The first week of February has been very busy! We have learned about Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year and today we had a fun skating trip to the MasterCard Centre. Thank you to the many parents who drove students and to other parents who joined in for the fun.
Just a reminder that report cards will be coming home on Monday February 13th. I have already requested interviews with some parents. Notes were sent home last week suggesting whether or not i fest an interview was necessary. Of course, I am more than happy to meet with any parent who wishes to discuss their child’s progress. Please book your interview on the School Bookings website by Wednesday February 8th. If for some reason you miss the booking deadline, just write a note in your child’s planner and we can arrange a time that is convenient for both of us.
The students have decorated their Valentine Bags and can start to bring in their Valentines anytime this week. A list of students names was sent home at the beginning of the week. If your child chooses to give out Valentines, please make sure they make one for everyone in the class as we would not want anyone to feel excluded. We will be having a small party to celebrate Valentine's Day on the 14th. We will have some special (peanut/nut free) snacks and have an opportunity to open up the cards from our friends.
Curriculum Outline for February:
Language:
The students are excited about learning cursive writing. We will be learning two letters each week.
It is amazing to see how hard they concentrate and how quiet they are during cursive writing periods.
This month our language program will be integrated with our social studies program to include a variety of lessons, activities and read alouds related to Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day and Black History month.
Math:
In math we are just beginning our unit on multiplication and division. This week we will be discussing the relationship between repeated addition and multiplication. I encourage all students to learn their multiplication facts. I would also like to stress the importance of your child memorizing the basic addition and subtraction facts to 20. Practice, practice, practice! Please continue to help your child keep up with the IXL assignments. For the most part, they are directly related to what we are doing in class, and help a lot! Congratulations to our class for receiving an IXL award for answering 20,000 questions on IXL! WOW! That's a lot of questions! Amazing!!!
Please work on the following units on IXL: Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6, Z1, Z2, E16, E17, E18, E19
Social Studies:
Gung Hay Fat Choy! The students loved learning about Chinese New Year last month. We read many stories, made some beautiful crafts and watched a few interesting videos. They really enjoyed seeing the dragon dance and the lion dance. They also liked learning about the history of the zodiac. Each of the children also received a lucky red envelope 'Lai see'.
This month, we will shift our focus to Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, Family Day and Black History month.
The grade two students will be beginning their own inquiry based projects later this month. The projects will be related to our Social Studies unit, People and Environments - Global Communities. Inquiry-based learning starts by posing questions and this is how we will be starting this unit. The questions will be posted on a "Wonder" chart in our classroom. From there, we will progress through Inquiry process. The students will be grouped together based on their questions and interests.
Science:
In Science we will be starting our Growth and Change in Animals unit very soon.
We had the opportunity to visit the intermediate science fair last week. All of the projects were inquiry based. Each student had a chance to look at several projects and listen to a few student presentations. After we returned to our classroom we discussed some of the questions that guided the investigations we had viewed. This was a good way to introduce the students to the inquiry process and get them thinking about how a simple question can guide an in-depth investigation.
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Sunday, 15 January 2017
Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! It's great to be back and it has been a pleasure hearing about the students' holiday adventures! Best Wishes to you all as we enter 2017!
Last week the students thoroughly enjoyed making their Time Capsules. Please put it away and have your child wait at least one year to open it up. I have told the children the longer they wait to open it the more fun it will be to look inside. The students also completed a New Year Flip Book and added some paper folding and cutting art for decorations. They are hanging outside the classroom so come by and have a look. The children were very creative with their designs.
This month in Language we are diving right back into our routine of weekly spelling, grammar, journal writing and reading activities. The students will begin cursive writing this month! They are very excited to start.
In Science were are continuing to work on our Air and Water unit in January.
This month in Art we will be focusing on colours. Specifically: the colour wheel - primary and secondary colours, complimentary colours, colour tone and warm and cool colours.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! It's great to be back and it has been a pleasure hearing about the students' holiday adventures! Best Wishes to you all as we enter 2017!
