January 2018 Calendar

A copy of this was also sent home today.

December 22nd Update!

Social Studies

Here are the pictures of the dioramas that the Grade 3 students created!  Next, we will explore what happened when the Europeans arrived. The Grade 2 students will begin a project focusing on a celebration that they would like to learn more about.

A glimpse into an Inuit Community in 1750

A glimpse into an Anishinabe Community around 1750

A glimpse into a Wendat Community around 1750.

Writing

The Small Moments stories are completed and were sent home today! Lots of effort went into crafting these pieces over the last couple of months. The final product is truly worth celebrating! I encouraged students to share these stories with family and friends over the holiday season. I also mentioned that this is the type of work that should be saved away as it is fun to look at again many years down the road!

Portfolios

The green portfolios went home today with the writing assessment. Please review this with your child as this assessment contains important feedback to help students grow as writers. These portfolios should be sent back to school signed in January. 

Math

We will continue to learn about strategies for subtraction in the first week of January. There will be a test for addition, subtraction, and perimeter likely in the second week of January but I will provide communication around this a week before the test. Subtraction War is a fun card game that students have learned this week. It is a great way to practise mental math subtraction at home. I encourage students to teach this game to their families over the winter break!

Enjoy the Winter Break! I look forward to seeing everyone again in 2018!

Errol Lee

December 15th Update

Social Studies

The Grade Two students presented their "Traditions in a Box" projects this week and they were wonderful! Each student taught the class so much about their traditions. It was a great learning experience for all. I want to thank the families for supporting this from home. The assessment will be sent home next week after a reflection is completed in class.

The Grade Three students have worked hard on their dioramas of First Nations villages. Thank you to the families that helped their children gather some art materials to bring in. While this was not mandatory it was definitely appreciated. On Monday, the Grade Three students will present their villages to the class. I will post pictures after the presentations so stay tuned for that!

Math

We have been working on strategies for addition. Many students choose to use the standard algorithm for addition. Some of the other strategies that we have focused on (making friendly numbers, adding the tens and then the ones) are important to explore as they support mental math. I encourage students to use the strategy that they feel most confident with, but also to understand other strategies as they are often more efficient depending on the question: 

For example if we are adding 49+ 34 it makes more sense to add 50+33, which is nice to solve mentally- instead of working through the standard algorithm. 

We are now exploring strategies for subtraction. Again, many students will choose to use the standard algorithm but we will also learn about other strategies that support mental math. 

At Home Practise!!

Being able to "take leaps of ten" mentally is an important skill that supports addition and subtraction. This can easily be practiced at home. Simply choose a number between 1-9 and keep adding ten until you wish to stop! For example if you choose 6, you would say 6, 16, 26, 36, 46, 56 etc. You can also try this for subtraction. For example begin with a large number like 134 and subtract ten each time, 134, 124, 114, 104, etc. Once students feel confident adding and subtracting tens, you could move to 20, and then 30 and so on. 

Spirit Day

Next Thursday, December 21st is P.J./ Bring your favourite stuffy day! Should be nice a cozy for the first day of winter!

Pride Assembly

Next Friday, December  23rd we are having a whole school Pride Assembly. The Assembly begins at 9:00. While the gym will be busy, if you are home and would like to attend please do! But come early to secure a seat!

Errol Lee

All next week, our students will be participating in workshops with Errol Lee. This is part of the Art's Package. On Thursday, December 21st our class will be part of a performance in the gym. This is from 11:30-12:15. Families are welcome to attend!

December 4th Update

Social Studies

Students are working on some important projects this week in social studies.

Grade Two:

The Grade Two students have a home work assignment. It will come home today and is due next Monday. Students will need help from their families to complete this assignment. There will be no spelling homework this week for Grade Two students so that they have more free time to work on their project. If you have any questions about the project please write a note in the agenda and I will respond. Thank you for your support with this!

Grade Three:

The Grade Three students are working on researching a particular First Nations group. They will then apply their knowledge to create a diorama of the community. This project will be completed at school but students may wish to bring in some items from home for their diorama (craft materials, cardboard, etc.) Bringing in materials is not mandatory as everything will be provided but students may bring in things if they wish to.

Art

We have started an exciting art project influenced by M.C. Escher. For this project students need to think of a symbol that they will use to trace. 

Grade Two students will choose a symbol that represents their heritage and culture (for example- someone who celebrates Chinese New Year may choose the dragon, or a red envelope as their symbol). Students may wish to discuss possible symbols with their families before Thursday.

