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Friday 11 December 2015

The best week EVER!!!

Next week is our last week of school before the winter break. This week we have been busy wrapping up reading groups, solving "12 Days of Christmas" word problems, and working on several different art projects.


Designers, builders and painters working on the box. This week we painted the outside, made the chimney and window, and made flowers and bushes for the side of the house. The next steps are painting our hands to decorate the roof, add the brick detail, and attach the flowers and bush.


This week we took apart flowers. We looked at the petals, pistil and the stamen.


We started to make some holiday books about what we do in the wi tear at our winter centres.

Next week, there is early dismissal at 3:10 on Tuesday, and library books are due on Thursday.




Friday 4 December 2015

Graphs and Seedlings


We are staring to work on graphing and data management in Math. While students are generally able to collect information and put it into a graph fairly easily, the questions about the information tend to be more difficult.
On this graph, most students could easily answer which ornaments the reindeer had the most or least of. Questions such as "how many more glittery bows than paper snowflakes do they have?" and "how many more paper snowflakes will the reindeer need to make to have 20 in all?"are the most difficult, and these will be the types of questions we will be focussing on in the the few weeks and into the new year.

Other things to work on include counting forwards, backwards and skip counting. Students in grade 2 can practice with numbers up to 100, and skip counting by 2, 5 and 10, forwards and backwards, at multiples and non multiples.

Students in grade 3 are working on counting forwards and backwards with numbers up to 1000. You can also start practicing counting by 3 and 4, in order to get ready for multiplication.


We started to plant some beans in a bag wrapped in paper towel and soaked in water. When they started to sprout, we planted the ones that were growing in soil. This week, one of the seeds we planted sprouted out of the soil! This is called a seedling. Some of our seeds grew, and some of them did not. We think it is so cool how they look when they are sprouting.
Shared writing project with students.....our first shared blog post!!!



We had so much fun singing at the winter concert. We worked really hard to present our songs to everyone. We felt so proud of the Winter is Fun song because there were lots of different parts, like instruments, dancing, chanting and signing. Also, we wrote it ourselves!!




Friday 27 November 2015

Winter Concert

Winter Concert rehearsals are in full swing! Students have been busy learning songs, dances, and adding in instruments. Please mark your calendars for December 2. Students are asked to wear their "holiday best".
There will be a brief intermission between the K-3 show and the 4-5 show. If you wish to watch the 4-5 show, we ask that you please pick up your child in the classroom between shows.

It was a pleasure to see so many of the families come out to conferences either Thursday evening or Friday morning. If you were unable to attend and would like to meet, please send me an email or call the school, and I an happy to arrange a time that works for you.

Library books are due Tuesday next week.

Thursday 12 November 2015

Problem solving and Projects

The past few weeks students have been involved in projects, meant to foster imagination, teamwork, and build relationships among students. We have created thugs out of Lego, k'nex, art supplies, and today we used tin foil and pipe cleaners.


We have also been focussing on problem solving in math, with partners, and it has been very challenging for students. I am so proud to see them persevere through difficult problems, and it is so rewarding when they finally reach the answer!



As we approach the time of year when report cards will be sent home, please feel free to contact me at any time to discuss the progress of your child. I am happy to meet with families, send home work, and answer any questions you may have.

Reminder that picture retakes are November 18.




Thursday 22 October 2015

Actors and Scientists

This week we were busy exploring plants! We looked closely at roots and are talking about the differences between fibrous and tap roots.
 We also had a guest artist work with us this week. Through drama and role playing, we are exploring topics such as body language, feelings, friendship, and conflict resolution.




We are exited to have her back next week to wrap things up!

Next week, library books are due on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!




Friday 9 October 2015

All About Soil

This week we have been digging deep while learning about soil and its composition. We collected samples from around thee school and analyzed them. We have been learning about the types of rock found in soil, and what soil is made of.

We also shared our class smile at our assembly on Monday, so everyone knows what is special about Room 12!