Last week the students thoroughly enjoyed making their Time Capsules. Please put it away and have your child wait at least one year to open it up. I have told the children the longer they wait to open it the more fun it will be to look inside. The students also completed a New Year Flip Book and added some paper folding and cutting art for decorations. They are hanging outside the classroom so come by and have a look. The children were very creative with their designs.
This month in Language we are diving right back into our routine of weekly spelling, grammar, journal writing and reading activities. The students will begin cursive writing this month! They are very excited to start.
In Science were are continuing to work on our Air and Water unit in January.
This month in Art we will be focusing on colours. Specifically: the colour wheel - primary and secondary colours, complimentary colours, colour tone and warm and cool colours.
Sunday, 11 December 2016
Important Reminders
Concert
The grades 1-5 concert will be on Wednesday December 14th. The show is called Pirates of Pinataville. The children are expected to arrive in their classrooms, wearing their costumes at 5:30 p.m. The grade 2’s are wearing black bottoms (pants, skirt or tights) and a solid bright coloured shirts (no logos, patterns, numbers or words).
The grades 1-5 concert will be on Wednesday December 14th. The show is called Pirates of Pinataville. The children are expected to arrive in their classrooms, wearing their costumes at 5:30 p.m. The grade 2’s are wearing black bottoms (pants, skirt or tights) and a solid bright coloured shirts (no logos, patterns, numbers or words).
The
children may begin to bring in their gifts (Under $10) for their secret
recipient. We will be exchanging the gifts at our class party on December 22,
2016.
Stonegate Family
Our laundry basket has arrived. Just a reminder that all donations are due by Friday December 16th. Please contact the grade parents if you need additional information. An email has been sent out with information regarding the needs of the family as well as sign up opportunities. This is a wonderful way to help another family during holiday season. It also connects with our Character Trait of Kindness and Caring. Donations are not to be wrapped. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Our laundry basket has arrived. Just a reminder that all donations are due by Friday December 16th. Please contact the grade parents if you need additional information. An email has been sent out with information regarding the needs of the family as well as sign up opportunities. This is a wonderful way to help another family during holiday season. It also connects with our Character Trait of Kindness and Caring. Donations are not to be wrapped. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Sunday, 4 December 2016
December Update!
December is a very busy and exciting month both at school and at home. Last Friday we were all excited to see that one of Santa's elves had come to visit us. Apparently his flies back to the North Pole every night and reports to Santa all of the wonderful things that our happening with the students in our class. We are looking forward to discovering him in his tricky and amusing hiding spots each day when we come to school,
Famous People Players
On Wednesday the Grade Two classes will be going to see Tree-Mendous, a medley of holiday vignettes with fun, up-beat music. Once again we had several parents wanting to volunteer but we are only able to bring two parent volunteers per class. Catherine (Porter's mom) and Kelly Chan (Ayden's mom) have been chosen to join us on this trip. It is important to note that Famous People Players is a theatre group dedicated to the integration of people who have developmental disabilities. I will be talking to the students about this before we leave on Wednesday so that there are no surprises.
Secret Santa
Last Thursday I sent home a note regarding Secret Santa. Each of the students selected the name of the student they are buying for. Your child may bring in their gift beginning Dec 12th and up to Dec 21st, but don't let anyone see you putting it under our small tree. Remember to write only the recipients name on the gift. If your child will be away for Secret Santa, please let me know. We will have to make other arrangements to avoid any disappointments for the children.
Reading Buddies
Last week your child was partnered up with 1-2 grade eight student/s who will be their Reading Buddy for the remainder of the school year. We will have Reading Buddies every other week on Day 5-Period 5 in the afternoon.
Absences
Please let the office know if you will be taking you child out of school for any length of time before or after the break. Your child can always keep a journal of their travels and read daily. IXL and RAZ are also great if you have access to the internet.
Curriculum Outline for December
Language Arts
The students will be working on a variety of reading and writing activities based on the winter holidays that are celebrated this month. We have already written and mailed our letters to Santa. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we get a response before the Christmas holiday begins. We have our Christmas Wish list posted on our classroom door for anyone who wants to come by to have a look.
