Quicksand doesn't have a bottom! Fiction or Nonfiction?

One of the things we focus on in second grade is the difference between fiction and nonfiction books. Tomie dePaola has written lots of both, and we explore a wide variety of his work. After reading The Quicksand Book, Mrs. Pearce's class formed teams and wrote statements about quicksand. Can you figure out which of the statements are fiction (not true) and which ones are nonfiction (fact)? Think carefully...they're trying to trick you! When you're ready, scroll down to the bottom of the post for the answers. Good luck!

1. Quicksand doesn't have a bottom.


2. If you struggle in quicksand you will sink more quickly.


3. Quicksand can be caused by a flood.


4. You can find quicksand in deserts.


5. If you lie on your back you can float in quicksand.


6. Quicksand is caused by underground caves.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE ANSWERS? SCROLL DOWN!

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The following statements were written by

Team Fiction. They are not true!

Quicksand doesn't have a bottom.
Quicksand can be caused by a flood.
Quicksand is caused by underground caves.

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The following statements were written by
Team Non Fiction. They are true!

If you struggle in quicksand you will sink more quickly!
You can find quicksand in deserts!
If you lie on your back you can float in quicksand!

Second Graders at Work!

All of our second graders have begun a research project about their current science unit, insects! Like all library research projects, we are following the steps as outlined in the "Big6" problem solving model. (You can learn more about that at http://www.big6.com/.) Each student has selected an insect to learn about and has written a question about it. They will also find information to answer some teacher questions. We brainstormed some sources of information we could use to find answers to our questions, and every student is starting off with a book at an appropriate reading level.

Next we learned about how to take good notes and avoid copying. To practice this all of the students participated in an activity called Fact Fragment Frenzy, which can be found at the wonderful website http://www.readwritethink.org/. Working with a partner, the students read a short passage about an animal and then dragged the important words to a notepad also on the screen. This process reinforces the idea that we only need to record the "treasure words" that answer our questions instead of copying down everything.

Next week the students will continue their research and explore multiple sources for information, including another of my favorite websites, Enchanted Learning!

Project Highlight: All-Day Kindergarten!

For the past few weeks, Mrs. Koukas has been bringing her class to the library to work on a special project. In class they've been creating an "All About Me" book to incorporate skills from math, language arts, and social studies. Their books will include pages about their families and activities they like as well as information about where they live. In the library the students used Microsoft Paint to create drawings of their homes. Mrs. Koukas encouraged them to think about what shapes could be used to create their pictures, and I did a lesson on how to use the program. What fast learners! In no time they were switching colors and brushes, using the "paint bucket" to fill shapes, and using "Ctrl+Shift+N" to clear the screen. Then I imported their creations to another Microsoft program called PhotoStory. This program enables the students to type a sentence about their homes onto their drawings and then they can record their voices as they read aloud what they've written! When all the students are done recording, we'll be able to play back our movie on the SmartBoard!