We came. 

We saw (click on the boxes to go to the post)..

We conquered. 

.Watch (or at least skim) this in depth look at the creation of our amusement park.

Take an even deeper dive with three Kid Cams.

We even had some fun after the fact.

We recently had some visitors in our classroom. The Painted Ladies helped inspire us to complete a two part project. ​

First, using butterfliesandmoths.org, we each chose a butterfly that has been spotted in Cook County, Illinois. 

We picked pictures of our butterflies and tried to draw them ourselves. After one draft, we gave written peer reviews to each other on how to improve. Using that information, we then created a second draft. This time, we met with a peer and talked to them about how to make the drawing better. Finally, we created a third and final butterfly.

Wondering what's going on with the "bodies" of our butterflies? To encourage creative writing on a nonfiction topic, we gave our butterflies personalities! Here is the initial brainstorm of potential personalities.

Pulling facts from our website, we took notes and then tried our best to write with voice as a fictional butterfly character. Here is our fun mesh of fact and fiction:

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But writing in voice is only half the fun! Click on the play buttons to hear our "butternalities" in action:

Now they sit proudly in our hallway:

Some snippets from the process:

And just in case you're keeping a Common Core tally at home:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.5: Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.10: By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.: 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.4.B: Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1.B: Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.5: Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.