendar (dates of watering, changes in the plant, etc.).  We have seen a lot of changes in this plant in just one week!

Carnivorous Plants

We are also now studying carnivorous plants.  A lot of us already knew some information about the Venus fly trap, but now we are learning about lots of other carnivorous plants - like bladderworts and sundew plants, and pitcher plants.  All of these plants catch insects or fish in very different ways but they all need them to supplement their nutrients since the soil doesn't provide enough for them.  It's been really cool learning about these plants!

Next week we will begin growing grass.  And we'll have to "mow" it too!  Stop in our classroom to see our plants grow and learn some great information about the living world around us.

Social Studies Share

Thank you, everyone, who came to our Social Studies Share today!

 
We shared our persuasive essays about the type of community we think you should live in.  We also shared our community dioramas.

Our essays were put into the three categories.  Someone interested in just one community could read lots of essays on that community type by coming over to that writing table.  After reading our facts and persuasive reasons, parents, friends, and peers commented and praised our work.  It was so great to see all of the comments!

Our visitors also came in to see our dioramas.  After looking at what we made, they read our clues that we typed on the computer.  The clues told our visitors what was in our diorama.  Then, after guessing whether it was an urban, a rural, or a suburban community, you could check to see if you were right by flipping up the flap.

  

Lots of visitors came to see our social studies work today!  Many parents and siblings came as well as the other second grade class at EVCS.

Dioramas are going home today so that they can be shared with more family members and friends.  If you'd like a copy of your child's writing, let me know - but for now they will be displayed in our classroom for more of our friends here to read!

We are Botanists!

We have transformed from Geologists to Botanists over our Spring Break!

We are now studying plants.  We will be growing plants from seed, bulb, pit, and cuttings over the next 3 months.  Today we began by planting brassica seeds.  We used the soil we made during our Rocks, Soil, and Silt unit to plant the seeds and now they are under our grow lights.

What is interesting about the brassica seeds we're using is that they're fast plants!  This means that scientists helped make the plants go through their entire lift cycle in about a month - rather than the usual 3-5 months.  We will be observing our plants using our observation journals to record what we see and notice about our plants.  By planting today, we hope to have some sprouts by Monday!
 

Right now our seeds are watered, fed, and getting ready.  We will keep you all updated on our first plants throughout the upcoming weeks!

Spanish Restaurant

If you somehow missed it, our class opened a Spanish restaurant on Tuesday afternoon!  Over 25 family members and friends came to eat our delicious food, like guacamole, empanadas, and flan.  We played the role of host/hostess, cook, and waiter/waitress.  Before we opened, we also made menus in Spanish, advertisements in Spanish, and role-played our jobs to become more fluent in our Spanish-speaking.

Our Spanish teacher, Mary, did an amazing job getting our classroom transformed into a restaurant, complete with festive tablecloths and complimentary chips with salsa.

Al Restaurante El Grand Buda was a huge success - talk to your child about his/her job and learn some helpful words and phrases for ordering at a Spanish restaurant in the future!

Plants - An Introduction

Now that we know so much about Earth materials like rocks and soil, we can begin our plant unit in science!  Before we can start getting our hands dirty and start experimenting and exploring plants, we discussed what we already knew about plants and we thought of questions we had as well.  We will each plan research or experiments to answer our questions throughout the next 3 months.

To kick off this unit, we made a creative KWL chart. (Know, Wonder, Learned)

On our darker leaves we recorded what we already Knew.  It turns out that we knew a lot about plants!

On the lighter leaves we wrote our questions - they ranged from "Can a plant grow in sand?" to "How tall is the tallest tree?" to "Can I use milk or orange juice instead of water to feed my plant?"  We will experiment and research to answer these questions.

Once we find the answer to our question, we will add a flower that shares the answer to all of the people who walk by!  Stop by Room 205 to see our knowledge and our questions as we start this exciting unit!

Also, parents, I am sending home a letter asking for cuttings you may have of specific plants - we are looking to use them the first week in May.  Thanks!