Grade Three students will choose a symbol that represents a First Nations group that we have been learning about (possible symbols could be corn, or the birch back canoe as both are significant to the Wendat and Anishinabe - groups we have been studying)

December Calendar

A hard copy of this will be sent home today!

Skate and Helmet Exchange/Sale! Please Read!

Skate and Helmet Exchange/Sale

 

On Thursday, December 7th from 3:45-6:00 pm, our school will be holding our first Skate and Helmet Exchange/Sale.  Please have a look through your home for old skates and helmets (CSA approved)  that you are no longer using and consider sending them in for this event.

This event is a great way to buy or sell skates and helmets at reasonable prices!

If you have any skates or CSA approved helmets to sell, please send them in with your child by Tuesday, December 5th with the following information attached to the laces or taped firmly to the skates:

                                   

                                    Name of Student

                             Classroom Teacher’s Name

                             Size

                             Asking Price

 

If your skates/helmets are sold, the money will be given to your child via their classroom teacher the next day.  If the skates/helmets are not sold, they will be returned to your child the next day.  If you need skates/helmets, please be sure to come!

November 27th Update

Winter Electives

A form for winter electives was sent home today. Students in grades 1-3 will be going skating! We are hoping for 100 % participation! I strongly encourage all of our students to come. The cost is only $10 and should be made through school cash online. Please see all other information on the form that went home today. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me!

Skate/Helmet Exchange

A note for this should have went home last Tuesday. If you have skates or helmets at home that you are not using anymore please send them to school with a tag that contains the student's name, teacher's name and asking price. If you need skates and a helmet to participate in the winter electives then please consider coming to the exchange on Thursday, December 7th from 3:45-6:00. If you have any questions please ask me!

Spelling Test Next Monday, December 4th

We will have a spelling test next Monday, December 4th. Similar to last time, 20 words will be chosen randomly for the test. All spelling homework is due on the day of the test. Students should keep their spelling book at home over the weekend to prepare for the test. 

The spelling test will include words from the following word lists:

Grade Two

-ck, -ke, -k

Short A and Long A Letter Patterns

Short O CVC, Long O CVCe, Long O CVVC

Short U and Long U CVC, CVCe, CVVC oo, CVVC ui

Short e CVC, Long ee (CVVC), ea blend,

*and this week's list!

Grade Three

The list with (waited, wanted, lived, helped, saved, etc.)

The Past and Present list

Add s, Add es, Oddball

Vowel change, fe to ves, no change

*and this week's list!

November 23rd Update

Student-Led Conferences

Just a reminder that student-led conferences are happening tonight, tomorrow, and next week for some families. Your child has been working hard to prepare by reflecting, and organizing their work samples to share with you. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Report Cards

Report cards went home yesterday. Please review this with your child. We reuse the envelope for the other report cards this year, so please send it back to school. Keep the report card at home- that is your copy!

November Pride Assembly

This is a reminder that our class is hosting the Pride Assembly next week. We have been working hard to prepare for it! All families are welcome to attend! The assembly is next Wednesday, November 29th at 2:00 in the gym. 

Math

Next week we will begin a new unit in math about measurement. Students will be learning how to measure perimeter. We will be learning how to use an open number line. Later we will move into exploring strategies for addition and subtraction. 

Social Studies

We are continuing to learn about Traditions and Celebrations and Early Communities. We have had some interruptions this week but will be back to learning again next week. There will be some social studies homework coming in the near future! Please watch for communication about this!

Literacy

Most students have completed the Small Moment stories. Next week we will spend time editing and revising, and then publishing! 

Heritage Schoolhouse! 

Yesterday, the Grade Threes, some wonderful parent volunteers, Mrs. Garlow, and I attended the Heritage Schoolhouse. We traveled back in time to 1850. It was a very interesting day and we learned a lot. Here are some pictures that capture our experience:

November 10th Update

Mistake on Calendar!

Our library day is always Day 5. On the calendar that I sent home it is listed on Day 1. Sorry for the confusion!

Pride Assembly

Our class is hosting the November Pride Assembly. The assembly is scheduled for November 29th at 2:00. Families are welcome to attend. We will begin preparations next week in class.

Interviews

Student-led conferences will occur on the evening of November 23rd, and the morning of November 24th. I will be working on the schedule this weekend. If you have not yet sent an form back to school either with your child in my class, OR with their sibling please let me know ASAP. Conference times will be sent home this Wednesday. 

Math 

In math we are learning about place value, and representing numbers. Here is an anchor chart that we have been adding to this week: 

The red writing is for Grade 2s and the Blue writing is for Grade 3s. 

We also discussed representing numbers as words. All students should know how to properly spell the number words to twenty. If students are not able to do this, it would benefit them to practise at home. 

