The homework for this week is that there is NO homework. However, the children promised that they will READ each day over the holidays.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the Room 222 families a safe and happy winter holiday and best wishes for a wonderful 2019!
Parent Notes:
The holidays are a great opportunity to play games and create!
Children love to play board games like Snakes and Ladders, Trouble, checkers and chess.The students this week were each given a pack of standard playing cards and now know how to use playing cards to do a magic trick and to play the game "Go Fish". Other card games like Crazy Eights and Snap are also suitable for children. Rules for these games can be easily found on the internet. Cards can also be used to build card towers!
Children also love to make stuff! Give a child some old cracker or tissue boxes and some tape, a pair of scissors and markers and they will create something special. It may be a house for a stuffie, a rocket ship or a magic castle. Encourage your child to tell you about their creation and how they solved a problem engineering a door, for example. They may even want to write a fiction story using what they made in the story. Sometimes creativity just needs an opportunity...
This last week of school for 2018, the children learned about playing cards, made paper lanterns and even learned why popcorn pops!
The BIG news from this week was that the children worked very hard to sort, count and add up the money that was collected for the Daily Bread Food Bank of Toronto. The students worked to sort the money into groups. Then they worked in groups to count the coins and finally we used calculators to add up the sums. One bag, a pile of toonies added up to $222.00. The grand total was $850.37! This project was a great way to apply math skills. Well done!
The class finished learning the history of over 15 different holiday songs. Many songs are Christmas songs, but we also looked at a Diwali song and a Hanukkah song and some are simply about winter. It was wonderful to hear the students singing along to songs while working on projects in the class. On Thursday, our class joined the rest of the school in the auditorium for our school's traditional sing-a-long time. For each song, the children learned the country it was from, when it was written, how many years ago it was written, plus we learned new vocabulary and listened for the rhyming words. One song we studied was "The Twelve Days of Christmas" that was written in England in 1780. When we sang this song, we were singing words that have been sung at this time of year for 228 years.
The students learned about playing cards. They explored the designs on the cards and sorted the cards by design, colour and number. Did you know that there are 52 cards in a standard pack of cards? There are two colours, red and black, four "suits", hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, and numbers from 1 (ace) to ten plus kings, queens and jacks. Each child now knows how to do a magic trick and at the
end of the week, they played the game, Go Fish, in their table groups.
The children created more decorations for our class holiday tree using pipe cleaners and beads. They learned some folding and cutting techniques to create paper lanterns. By folding cardstock paper, drawing designs, cutting out "windows" and taping in pieces of clear red plastic, the students made unique paper lanterns with an LED light inside. Did you know that the word LED means "Light Emitting Diode"?
On Friday, the students wore their pajamas and brought their stuffies for the last day of school of 2018. The children even wore their pajamas to the school library! In the afternoon, we popped popcorn and had some treats while they watched the animated holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Did you know that popcorn kernels are actually seeds and popcorn pops because a small drop of water inside heats up to 100 degrees Celsius and explodes and cooks the seeds when the liquid water turns to steam?
Finally, at the end of the day on Friday, we all said a happy good bye to each other with wishes of "See you next year!" :-)
Books read aloud this week:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess (book and DVD) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (DVD) The Family Christmas Tree by Tomie de Paola Look-A-Likes Christmas by Joan Steiner The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan Brett
The homework for this week is to complete the worksheet reviewing money concepts and to write down a favourite joke or riddle to contribute to our class joke book. This homework is due on Friday, December 21st.
Parent Notes:
1. Please note that the concert next week is FOR PRIMARY CHOIR MEMBERS ONLY IN OUR CLASS. Our whole class will participate in a concert in the spring.
2. If your child is sick, is going to an appointment or on vacation and will be absent from school, please let me and the school office know. You may contact me by email. Laurie Gray is our office administrator and can be reached at 416-393-0570 or Laurie.Gray@tdsb.on.ca. Presently, the school does not have a system in place that lets me know when or why your child is away, if you only contact the office.
3. Please know that teachers are not allowed to administer medicine to your child. Arrangements can be made with school office if you wish, and the office has a refrigerator, if necessary.
