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