The homework for this week is to write a story in the homework writing journal, on the topic of the student's choice, but with some form of math words in the story. This homework is due on Friday, May 3rd.
Please note:
1. The 15th annual 100 Books Party is this Wednesday, May 1 from 9:00 - 11:45 in Room 222. Please remember to send snacks with your child as we estimated that about 280 people will visit our classroom (and thanks to those who have already sent some in). Please also try to drop by, even if it's just for a few minutes. It will mean a lot to your child. Books! Writing! Food! Music! Fun!
2. Reminder that our swim time is now on TUESDAYS (Day 2). Please help your child to remember to bring his/her swim gear.
Important Dates:
MAY 1 - 100 BOOKS PARTY! (morning 9:00-11:45)
May 2 - Author Susan Aguillo visits our school.
May 14 - Jump Rope for Heart - fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation
May 16 - Spring Concert (evening) - Our class will be performing.
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
Another four-day week in Room 222 but the children were very busy, sorting books by different criteria, making sculptures out of aluminum foil and learning the steps of doing a science experiment.
In math, the children continued to use the 100 read aloud books in math activities. This week the class concentrated on ways to sort the books and how to tally the amount in each category and remember that the total should equal the number of books in the bin (20 books per bin per research group). The groups sorted the books into male/female authors, soft/hardcover, fiction/non-fiction/near fiction and they totaled up the number of pages read using calculators. We have now compiled the information from the groups and we will work on discussing the results next week. The children will present their findings to the class and a video of our "100 Books Math" will be made and posted next week.
In writing, during the two short four-day weeks the class is reviewing the term two word wall (spelling) words covered so far, with an emphasis on homophones (for example, aloud/allowed). The students finished their book reports and wrote the good copies that will go on display on the day of the 100 Books Party.
In guided reading, the small reading groups reviewed non-fiction text strategies and learned about two famous mountains: Mount Everest and Mount Fuji. Did you know that Mount Everest is almost 9 kilometers tall? That Mount Fuji is almost 4 kilometers tall? One of our read aloud books this week was a book about the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale. The class is interested in blue whales since last week we measured the length of our 100 books at over 27 metres, with is about the length of a blue whale. Did you know that the heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car?
In science, the class explored how water works to move into areas that are dry by watching what happens when a capsule containing a piece of foam is put in water. The class reviewed the steps of the scientific method: purpose, materials, method, observations and conclusions and used this framework to write about what happened. Basically, the water moved into the capsule and the sponge soaked up the water and increased in size to break apart the capsule to reveal that the foam was is the shape of an animal!
In art, the children had fun exploring aluminum foil and how to create figures and objects. The tricky part about working with foil is that since it is a metal, it's difficult to tape, glue or staple it. So the students learned some strategies to work with the foil to create arms and legs, for example, that stay attached to the figure and don't fall off. The children also incorporated some recycled yogurt containers (from the snack program) in their art. The students then wrote about what is happening in their art and how they made it. This "foil art" will go on display in the glass cabinet between the lunch room and the auditorium.
On Tuesday, morning, the students began swim classes again. (I am unable to post photos as pictures are not allowed to be taken in the pool area.) On Tuesday afternoon, the class went to the auditorium to see the play, "Head a Tete", a play in English and French about cooperation and friendship.
Finally, on a sad note, Mrs. Pickles our frog died over the long weekend. As I reported a few months ago, Mr. Pickles also passed away. So, there was another class discussion about the circle of life. However, on a happy note, the water snail laid some eggs! (Please see the photo in the "update" posting). I've seen snails lay eggs before and some simply dry out and were not viable. But one year, the eggs hatched and we had hundreds of baby snails! Let's see what happens this time...
Books read aloud this week:
The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow Rumpelstiltskin retold by Edith H. Tarcov
The homework for this week is to complete the science reading comprehension worksheet on water in the environment and the math sheet reviewing written numbers from 0-100. This homework is due on Friday, April 26th.