Math
We will be continuing our unit on 2D and 3D Geometry throughout the month of December. Our goals is to complete the unit by the end of this month.
Science
This week we will be starting our unit on Air and Water.
Social Studies
The students will be learning about various winter celebrations, including Hanukkah, Eid,
Kwanzaa and Christmas. We will also be learning about how Christmas is celebrated around the world.
Media Literacy
We have be learning about the many different forms media. Please send in a few newspapers, magazines, travel brochures, menus, etc. We will be working in small groups at the end of the week and making a collage of different forms of Media.
Well, that's all for now! If you have any questions or concerns please drop by the classroom before or after school. You can also call the school and leave a message for me in the office.
Famous People Players
On Wednesday the Grade Two classes will be going to see Tree-Mendous, a medley of holiday vignettes with fun, up-beat music. Once again we had several parents wanting to volunteer but we are only able to bring two parent volunteers per class. Catherine (Porter's mom) and Kelly Chan (Ayden's mom) have been chosen to join us on this trip. It is important to note that Famous People Players is a theatre group dedicated to the integration of people who have developmental disabilities. I will be talking to the students about this before we leave on Wednesday so that there are no surprises.
Secret Santa
Last Thursday I sent home a note regarding Secret Santa. Each of the students selected the name of the student they are buying for. Your child may bring in their gift beginning Dec 12th and up to Dec 21st, but don't let anyone see you putting it under our small tree. Remember to write only the recipients name on the gift. If your child will be away for Secret Santa, please let me know. We will have to make other arrangements to avoid any disappointments for the children.
Reading Buddies
Last week your child was partnered up with 1-2 grade eight student/s who will be their Reading Buddy for the remainder of the school year. We will have Reading Buddies every other week on Day 5-Period 5 in the afternoon.
Absences
Please let the office know if you will be taking you child out of school for any length of time before or after the break. Your child can always keep a journal of their travels and read daily. IXL and RAZ are also great if you have access to the internet.
Curriculum Outline for December
Language Arts
The students will be working on a variety of reading and writing activities based on the winter holidays that are celebrated this month. We have already written and mailed our letters to Santa. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we get a response before the Christmas holiday begins. We have our Christmas Wish list posted on our classroom door for anyone who wants to come by to have a look.
Math
We will be continuing our unit on 2D and 3D Geometry throughout the month of December. Our goals is to complete the unit by the end of this month.
Science
This week we will be starting our unit on Air and Water.
Social Studies
The students will be learning about various winter celebrations, including Hanukkah, Eid,
Kwanzaa and Christmas. We will also be learning about how Christmas is celebrated around the world.
Media Literacy
We have be learning about the many different forms media. Please send in a few newspapers, magazines, travel brochures, menus, etc. We will be working in small groups at the end of the week and making a collage of different forms of Media.
Well, that's all for now! If you have any questions or concerns please drop by the classroom before or after school. You can also call the school and leave a message for me in the office.
Saturday, 5 November 2016
Good Bye October, Hello November!
It's hard to believe another month has come to an end. The first two months of school have gone by very quickly. Thank you to all of the parents who have volunteered in a variety of ways during the month of October. The Scientist in the School, Halloween Craft Day and Halloween Party were all a great success. The students loved the crafts and I am quite sure they enjoyed bringing them home and sharing their accomplishments with you. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive group of parents this year. The students in our classroom are greatly benefitting from you sharing your time, resources and expertise.
Next week we will be going to the Royal Winter Fair. Our volunteers have been confirmed. If you were not selected to volunteer this time, there will be many other volunteer opportunities throughout the year for which we will need your support.
On Friday the students participated in four hands on science activities related to our Simple Machines Unit. They worked with I Pads, Lego, catapults and pulleys. They had opportunities to test their own hypotheses. Many thanks to Jennifer Decaria, (Rowan's) mom. for planning the afternoon and bringing her resources so our class could have this amazing afternoon of learning. Again, thank you to the parents who helped make this afternoon a success.