Yesterday in math students were challenged to represent 84 (Grade 2), or 184 (Grade 3) using base ten blocks in as many ways as possible. During our math congress an interesting pattern was uncovered:

We will continue to work on problems involving representing numbers in different ways, as well as comparing numbers, and rounding numbers next week. We will have a test about place value soon. Please watch or communication around this. 

Social Studies

We began a brand new learning topic in social studies today! We are  now going to think like historians and examine the past. Here is a glimpse at our new learning wall. I am excited to fill this in with our new learning in the coming weeks!

Remembrance Day

This week we had a very special guest speaker discuss the importance of Remembrance Day with us. Mrs. Lacroix made a wonderful, engaging presentation to us on her own time. We appreciate this very much. Here are some pictures. 

Our school today! 

November Calendar

November 1st Update

Portfolios

Portfolios came home today. Inside you will find the recent Data Management Test and science project assessments. Please review, sign, and send the portfolio back to school. 

Math

In math this week we have been exploring place value. Students have been working on taking an inventory of supplies on our classroom. We have learned that group items into tens helps us count quickly and efficiently:

Today we created a chart with our results from our classroom inventory. Tomorrow we will begin to explore the place value pattern patterns in the chart:

Reading -Visualizing

We have been learning about the reading strategy of visualizing in our Reading Workshops each morning. While reading stories and poems together, we have been describing the mental pictures that we create in our brains. Visualizing is an important comprehension strategy that helps us to understand the text in a deeper way. Paying attention to the details in the text helps our visualizations to become more vivid. 

Here is a fun idea to practise visualizing at home!

Read a book together (have one person read and the other sketch their visualizations without looking at the pictures, then switch!)

Writing- Small Moments Stories

We continue to work on writing our personal narrative small moments stories. I am impressed each day with the enthusiasm and effort that the students bring during writing time. Right now we are focusing on bringing three big writing craft techniques into our stories:

-weaving setting details in and out of the story (focusing on what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel)

-using strong actions words to describe how our character move

-making our characters talk (character dialogue)

Today our writers met with their writing partners to share their stories. One partner shared and the other provided feedback and vice versa. We will continue to revise our stories before publishing later this month!

Science Wrap Up

We are wrapping up our science unit this week with one final project. 

Grade Two students have chosen a simple machine they would like to explore further. Today they gathered research in books to answer these two questions:

-where can we find real life examples of your simple machine?

-how does your simple machine impact humans and the environment?

Grade Three students have chosen a natural force that they would like to explore further. Today they also gathered research to answer these two questions:

-how does your natural force impact humans and the environment?

-what can humans do to lessen the impact of the natural force?

Students will work tomorrow to create one google slide to showcase their findings. We will share our google slides on Friday and Monday. Later next week we will switch our focus from science to social studies.

VORC!

Here are some pictures from the VORC trip that the Grade Two students recently went on!

Making a home for a squirrel!

Searching for animal tracks...what could it be?

Lots of fun debating who left this track! Do you know?

Bear Den!

It's hard to see but there are actually mushrooms in this tree! They are not growing there- they were put there by a squirrel! Our guide taught us that squirrels will pick mushrooms and hide them in the trees to dry out. This will make a tasty snack in the winter.

It's hard to see but this is a hawk! We were lucky enough to see it for quite some time. 

Halloween Note

October 25th Update

Vivian Outdoor Resource Centre Tomorrow for Grade Twos!

The Grade Two students will travel to VORC tomorrow. Here are some important reminders:

-Grade Two students must bring a big healthy lunch tomorrow! Pizza will be delivered to those that order it when we get back to school

-Dress for the weather! It looks like it is going to be a nice fall day. Dress warmly- an extra pair of socks  is a good idea! *In the VORC package that was sent home a few weeks ago there was a section about what to wear.

Pictures!

Picture orders are due tomorrow. Whether you order online, or hand in the form tomorrow is the due date.

Math Test

On Friday we will have a math test about data management. A study review package was sent home yesterday. This will replace the math homework this week. The study package is due this Friday. 

Art

Today in art class we created leaf art with some leaves that we collected last week! Here are some pictures that capture the artists at work. The artists were really excited to bring their work home so instead of keeping it here it will come home tonight. 

Science

Students have been working hard on their design challenge this week. Grade Two students have been challenged to design and create a car with a working wheel and axle. Grade Three students have been challenged to work together to create a marble run that shows all of the forces that they learned about working. Friday will be the final building day and we are hoping that Monday will be the day for presenting our creations. Here are some pictures that capture some of the great design work happening in our classroom during science this week.