This week, Grade 2 launched the very first expedition they will do at the Upper School: the On the Move Expedition! In Ms. Carrico’s class, the students began their expedition with some good, old-fashioned observation at a Gallery Walk.
Ms. Carrico set up stations throughout the classroom that had collections of objects that were related. On one table the students found sets of gears, a toy car, and bouncy balls; on another, a toy truck and a drill.
After they’d touched, watched, listened to, talked about, and used all the objects, the students picked three things they noticed, and wrote them down on sticky notes. Then, each student picked one of their observations to write about in detail.
Throughout the class period, the students were impressively focused. They were so excited to carefully investigate and discuss each of the stations with their peers, and when it came time for them to write about their observations, none of them had difficulty thinking of something they wanted to describe and think about in greater detail.
Throughout the On the Move expedition, second graders learn to look, listen, and think about the world like scientists as they investigate how and why things move. They conduct hands-on experiments and learn to write up their hypotheses and findings in lab reports. Stay tuned to learn about the upcoming shoe and sock race experiment, and the students’ fieldwork at MIT and the Museum of Fine Arts!