News for October 10

News for October 10

It was a short, four-day week, but the class learned addition and subtraction strategies, finished self-editing their Old Red stories and learned how to iron and sew fabric for their pillows!

In writing, the class reviewed the success criteria for good grade-level writing by creating an "editing checklist" to help each child independently catch and correct mistakes in their writing. There is a large class anchor chart displayed in the classroom with this information and each child taped a paper copy of the checklist on his/her writing journal. At the grade two level, children are expected to write sentences with a capital letter at the start of the sentence and a . ! or ? at the end of each sentence. Capital letters are also at the start of proper nouns. The students are expected to make sure that no words are missing from sentences and that all word wall words are spelled correctly. The children used these criteria to self-edit their stories. We also reviewed the information on the front and back covers of books and the children created these to turn their stories into finished books.

In math, the class began to review and share addition and subtraction strategies. In grade two, the expectation is that children know addition and subtraction facts to 18. Many children still use their fingers to add and subtract, which is a strategy that works, but it can be slow. A lot of students use a 100 chart to help them which is an excellent strategy but one doesn't always have a 100 chart to use. So, one strategy we looked at was memorizing and using "double facts". The children used decahedron (ten faces) dice to help them document and practise double facts.

In science, we began a short introduction to the unit on water in the environment. Actually, we talk about this everyday by looking at the clouds in the sky in the morning and naming the types and why some cloud colour ranges from white to dark grey. (White clouds are high in the sky with a small amount of water. Darker clouds are closer to the Earth, because they are heavier since they contain more water.)

In art, the children learned how to sew fabric pieces to make their pillows. Each child learned about a sewing machine and how to use the pedal to make the needle move up and down at different speeds. (I was in charge of moving the fabric through the sewing machine for safety reasons. The children were in charge of the pedal.) Did you know that things are always sewn inside out?

The children were challenged to create watercolour art works that somehow illustrate water. We brainstormed ideas on the ways to show water in art (e.g., ocean, bathtubs, glass of water). The children used pencils to plan their art and then used Sharpie markers to create defined areas to paint. Then, the children used watercolour paint to add colours to their art. Finally, each student wrote a reflection on her/his art, giving it a title and writing insights as to what their art is about. The art and reflections are now on display in the hall outside outside of our classroom.

On Thursday, the children went to the auditorium to listen to Canadian author, Deborah Kerbel, read aloud a few of her books and talk about being an author.

The children created large portfolios to collect their work for review throughout the year. Portfolios are very important for children to see and reflect on their best work and how much and in what way they improve over the school year.

Finally, after reading aloud the book, Stone Soup, the children talked about how the characters in the book worked together to create a community feast. This led to a discussion about Canadian Thanksgiving and its traditions.

Books read aloud this week:

Weather and the Seasons by Violet Peto
The Night I Followed the Dog by Nina Laden
Stone Soup by Jon Muth
What! Cried Granny by Kate Lum