Mrs. McMahon's second grade class has been busy with lots of cross curriculur learning, and it all starts with books. 

In October, the class read "Charlotte's Web." Besides reading the classic by E. B. White. the class also completed a service learning project. 

"We created a Harvest Barn. We collected boxed items with Trinity Food Pantry's Thanksgiving baskets," said Mrs. McMahon. The students talked about helping the needy through their "harvest." They also completed several projects, including a writing project and learned several new words thanks to Charlotte. 

At the end of the unit, they had a "Charlotte's Web" celebration. The students watched the movie of "Charlotte's Web" and had various snacks like popcorn, donut holes, grapes (or spider eggs) and even punch. 

For the next unit, the students read "Stone Soup." There are several different versions of the book, so Mrs. McMahon had the students read the different versions and compare and contrast them. While they were all different, they all had a theme of sharing. After they finished the book and their discussions, they made their own version of stone soup. 

In the book, hungry strangers convince the townspeople to share a small amount of their food in order to create one meal that everyone can enjoy. 

"We feated on the delicious soup. Our class' families helped make it by donated various items. We are every last drop," said Mrs. McMahon. "Once we were done eating the soup, we talked about whether or not we liked the soup and then created a graph."

The students also used the soup to talk about mixtures in science. A mixture, which is made up of two or more substances, has physical properties that differentiate it from a solution. Using the soup, Mrs. McMahon was able to show the students those properties and the physical changes. 

The students combined the ingredients, including potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, garlic, parsley and thyme. They also added salt, ground pepper, basil, oregano and bay leaves. The soup simmered in a Crock Pot in their classroom before they examined it--and then ate it.