Once a week, second graders work in math journals in order to apply newly-gained skills to challenging problem-solving tasks. These tasks provide opportunities for students to make their own decisions about how to record their thinking without the structure of a worksheet. Students share various strategies and communicate their thought processes with their peers.

Here, students were tasked with creating a 3-dimensional structure using base-10 blocks. Then, they worked with partners to calculate the total volume of their structures.