This week we also learned a new part to a math game, in which students are expected to record number sentences as an assessment piece.


Important dates for next week...

No school Monday 😊🍗

Field trip on Tuesday October 13 





Friday 2 October 2015

Smile off!

We had such a great week this week! After reading the book "One of Those Days" by Amy Krause Rosenthal, we were inspired to write our own book, and measure our smiles. The book is about a whole bunch of terrible days, so our book is about a whole bunch of super awesome days! We want to try and remember that even if we are having a bad day, to try and stay positive.
Then we measured all of our smiles, and added them up to find out how big our classroom smile was. It is 154 cm. long! Ashton had the biggest smile measuring in at 9 cm. We have challenged room 11 to a smile off, and are hoping the whole school will get to do this awesome activity.

In Math we continue to work on patterns. We have looked at time, symmetry, and 2D shapes. We are also working in more focussed math fact groups.

In Science we investigated soil, and learned about the difference between humus and hummus. Next week we will collect several soil samples and look at the differences.

In Social Studies we focussed on rights, responsibilities, needs and wants. After looking at some images of children around the world who do not have their basic needs met, the class is interested in sponsoring a child from another country, in lieu of the Christmas gift I would usually purchase for them. So I will look in to this and have more details posted soon.

IMPORTANT DATES:
Tuesday, October 6       Assembly at 9 a.m     Early dismissal at 3:10
Thursday, October 8      Library books due

Friday 25 September 2015

Toonies for Terry

What a great day for our Terry Fox run! Thank you to everyone who donated towards cancer research, as a class we raised $34.00!!
This week we continued to work on patterns, and also began working on telling time, adding up sums of money, math facts, and learning some dice games for math work stations.
In Daily 5 we have started Work on Writing and Listen to Reading. We will begin Word Work at the beginning of October.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR NEXT WEEK...
Library books due Wednesday September 30

All warmed up after our Terry Fox run

Thursday 24 September 2015

One of Those Days

We have been working with our speech pathologist, Mrs.Mitchell, on a class book and project. We were inspired by the book "One of Those Days" by Amy Krause Rosenthal. In the book, the main character experiences a wide variety of one of those days...when things just don't go your way.
We decided to put a spin on the title, and while keeping the exact same words, we are creating a book about "One of Those Days!" (Insert jazz hands here 👐).
Our class book will be filled with examples of super awesome days, so hopefully we can learn to turn negative experiences into a positive one, and remember that every cloud has a silver lining.



Wednesday 16 September 2015

Fabulous First Week!

It has been a great full first week, getting to know all of my new students. It's always nice to see some familiar faces, as well as welcome our new students to our school and class. We have been busy getting routines and procedures set up, and learning the expectations of our classroom together.
We have been building our stamina during Daily 5 and working on Read to Self. Hopefully reading groups will be up and running in the next week or so.


 Busy at the puzzle table. We have had a few discussions on different ways to work on solving the puzzle together, as everyone has a different strategy.

In math, we have been focussing on patterns. Grade 3's will begin working on growing, shrinking, and number patterns. Grade 2's will continue to work on more complicated repeating patterns, as well as number patterns.

As a class, we have created 5 rules...
1. Respect yourself and do your best.
2. Respect the environment.
3. Listen to who is speaking.
4. Respect and be kind to others.
5. Be safe


REMINDERS FOR NEXT WEEK:
Library books are due Tuesday.
Early dismissal is Tuesday. Students will be dismissed at 3:10 from their classrooms.



Monday 31 August 2015

Back to School 2015!

Welcome to a new school year! I am so excited to be back at work, and have been busy planning and getting the classroom ready.

I will post all news for the classroom on this blog, including important dates and events, pictures, and updates on what we have been learning and exploring.

This is the first blog I have created, so it will be a learning experience for me, but am looking forward to sharing more directly what goes in our classroom.

My goal is to eventually have the students posting on the blog as well, keeping everyone up-to-date on life in room 12!