Important Dates
December 3 - 19 - Daily Bread Food Bank fundraiser (Our class is in charge of this activity.)
December 19th - Winter Concert (FOR PRIMARY CHOIR MEMBERS ONLY IN OUR CLASS.)
December 20 - Crazy Hat Day
December 21 - Pajama Day at school - Students may wear their jammies and bring a stuffie. December 21 - Last day of school for 2018.
December 22 - January 6 - Winter Holidays January 7 - First day of school for 2019
This week, the children wrote letters to staff and students, finished their snail shell sculptures and learned how to solve crossword puzzles!
Our school has a tradition this time of year called "Holiday Mailbox". For the last two weeks of school before the winter vacation, students and staff practise correct letter writing and envelope addressing by writing letters and "mailing" them to other staff and students in the school. It's very exciting to receive a letter in the mail!
In math, the children continued the unit on Canadian money. They practised how to count mixed groups of coins, deciding with coins can be used to made a given amount and the equivalence between $0.34 and 34 cents.
The class learned the history and lyrics of more seasonal songs that are traditional in Canada. Did you know that "Up on the Housetop" was written in 1864, three years before Canada became a country? When we sing this song, we are singing words that were written 154 years ago!
The children continued to work in groups to go on the morning announcements to advertise our fundraiser to donate money to give to Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. We are accepting donations up until next Wednesday. There are 527 students at our school, so if each student brings in $1.00, we could raise $527.00!
The students finished their snail shell plaster sculptures. Then, they wrote about the project and how to make them, in their writing journals.
The class started to decorate the holiday tree in our classroom. Each child created a snowman ornament made out of felt and hung it on the tree. The class even used what they know about money to figure out how much the craft kits cost. There were materials for two snowmen in each kit, so we needed 9 kits at $1.25 each. How much are 9 loonies and 9 quarters altogether?
In science, the students reviewed the states of matter for water (ice, liquid water, steam or water vapour). They also did a "sweet" experiment to learn more about how solids dissolve into liquids. After learning about how solids dissolve or "disappear" into liquids by going in between the water molecules. When water is heated, the molecules have more energy and move around more, so there is more space between the water molecules. More space means more places for the dissolving solids to hide. On Friday, the children made hot chocolate using hot chocolate powder. When stirring the powder into cold water all the powder did not disappear. However, when we added hot water, the powder did disappear and then the hot chocolate was ready to drink!
At the end of the week, after learning the story, song and history of the children's character, Frosty the Snowman, the class watched the cartoon version, while drinking their cups of hot chocolate!
The children learned how to solve crossword puzzles. There are many different things that the brain does when solving these kind of puzzles.They have to look at clues for across words (horizontal) and down words (vertical). The words need to be spelled correctly to fit the number of given squares and to connect with the other words. The children need to apply what they know to think of the answer to the clues. For example, "Two years equals 24 _________."
Our amaryllis plant now measures an amazing 64 cm tall and has begun to flower.
Books read aloud this week:
The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real (read over several days) by Marjory Williams Little Snowflake's Big Adventure by Steve Metzger
The homework for this week is to write a story about the snowman picture stamped into the homework writing journal. There is also a worksheet reviewing Canadian money concepts that were covered this week. This homework is due on Friday, December 14th.
Parent Notes:
1. Please help our class project by donating money as we collect and count money for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. Did you know that there were almost a million visits to food banks last year? This money helps to buy food for people in need. Your child can deposit money into our classroom collection jar. Give some change to make a change!
2. Please help your child understand and use Canadian coins. In grade two, students are required to be able to identify coins (coin names and values), count same coin groups and mixed coin groups, compare the values of groups of coins and make change from $1.00. Our world seldom uses cash these days, but having your child pay for things at a store and receive the change, setting up a piggy bank or a weekly allowance will help your child's understanding of money.
Parent Resources:
There are lots of sites and apps to help your child learn about money. Here is a link to one site with games and activities to help your child use and understand Canadian money:
December 3 - 19 - Daily Bread Food Bank fundraiser (Our class is in charge of this activity.)