Notes for Parents:
1. The pool has now reopened. Our swim class time is on DAY 2. Due to the recent holidays, Day 2 is now on TUESDAY of each week. Our next swim time is this Tuesday, April 23rd. PLEASE SEND SWIM GEAR WITH YOUR CHILD WHEN THEY RETURN TO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY.
2. Our 100 Books Party is next week! We need food and snacks for 280 guests. We have permission from the principal to bring in food for this celebration. This is the only time of the year that I ask for contributions from families. Please send food snacks that can be eaten by hand. With so many guests we can't have plates or cutlery. Good choices are cookies, mini-muffins, chips, popcorn, cut up vegetables and fruit. Please send 2-3 bags of chips or other snacks. We can start to store the snacks in the classroom this week. THANKS!
Important Dates:
MAY 1 - 100 BOOKS PARTY! (morning)
May 2 - Author Susan Aguillo visits our school.
May 14 - Jump Rope for Heart - fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation
May 16 - Spring Concert (evening) - Our class will be performing.
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
This four day week, the students began to weave bookmarks, learned the traditions of Easter and Passover and began to do math activities with our 100 read aloud books!
In math, the children began the week by reviewing the concepts learned in the fraction unit. The class also learned how to write two-digit number words greater than 20. For example, the number 34 is written with a dash or hyphen between the tens digit and the ones digit...thirty-four. At the end of the week the children brainstormed the ways the class can use math concepts to learn more about our 100 read aloud books. First, the children worked together to lay the books end-to-end down the hallway to measure how long the line of books is...27 metres and 62 centimetres. Stacked vertically, the books measure 76 centimetres tall. The books also weigh 36 kilograms.
In writing, each student chose his/her favourite read aloud book from the 100 books we's shared together. The children wrote a book review of the book, going through the standard writing process of rough copy/edit/revise/good copy. These book reviews will go on display at our party on the morning of May 1st.
In science, the children reviewed the water cycle, or how water is recycled in the environment and watched an episode of The Magic School Bus that explores the water cycle. We also talked about water pollution and saw a video about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, to inform our discussion about reducing plastics in the environment. Here is the video:
In social studies, the class learned about two holidays: Easter and Passover. The class heard read aloud books and discussed the history of the holidays and some of the traditions and activities associated with these celebrations. The children also made spring baskets by reusing tuna cans and shredding scrap paper. In each basket were symbols of spring and the Christian holiday of Easter: baby chick, carrot, chocolate eggs and a large decorated egg. (The students decorated the plastic eggs by putting patterned plastic sleeves on the eggs and plunging them in boiling water to "shrink" the plastic around the shape of the egg.) After learning about the history of the Jewish holiday Passover, the children had a chance to try Matzah, a whole wheat cracker that is a traditional food at this time of year.
The class videotaped the last episode for the year of The Room 222 Interview Show on Tuesday. This week, our guest was Mr. Pearce. He is a supply teacher at our school. This video can be seen in a separate posting.
On Monday, the class was introduced to Bob the cat, a new member of our classroom. Bob is a mechanical or robot cat. Bob is in our class because the children learned about a real-life Bob the cat who helped a young man in London, England. The class heard three read aloud books about Bob and saw a video of the real Bob the cat and his owner James. Here is the video:
Finally, the class continued to work on preparing for our 100 Books Party. The children began to create bookmarks to give to our guests as a thank you for coming to our party. We estimated that we have to make 280 bookmarks!
The children also began to weave bookmarks for their personal use. The students used recycled cardboard to create a loom and used yarn to create the "warp" or vertical threads of fabric and the "weft" or horizontal threads of fabric, added by putting the yarn in the repeating pattern of over and under the warp yarn.
Books read aloud this week:
Bob the Cat by James Bowen Bob to the Rescue by James Bowen Where in the World is Bob? - Street Cat Bob's Adventures by James Bowen (read aloud book #100) The Matzah Man - A Passover Story by Naomi Howland The Easter Egg by Jan Brett
The homework for this week is for students to write their own fiction story in the homework writing journal about "the biggest puddle in the world", (based on a read aloud book the class discussed this week). There is also a math worksheet reviewing fraction concepts covered this week in class. This homework is due on THURSDAY, April 18th (since Friday is a holiday).
