The Room 222 Interview Show!

Update from Ms. R 20 II 20

The homework for this week is to write a book review of our recent class read aloud book, Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. (Please make sure your child answers the questions using sentences.) There is also a math worksheet reviewing how to write, use and read tally marks. This homework is due on Friday, February 28th. 

Important Dates

March 16-20 - March Break
April 10 - Good Friday
April 13 - Easter Monday
May 18 - Victoria Day
June 5 - P. A. Day
June 25 - Last day of the 2019-2020 school year

News for February 20

This three-day week the children continued to learn about probability, began to learn the lowercase cursive alphabet and the whole class finally finished writing their chapter books based on their glovetopuses!

Math   The children practised the use of the probability words certain, likely, equally likely, unlikely and impossible. They learned about how to use spinners and why some spinners are fair and some are unfair. At the end of the week the whole class participated in a "probability experiment". I sealed ten (red and yellow) coloured blocks inside a box with a small hole in the corner. The goal of the experiment was to look at the colour of one block at a time and predict the number of red and the number of yellow blocks in the box. The children took turns shaking the box and "peeking" at the corner to see the colour of the block. The student used tally marks on personal charts to record what happened. The students realized that if they saw a red block more times than a yellow block then it was more likely to see a red block than a yellow block. Therefore there must be more red blocks inside the box.

The class started a large tracking sheet, on our classroom door, to track the students' correct oral usage of the probability words, using tally marks. So far, the most popular probability word is "impossible"...

Writing    The class is now learning how to write in cursive! It is important to learn cursive writing so that you can read cursive, you can have a nice signature and you can write faster. All lowercase cursive letters begin at the writing line and the pencil does not leave the paper until a whole word is written. In grade 2, we will learn only the lowercase letters and use printed letters for capitals. So far, the children have learned the cursive forms of a, d, c and g.

After at lot of hard work, the students have finished their chapter books about their glovetopuses. Each child has now planned, written, edited and revised their writing and created illustrations and front and back covers. My job is to type these stories so the children can assemble and bind their books next week.

Reading   The children have finished listening to the adventures of Pippi Longstocking. The class loved the adventures of this independent, funny, and incredibly strong little girl. Our next project is to read all the books about Martha the dog by author Susan Medaugh. Martha can speak because when she eats alphabet soup, the letters go up to her brain, instead of her stomach!

Science   Each student now has chosen the animal that he/she wishes to research for their science research projects.

Art   The class had an art challenge this week using the small plastic "door" found on a package of wet wipes. The challenge was to think of what this door could be, attach it to a piece of cardboard and draw around it to create a finished design.

Media Literacy   This week on The Room 222 Interview Show, our guest was Mme Galimberti, she is a French teacher at our school (and teaches in the classroom across the hall from us). This video can be seen in a separate posting.

Books read aloud this week:

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (chapter book - now finished)
Martha Speaks by Susan Medaugh

The Room 222 Interview Show! (2 episodes)

Update from Ms. R 13 II 20

The homework for this week is to complete the reading comprehension activity about the Canadian classic food from Quebec called "poutine". There is also a math worksheet reviewing the use of probability words. This homework is due on Thursday, February 20th.

Important Dates

February 17 - Family Day
March 16-20 - March Break
April 10 - Good Friday
April 13 - Easter Monday
May 18 - Victoria Day
June 5 - P. A. Day
June 25 - Last day of the 2019-2020 school year

News for February 13

This was a two-day school week, but the class was busy learning about and celebrating the 100th day of school, Valentine's Day and Flag Day!

Math - On Monday, our class celebrated the 100th day of school. The children spent half the day rotating through five different activity centres. Each centre focused on ways to understand and demonstrate the number 100. First, I read aloud a book that I wrote many years ago, about a project that was done in 2009, counting the 100 patterned shirts of a teacher (since retired), Mr. Lee. then the children got a chance to explore the number 100 by drawing or rubber stamping 100 images, working to solve a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle, measuring the length of 100 objects or how many objects it takes to make a line 100 cm (one metre) long, counting and stringing 100 plastic beads and finally, counting and recording how many exercises each child could do in 100 seconds (one minute and 40 seconds).