December 19th - Winter Concert (FOR PRIMARY CHOIR MEMBERS ONLY IN OUR CLASS.)
December 20 - Pyjama Day at school - Students may wear their jammies and bring a stuffie. December 21 - Crazy Hat Day December 21 - Last day of school for 2018.
December 22 - January 6 - Winter Holidays January 7 - First day of school for 2019
This four-day week, the students organized our school's fundraiser for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, learned about Canadian coins and how to count them and learned about the food and activities of the holiday Hanukkah!
Our class is in charge of advertising, collecting and counting money for the Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank.This is a great opportunity for children to communicate information using different media. The children made over 25 collection jars to give to classrooms to collect money. Then we talked about how to let the school know about how some people in Toronto do not have enough money to buy food and the Food Banks helps these people. So the students made colourful, informative posters to remind students and staff to donate money. These posters are now on the walls around the school. The children also began to write and make announcements to read on our school's morning announcements. Everyone will have a chance to do this. It's very exciting to go down to the office to read on the morning announcements!
In math, the class learned about the features, names and values of the Canadian coins. Did you know that a picture of Queen Elizabeth II is on every Canadian coin? They have to recognize each coin, know its name and value. The children reviewed their skip counting skills to help them count groups of the same type of coin and at the end of the week, groups of mixed coins. For example, a group of 2 quarters, 2 dimes and a nickel would be counted as 25, 50, 60, 70, 75 cents in total.
The class is beginning to learn about poems and poetry. One version of poems are lyrics, or the words to songs. Each student now has a "Holiday Songs" folder and each day we learn the history, vocabulary and tune of a seasonal song. Did you know that the song, "Jingle Bells" was written in the USA and is traditionally an American Thanksgiving song? It was written in 1857, 161 years ago.
In our guided reading groups, children read a poem about a chick pecking its way out of an egg and then read and made connections to a story about a baby chick and duckling. The learning goal was to talk about "inference" and how the reader's brain needs to think and question the text to get information that is implied and not necessarily written in the text or seen in an illustration.
The students began an art/science activity to make a sculpture. They examined different designs of snail shells and pressed them into plasticine to create a pattern. On Thursday, they learned about Plaster of Paris (actually a mineral called gypsum) and how it is a powder made from a solid. It is dissolved into water by stirring. The powder particles become part of the liquid by going in between the water molecules. This solution was poured over the plasticine design and left to harden back into a solid over the weekend.
My family traditionally celebrates both the Christian holiday of Christmas and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at this time of year. Hanukkah began on December 2 and lasts for eight days. This week, the class learned about the history of Hanukkah and the kinds of activities that are done to celebrate. The students learned the symbols of Hanukkah, helped to make potato pancakes called "latkes" and played a game using "dreidels" or spinning tops. My family's recipe for latkes is just grated potatoes put into small pancakes in hot oil and fried with a bit of salt, until golden brown and crispy. Traditionally, latkes are eaten with applesauce. We had a lovely time eating together in the Room 222 "restaurant"!
In Dance class with Ms. Heath, the class has been learning a dance routine to the music from "The Carnival of the Animals" (1886) by the French composer, Camille Saint-Saens. Here is a video of the children dancing to the piece, "The Aquarium":
Books read aloud this week:
365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental My Hanukkah Alphabet by Claudia Kunin I Have a Little Dreidel by Maxie Baum The Donut Chef (a story in rhyme) by Bob Staake Snow Crystals by Wilson A. (Snowflake) Bentley
The homework for this week is to complete the activity regarding thinking about and naming different kinds of liquids and solids. On the reverse is a letter writing practice activity. Your child is asked to write a letter to you about what you do during the day when your child is at school. (You are encouraged to either write a letter back or to tell him/her orally.) There is also a math worksheet reviewing time and temperature concepts. This homework is due on THURSDAY, December 6th, since Friday is a P.A. Day.
Parent Notes:
1. Our class is in charge of organizing the collection of money for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, on behalf of our school. We will begin talking about this in class on Monday. As a connection to our math unit about Canadian money, the students will collect and count the money, they will also be using their media literacy skills to create posters and write and deliver messages on the morning announcements. Please send donations with your child to school and he/she can put it in our classroom collection jar.