Each student made an invitation to our 100 Books Party to take home to their families this week. Save the date! Wednesday, May 1st (9:00 to 11:45) in Room 222.
Important Dates:
April 19 - Good Friday - no classes on this day
April 22 - Easter Monday - no classes on this day DATE CHANGE - MAY 1 - 100 BOOKS PARTY! (morning)
May 2 - Author Susan Aguillo visits our school.
May 14 - Jump Rope for Heart - fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation
May 16 - Spring Concert (evening) - Our class will be performing.
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
This week the children watched a Canadian astronaut on a spacewalk, learned more about fractions and watched a 63 year old movie about the friendship of a young French boy with a balloon!
In writing, the children worked very hard to finish and publish their books based on the "flat" characters that they made. Rewriting a "good copy" of their edited and revised work, helps them to reinforce their learning about writing good sentences with proper punctuation and grammar. The children also made the covers and illustrations for their books. Most children have now finished this process.
After reading the book, The Red Balloon, the class watched the DVD movie, on which the book is based. The children then compared what was the same and what was different between the book and the film by writing notes on a Venn Diagram. This is a tool, basically two overlapping circles, where notes can be written to sort the ideas around what is the same, different and true for both. Did you know that the Venn Diagram was popularized by John Venn, an English Mathematician, in 1866?
In math, the children focused again on fraction concepts this week. The children named fractions, drew fractions and folded paper to represent fractions of a whole. The big idea this week was that as the number of equal parts of a whole increases, the size of each equal share decreases. This is a difficult concept for young children. At the end of the week, the children used their fraction knowledge to fold small books. On the pages, the children folded and cut paper squares to illustrate their knowledge of fractions.
The students made small versions of these folded books to create party invitations for families and staff and students for our 100 Books Party. The class also reviewed how to use the 5 W's (who, what, where, when, why) in order to provide correct and complete information on the invitations.
In science, the students read and discussed air and water in our environment. They read about how wind is formed and did an experiment to prove that air takes up space and an empty container really isn't empty because it contains air. Later in the week, the class learned about how water in recycled continuously in the environment, in the water cycle. The key words here are evaporation/condensation/precipitation. The children even observed a drop of water on their desks "disappearing" through evaporation into the air. (The water molecules go in between the air molecules.)
The class finished designing and sewing their new homemade drawing journals. Did you know that hard cover books have the pages sewn into the front and back covers? The children sewed the pages of their journals into the covers of their homemade books.
On Monday, the class watched and discussed the historic space walk by Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques. He was repairing a heating unit on the outside of the International Space Station. The children learned that astronauts from Canada, USA, Russia, Japan and Europe are all a part of the space station. The students watched LIVE video of the space walk. They also had lots of questions...did you know that the International Space station travels around the Earth 15 times a day, 400 kilometres above the Earth's surface and travels 7 kilometres every second?
In guided reading, as a result of the above discussions, the children were interested in learning more about meteors. So in our small groups, the students read about meteors and how to navigate some of the features seen in non-fiction texts (e.g., captions for photos). Did you know that meteors are also called "shooting stars" and that they glow or on fire because when they enter the Earth's atomosphere they hit gases which burn? Did you know that it's called a "meteoroid" in space, a "meteor" when it is burning in the atmosphere and a "meteorite" when it lands on Earth?
On Wednesday, the whole school went to the auditorium to see the magician, The Great Baldini.
On The Room 222 Interview Show this week, our guest was Ms. Heath. She is a music teacher at our school. This video can be seen in a separate posting.
