Dec. 21st Update

Art

We have been learning about the significance of cedar and birch bark in social studies. This week students had the opportunity to use these materials to create artwork. 

Social Studies

On Thursday our class welcomed a family member in to speak with us. He shared about his family's journey to Canada, and their past. This was a special learning experience for all of us!

Our learning wall is growing! Students will be working on their own inquiry projects when we return from the Winter Break. Grade 2 students will formulate questions about a celebration that they are curious about. Grade 3 students will formulate questions about the Early Settlers and the challenges they faced. Both grades will have time to research, and then create a google slide to share their new learning.

Math

In January we will learn about strategies for subtracting double, and triple digit numbers while investigating the relationship between addition and subtraction.

Writing and Portfolios

We have officially published our Small Moment stories! Students were excited to bring their stories home today, you made have already seen it before reading this post! Please see your child's portfolio for the assessment including next steps in writing. 

Winter Break

I wish all families a wonderful winter break! I look forward to seeing all of my students again in January. Here are some ideas for things to do over the winter break:

• get outside! Go hiking and look for animal tracks, and birds
• play board games, and other games with dice
• visit the Aurora Public Library 
• make crafts using recycled materials
• enjoy the down time and catch up on sleep!

More Addition Strings from Today

Dec. 10th Update

Holiday Concert

Our class will be performing in the Primary Holiday Concert this Thursday! (December 13th) Here are some important things to know:

-There are two performances in the gym. The first one is on Thursday afternoon beginning at 2:30. The second one is on Thursday evening beginning at 6:30.  Families are welcome to attend either one. 

-Students should be in the classroom at 6:15 on Thursday night to be ready for the evening performance. 

-Students are encouraged to wear "festive colours" for the performance. Today we talked about wearing red, green, blue, black, white, or something shiny and sparkly. Santa hats, or other festive additions are welcome! Students should wear or bring their festive outfits to school on Thursday.

-Watch out for emails from the school which may provide additional information, and don't hesitate to contact Mrs. Gibbs with any questions!

Math

In math we are working on strategies for addition. Students are learning how to think flexibly about numbers so that they are able to add, and later subtract numbers in their heads. There are two main strategies that we are learning about, and working on right now:

We are beginning our lessons with "strings". The strings are a series or "string" of questions designed intentionally to support mental math strategies. The question is in blue, the green and purple writing shows exactly how different students explained their way of solving the problem.


A great way to support this learning at home is to practise "taking leaps of ten". Begin in a simple way with a number between 1-9 and keep adding ten. "8, 18, 28, 38..."

If this is easy, try taking "leaps of 9", by doing the same thing but instead of adding ten each time, try adding 9.

 Later try adding different two digit numbers (e.g., 19+18, 21+31, etc.). Encourage students to share how they came to the solution, what strategies did they use? Do they make a friendly number (e.g., change 19 to 20), or add the tens and then the ones? Can they use and explain different strategies for mental math addition?

Technology Centre Websites

Grade 2

Winter Celebrations

Birthdays Around the World

Hanukkah

Kwanzaa

Christmas

New Years Traditions



Grade 3

Aboriginal Heritage Games

Nov. 30th Update

Winter Electives

Winter Electives forms are due next Friday, December 7th. Most families have returned these forms. Please let me know if you have any questions, or need a new form. I strongly encourage all students in my class to participate in this event! We need many volunteers! If you are able to help out please let me know ASAP! Thank you!

Skate Exchange

Skate Exchange/Sale On Thursday, December 13th from 3:45-6:00 pm, our school will be holding our second Skate Exchange/Sale. Please have a look through your home for old skates 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 at reasonable prices! If you have any skates to sell, please send them in with your child by Tuesday, December 11th 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 are sold, the money will be given to your child via their classroom teacher the next day. If the skates are not sold, they will be returned to your child the next day. If you need skates, please be sure to come!

Winter Concert

Our primary Winter Concert is scheduled for December 13th beginning at 6:30pm (students need to be in our classroom at 6:15). All details about this exciting night were sent out through email today. Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you are not on our school-wide email list.

Traditions in a Box

The Grade 2 students have a homework assignment for social studies. The instructions were sent home in a package yesterday. The assignment is due next week. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Math

Next week in math we will be working on using mental math strategies for addition. We will play games, and solve problems and puzzles to practise our skills. We will be working on:

Memorizing the "ten's facts" 9+1, 8+2, 7+3, 6+4, 5+5

Memorizing the "doubles facts" 2+2=4, 3+3=6, 4+4=8, 5+5=10, 6+6=12, 7+7=14, 8+8=16, 9+9=18

Memorizing the "near doubles facts" e.g. 4+3, 5+6, 7+8...

Having a solid foundation with mental math skills will support us when we work on adding and subtracting larger numbers this month! 

Poetry

Here is our poem from this week. 

