Class Project- Book Chain(2nd Grade)

At the Beginning of the year...I explained to my class that we would be constructing a paper chain. The chain

would have the names of books they read throughout the year.

My students began reading self-selected books.

Each of the links in the chain represents 4 books that they read (the titles are listed on the links).

We wanted to see how long we could make our chain and at the end of the year, we used our Measurement and Repeated Addition skills (learned during the year) to find out! First, we counted the links. Then we measured it. We found out how many feet it was. We converted our feet and found out how many yards it was. We then used Repeated Addition to figure out the number of books we read (step up to 3rd grade multiplication.)

The ResultsOur chain had 223 links. It was 39 feet long, (or 13

yards!) We read an average of 4 books for each link,

so we read about 892 books. We presented our findings, and our chain, to the school's Reading Interventionists

and we were featured on our school's Face book page.

What Did This Achieve?I use the concept of a class project for a couple of reasons:

It allows my students to bond over a shared goal.It gives them an added incentive to read more.

They can see how different concepts that they are learning can be used together- Math and Reading are combined in this project.

The presentation to adults other than their teacher gives them a sense of accomplishment and highlights the importance of their achievement.

Please Use the Activity As You Like.