2. The children attended an assembly this week about bullying prevention. Here is the link to the presenter's website:
3. One of the caretakers this week remarked to me that our classroom has the cleanest floor in the whole school! I shared this with the students and I told them that their efforts to pick up pencils, markers and pieces of paper has not gone unnoticed. We take time at the end of the day to make sure we tidy up the classroom. Well done everyone!
Parent Resources:
MATH
Here is the link to an excellent website with activities and tips for parents about talking to your child about math at home:
Reading aloud chapter books is a great at-home literacy activity and a wonderful bonding opportunity for you and your child. There are so many good books and children's tastes vary, but here is a link that lists suggested titles for grade 2 students:
December 7 - P.A. Day - no classes December 3 - 14 - Daily Bread Food Bank fundraiser (Our class is in charge of this activity.) December 19th - Winter Concert (FOR PRIMARY CHOIR MEMBERS ONLY IN OUR CLASS.)
December 22 - January 6 - Winter Holidays January 7 - First day of school for 2019
This week the students created a homemade advent calendar, learned about temperature and thermometers and attended an anti-bullying assembly.
In math, the class reviewed how to tell and write analog and digital time to the hour (0:00), half hour (0:30) and quarter hours (0:15 and 0:45). They also reviewed the time units and equivalents. (Many of these do not make"sense" and have to be memorized, for example, 1 year = 365 days.) Later in the week, we started to talk about temperature being the measurement of the amount of heat in something and how a thermometer is used to measure temperature. The children did an experiment using thermometers to measure the temperature of ice water, room temperature water and hot water. We also talked about "benchmark" temperature to understand relative temperatures. For example, room temperature is about 20°C, water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C. Normal human body temperature is 37°C. Did you know that the unit we use to measure temperature was developed by Anders Celsius, (1701-1744)? He was a scientist from Sweden.
The class talked about snow this week. Did you know that snowflakes are based on the six-sided polygon, the hexagon? Snowflakes have six branches and are that shape because of the angles of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in a water molecule (H2O). We talked about how snowflakes "grow" inside clouds and learned about the man who first photographed snow, Wilson Bentley, did so over 150 years ago. The class also learned about Kenneth Libbrecht, a modern scientist who studies snowflakes and can "grow" them in his lab. Here is a video that he made that we watched in class:
The children used kirigami (Japanese for "cut paper") techniques to fold and cut beautiful paper snowflakes. The students experimented with different colours, thicknesses and sizes of paper to make paper snowflakes. We've begun to make a winter display in the hallway outside of our classroom.
After being shown a box of "snowflake" Ritz crackers, the children noticed that the snowflakes crackers pictured were not scientifically accurate. The crackers have snowflakes based on an octagon (8 sides) and real snowflake designs are based on a hexagon (6 sides). The class had a chance to eat some of the crackers and we then decided to write letters to the Christie cracker company to let them know that their cracker designs are not scientifically correct and why. These letters will be mailed to the company next week. Let's hope they write us back!
In guided reading, the children worked in small groups to read the book, Mud Puddle, with the learning goal to identify the various ways that a reader knows that a story is fiction. Using the text, illustrations and inference, the children discussed the fiction characteristics in this book.
The class learned about the Christian tradition of an advent calendar. An advent calendar is used to count down the days until Christmas. The word "advent" means "arrival" in Latin. The tradition in Ms. R's class is to create a more personal advent calendar to count down the days until the Winter Holidays. Each child made a special advent calendar package containing treats and small presents plus a letter to the child who will receive the package. Each day, at the end of our morning message, the star student randomly picks a student name and that child gets to take home that day's package. Since the children must wait their turn and someone will be the last one to get the package, this activity teaches patience!
The class began to talk about matter in science. Matter is the "stuff" that makes up everything in the world. The three states of matter are: solids, liquids and gases. The children worked to identify examples of each of these three states. In connection to our math unit, the students talked about water vapour (a gas above 100°C , room temperature water (a liquid at the same temperature as the air in the room, at around 20°C) and ice (a solid below 0°C).