Students shared their experiences with trying new foods, and eating brussel sprouts! We looked at some of the contractions in the poem, and thought about the author's message. After each poem study students complete a series of response questions to demonstrate their understanding of the poem. 

We are working on:

-answering the questions fully by beginning with part of the question 

Question: "Why do you think the author chose the title "Leafy Marbles in My Mouth" for this poem?"

Answer: "I think the speaker chose this title because.."

-using details from the text, and our own ideas to support our answers

Question: "Why do you think the author chose the title "Leafy Marbles in My Mouth" for this poem?"

Answer: "I think the speaker chose this title because eating brussel sprouts is like eating leafy marbles. I know this because in the text it says, that they are green and round, and they look like little lettuce heads. This title helps me visualize what brussel sprouts look like.”

-beginning our sentences with a capital letter, and ending with punctuation

Math Update Nov. 26th

Math Test Coming

Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning about linear measurement. On Friday, November 30^th we will have a linear measurement test. A note went home with students today outlining the learning goals for the test, including a few practise questions based on the knowledge and understanding expectations. 

Today we worked through a measurement problem. Students were challenged to apply their knowledge about measurement, as well as other strands in math to solve the problem. Here are some examples of math posters students created. 

Grade 2 Problem

Grade 3 Problem

Nov. 26 Spelling Words

You're Invited into our Classroom!

You’re invited into our Classroom!

In social studies we are learning about how traditions and celebrations change over time, and the experiences and challenges that newcomers to Canada faced during the nineteenth century. As we explore these topics we are curious, and grateful for any information from parents, and other family members. We would love to have you into our classroom if you would like to:

• Share about a special tradition or celebration, and how it has changed over time.
•  
• Share about an experience being a newcomer (anytime, not just in the 1800s) to Canada. When and how did your family come here? How did they get here, and what were the challenges they faced?

We are happy to welcome you into our classroom, or watch a short video, read a letter, or look at pictures that you have sent in. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this with me please do not hesitate to contact me!

Thank you for your support.

November 19th Spelling Words and Class Celebration

Our class recently earned 12 class points! As a reward the students voted to wear pj’s and bring a stuffy to school tomorrow. 

Here are the spelling words for this week: 

Nov. 16th Learning Update

Student Led Conferences Next Week

Student-led conferences are taking place next Thursday evening, and Friday morning. Most families in our class have signed up using Edsby but there are a still families not yet on my schedule. If you have not yet booked a time please contact me. As these meetings are "student led" it is important that your child comes with you! Please let me know if you have any questions. 

YRDSB Survey

A note went home from our school board earlier this week encouraging all families to complete  a survey. Each note had a special code to use. Please let me know if you have any questions about this. I encouraged all families to participate in this important survey. 

Movie Night

The November tradition of movie night continues this year. It is scheduled for November 29th. The event is free but families must RSVP to attend. Communication has been sent out through our school's email system. If you have questions about this please contact me!

Social Studies

We have started our new learning in social studies! A note went home today explaining some of the big ideas that we will be exploring in class over the next couple of weeks. Students are asked to contribute to our class timeline. All details are provided in the note home. Please let me know if you have any questions.

As we explore how traditions and celebrations change over time, and the experiences and challenges that newcomers to Canada faced during the nineteenth century we are grateful for any information from parents, and other family members.

Please contact me if:

• If you would like to share about a special tradition or celebration, and how it has changed over time.
• If you or a family member has an experience from being a newcomer (anytime, not just in the 1800s) to Canada that you would like to share.

We are happy to welcome you into our classroom, or watch a short video, read a letter, or look at pictures that you have sent in. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this with me please do not hesitate to contact me!

Math

We are learning about linear measurement in math. Students are gaining experience with using non standard units (like snap cubes, chain links, markers), and standard units (centimetres, and metres) to estimate and measure length, width, height, and perimeter. Today we took advantage of the perfect packing snow and went outside for math! Students built structures and then we estimated, and measured the height of different structures. It was lots of fun!

Literacy

Here is our poem of the week. It matched the windy day we had on Thursday and students were able to make many connections. We also continued to discuss how personification is used throughout this poem.



Students have been working very hard on their personal narrative projects. Here is a chart explaining the success criteria for writing a great personal narrative. We will spend another couple of weeks writing, and then we will move into editing and publishing!

Week of Nov. 12 Spelling Words

Yearbooks

Yearbooks are now for sale on School Cash Online. They will be sold throughout the month of November! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Pumpkin Experiment

Last week we filled our class pumpkin with a variety of different items. Then we went and planted it into one of the school gardens. We are excited to dig it up again at the beginning of May to see what happened! 

Place Value Test Nov.12th

Place Value Assessment

Dear Families,

As we are nearing the end of our place value unit in math, we will be having a test on Monday, November 12^th, 2018. Below are the curriculum expectations being assessed.

