Category: 2nd Grade

Sep 17 2010 September 17, 2010 September 17, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Weather Comics

Posted in 2nd Grade, Science

Second graders are studying weather now (SOL 2.6) so we created weather comics in one class to summarize the important information: temperature, wind, precipitation, drought, flood, storms, and weather instruments. I created a template and a folder of pictures to use that you can download here. The students added the photos they wanted to the comic and changed them to be more comic-like using the Styles button. Then they added speech bubbles to each picture to explain the facts. You can add more or fewer panels to the comic depending on what you want your students to show. Also remember that Comic Life has access to the built-in webcam so your students can add their own picture to the comic. It’s a fun way to create a study guide that students will want to review.


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Jun 15 2010 June 15, 2010 September 10, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Egypt Comic

Posted in 2nd Grade, Social Studies

Here at the end of the year I’m back and forth between schools to help with testing and get the computer carts ready for storage or use during the summer. So I haven’t been able to teach as many lessons, but I still want to continue sharing ideas with you. I don’t have a student sample of this project to share with you since I created it myself, but making comics is a great end of the year activity. Whether it’s content related like this example or just a comic about the friends you made this year, it’s a fun project. If you’d like to make a comic about Egypt, click here to download a template and a folder of pictures to use. I’ve also created a template for “Friends” that you can download here. Students will take their own pictures using the webcam feature in comic life for that project. Remember the end of the year presents a fantastic opportunity to try some new technology projects! Since this will probably my last post for the school year, I’d like to wish you a very refreshing summer!


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May 24 2010 May 24, 2010 September 9, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade China & Egypt Kidspiration

Posted in 2nd Grade, Social Studies

Second graders wanted a way to review the ancient civilizations of China and Egypt before the end of the year tests. So I created a sorting activity in Kidspiration that you can download here. Students drag the different contributions into the correct box depending on whether it was Egyptian or Chinese. When they are finished sorting, they switch over to the writing view (click on the pencil button in the top left corner) and notice that it is outlined for them already. Then they write a sentence about each contribution. While you’re reviewing China and Egypt why not take them to Google Earth and zoom down to see the Great Wall and the pyramids!


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May 10 2010 May 10, 2010 May 14, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Magnets Comics

Posted in 2nd Grade, Science

Second grade students in Mrs. Hilton’s class at Trevvett Elementary made comics about magnets today. I gave them a template and a folder of pictures to use that you can download by clicking here. First they changed the style of the heading. Next they dragged a picture of a magnet from the folder into their comic and added a speech bubble explaining the poles. Then I showed them how to take their picture in ComicLife, so they took pictures of themselves holding objects that were magnetic and nonmagnetic. Finally, since I didn’t want them holding magnets near the computers, we held up our science books and took a photo from it to show how magnets repel. The students added speech bubbles to explain each picture. Click on the example to see it larger.


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Apr 28 2010 April 28, 2010 May 14, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd & 1st Grade Plants Keynote

Posted in 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Science

I’ve had several requests from second and first grade teachers for plants lessons so I created a Keynote activity that can be used by either grade (SOL 1.4b, 2.4b). The first slide involves identifying the needs of a plant (air, place, light, water) and labeling the parts of a plant (roots, stem, leaves, blossom). The second slide involves matching photos of fruits with photos of their blossoms in a Smart Build. In the activity packet that you can download here, I include a folder of many pictures of fruits and blossoms for students to drag into the boxes. I also include the Keynote template and some cool time lapse videos of blossoms turning into fruits. After the students complete the activity, they record their voiceover as the slideshow plays. Animations are automatically built into the Keynote so different things appear as the students talk about them. To see a completed student project click here.


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Mar 12 2010 March 12, 2010 April 26, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Matter Comic Life

Posted in 2nd Grade, Science

Second graders at Chamberlayne have been learning all about matter (solids, liquids, and gases) and how matter changes states (melting, freezing, evaporating, and condensing). So today they showed their knowledge by creating Matter Comics. I gave them a template and a bunch of pictures to use which you can download by clicking here. The students’ job was to select the correct picture to go into each box, then add a description with speech bubbles. When they finished they could customize their comics by changing the style of the text and photos and adding their own picture. Comic Life can access the camera right within the program, so no need to open up PhotoBooth! If you’d like a tutorial about Comic Life, I’ve created one here. If you’d like to see a students sample of this project, click here.


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Feb 15 2010 February 15, 2010 March 8, 2010 1Comment by David

2nd Grade Famous Americans Database

Posted in 2nd Grade, Social Studies

Second graders have been learning about famous Americans (SOL 2.11) so I created a database for them, just like I’ve been doing for the other grades. It’s really simple to create a database on mytaskhelper. Each student chose a famous American (Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, George Washington, Susan B. Anthony, Abraham Lincoln, or Martin Luther King, Jr.) then they did some online research. I sent them to Wikipedia and to a website I created about all the famous Americans. Once they gathered their information and found a picture, they entered their data into an online form. After everyone was finished we visited the online database to take a look at all the records. I showed them how they could sort the data different ways (one of the important features of a database). We tried sorting them by last name, first name, gender, ethnic group, teacher’s name, and birthday. One cool thing about this database is that it automatically calculates how old the famous person would be if they were still alive today. The students enjoyed finding out that Washington would be 278 and Helen Keller would be 129! It gave them a new perspective about how long ago these people lived. If you’d like to download the folder of links to try this project with your class click here.


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Jan 19 2010 January 19, 2010 February 16, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade American Indians Comic

Posted in 2nd Grade, Social Studies

Second grade students have been showing me how much they know about the different American Indian groups by making comics in Comic Life. I gave them a template and a folder of pictures to use which you can download by clicking here. The pictures include the homes, transportation, and occupations of the three Indian groups: the Powhatan, the Sioux, and the Pueblo. After students add the pictures to the comic they use speech bubble to provide facts about each picture. You can take a look at four student samples by clicking here. Notice the variety… that’s one of the neat things about project-based learning. Each child’s work is different but the important ideas are still conveyed. If you’d like to see another idea for your American Indians unit, take a look at this Keynote we made back in November.


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Dec 03 2009 December 3, 2009 January 5, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Life Cycle Movies

Posted in 2nd Grade, Science

Second Graders at Laburnum have been learning about the butterfly and frog life cycles. They wanted to make movies about the life cycles and have them animate behind them as they talked about the different stages. So I created a template in Keynote for the frog and the butterfly, then exported them as videos. The students dropped the videos into PhotoBooth backgrounds and then filmed themselves describing the stages. The results were pretty cool. You can see one student example by clicking here. You can download the templates by clicking here. One thing I learned though, I may need to slow down the animations as you can see here.


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Nov 12 2009 November 12, 2009 November 19, 2009 NoComment by David

2nd Grade American Indians Keynote

Posted in 2nd Grade, Social Studies

IndianKeynoteSecond graders at Chamberlayne today worked on Keynotes about the American Indian tribes (SOL 2.2). I gave them a folder of pictures to use for each of the three groups (Powhattan-long houses, canoes, deer; Sioux-buffaloes, teepees, horses; Pueblo-multi-story terraced buildings, pottery). I also gave them a Keynote template to get them started. They added all the facts and selected two pictures for each slide. They could have gone on and added a musical sound track or their voice, but we didn’t get that far. You can take a look at a finished sample by clicking here. You can download all the files, including the template, photos, and sample by clicking here.


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