News for October 28

News for October 28

This week, the children finished their pillows! They stuffed them with polyester stuffing and used a needle and thread to hand sew the opening closed. The pillows are used in our class to make chairs more comfortable and to use during read aloud time. These pillows are for the use in our classroom and so will not be brought home until the spring.

In math, the students focused on learning the standard method for adding and subtracting two-digit numbers with regrouping (e.g., 51-37= 14). After modelling what happens using place value blocks of groups of tens and ones, the children moved to adding and subtracting using just the numbers and the standard "pencils and paper" algorithm to show regrouping. This is a very difficult concept for many children. We will be reviewing this throughout the year.

We began the next math unit this week...geometry! The class reviewed two-dimensional (2D) flat shapes, called polygons. Did you know the easiest shape to find in the modern world is the rectangle? Rectangles are everywhere! The students learned the names for shapes up to 8 sides. Did you know that for all polygons, the number of sides = number of vertices (corners)?The geometry vocabulary can be difficult to remember because some words are not words we use every day. The words for this week were: polygon, vertices (vertex), triangle, quadrilateral, square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon.

The class reviewed how to edit writing. This is such an important skill! It's not easy to read writing and correct all the mistakes, especially if it's your own writing. At the grade 2 and 3 level, students are expected to independently correct mistakes such as: use of capital letters, use of end-of-sentence punctuation, missing words and word wall spelling words. 

The children finished their fiction stories about the Prime Minister's pet dog, Kenzie. The students also are creating illustrations and front and back book covers. I will be typing these stories to make it easier to make two copies of each book. That way, each student will have a copy of the book he/she wrote and we can mail the second copy of the book to the Prime Minister's office.

In science, we are continuing our unit on plants. We had a chance to go outside and talk to a real "arborist" (tree expert) as our class watched the tree on Millwood Road being cut down. It's being cut down for safety reasons. He told us the tree was a Norway Maple tree and he gave us parts of the trunk of the tree to look at. We also shared these pieces with the kindergarten classes as the tree was a part of their playground. The students even took the time to write a reflection in their journals about the tree being cut down and how they felt about that happening.

The students started science folders to hold information about their plant experiments. They observed common dried navy beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) using magnifying glasses and set up an experiment to see what happens when a bit of water is added to them. So far, class noted that the beans were soaking up the water and getting bigger.

The children watched an episode of The Magic School Bus about seeds. From this the students learned the five things that plants need to live their full life cycle: water, light, air, soil and time. While watching the show, the students ate cooked seeds...popcorn! We are learning that the food we eat to get energy, is actually energy from the sun. Plants use sun energy to grow and make its energy to live. Humans and animals eat plants for energy and this energy came from the sun. Without the sun, there would be no life on Earth.

The class is learning facts about the sun and why it's so important to all the living things on Earth. Did you know that the sun is just a giant ball of burning gas at 5,000 degrees Celsius? Did you know that the sunlight we see outside left the sun 8 minutes ago?

The class began another art project this week...handmade art journals! The students drew designs on long rectangles of thick watercolour paper to make the front and back journal covers using Sharpie permanent marker. Next they learned how to use watercolour pencil crayons. This special type of pencil crayons are a wonderful way to add colour to a surface. First, the pencils are used like regular pencil crayons. Then, using plain water and a small paintbrush, the colour turns into watercolour paint! 

The class attended our school's celebration of the Hindu holiday "Diwali" or The Festival of Lights. The students coloured "rangoli" drawings, made "diyas" or small clay lamps and watched a video explaining the story of Diwali. Each child even got some holiday treats to eat!

On Thursday, we were part of JumpStart's "Read for the Record" and along with over a million other adults and children, we read the book "The Bear Ate Your Sandwich" on the same day. (Thank you to Ryland's grandmother who brought this event to our attention and gave a copy of the book to our class.)

Finally, on Friday, the class learned how to tell a Halloween story using paper and scissors. This type of storytelling is very interesting because the storyteller must use their words and create a piece of paper art at the same time! We used some of the cut paper art to decorate the outside of our classroom for Halloween.

Books read aloud this week:

Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe (chapter book - now finished)

The Sun by Mary Draper

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach

Halloween Is... by Gail Gibbons