Finally, our amaryllis plant now measures an incredible 42 centimeters tall!
Books read aloud this week:
Winter's Coming by Jan Thornhill Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch The Secret Life of a Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht The Art of the Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren The Tomten and the Fox by Astrid Lindgren
The homework for this week is for children to teach an adult about our class blog and talk about the information posted on the blog every week. Each student is to complete a teaching reflection sheet to write about what happened during the lesson. There is also a math sheet reviewing time unit words and telling time to quarter past the hour (0:15). This homework is due on Friday, November 30th.
On Friday, the class said "good bye" to Ms. Gashi our student teacher from the University of Toronto/OISE. She was with us for the past four weeks and we will miss her teaching and helping the children. We all wished her well in her teaching career, gave her a card, a pillow and even her very own "Old Red" teacher's marking pen!
Notes for parents:
1. Indoor shoes: Students must wear shoes at all times in the school building. If shoes are forgotten at home, your child must wear his/her winter boots all day and will not be allowed to participate in gym activities. Please send a pair of indoor shoes for your child to keep at school during the winter months.
2. School rules: This week our school had an assembly to review and reinforce the five basic school rules, as our school's code of behaviour. (Please see the photo above.)
3. Lego mural: Lego is sponsoring a huge Lego art mural in front of Union Station. You and your child can go and build a piece of the mural which will be displayed there until December 2nd and then moved to Nathan Phillips Square (City Hall). My son Max and I went this past week and it was fun to be a part of this big project. For each person participating, Lego will donate money to "Toy Mountain", a traditional CTV News charity to give toys to children.
Important Dates
November 29 - Anti-bullying assembly December 7 - P.A. Day - no classes
December 22 - January 6 - Winter Holidays January 7 - First day of school for 2019
This week, the class made a science research facts video, learned about units of time from seconds to years and started to make large art collage paintings.
The children created "How to Make a Pillow" posters to showcase their procedural non-fiction writing. After writing and editing their rough copies, each child wrote a good copy of his/her work. Then I took an "instant" Polaroid-style photo of each student holding his/her pillow, which was put on the poster and decorated with a frame. These posters are now on display on the large bulletin board inside our classroom.
The students learned about units of time words. For grade two, the children are required to know seconds, minutes, hours, days and years. (Weeks and months will be covered next week.) We also talked about decades and centuries. The children are also required to know how the units are related through exploring time unit equivalents (for example, one minute = 60 seconds). Did you know that a day is the length of time it takes for the Earth to make one rotation on its axis? Did you know that a year is the length of time it takes the Earth to make one trip (orbit) around the sun?
The children learned how to tell time to quarter past the hour (0:15). They practised telling time from analog clocks and matching digital times to analog clocks by drawing the hour and minute hands in the correct places.
The class heard the read aloud book, The Book of Gold, a magical book about the power of learning through books. In this book are two lion statues named, Patience and Fortitude. The children learned the meaning of these important words (plus the ASL or American Sign Language signs for them) and how these words apply to life. The children were then challenged to create artwork to illustrate an adventure for the stone lion statues. Some ideas were: diving underwater in the sea or travelling to Paris. The students cut out and glued (collage) photocopies of the statues onto large paper. Then they drew and painted the details of the adventure around them. After adding details with black Sharpie marker, the children were asked to write about why he/she chose that particular adventure for the lions. When finished the artwork and writing reflections will be put up on display inside our classroom.
On Tuesday afternoon, almost half the class went to perform with the primary choir at the Toronto Choral Festival. We had five grade two students from Mme Galimberti's class join us for the afternoon (since Mme Galimberti went on the trip). The children heard the read aloud, The Bear Ate Your Sandwich, and then learned how to fold origami bear faces and created a larger artwork using these.
In guided reading, the students worked in small groups to read the book, The Best Pet. This book is divided into short chapters and the children discussed why and how the author decided to divide the story up this way. The groups also practised making story connections to other books read and activities done in our class.