A few reminders as we head into the colder weather. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather, especially if they stay for lunch. When we get into winter boot weather it will be important that students have a pair of indoor shoes that they keep at school. Putting an extra pair of socks in your child's backpack is also recommended
Curriculum Outline
Here are some of the highlights from October and some of what is coming up in November.
Language Arts:
The students have been busy working on writing fictional narratives as well as recounts about various events such as Thanksgiving and Halloween. As we continue through November, the students will continue with their weekly journal entries on various topics, spelling , printing and grammar. We are continuing to focus on Capitals, Organization, Punctuation and Spelling.
RAZ Kids is up and running and I am thrilled to see that most students have logged in and have begun reading and completing various activities. I realize that some children would prefer to read their own books in the evening and that is fine with me. The main thing is that your child is reading books at their instructional level everyday. It is also important for you to spend time reading with your child. Choosing a bedtime story or reading a chapter in a book for you to read aloud each night
is such a valuable bedtime routine.
Math
There was some confusion with IXL recently and messages indicating that your child's account had expired. This was an error on IXL's end and has been rectified. We are nearing the end of our first Number Sense and Numeration unit. In this unit, the students have been focusing on Place Value, Skip Counting, Ordinal Numbers, Addition and Subtraction. IXL is a wonderful tool to reinforce and practise what your child is learning a school. At the beginning of each unit I will continue to send home the units your child should be focussing on in the IXL program.
Science
We are almost done our unit on Simple Machines. The children were very excited and engaged during our visit from our Scientist in the School as well as our hands on afternoon of Science with Jennifer Decaria (Rowan's mom).
Social Studies
Our social studies unit on Traditions and Celebrations continues throughout this month and next. Our focus for November will be Remembrance Day. The students will be completing a variety of reading, writing and art activities related to Remembrance Day.
SCARE Hunger Food Drive
A huge thank you to everyone who donated non-perishable food items to our annual SCARE Hunger Food Drive. This was a very successful year for the food drive and your contributions were big part of the success with this initiative
Terry Fox Donations
Another big thank you for all of your contributions to the Terry Fox Walk. Our school contributions are no at $20,000! WOW!
Report cards and Interviews – Progress reports will be going home on November 14. If you would like to book an interview you will need to do so using the online system www.schoolinterviews.ca between Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 with the user id and password provided. Interviews are scheduled in 10 minute blocks, so I kindly ask that you are on time.
Next week we will be going to the Royal Winter Fair. Our volunteers have been confirmed. If you were not selected to volunteer this time, there will be many other volunteer opportunities throughout the year for which we will need your support.
On Friday the students participated in four hands on science activities related to our Simple Machines Unit. They worked with I Pads, Lego, catapults and pulleys. They had opportunities to test their own hypotheses. Many thanks to Jennifer Decaria, (Rowan's) mom. for planning the afternoon and bringing her resources so our class could have this amazing afternoon of learning. Again, thank you to the parents who helped make this afternoon a success.
A few reminders as we head into the colder weather. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather, especially if they stay for lunch. When we get into winter boot weather it will be important that students have a pair of indoor shoes that they keep at school. Putting an extra pair of socks in your child's backpack is also recommended
Curriculum Outline
Here are some of the highlights from October and some of what is coming up in November.
Language Arts:
The students have been busy working on writing fictional narratives as well as recounts about various events such as Thanksgiving and Halloween. As we continue through November, the students will continue with their weekly journal entries on various topics, spelling , printing and grammar. We are continuing to focus on Capitals, Organization, Punctuation and Spelling.
RAZ Kids is up and running and I am thrilled to see that most students have logged in and have begun reading and completing various activities. I realize that some children would prefer to read their own books in the evening and that is fine with me. The main thing is that your child is reading books at their instructional level everyday. It is also important for you to spend time reading with your child. Choosing a bedtime story or reading a chapter in a book for you to read aloud each night
is such a valuable bedtime routine.
