Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a story in the homework writing journal about a treasure. There is a secret pocket (and paper to create a treasure map), in each journal. The math sheet reviews the spelling of number words to twenty and how to use Roman Numerals. This homework is due on March 1st.

Important Dates:

February 25 - Kiwanis Festival trip - Primary Choir members ONLY
March 1 - School Spirit - Beach Day
March 11-15 - MARCH BREAK
April 19 - Good Friday - no classes on this day
April 22 - Easter Monday - no classes on this day
May 20 - Victoria Day - no classes on this day
June 7 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
June 27 - Last day of classes for the 2018-2019 school year

News for February 22

This four-day week the children attended a performance of the play "Robin Hood", measured the length, width and perimeter of a HUGE Canadian flag and  finally finished editing their chapter books.

The class began the week by making math posters with all the survey information from their individual surveys: survey question, tally sheet, graph and sentences interpreting the results. These are now on display on the bulletin board in our classroom.

The children finally finished learning the use and spellings of the number words from zero to twenty. At the same time, they reviewed how to solve word problems and focused on how to determine if the problem is to be solved by adding or subtracting.

The students learned about the writing genre of biography or the "map" of a life. After reading some author biographies on several of our read aloud books, we collected the kinds of information usually included in an author biography. The class then used this information to write author biographies about themselves. These author biographies will become a part of the chapter books.

On Tuesday, the class went to the auditorium to watch a performance of the play "Robin Hood". One of the students in our class was lucky enough to be picked to go up and be an actor in the play!

In guided reading, the children chorally read a fable book, "The Day the Sun Didn't Shine". The class talked about how a fable has a lesson embedded in the story. This story's lesson was "be careful what you wish for because it might come true", and we discussed what this meant.

The children worked very had to finish writing and editing their glovetopus chapter books. I will type these stories and the students will create little books with the typed pages.

In social studies, the class reviewed the directions north, east, west and south (NEWS) and how to use these words to locate places on a map and to move around on a map. We also talked a bit about compasses and how they work.

The students had a chance to review their measuring skills by measuring the length, width and perimeter of a HUGE Canadian flag. The flag is 270 cm long and 137 cm wide with a perimeter of 814 cm or over 8 metres!

In cursive writing, the class learned to write the cursive letters, t, w and p. The children also had a chance to review writing all ten letters learned so far.

On Friday, we were all ready for swim class, but unfortunately all swim classes were canceled for the day. So...I asked all the children to please leave their swim gear on their coat hooks, so that they will be ready for next Friday's swim lesson.

So... the cancellation of two periods of swimming gave us the opportunity to finally learn about Roman Numerals! In our class, the children use Roman Numerals when writing the "short date". For example, February 22, 2019 would be "22 II 19". The class learned how to read and write Roman Numerals from 1 to 20 using the letters I (one), V (five) and X (ten). Did you know that the Roman Numerals system does not have a symbol for zero? (That's one of the reasons the Western World switched to using Hindu-Arabic numbers, or the number system we use today.)

The Room 222 Interview Show will return next week with two new episodes. Stay tuned!

Books read aloud this week:

A Million Dots by Andrew Clements
Fun With Roman Numerals by David Adler

The Room 222 Interview Show - episode 2

This week our guest was Mr. Culakovski. He is a vice-principal at our school.

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to complete the math sheet about bar graphs and the social studies/language sheet about the history of Valentine's Day. This homework is due on Friday, February 22nd.

Notes for parents:

1. Thank you to all the parents who dropped by Room 222 last week! I always enjoy talking about the progress of the children and sharing the amazing work that they do.

2. Swim Class - We finally had our first swim lesson this week. Please know that photos of the class in the pool are NOT permitted by the TDSB. So there will not be photos on the blog of swim class. After the long weekend, our swim day (Day 2) is now on FRIDAYS. 

