News for November 16

News for November 16

This four-day week the class learned about solids, liquids and gases, made art inspired by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali and even wrote letters to members of the Canadian Armed Forces!

In math, the children tackled the concepts of reading and writing of time to the quarter hour (:15 and :45). The children reviewed the relationship between minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years. In grade 2, students are required to read and write the time from analog clocks to digital time and digital time shown on analog clocks. It's the position of the hour hand that’s the tricky bit…

We finished reading aloud the chapter book, “The Hundred Dresses”. This book helped the children discuss and understand empathy in the context of teasing and bullying. This story was written over 70 years ago and was based on a true story. 

In science, the children were introduced to the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. We talked about how to identify each state and discussed examples of each.

In writing, the class began writing a new story about a little plastic stick figure. The students can now independently plan their stories and write the rough copies. These stories will become the third group of published books this year. 

In art, the students responded to a design challenge based on the famous painting “The Persistence of Memory” (1931) by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali. The children made collages of analog clock faces and drew a “story” around these pictures. They also learned about how to mount their art on backing paper to create a frame or border.

Our math contest, asking students in our school “How long is the school building?” is half over. It was very exciting to see children in the hallway writing down their answers and putting them in the contest box. The class finished their posters advertising our contest and these are now posted around the school. Our class also entered their estimates as well. The contest ends next Friday and the winners will be announced November 28th.

In guided reading, the children learned about how to compare information in a book by looking at and writing about what is the same and what is different.

As a connection to our study and observation of Remembrance Day last week, the students wrote letters to current members of the Canadian Armed Forces. The children sent their wishes for them to be safe and to come back home to Canada soon. They also sent copies of their individual messages for peace. The students addressed envelopes, added stamps and on Friday, we walked to the local Canada Post mailbox and mailed our letters.

Finally, each day this week (and next), groups of students have had a chance to read an announcement about our contest, on the school’s morning announcements. Everyone is doing a great job!

Books read aloud this week:

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (chapter book - finished)