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2nd Grade - Act. 01: Exploration Tubs

Summary

Information about the Exploration Tubs for second grade.


Materials

Attachments

Show and Teach Tub

  • a shoe with long laces that could be tied
  • a toothbrush
  • toothpaste and cup for water
  • color mixing with colored water
  • ink pads
  • socks
  • stuffing
  • rubber bands
  • yarn
  • pencil
  • cardboard
  • clay
  • magnet
  • needle
  • cork
  • clear glass
  • penny
  • napkin
  • paper squares
  • chart paper to record sequenced steps
  • paper
  • markers
  • scissors

Fossil Hunting and Rock Sorting

  • a variety of rocks and fossils

Life Size Giraffe

  • Life-size giraffe made out of plastic table cloths or shower curtains

Reptiles

  • plastic reptiles

Ocean Animals

  • plastic ocean animals
  • tub filled with water


Background for Teachers

Attachments

Oral language engages children and enables children to express themselves and share ideas. But oral language is also a window revealing key indicators of a child’s reading comprehension. Oral language is more related to reading ability than intelligence. The focus of this lesson is to provide an opportunity for children to develop oral language skills and to record their oral language to share with others.

  • Second grade students use their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print.
  • Oral language comprehension is a good predictor of reading comprehension.
  • For a student to be able to read and understand a word, he must have first acquired it at the listening and speaking levels.

Small vocabularies are characterized by lots of short words that are used frequently, high usage of nonspecific words, fewer complex sentences, and less elaboration.


Intended Learning Outcomes

Intended Learning Outcomes
3. Demonstrate responsible emotional and cognitive behaviors.
6. Communicate clearly in oral, artistic, written, and nonverbal form.

Process Skills
Symbolization, observation, prediction, description, problem solving


Instructional Procedures

1. Show and Teach Tub

  • Students will recognize their special abilities and interests.
  • Students will follow step by step instructions to learn something new.
  • Students will perform a task analysis of a task they are willing to teach the class.
  • Students will give a short class presentation sharing a personal skill.
  • Students will self assess their presentation.

    Books:
    Origami by Charlotte Stadler (Benchmark)
    Make a Sundial by Theresa Bryson (Benchmark)
    Coin Magic by Charlotte Stadler (Benchmark)
    Make a Paper Airplane by Cathy French (Benchmark)
    Make a Marionette by Lynne Anderson (Benchmark)
    Made by Hand by Meish Goldish (Newbridge)
    You Can Make Memory Scrapbook by Cathy French (Benchmark)
    Ella’s Time Line by Lily Richardson (National Geographic)

2. Fossil Hunting and Rock Sorting

  • Rocks can be sorted by many attributes.
  • Rocks are used in our community.
  • Rocks change over time.
  • Fossils provide evidence about the plants and animals that lived long ago.

    Books:
    Remarkable Rocks by Ron Cole, Ranger Rick (Newbrige)
    Rocks by Brenda Parkes (Newbridge)
    Space Rocks by Aaron Waldeck (Rosen, fluent)
    All Kinds of Rocks by Judy Nayer (McGraw-Hill)
    Fossils by Kate McGough (National Geographic)
    The Fossil Hunters by Michael Medearis (Harcourt)
    Fossils Golden Book Field Guide

3. Life-size Giraffe

  • Students will begin to develop an understanding of the characteristics of organisms.
  • Students will begin to develop an understanding of organisms and environments.
  • Students will utilize tools to gather data and compare size.

    Books:
    Our Amazing Animal Friends by Gene S. Stuart (National Geographic)
    other library books about animals that students have selected

4. Reptiles

  • Students will begin to develop an understanding of the characteristics of organisms.
  • Students will begin to develop an understanding of organisms and environments.