Books read aloud this week:
The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse (now finished) The Red Balloon - DVD Fraction Fun by David A. Adler How Pizza Came to Our Town by Dayal Kaur Khalsa The Biggest Puddle in the World by Mark Lee
The homework for this week is to complete the science (air) and math (fractions) worksheets sent home with your child on Friday. This homework is due on Friday, April 12th. Parent Notes:
1. The class recently had a chance to work together to solve a large jigsaw puzzle based on international flags. It was slow going at first as the children were learning some strategies on how to solve jigsaw puzzles, however, they felt a great sense of accomplishment when it was done! At this age, puzzles with 200 - 300 pieces are the best. Activities like this are a great way to develop your child's thinking and problem solving, and does not involve a computer.
2. Please mark your calendars for the morning of Wednesday, May 1st. It's our 100 Books Party where the children will be celebrating the reading and writing work done in Room 222. I know it is not convenient to come to our VRA location, but even a short visit that morning would mean a lot to your child.
Important Dates:
April 19 - Good Friday - no classes on this day
April 22 - Easter Monday - no classes on this day DATE CHANGE - MAY 1 - 100 BOOKS PARTY! (morning)
May 16 - Spring Concert (evening) - Our class will be performing.
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
This week the children learned about air in the environment, fractions and began to make their own art journals!
In writing, the students are working very hard on writing their books based on their "flat" characters, inspired by the book, Flat Stanley. The class reviewed how to edit their writing (using pencil to correct mistakes) and how to revise their writing (using coloured pen to add words to put more information into sentences). A few students began to publish their books by writing good copies of their stories, incorporating the editing and revising changes.
In reading, the students finished hearing the read aloud book, Flat Stanley and then wrote a book review about the story. They identified the parts of the story (e.g., characters, setting) and then wrote their opinions of the book.
In guided reading, the small groups continued to explore fairy tales. This week, we chorally read The Bremmen Town Musicians. The children worked on identifying the characteristics of fairy tales as applied to this story, as well as their reading expression.
In math, the class began the unit on fractions. In grade two, the students focus on the concept of a whole and fractions of the whole, or equal parts of the whole. The whole can be one object divided into equal parts or a set objects divided into equal groups. The class worked in partners to solve a fraction challenge: How many different ways can you equally divide rectangle-shaped cakes? The children created posters and worked on dividing the "cakes" from two pieces to ten pieces and more! They also learned how to name fractions using what they know about ordinal numbers, for example,when a cake is divided equally into six pieces, each part is called one sixth.
The students also learned about the power of doubling numbers. We discussed a folktale from India called One Grain of Rice, where a young girl was repaid by the Raja for a kindness by being given grains of rice each day for one month, based on the doubling pattern of one grain of rice the first day, two the second day, four the third day and so on. After 30 days the amount of rice was almost unbelievable! We now are using the doubling rule as the pattern on our April calendar. The class also watched a video based on this same idea involving grains of wheat on the 64 squares of a chessboard. Here is the video:
In science, the class began the unit on Air and Water in the Environment. The students learned what air is, why air is important to living things and how air takes up space. Air is invisible but we can feel it (e.g., wind) and we can see how it takes up space (e.g., air blown into a balloon). At the end of the week, the students did an experiment with aluminum foil observing how a flat piece of foil falls as compared to a ball of foil.
In social studies, the children read the history of April Fool's Day and answered some reading comprehension questions.
In art, the class finished their cursive symmetry art and each child wrote a reflection on their artistic process. These are now on display on the bulletin board in our classroom.
On the Room 222 Interview Show this week, our guest was Ms. Chang. She is a teacher at our school. This video can be seen in a separate posting.
On Friday, the class began a project to design and create their own art journals. Working in an art journal is a very popularactivity in our classroom and most students have filled up the pages of their art journals they received in September. Now, they are designing the covers of their homemade art journals and next week, they will sew blank pages into the covers.
On Friday, the children finished solving the jigsaw puzzle of a picture of all the flags in the world!
Books read aloud this week:
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown (chapter book - now finished) The Bremmen Town Musicians retold by The Brothers Grimm One Grain of Rice - A Mathematical Folktale from India by Demi The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aylesworth The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse
