Mrs. Bowens' Class Blog

It was so nice to have our dads and pals come join us for a relaxing picnic lunch today! We really enjoyed eating out on the field, and we couldn’t have asked for better company!!

Check out our artwork for the spring festival silent auction! A BIG THANKS goes to Leigh Ann Harchelroad for taking charge of this project. It turned out toad-ally awesome!!

Our classroom became a rock testing lab as 2nd grade rockologists moved from station to station to perform tests on their rocks! Students did observations with hand lenses, performed streak tests, checked for “attraction” with magnets, & hardness with fingernails, pennies, & plastic knives. They also tested fizziness with drops of vinegar and buoyancy with a bucket of water. Our class learned so much about our rocks!!

Our class was SO excited to get our new iPad 2! We all waved as Mrs. Bowens tried out the camera first thing! We already have many fun educational apps downloaded and it’s been really cool trying them out whole group and during our individual iPad times during the week. We are so grateful to our Foundation and administration for providing us with this terrific tool and look forward to lots of learning fun with our iPad!

James Spann, chief meteorologist at ABC 33/40, made a weather visit to our school! 2nd grade had the opportunity to impress Mr. Spann with our weather knowledge and learned a lot of cool weather stuff from him as well. We took silly pictures together, then presented him with a cake and card at the end of a very sunny visit!

One of our biggest projects in 2nd grade is the Biography Project.  Students select a person who has made a difference, research him or her, and go through several steps (book selection, outline, rough draft, final draft, index card, costume) to complete the project.

Students did an awesome job with research, completing steps, and giving presentations in front of our class.  They also presented a Living Museum (dressed in costume and telling a bit about themselves) to parents, first graders, and siblings.  Wonderful job, 2nd grade!!

Our toad-ally awesome student this week was Ivan Wimberly!  He is our last student to celebrate and we enjoyed doing just that all week!!  On Monday, he shared a great poster.  On Tuesday, he read a Dr. Seuss book – Hop On Pop .  On Wednesday, Ivan brought 83 colored elastic bands.  Lily was very excited to win them by getting the closest estimate of 86.  On Thursday, his mom came as his mystery reader and read What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry.  Mrs. Bowens and Mrs. Wimberly grew up reading Richard Scarry books!  On Friday, Ivan shared a stuffed elephant named Coco that he brought all the way from Russia with him!

Our toad-ally awesome student this week was Lauren “Lolo” Theos!  We had fun celebrating her all week!!  On Monday, she shared a fabulous poster.  On Tuesday, she read Puppies.  We loved looking at the ADORABLE pictures and Lolo was a very entertaining reader – she added lots of commentary! On Wednesday, she brought 79 stickers in the estimation jar.  Corbett and Isabel both estimated 79, so they got to split them.  On Thursday, Lolo’s dad came as her mystery reader and read Patch.  One of the horses in the book was named Lauren!  On Friday, she shared some cool shells and pictures.

Today was Mrs. Barley’s last day in our classroom! We are so sad to see her go!! But, she has to end her internship a little early to get ready for her new baby boy, who will be here soon. . . we wish her lots of luck as she becomes a new mommy!   She is planning to be back to finish her placement in the fall.  (Lucky Mrs. Bowens!!) 

Today we had a little farewell celebration – we shared some final “thoughts” and presented Mrs. Barley with 2 books our class made – “How To Be A Good Mommy” and “How To Be A Good Teacher.”  We’re sure she’ll enjoy these very usable tips.  We also surprised her with a big “teacher” basket – full of things to help her get started when she has her own classroom.  Mrs. Barley also had surprises for all of us.  2nd graders LOVE surprises.

Goodbye and good luck with everything, Mrs. Barley! We will miss you!!

Students worked in pairs to research a famous black American and complete a webquest activity using World Book Online.  They used their research information, plus pictures they printed and drew, to construct mobiles. Finally, each group presented their info to the rest of the class.  Students learned so many interesting things during this project and enjoyed each step of the process!