October 26th - 29th

 

Hi there! It is amazing how October has flown by and November is just around the corner! Two months of grade two have been completed and it was great to connect with so many parents on Thursday night to discuss the students' progress since September.  I hope that if you are planning on going out for Halloween tonight that you will have a safe and fun time this year.

In Writing, we continue to work on refining our descriptive writing on the scarecrows that we created in class. The final assignment will have the scarecrows put up on the class bulletin board and the student's writing will be read out loud to the rest of the class and we will try to guess which scarecrow matches the writing. We continue to talk about adding lots of details to our writing to help our reader create a clear picture just from the words.

In Mathematics, we continue to explore number sense and the relationship between adding and subtracting a set of numbers and how they form a "fact family". Students have also discussed and worked on creating increasing patterns with shapes and numbers. Next up, we will be looking at decreasing patterns and the pattern rules with each one.

In Science, we explored the world of bees and also looking at the characteristics of snails and slugs. Students have been creating labeled diagrams and looking at the habitats that each animal lives in. We will also be looking at each animals predators and they ways in which they are able to evade these predators as well.

In Social Studies, we have taken a "virtual" airplane to the community of Iqaluit and have begun to explore the town and see how many of the houses are built on stilts because of the permafrost on the ground which makes it next to impossible to dig into the ground or to have a basement in their houses. We will next be discussing what activities we can do while in Iqaluit and create posters inviting people to come up to Iqaluit and take part in some very unique experiences.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see everyone on Monday in formal uniforms. A few reminders that we will be going to the library to exchange our book on Thursday, and homework and if you are interested in purchasing something from the Acorn art fundraiser, are due by Friday. Thank you!

 October 19th - 23rd

Hello Room 17! Another busy week has come and gone in the grade 2 classroom. The students have been busy preparing their Acorn Art fundraising pages to come home next week and also completing a wintery scene to enter the contest to maybe chosen as the artwork for the Minster of Health's Christmas cards! The students were able to create some very amazing art pieces that they look forward to sharing with you!

In Writing, we have been working on adding more details to our writing and have recently typed out a good copy, using our Google Drive accounts, a piece entitled the Best Part of Me. The students had to choose a body part and then try to think of all the important reasons why that body part was important to them. We also tried to use a simile to compare that body part to something else using "like" or "as". The students will next be using their writing talents to create a piece on a scarecrow that they have created.

In Mathematics, we continue to work on fact families and seeing and understanding the relationship between adding and subtracting sets of numbers. Students are also gaining the understanding that when adding the order of the numbers does not effect the sum total, but when subtracting the bigger number has to be put first in order to subtract whole numbers. 

In Science, we have explored the world of worms and also bees in our studies of small, crawling and flying animals. Students learned how worms and bees are both helpful towards humans and both provide us with different needs. Worms give us rich soil by moving through the soil and bees provide us with honey and also pollination of plants.  

In Social Studies, we have virtually "flown" to Iqaluit, the northern community located in the Nunavut territory. We have been looking at the landscape and also what they building look like and why many are built up on stilts because of the frozen permafrost on the ground. We will be looking at the first people her, the Inuit, and their language and culture too.

 A few reminders before the start of the next week. If students need retakes for pictures on Monday, you need to email me to let me know this. Students need to be in their formal uniforms for Monday and on Thursday it is a half day because of Parent Teacher Interviews. If students want to dress up on Thursday to celebrate Halloween, they need to come dressed on the bus and are allowed to bring a small treat only for themselves, not for their classmates. As Thursday night is Parent Teacher conferences and a reminder that they are being done virtually via Microsoft Team Meetings. Friday there is no school as there is a Professional Development day. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and see you tomorrow!

 October 13th - 16th

Already the middle of October! How time flies so quickly and now we have also had the chance to experience some wonderful October snow as well! Just a reminder that students should be coming to school appropriately dressed for being outdoors with boots, mitts, snow pants, warm jackets and hats to keep them warm. We have been doing our Physical Education classes outside and we want everyone to be well prepared to go outside and not be cold during these times and also during our movement break times. 