    Books:
    Black Snake and the Eggs by Michael R. Strickland (Wright Group, early fluent)
    Giant Snakes by Cheryl Ryan (Wright Group, early fluent)
    Lizards by Carolyn MacLulich (Scholastic)
    Snakes by Carolyn MacLulich (Scholastic)
    Snakes and Lizards by Daniel Moreton and Pamela Chanko (Scholastic)
    Snakes by Martha E. H. Rustad (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Snakes by Tom Pipher (Wright Group, emergent)
    Snakes by Rebel Williams (Wright Group, emergent)
    The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
    What Is A Reptile? by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)

5. Ocean Animals

  • Students will begin to develop an understanding of the characteristics of organisms.
  • Students will begin to develop an understanding of organisms and environments.

    Books:
    Clinging Sea Horses by Judith Jango-Cohen (Rosen)
    Corals by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Crabs by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Deadly Sea Creatures by Bill Francis (Wright Group)
    Dolphins by Kevin J. Holmes (Bridgestone)
    Dolphins by Martha E. H. Rustad (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Dolphins by Marion Rego (Wright Group)
    Fish by Colin Walker (Wright Group, McGraw-Hill)
    Giant Octopus by Christine Zuchora-Walske (Rosen)
    How Do Fish Live? by Heather Jenkins (Wright Group)
    Is It a Fish? by Brian and Jillian Cutting (Wright Group)
    Parrotfish
    by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Rays by Martha E. H. Rustad (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Sea Horses by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Sea Urchins by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Sea Stars by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Sea Turtles by Martha E. H. Rustad (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Sea Anemones by Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Seals by Martha E. H. Rustad (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Sharks by Kevin Boon (Wright Group)
    Sharks by Carolyn MacLulich (Scholastic)
    Sharks by Martha E. H. Rustad (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Spiny Sea Stars by Christine Zuchora-Walske (Rosen)
    Stingrays by Julia Wall (Wright Group)
    Sturdy Turtles by Kathleen Martin-James (Rosen)
    Tell Me about Turtles by Kristine Lalley (Rosen, emergent)
    The Survival of Fish by Fred and Jeanne Biddulph (Wright Group)
    Whales by Martha E. H. Rustad (Pebble Books by Capstone)
    Whales by Kevin Boon (Wright Group)
    What Do You Know About Dolphins? by Harley Chan (National Geographic)
    What Is a Fish? By Lola M. Schaefer (Pebble Books by Capstone)


Strategies for Diverse Learners

Students with low language skills tend to cluster in the following areas:*

  1. ESL: These students may appear to be competent, yet they often lack the kind of language knowledge needed for academic success.
  2. Poverty: Because parents often work several jobs, they frequently have little or no time to verbally interact with their children. The children have capable minds but poorly developed language.
  3. Learning Disabilities: Hearing impairments, hyperactivity, ADD, and behavioral disorders all impact language development.
  4. Slow Learners: About one-sixth of the general population are slow learners (IQ falls between 70 and 85), and commonly have much poorer oral language vocabularies than their peers, and develop in literacy at a much slower pace. For instance, a fourth grade student (9-year-old) who is a slow learner can be expected to read on a first grade level if he is developing normally. You may have three to four slow learners in your classroom each year that will need extra assistance in their learning.
  5. Highly Mobile: These drop in/drop out children, even with good teaching, miss consistent planned instruction and their oral language development can suffer.

Children learn to use language quickly when they are able to use it for real purposes, rather than as a rote exercise. Teachers should provide opportunities for exploration, investigation, information books, and conversation about core topics in the second grade classroom.

Typically, teachers will begin the school year with Standard I. This is an excellent time to get acquainted with each student and to collect an oral language and a writing sample of each student, which will provide the teacher with a valuable overview. This overview can facilitate: pair a less verbal child with a very verbal child and provide pre-teaching of
content vocabulary to target children who will need to use words orally prior to reading and writing them.

* Adapted from Strategies for Reading Assessment and Instruction Helping Every Child to Succeed by D. Ray Reutzel and Robert B. Cooter, Jr. Merrill Prentice Hall


Created: 08/12/2003
Updated: 02/05/2018
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