3. Online reading subscription - I have not tried this app myself, but it was recommended to me for families who would like to have access to fiction and non-fiction books for their children to read online. Here is the link : https://www.readingiq.com

Important Dates:

February 18 - Family Day - no classes on this day
February 25 - Kiwanis Festival trip - Primary Choir members ONLY
March 1 - School Spirit - Beach Day
March 11-15 - MARCH BREAK
April 19 - Good Friday - no classes on this day
April 22 - Easter Monday - no classes on this day
May 20 - Victoria Day - no classes on this day
June 7 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
June 27 - Last day of classes for the 2018-2019 school year

100th day of school!

On Monday, the children celebrated the 100th day of school! The class did several math activities based on the number 100. They counted and strung 100 Froot Loops cereal pieces, stamped 100 stamps, organized and counted collections of 100 different objects and counted how many different exercises they could do in 100 seconds!

News for February 14

News for February 14

Well, a four-day week turned into a three-day week due to the severe weather alert and the TDSB school closures on Tuesday. However, we had a great time learning about the history of the Canadian Flag, answering student-generated survey questions and celebrating the 100th day of school and Valentine's Day!

On Monday, it was the 100th day of school. In the morning, the class did math activities based on the number 100. Photos from this time can be found in a separate posting.

The class learned about Flag Day. In Canada, Flag Day is celebrated on February 15th each year. The maple leaf flag was first flown in Ottawa, on February 15, 1965, which makes the flag 54 years old. The students learned the history of how the design of the flag was chosen and how the first fabric flag was made. The children made their own paper Canadian flags and wrote some facts about the flag. These are now on display in the hall outside of our classroom.

The students wrote their own survey questions to learn more about the children in our class. The students went around to each desk and answered the questions of other children. Then the students tallied up the results and created bar graphs of the information.

On Thursday, the children created paper bag mailboxes for Valentine's Day. At the end of the day, the students delivered their valentines to their fellow students and had some time to read the kind messages and to enjoy some small treats.

In cursive writing, the class only had time this week to learn how to write the letter y.

We talked about Family Day and how it first became a holiday in Ontario in 2008, 11 years ago. So it's a very "new" holiday. We talked about activities that the children could do on Monday with their families to share some time together and make new memories.

We filmed the next episode of The Room 222 Interview Show. This week our guest was Mr. Culakovski. He is one of the vice-principals at our school. This video can be seen in a separate posting.

Finally, the students had their first swim lesson! Mr. B and Mr. C went over the safety rules and behaviour expectations and the children had about 30 minutes of time in the pool. (Please note that after the long weekend, swim class (Day 2) will be on Fridays.)

Books read aloud this week:

The 100 Shirts of Mr. Lee by Nancy Rawlinson
Our Flag - The Story of Canada's Maple Leaf by Ann-Maureen Davis
Valentine's Day - Celebrations in My World by Reagan Miller.

Salutation to the Dawn!

The children are beginning to memorize the poem, The Salutation to the Dawn by the ancient Sanskrit poet, Kalidasa.

 

The Room 222 Interview Show - episode 1

This week, our guest was Mrs. Farrelly. She is the principal of our school.

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to complete the math review sheet about bar graphs and to write a book review of a book read at home, on the sheet provided. This homework is due on THURSDAY, February 14th (since Friday is a P. A. Day).

Notes to Parents:

1. The class discussed the death of one of our class pets, Mr. Pickles the frog. He had been poorly for several weeks. I talked to the children about the circle of life and how every living thing in our world has a finite time on the Earth and how pets live on in our memories of them. He was part of my class for almost eight years and he will be missed.

2. Due to the bus cancellations because of the weather on Wednesday, the first swim lesson for out class has been postponed until next Wednesday, February 13th.

3. The Valentine's Day tradition in my class is to give and receive Valentine's Day cards. Students do not have to participate, but many children do like to give out valentines at this time of year. I have explained to the class that if students would like to give out valentines, they need to give a valentine to each child in our class, so that no one feels left out. I have included a list of students' first names with the weekly homework sheets, to help with this.