Math
There was some confusion with IXL recently and messages indicating that your child's account had expired. This was an error on IXL's end and has been rectified. We are nearing the end of our first Number Sense and Numeration unit. In this unit, the students have been focusing on Place Value, Skip Counting, Ordinal Numbers, Addition and Subtraction. IXL is a wonderful tool to reinforce and practise what your child is learning a school. At the beginning of each unit I will continue to send home the units your child should be focussing on in the IXL program.
Science
We are almost done our unit on Simple Machines. The children were very excited and engaged during our visit from our Scientist in the School as well as our hands on afternoon of Science with Jennifer Decaria (Rowan's mom).
Social Studies
Our social studies unit on Traditions and Celebrations continues throughout this month and next. Our focus for November will be Remembrance Day. The students will be completing a variety of reading, writing and art activities related to Remembrance Day.
SCARE Hunger Food Drive
A huge thank you to everyone who donated non-perishable food items to our annual SCARE Hunger Food Drive. This was a very successful year for the food drive and your contributions were big part of the success with this initiative
Terry Fox Donations
Another big thank you for all of your contributions to the Terry Fox Walk. Our school contributions are no at $20,000! WOW!
Report cards and Interviews – Progress reports will be going home on November 14. If you would like to book an interview you will need to do so using the online system www.schoolinterviews.ca between Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 with the user id and password provided. Interviews are scheduled in 10 minute blocks, so I kindly ask that you are on time.
Class Trip (Royal Winter Fair)
On November 9th we will be going to the Royal Winter Fair. This is a wonderful trip that we have had the opportunity to enjoy several times in the past. Please spend some time speaking to your child about appropriate behaviour on the school bus and more importantly the importance of listening to their group leader. It is a very busy and exciting place. Encouraging your child to remain calm, listen carefully and to be aware of where their group and parent leader is at all times is extremely important and must be emphasized at home before our trip!
Sunday, 23 October 2016
On Friday we had the Scientist in the School program visit our classroom. The children participated in a variety of experiments which helped to consolidate their learning about Simple Machines. Thank you to those parents who volunteered to help lead these experiments. The students thoroughly enjoyed their morning!
Thank you to everyone who has brought in a donation for the We Scare Hunger food drive. The children are learning about helping others less fortunate and they are so proud to put their donations into the box outside our classroom. Just a reminder, please don't send in any products which contain nuts. The Food Drive continues until Monday, October 31.
Thank you to everyone who has brought in a donation for the We Scare Hunger food drive. The children are learning about helping others less fortunate and they are so proud to put their donations into the box outside our classroom. Just a reminder, please don't send in any products which contain nuts. The Food Drive continues until Monday, October 31.
The children attended "The Power of One" presentation on Tuesday morning. Through watching role-playing situations the children learned that everyone has the power to stop bullying. Each child will be signing "the Power of One" poster board to show that they would not bully others, and will report bullying. The poster boards will be displayed in the school after all the students sign them.
Our school has been experiencing some difficulty with the IXL program this week. We have people looking into this issue and we are hoping that it will be up and running again early next week. I will keep you posted on this issue.
Picture Retake Day is Thursday, October 27. Please let me know if you wish a retake, so I can add your name to the list. A reminder that photo orders submitted to school are due on Monday, October 24. Payments are also accepted on-line. See the proof form for additional details.
The grade 8's will be creating a Haunted House for the students to visit. It is recommended the students bring a $2.00 donation when entering the Haunted House as the grade 8's are raising money for their grade trip. Our class is scheduled to visit the Haunted House on Friday, October 28th. Your child does not have to visit the Haunted House if they are not comfortable doing so. They will have the option to stay outside in the hallway with me.
Halloween is quickly approaching. This week we will be having a Halloween craft morning. The children are looking forward to making some crafts that they can use to decorate their home. The children may wear their costumes to school on Monday, October 31. There will be a school parade for the parents at 9:00 am. The parade will be outside weather permitting. Our classroom party will be in the afternoon. Just a reminder that face paint is easier to manage than a mask and please no weapons.