In Writing, we have been working on creating complete sentences that include upper case letters to begin the sentence, extra details in the sentence to make it more interesting for the reader and punctuation at the end of the words too. We have been exploring the Best Part of Me this week and trying to explain, in our own words, why it is the best part of ourselves. After creating their rough copy in our writing books, we have been typing out our good copies in Google Drive as a way to display our final written product. Students can also access their Google Drive accounts at home as well!  

In Mathematics, we have been looking at creating our own word problems, both in addition and subtraction. The students have been discussing appropriate vocabulary for addition or for subtraction that helps give clues as to what has to be done in order to find the answer to the question.  We have also talked about using pictures, number sentences and word sentences when working on solving a problem.  

In Social Studies, we continue to explore the geographical regions we will be looking at - the Arctic region in the northern part of Canada, the Atlantic region in eastern Canada and the Prairie region which is found in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.  We will next be looking at the climate of each region and if we were to travel there, what types of articles of clothing would we make sure to bring with us.

In Science, we have looked at spiders and compared them to insects to see the differences we can see between them.  Students have also worked on writing as many facts as they can about spiders and how instrumental they are to us keep the insect population down. As a few students wrote, "without spiders, the insects would rule our world!"

In Art, we are creating a colourful project for our Acorn Art fundraiser and it will be coming home in the next week or so for you to see!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember to always wash your masks and try to have an extra one in your child's backpack just in case one gets lost along the way to school!  Thank you!

 October 5th - 8th

Happy Friday everyone! I want to thank the students of room 17 for a great week of learning. I hope that you have a chance to get together with family (safely of course) and celebrate each other.  Yesterday, we took the time to discuss what we are grateful in our lives and the students did an amazing job of thinking of all the many things we are thankful for.  

In Writing, we are looking at expanding our sentences to include more than just a subject and verb by using Triple Scoop adjectives and more details to give our readers an even clearer picture through our words. Students are also becoming more cognizant of what a sentence needs to start with (Upper case letter) and ending our sentences with some form of punctuation. The more practice we have a chance to do, the greater the improvements the students can expect to make.

In Mathematics, we continue to explore the definition of addition and strategies we can use to add more complex numbers together efficiently.  We also continue to look at patterns and explaining the pattern we are creating with a pattern rule.  The students are also developing the awareness of patterns in the world around us within movements in dance and also in our weekly music classes. 

In Science, we have been looking at the characteristics of spiders and how they differ from insects. As well, we continue to explore insects and the various types we can see in the world around us. From ladybugs to beetles, we talk about how they are different, similar and protective measures they have to avoid predators.

In Social Studies, we are looking at the various physical regions that makes up each community and will relate it to what people are able to grow, types of jobs available in the community and how their culture is formed.  We will then look at "virtually" visiting each community, how long it takes to travel there and what items we would want to pack in our suitcase in order to be comfortable.

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend and see everyone on Tuesday!

 September 28th - October 2nd

Hello to everyone and happy weekend! I hope you are all out and able to enjoy some wonderful fall weather as the leaves continue to fall off the trees with many colours! 

This week saw the students continue to work on completing our 6 senses of fall writing pieces and going back and editing for word choice, spelling and punctuation.  We will continue to work on adding more details to our sentences and trying to use more triple scoop adjectives to make our writing create vivid pictures for our readers.

In Math, we are looking at patterns, the various attributes that make up our patterns and how to explain the pattern rule to help someone else make our pattern. We continue to explore ways to represent numbers such as pictures, tally marks, number sentences and also base ten blocks. The students have been given open ended word problems to make them think about how to explain their answers through pictures, number sentences and word sentences.

In Science, we have looked and drawn out diagrams of ants and also beginning to look at the characteristics of spiders. The students finished the week by creating butterflies using pastels and the symmetry, and patterns that can be found in their wings to protect them from predators.

In Social Studies, we are starting to look at the physical geography of each of the communities we study and how that affects people who live there. What can they grow, how does it affect the interests and jobs of people who live in the communities as well.

I hope you enjoy your Sunday and see everyone in their formal uniforms tomorrow morning.  Remember that there is no school on Friday this week because it is a teacher Professional Development day.