Important Dates:

February 11 - 100th Day of School! (morning math celebration)
February 12 - Term 1 report cards go home.
February 14 - Valentine's Day (small afternoon celebration)
February 14 (evening) and February 15 (morning) - Teacher/parent interviews
February 15 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
February 15 - Flag Day
February 18 - Family Day - no classes on this day
February 25 - Kiwanis Festival trip - Primary Choir members ONLY
March 1 - School Spirit - Beach Day
March 11-15 - MARCH BREAK
April 19 - Good Friday - no classes on this day
April 22 - Easter Monday - no classes on this day
May 20 - Victoria Day - no classes on this day
June 7 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
June 27 - Last day of classes for the 2018-2019 school year

News for February 8

Well, despite school bus cancellations this week, the class managed to learn more about surveys and how to read and create bar graphs, how to write a book report and how to interview a person to learn more about them!

In math, the class continued to learn how to use survey questions to learn more about our class. Did you know that most students have birthdays in December? Recall that the data management unit helps students research to learn more about groups of people, that cannot be found in books or on the internet. This week the class focused on how to read and how to create pictographs and bar graphs.

In writing, the students continue to work on their glovetopus chapter books. We reviewed the information found on the front and back covers of a book and the children made the front and back covers for their books. Each student also had an "author photo" taken with his/her glovetopus to include in the book.

The class finally heard the sixth Martha the talking dog read aloud book. The class learned about book reports and how to write in detail about a book that they have read. First, each child had to choose his/her favourite Martha book. Then using a worksheet, they answered questions about their book choice and gave their opinions about the book.

Our word wall word study this week had a look at the rule to add "s" to words that end in "y". First we reviewed which letters are vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and which are consonants. The children will tell you that English spellings are "crazy" at the best of times, but this is a fairly rigorous rule. If there is a vowel before the "y", then you just add an "s", (for example, one boy or two boys). However, if there is a consonant before the "y", you remove the "y" and add "ies", (for example, one puppy or two puppies).

In media studies and oral communication, we began our next big class project...The Room 222 Interview Show! We talked about how to learn more about a person. Of course, a famous person may have a book written about them or have information on the internet. We really can't do a survey of just one person, so they were introduced to the idea of an interview. The children wrote down questions that they would like to ask an adult at our school and then suggested people that they would like to interview. The children made posters to show a title of the show, the name of the guest and who the student interviewers are. The class even learned a theme song to sing at the beginning of each show. This week two students interviewed Mrs. Farrelly, the principal of our school. These interviews will be done once a week for the next nine weeks. The videos can be seen every week in a separate posting on this blog.

In art, the children worked on their Andy Warhol inspired art, by finishing their interpretation of the Campbell's soup label then created a drawing of their own can of soup.

In cursive writing, the class learned how to write the letters c, q, i and u.

On Friday, the children had a chance to watch a TV version of Martha the talking dog called "Martha Speaks"! There are many episodes of this educational show available online. They can be found on youtube and on PBS. The PBS site also has games and other features. Here is the PBS link to get you started:

https://pbskids.org/martha/

Books read aloud this week:

WHAT! Cried Granny by Kate Lum
Perfectly Martha by Susan Meddaugh
Celebrating Chinese New Year by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
Green Cat by Dayal Kaur Khalsa

The 3 Billy Goats Gruff plays

Group 1



Group 2




Group 3

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a fiction story in the homework writing journal about Martha the talking dog (a character from a series of books read aloud in class). There is also a math worksheet reviewing how to read pictographs (data management). This homework is due on Friday, February 8th.

Notes for parents:

1. Teacher-Parent Interviews: Term One Report Cards will be going home in a few weeks. At this time of year, teacher-parent interviews are optional. However, I love to talk about the amazing work done in our classroom! So if you would like to schedule an interview, please complete and return the orange half-sheet interview request form and return it to school. I will send a confirmation note home with your child. Please know that if these times are not convenient, alternate times or phone interviews can be arranged.

