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.

October 12th

October Pride Assembly

Our class will be sharing a movie we made about difference makers, and the importance of making a difference at the October Pride Assembly. The assembly will take place on Friday, October 26th, at 9:20 am in the gym. Families are welcome to attend!

Food Drive

The "We Scare Hunger" Food Drive is in full swing. Thank you to families that have sent in non-perishable food, or household items. So far our class has brought in about 12 items! The food drive will continue until the end of the month. Thank you for your support!

Dance-A-Thon

Our first ever Dance-A-Thon will be on October 31st! This year we will have 2 big fundraisers (The Dance-A-Thon, and Hansen Palooza in June). Thank you for supporting our school!

Library

Library book exchange is on Monday next week. Please remind your child to bring their books to school.

Request

Next week we will be doing some design challenges in science! We need small boxes (empty Kleenex, cereal boxes, etc.) and toilet and paper towel rolls (empty) to support our construction. If possible, please send these items in with your child asap. Thank you!

Poetry

Below is our poem of the week, "Autumn Wind". This week students in Grade 2 and 3 both examined this poem. We discussed strategies for determining the meaning of new and different words, as well as the different connections and visualizations that we can make while reading. The Grade 3 students learned about personification, a type of figurative language. Personification is when the writer gives human actions, or sounds to something that is not human. In this example the poet has given the human action of running to the wind.

Science

Our learning wall is growing! Here you can see that the Grade 2s have explored 4 of the 6 simple machines, and the Grade 3s have learned about 4 different forces in our everyday lives. Next week we will continue to explore a few more examples of simple machines (the screw, and wheel and axle) and natural forces (e.g., wind). 

Below see some pictures from our experiments today. The Grade 3 students were challenged to form a ball of clay into a shape that could float. From here we discussed the meaning of buoyancy and pondered how boats float. The Grade 2 students learned about the wedge by conducting a simple experiment using clay and their pencil. They were able to see how the pointy side of their pencil acted as a wedge to slice through the clay.

Math

In math this week we worked on sorting by two, and three attributes using a double, and triple Venn Diagram. Here are some examples of the grade 2s sorting gingerbread children by two attributes. The Grade 3s were working to sort shapes onto a triple Venn Diagram but we didn't get any pictures this time. The bottom picture shows a challenging sort where students had to determine the sorting rule. We had fun with a few challenging sorts like this throughout the week. On Monday students will sort objects of their choice by determining their own sorting rules using two, or three attributes on a double, or triple Venn Diagram. After that we will begin learning about place value. 

Visual Arts

Ms. Caughey sees our class twice a week for visual arts. This week she instructed the students to create some beautiful pieces incorporating leaves, pastels, and a variety of lines.