At the end of the week, the class began to learn the words used to describe probability, or the description of an event happening or not. The words are: certain, likely, equally likely, unlikely and impossible.

Social Studies -   The students learned the history of Canada's Flag Day (February 15). This date is the "birthday" of the flag. It was first flown on February 15th, 1965, which makes the flag 55 years old.  The children also had a chance to create their own Canadian flags and learned the artist's trick of gluing an image to paper and cutting it out then flipping it over to show a clear shape. This helped each child to make a more accurate maple leaf shape to put in the middle of each of their flags. Did you know that the day the Canadian government decided on the new Canadian flag they didn't agree until 2:00 in the morning?

The children learned about the history of celebrating Valentine's Day on February 14th each year. The class talked about the different kinds of love in the world. For example, I love my children, but not in the same way that I love chocolate cake! The students created "mailboxes" by decorating paper bags with paper doilies and stickers. On Thursday, the children had a chance to deliver their valentines to their friends.

The class taped two episodes of The Room 222 Interview Show this week. We learned more about Mr. Culakovski and Ms. Bozzo. Both guests are vice-principals at our school. These videos can be seen in a separate posting.

Books read aloud this week:

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (chapter book - continued)
The 100 Shirts of Mr. Lee by Nancy Rawlinson
Our Flag - The Story of Canada's Maple Leaf by Ann Maureen Owens and Jane Yealland

Update from Ms. R 5II20

The homework for this week is to write a fiction story in the homework writing journal about the five cubes stamped at the top of the page. Some ideas the class had were: five magic dice, five cubes go into space or cubes used to make a house for one of the three little pigs. There is also a math worksheet reviewing 3D geometry concepts learned during the week. This homework is due on THURSDAY, February 13th (since Friday is a P. A. Day).

Parent Notes:

1. Valentine's Day - Our class will celebrate Valentine's Day on Thursday, February 13th, since Friday is a P. A. Day. A list of the first names of the children in our class were sent home with all students last Wednesday. I've asked the students that if they choose to send valentines to their friends, that they need to send valentines to ALL 23 students in our class, so that no child feels excluded. Please remember that our classroom is a FOOD FREE ZONE due to severe allergies in our class. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY FOOD OR CANDY TO SCHOOL FOR VALENTINE'S DAY. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact me.

2. Gum Day - On Monday, February 10th, the principal will allow students to chew gum. Since our class is a FOOD FREE ZONE, there will be no gum chewing allowed in our classroom. However, the children may chew gum at recess time. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact me.

Important dates:

February 14 - Parent-Teacher interviews (8:30 am - 3:30 pm)
February 14 - P. A. Day
February 17 - Family Day
March 16-20 - March Break

News for February 5

This three-day week, the students concentrated on 3D or three-dimensional geometry, learned how to revise their writing and reflected on the collage art they created last week.

Math -   The children continued to learn about 3D or three-dimensional figures. They learned the three main parts of the figures: faces, vertices and edges and how to count these accurately. They learned the names of common figures and how to identify them. The two major groups of polyhedrons are prisms and pyramids. Did you know that the rectangular prism is the most common 3D figure that humans make?

Using toothpicks (edges) and small spheres of plasticine (vertices), the students experimented and created their own 3D "skeletons". The class also learned about the icosahedron (20 faces), using a HUGE 3D skeleton model and how to count its. edges and vertices. Did you know that the more faces that a 3D figure has, the more the figure looks like a sphere?

Writing/Math -    The children wrote a reflection about the 3D skeletons that they made. First they identified the correct names of the prisms or pyramids, then they counted the faces, edges and vertices. Next they reflected on what was hard and what was easy about this project and why. Finally they wrote about what they would like to make next using toothpicks and plasticine.

Writing/Art -   The class finished their 2D symmetry collage art and then wrote reflections on how this art project was both a math activity and an art activity. These artworks and reflections are now on display on the bulletin board in our classroom.

