Nov. 28th Update

Important Dates 

The December calendar will be sent home tomorrow, along with a note about our learning in math, and a list of important dates. Please check your child's BEE Bag for these items!

Social Studies 

This week students learned about our final project for our Heritage and Identity unit. The project is about creating a Family Tradition Timeline. A package went home on Tuesday describing the project. The timeline is due on Tuesday, December 3rd. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We were lucky to have two special guest visits this week! On Tuesday we learned all about Diwali with Mrs. N, and today we learned all about The Day of the Dead with Ms. V. Both presentations were fabulous, and a wonderful memorable learning experience for the whole class! 

Math

We are learning all about polygons in math! Here are our learning goals for this unit:

• Identify and describe various polygons (i.e., triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons) and sort and classify them by their geometric properties (i.e., number of sides or number of vertices), using concrete materials and pictorial representations (2m48) 

• Locate the line of symmetry in a two-dimensional shape (2m51)

• Compose and describe pictures, designs and patterns by combining two-dimensional shapes (2m52) 

• Compose and decompose two-dimensional shapes (2m53) 

• Cover an outline puzzle with two-dimensional shapes in more than one way (2m54)

Earlier this week the Grade 2s enjoyed making polygons using geo-boards. Today the students learned how to write riddles using attributes to describe secret polygons. They then tried to solve the riddles by listening carefully to the clues and then sketching the secret polygon on a mini whiteboard.

Here is a sample riddle from today:

"I have 6 sides and 6 vertices. All of my sides are equal length."

Literacy 

We are working on editing and revising our Small Moment stories, and this will continue next week. Once our stories are edited we will work hard to publish, and illustrate them! 

In reading, we have been focusing on making, and sharing our connections this week. In guided reading groups with the teacher we have been working on finding the main idea in non-fiction texts, and retelling. 

In phonics/spelling we have been studying new blends, remembering to read the WHOLE word (with a funny story about free donuts), and learning about specific spelling strategies. 

Our poem of the week is called November. Today we spent time inferring the author's messages in the poem, and trying to make sense of it. 

Achievement Levels

We spent sometime this week learning about the different achievement levels. These posters will hang in our classroom for the rest of the year. 

Learning Skills 

This month we have been focusing on being organized! We co-constructed a success criteria about what it means to be organized in Grade 2. Students have been working on tracking their progress towards meeting their organization goals.  Next we will learn about what it means to work well independently.

Nov. 7th Update

Math

In math we are learning about patterns. We began by learning about what a repeating pattern looks like. We determined that the core is the part that repeats, and in a repeating pattern the core repeats 3 times. 

Next we learned about how we can label and represent repeating patterns. We could make different actions for each part of the core, use numbers, or letters. We focused on labeling our repeating patterns with letters. Below you can see examples of an ABC pattern, and an AAB pattern. 

In one activity, students worked on Choice A or Choice B to create 4 different repeating patterns. 

After spending a few days creating repeating patterns, and labelling them. We moved on to create repeating patterns that have two or more attributes changing. We learned that the attributes can belong to different pattern families. In the pattern below colour, shape, and direction are the attributes changing. The colour and shape attributes make an AB pattern. But direction is an AAB pattern!

In the pattern below colour and shape are an ABC pattern. Direction is an AB pattern.

In the pattern below, shape is an AB pattern, but size is an AAB pattern. Colour is changing but it is not changing in a pattern.

 Here are some other examples of patterns with 2 or more attributes changing. Can you label the pattern family for each attribute? It is challenging, but many students enjoy trying to solve the puzzle!

Literacy

In writing, we have been busy working on our writing projects: small moment personal narratives. This week we learned about weaving setting details throughout out story, using strong action words, and making our characters talk. 

This week we started discussing connections that we can make while reading. In our poem of the week "I Lost a Tooth" many students enjoyed sharing their connections. Making connections while reading is an important comprehension strategy as it helps us think about the text in a deeper way. We also learned a special signal to share when we make a connection!

In our phonics/word study program this week we continue to learn about blends. 

Special Guests

This week we welcomed two special guests into our classroom! Mrs. Lacroix spoke to us about the importance of Remembrance Day, and about the Canadian Forces. 

Granny came in to share about growing up in Ireland. Her stories helped us understand what life was like in the past!