Finally, a reminder that Pizza Lunch is on Friday, October 28th. Please remind your child how to behave for the parent supervisors in our classroom. The students need to use inside voices, remain seated, use their manners and to clean up after themselves. I will be speaking to the students about these expectations but an extra reminder from home will be helpful too.
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
What to Expect in October
It's hard to believe that we are in the second week of October. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend! The children were very eager to share their Thanksgiving Trees
with their family. A special thank you to those parents who volunteered to cut out the foam leaves for
this craft. It was much appreciated by all of us!
Language Arts:
We have now gotten into the routine of weekly spelling lists. Each week, the students complete a variety of activities in class based on the spelling words of the week. These may include sorting words by spelling rule, crosswords, fill in the blank, proofreading and short creative writing assignments. I will send home the spelling test book every couple of weeks so you can keep track of the words your child needs to work on.
Reading:
In reading we are focussing on the reading strategies of making connections and predictions to assist with comprehension. Students are encouraged to make text to self, text to text and/or text to world connections as they are reading. The class will begin weekly Guided Reading groups next week.
The students have been working on reading some short stories in class and answering a variety of comprehension and grammar questions in complete sentences, using words from the questions to begin the answer and including greater detail. We are also working on beginning sentences with a capital letters and finishing sentences with appropriate punctuation.
Writing:
Over the next couple of weeks we will be working on a variety of short writing assignments based on Thanksgiving and Halloween. The students will learning to write recounts of various experiences, such as the Terry Fox walk and Thanksgiving. They will also be learning to write fictional narratives with a "Spooky" focus around Halloween, amongst other short Halloween writing activities.
Math:
with their family. A special thank you to those parents who volunteered to cut out the foam leaves for
this craft. It was much appreciated by all of us!
Language Arts:
We have now gotten into the routine of weekly spelling lists. Each week, the students complete a variety of activities in class based on the spelling words of the week. These may include sorting words by spelling rule, crosswords, fill in the blank, proofreading and short creative writing assignments. I will send home the spelling test book every couple of weeks so you can keep track of the words your child needs to work on.
Reading:
In reading we are focussing on the reading strategies of making connections and predictions to assist with comprehension. Students are encouraged to make text to self, text to text and/or text to world connections as they are reading. The class will begin weekly Guided Reading groups next week.
The students have been working on reading some short stories in class and answering a variety of comprehension and grammar questions in complete sentences, using words from the questions to begin the answer and including greater detail. We are also working on beginning sentences with a capital letters and finishing sentences with appropriate punctuation.
Writing:
Over the next couple of weeks we will be working on a variety of short writing assignments based on Thanksgiving and Halloween. The students will learning to write recounts of various experiences, such as the Terry Fox walk and Thanksgiving. They will also be learning to write fictional narratives with a "Spooky" focus around Halloween, amongst other short Halloween writing activities.
Math:
We have completed our first Math Unit on Sorting and Data Management (graphing). Last week I sent home a list of units to practice on IXL based on what we have learned to date. This is an excellent review for all children.
This week we will begin our next unit as part of the Number Sense and Numeration strand and includes representing, comparing, and ordering whole numbers (place value), skip counting forwards and backwards, and basic addition and subtraction facts. We will also look at patterns in addition and subtraction and how to determine the missing number in equations ( 8+__ = 12). I will send home a list of IXL activities next week that correspond to what we are learning in class.
Science:
We will be starting our Simple Machines unit this week. We will be having the Scientist in the School come in for a morning of hands-on activities related to this unit on October 21st. We will need 4-5 volunteers for this amazing morning of learning!
Social Studies:
We are well underway with our first unit looking at Traditions and Celebrations. This month
we are focussing on Thanksgiving and Halloween.
Mystery Reader:
The children love discovering who our weekly Mystery Reader is. Please sign up for this. I am happy to accommodate your schedule to ensure each child is surprised by their parent, sibling or grandparent at least one time during the school year.
That's all for now! I will let you know when this blog has been updated again through your child's
agenda.
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