The class went to the library to exchange their library books. Our library day is on Day 5, every other week, which is currently every other Thursday. Please help your child to keep his/her library book in the library book bag and return the book to school. Please know that your child cannot take a new library book out until the previously borrowed book is returned. Also remember that your child can take out any book in our classroom to read at home each day, as part of our classroom's BAB or borrow-a-book program.
Each child picked out two cool facts from his/her animal research posters to practise reading aloud. Then the students were videotaped holding their posters and sharing their cool facts with the class. Here is the video:
Books read aloud this week:
The Book of Gold by Bob Staake A Lion in Paris by Beatrice Allemange Ganesha's Sweet Tooth by Sanjay Patel The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach
A big "thank you" to all the families for coming in for parent-teacher interviews this week. It was wonderful to talk with you about your child's work in our classroom. Room 222 has an amazing group of children this year and we are having a lot of fun learning together!
The homework for this week is to write a FICTION story, in the homework writing journal, about the pillow your child finished this week. Some ideas from the class were: a magic pillow, a superhero pillow or the pillow works in an ice cream store! There is also a math worksheet reviewing analog to digital and digital to analog times to the hour and half-hour. This homework is due on Friday, November 23rd.
Parent Notes
1. The cold weather has arrived! Please make sure that your child arrives at school prepared to spend time outside. The children spend three separate times outside each day. There are two 15 minute recess periods, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There is also one 30 minute period after lunch. All children are expected to go outside. Each child needs winter boots, a winter jacket, a hat, a scarf and gloves or mittens. On colder and more snowy days, snow pants are also recommended. Please put your child's name on all his/her belongings. Many children have the same jacket or hat as other children and the name tags help to make sure that lost items are returned.
2. Extra clothes - Sometimes your child's socks and mittens can get wet after playing outside. Please tuck a fresh pair of socks and mittens in your child's backpack so they can change them if needed. Also, our classroom is quite cool, so a sweater or hoodie is also a good idea to have at school as well.
Important Dates
November 22 - Spirit Day - Crazy Hair Day!
December 7 - P.A. Day - no classes
December 22 - January 6 - Winter Holidays January 7 - First day of school for 2019
During this four-day week the students worked very hard to finish their animal research posters and their handmade pillows in time to show their parents during the parent-teacher interviews.
In math, the children reviewed how to write, show and tell time using digital and analog clocks to the hour and the half-hour. These skills are not easy. Students are required to write the digital time given the analog time and to draw an analog clock given the digital time.
In science, the students finished their research sheet facts (graphic organizers) and completed their posters by using their facts to write complete sentences and add the animal drawings they made. The children also learned about collective nouns, or the names given to groups of different animals, like a pride of lions or a shiver of sharks. These posters are now displayed in the hall outside of our classroom.
Each child finished making his/her pillow by using a sewing machine to sew around the perimeter of the fabric, turning it inside out, filling the pillow with polyester stuffing and using a needle and thread to sew the "stuffing hole" closed. Did you know that your clothes are sewed inside out to keep the seams hidden inside the clothing?
The class is now using ordinal numbers (first, second, third...) to help them write a non-fiction story about how to make a pillow, and to write what they did, how they did it and in the order that they did it. (This is referred to as procedural writing.)
In guided reading, the groups used what they learned last week about how text features (such as bold faced words) help the reader to understand the book. This week, the students concentrated on non-fiction texts. The class learned facts about penguins, elephants and animals with claws.
The students completed a reading response to the read aloud book, Lyle the Crocodile and also wrote their opinions of the story.
Books read aloud this week:
The Story of Snow - The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassino Lyle the Crocodile (finished) by Bernard Waber A Shiver of Sharks - A Compilation of Aquatic Collective Nouns by Patrick George A Filth of Starlings - A Compilation of Bird Collective Nouns by Patrick George A Crackle of Crickets - A Compilation of Insect Collective Nouns by Patrick George A Drove of Bullocks - A Compilation of Animal Collective Nouns by Patrick George
The homework for this week is for each student to teach an adult the American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet and if time, the ASL Remembrance Day song that the class learned this week. Then students are to complete a refection sheet and answer questions about how the lesson went. There is also a math sheet reviewing math concepts learned this week. This homework is due on THURSDAY, November 15th (since Friday is a P.A. Day).