Grade Two Expectations	Grade Three Expectations
• read, represent, compare, and order whole numbers to 100 • demonstrate an understanding of magnitude by counting forward to 200 and backwards from 50, using multiples of various numbers as starting points	• read, represent, compare, and order whole numbers to 1000 demonstrate an understanding of magnitude by counting forward and backwards by various numbers and from various starting point

Attached to this note are a few examples of some of the work that your child has been doing in math recently. Please know that there are many other opportunities for students to show their learning in class (e.g., activities, math posters, math talk) that are not included here.

Ways to Prepare for the Test:

·         practise representing (showing) numbers by drawing base ten blocks, writing the place value name, writing the number words (e.g., seventy-three), and expanded form How many different ways can you use base ten blocks to show 45?

·         create and solve place value riddles

·         use two or three digits to create a variety of different numbers and then order them from least to greatest, or greatest to least - Grade 2 example: 3, 4, 9, Can make 34, 49, 43 (order greatest to least: 49, 43, 34) Grade 3 example: 7, 4, 3,   Can make 743, 347, 473 (order greatest to least: 743, 473, 347)

·         practise drawing a number-line and placing numbers on it

·         practise rounding numbers to the nearest ten, and hundred

·         practise playing “Guess my Number” one player writes down a number, other player asks questions to help figure it out) “Is your number less than?, greater than?, Does your number have ______ tens? Does your number have ____ ones?

Spelling Words week of Nov. 5th

Marble Run

The Grade 3 students have been working hard to create a marble run! The goal was to show how the forces help the marble start moving, stop moving, and change direction. There were many challenges but the students worked together and problem solved. In the end, our marble run is a success!

Oct. 24th Quick Update

Dance a Thon

Thank you to the families that have donated to our first ever Dance a Thon! We are still hoping for more pledges to come in. Please know that this, and Hansen Palooza are our only big school fundraisers this year ( no QSP, plant orders, etc.) If you have any questions about this, or need a new pledge form please do not hesitate to contact me! Our class will be dancing before lunch on October 31st. Students are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes, or fall colours.

Pride Assembly

Our class will be sharing a movie that we created about Difference Makers at the Pride Assembly this Friday morning at 9:20 am. Families are welcome to attend!

Spelling Test

We will have our first spelling test this Monday, October 27th. I have explained this process to students, and sent a note home explaining the word choice, and how to prepare. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Math Homework

Math homework for this week will be handed out tomorrow. It is due Friday, if this does not work for your family then please remind your child to bring it to school completed by Monday latest. 

Edsby

A note went home last week explaining a new platform that our school is using called Edsby. This is a great tool for reporting an absence, and scheduling interviews (in November). The school is hoping that families will register, and perhaps download the app. Please let me know  if you have questions about this, or need  help!

Pictures from Today

I was able to capture a few pictures of our learning today! Below you will see pictures from our story walk outside, as well as some of the construction on our science projects. 

October 19th

Science

Here are some photos of the Grade 2 students exploring how the screw works in science class this week.

Today in science the students were presented with their design challenges. Time was provided for planing and designing cars, and marble runs. Construction will begin next week! We could still use more cardboard and toilet and paper towel rolls, as well as small empty boxes.




Grade 3 students designing a marble run.




A car design from a Grade 2 student.

Literacy

This was our final week of sharing our connections while reading as a whole class. Next week we will focus on making visualizations while reading, and learn about how this helps us with our comprehension. Students are still encouraged to make connections while reading as is helps readers monitor their comprehension, and think about the text in a deeper way. 

In our Writer's Workshop this week we officially began our first big writing project. We are learning from master writers, like Jane Yolen, and Angela Johnson how to write meaningful stories. We know that writers write about what they know, and all students have special memories close to their heart that will make great personal narratives. The special memories are called "small moments", and for the next few weeks, we will be focusing on how to stretch out these memories, and turn them into stories. 

Here are some examples of memories that students in our class shared today. These are all possible small moments stories!

Math

In the upcoming weeks in math we will be learning about counting, representing numbers, ordering and comparing numbers, and rounding. This week we spent some time counting items in our classroom, or "taking an inventory". We are focusing on how many groups of ten numbers represent. For example the number 43 is 4 groups of ten, and 3 loose ones. We will dig deeper into this concept next week. 

Today we spent some time practising our skip counting. Students in Grade 2 are working towards being able to count by 2s, 5s, and 10s to 200. Students in Grade 3 are working towards being able to count by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 25s to 1000. 

Skip counting is a skill that is easily practised at home. Students can play simple skip counting games with their families in the car, or waiting in line at the grocery store. First decide if you will skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s, or 25s,. Next choose a number to start at (it's  more challenging if you don't always start at 1). Then take turns skip counting, see how far you can get!

Here is a link to skip counting games for Grade 2 students:

Grade 2 Skip Counting Games

Here is a link to skip counting games for Grade 3 students:

Grade 3 Skip Counting Games

Monday

Don't forget! Monday is a PA Day.