2. Swimming Lessons: On Wednesday, February 6 (Day 2) our class will begin to have weekly swimming lessons. Please make sure your child brings his/her swimsuit, towel, goggles (if needed) in a plastic bag labelled with his/her name on the OUTSIDE of the bag (for easy identification).

Important Dates:

February 11 - 100th Day of School!
February 12 - Term 1 report cards go home.
February 14 (evening) and February 15 (morning) - Teacher/parent interviews
February 15 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
February 18 - Family Day - no classes on this day
February 25 - Kiwanis Festival trip - Primary Choir members ONLY
March 1 - School Spirit - Beach Day
March 11-15 - MARCH BREAK
April 19 - Good Friday - no classes on this day
April 22 - Easter Monday - no classes on this day
May 20 - Victoria Day - no classes on this day
June 7 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
June 27 - Last day of classes for the 2018-2019 school year

News for February 1

This week the children began to learn about reading information on graphs, Chinese New Year and Groundhog Day and started to learn how to do cursive writing!

The class was excited to begin our cursive writing program this week. Learning cursive writing helps students because it will help them develop their signatures, read cursive writing and writing in cursive is actually faster than printing. In grade two, we learn the lowercase letters and use printed capital letters. So far, the class learned the cursive letters, a, d and g.

The children continued to work on writing their glovetopus chapter books. We worked together to finish writing our class chapter book about Karl the glovetopus. The students are working on editing their own writing to catch and correct mistakes before editing with the teacher and "Old Red" the pen.

Finally! Despite several student absences over the last few weeks, we finished filming the videos of the Reader's Theatre plays, "The 3 Billy Goats Gruff".  You can watch these videos in a separate posting.

In math, the children began the unit on data management. The students learned about tally marks, how to use tally marks to record information and how to easily read tally marks, using skip counting by 5's. The class talked about how graphs are pictures of information. This week the class focused on how to read pictographs and how to answer questions like, "Which is the most popular answer?" and "How many people answered this survey?" We also discussed how to use survey questions to get information that is not available on the internet or in books, by having the children in our class answer survey questions, making a graph and talking about what the graph tells us about the class. Did you know that the favourite fruit of our class is mango? We do because we did a survey and made a graph!

In social studies, the class learned more about two different celebrations and traditions: Chinese New Year and Groundhog Day. In preparation for Chinese New Year (which begins February 5th), the children learned how to make paper lanterns using Chinese red "lucky" envelopes. This was a great way to apply geometry knowledge by folding the envelopes and naming the various polygon shapes that are made and then stapling the folded envelopes together into a octohedron figure to create the lantern shape. Groundhog Day is a tradition where a groundhog, coming out of hibernation in his burrow is watched to see what he does. The story goes that if the groundhog sees his shadow, he will be scared and go back into his burrow, but if he doesn't see his shadow, spring will come early. Of course this is not based on science but it is a fun tradition. Spring begins on March 20th this year in six weeks time, whether the groundhog sees his shadow or not.

The students learned about the American artist, Andy Warhol. We read aloud a biography of his life and learned that he ate soup and a sandwich for lunch for most of his life. He used the cans of Campbell's soup as inspiration for some of his art. Did you know that one of his paintings of soup cans was sold for 11 million dollars? The children started to make their own art inspired by soup cans as well.

At the end of the week, the class, after a whole week of bitter cold and indoor recesses all day, we decided to make connections between some of our learning. We talked about our read aloud Martha the dog books (where Martha eats alphabet soup and the letters go to her brain instead of her stomach), Andy Warhol's soup can art, and the students own art inspired by cans of alphabet soup and we had a hot soup snack during afternoon recess on Friday. Did you know that we found all 26 alphabet letters in the soup? (We checked.)

Books read aloud this week:

Martha and Skits by Susan Meddaugh
Andy Warhol - Pop Art Painter by Susan Goldman Rubin
Doctor DeSoto by William Steig
Groundhog Day by Michelle Becker