Parent Notes
Thank you to all the parents for returning the forms or emailing me around arranging parent-teacher interviews. I appreciate your understanding and flexibility around the times,because many people want the same interview times. I will put a reminder note regarding your interview date and time on your child's progress report card. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and talking about your child's work at school.
Important Dates
November 14 - Progress Reports go home
November 15 (evening) and November 16 (morning) - parent/teacher interviews
November 16 - P.A.Day - no classes November 22 - Spirit Day - Crazy Hair Day!
December 7 - P.A. Day - no classes
December 22 - January 6 - Winter Holidays January 7 - First day of school for 2019
This week the class wrote about peace in our world, Canadian Remembrance Day, how to measure and calculate perimeter and even how to fold an origami paper crane!
In math, the children learned ways to measure two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects that are an irregular shape. One can use a measuring tape, since it can "bend" around objects or curvy lines and has standard units printed directly on it. One can also use a piece of string to measure and then measure the piece of string. The class also learned about perimeter, or the distance around an object and how to measure and calculate perimeter using standard and non-standard units. For example, the students worked in pairs to determine the perimeter of a book using wooden toothpicks (non-standard unit) and using measuring tape in centimeters (standard unit). For example, a square with each of its four sides measuring 3 cm would have a perimeter of 3+3+3+3=12 cm.
In science, the children learned the science behind two sets of teeth in mammals. Did you know that mammals have different shapes of teeth for eating? The front teeth or incisors are thin at the bottom to cut food like a knife. The back teeth or molars have a flat surface on top for grinding the food and prepare it for digestion. Our teeth are also needed for pronouncing words correctly. Baby teeth are also called milk teeth and as children grow, they fall out because the adult or permanent tooth pushes up on the baby tooth and pushes it out of the gums. The children counted their teeth and completed a diagram of the parts of a tooth (crown, root, nerve and gums and enamel).
In guided reading, the children talked about the use of text features in writing. Text features include the use of bold letters and underlined words and how words are positioned on the page. These features are used by a writer to show the reader that these words are important to the story and should be read with more energy. This week, the small reading groups were guided through the Robert Munsch book, Give Me Back My Dad!
In social studies, the class talked about loosing their baby teeth. They learned about tooth traditions around the world and discussed and wrote about their personal family traditions when they lose their teeth. Their tooth tradition writing will become part of a class book, that students can read during independent reading time.
The children also learned about the reasons behind the observation of Remembrance Day in Canada. They learned about the different symbols of peace. They talked about what peace looks like in the world and what they can do to help make a peaceful world. The children learned a Remembrance Day song using American Sign Language. They painted beautiful posters of poppies to use for decoration at the school's Remembrance Day assemblies. They learned about the tradition of wearing a poppy at this time of year. Did you know that it is customary to wear a poppy on the left side of your body, closer to your heart?
The students each wrote 33 words about what peace means to them. We used the number 33 because the Remembrance Day minute of silence is observed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (11+11+11=33). Our class made a Remembrance Day video of the children reading aloud their heart-felt messages. Here is the video:
For our ongoing pillow project, the students learned how to use an iron to iron fabric. Each child ironed the two pieces of fabric he/she designed in preparation for sewing the fabric next week.
Origami paper cranes are also a symbol of peace. The class learned the true story of a Japanese girl named Sadako, who died from radiation sickness at the end of World War II. Her story of how she and her friends and family tried to fold 1,000 paper cranes to try to help her get better caught the attention of the world and every year paper cranes are folded and sent to the Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan. The children learned how to fold paper cranes (and reviewed a bit of geometry along the way...) If you or your child would like to fold paper cranes, there are lots of instructions on the internet, but here is a video I made several years ago:
On Friday, the children attended the primary Remembrance Day assembly in the auditorium. There were poems and songs performed. Nine of the students in our class are in the primary choir and we watched them perform. Well done!
Books read aloud this week:
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof - Tooth Traditions From Around the World by Selby B. Beeler Lyle and the Birthday Party by Bernard Waber Give Me Back My Dad! by Robert Munsch Sadako's Cranes by Judith Loske