Writing -   The students learned about how to revise their writing. After editing their work (correcting mistakes using pencil), the children should revise their writing (using coloured pencil) to make each sentence even better by adding more words to give the reader more information. For example, the sentence "I saw a cat." is correct, but by adding more words, "I saw a grey and white cat climb up a maple tree to chase a little squirrel.", the writer provides more details about the cat and what it was doing. Adding details makes writing more interesting to read.

The children are still working on their glovetopus chapter books and are expected to edit and revise their writing. Some children have already finished their books and are working on creating illustrations for their books.

Reading -   The class continued to listen to the adventures of Pippi Longstocking during our read aloud time. Listening to books read aloud helps children to practice their reading comprehension strategies of visualization and asking questions to help understand what is going on in the story, especially since chapter books contain few to no illustrations.

*** Due to time constraints, the Room 222 Interview was not filmed this week. Hopefully, we will be able to film two episodes next week.

Books read aloud this week:

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (chapter book - continued)

The Room 222 Interview Show!

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

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is for children to read the non-fiction text about octopuses and to answer the reading comprehension questions. There is also a math sheet reviewing the two-dimensional geometry concepts covered this week. This homework is due on or before Friday, February 7th.

Parent Notes:

1. Winter Clothing - The weather these days can be unpredictable. Please check the weather each morning and make sure your child has the appropriate winter gear to wear when outside. (Recall that children are expected to be outside for 15 minutes before school, 15 minutes at morning recess, 30 minutes at lunch recess and 15 minutes at afternoon recess.) Winter gear includes: winter jacket, snow pants, winter boots, hat (if the jacket has no hood) and mittens or gloves.

The guideline we use at school is, if the temperature is 0° Celsius or warmer, then wearing of snow pants is optional. Snow pants are also "warm and dry pants" and are not just for snow. Some children choose to wear nylon rain pants, if they find snow pants are too warm.

2. Illness - At school we teach the children to sneeze or cough into his/her elbow to decrease the spread of germs. We also have several boxes of tissues around the classroom for children to use whenever they wish. We are lucky to have a sink with soap in our classroom, that the students can access when they choose. There are also several bottles of hand sanitizer around the classroom for the children to use. As well, I give each child some hand sanitizer before recess snack time and before lunch time.

If your child is ill and will not be coming to school, you can email me or phone the school office at 416-393-0570.

Important dates:

February 7 - Davisville P. S. Skate Night at Hodgson Skating Rink  - 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
February 11 - LAST swim class for the current school year
February 14 - Parent-Teacher interviews (8:30 am - 3:30 pm)
February 14 - P. A. Day
February 17 - Family Day
March 16-20 - March Break

News for January 31

This week, the children began to plan and write their chapter books about their glovetopuses, learned about symmetry in math and we videotaped the first episode of The Room 222 Interview Show!

Math:   The class reviewed 2 D or two-dimensional geometry concepts by reviewing the names and properties of polygons. They practised sorting shapes when given a sorting rule (for example, "shapes with straight and curved sides"). Then the children learned about the concept of symmetry and the idea of a line of symmetry in animals and objects. Students learned how to use the math tool called a "mirra" (made of a type of clear, reflective plastic) to train their brains to recognize symmetrical objects, to identify lines of symmetry in an object and to draw and complete a symmetrical design (given one half of the design). At the end of the week, the class began to learn about 3 D or three-dimensional geometry.

Reading/Writing:   At the beginning of the week, the children wrote down in their journals their goals for term 2. They were asked for how they could personally improve their writing, their math skills and their interactions with other people.

The class discussed what is meant by a "chapter book" and how a chapter book is different from a picture book. The students then were guided to contribute to plan and write a three chapter book for my glovetopus named "Ollie". We also managed to use some of our octopus research in the story! Then the children began to plan and write their own chapter books based on the glovetopuses that each child made. In grade two, the concept of writing a chapter book is presented in an age-appropriate format. That means, three chapters where the first chapter introduces the characters and setting. The second chapter introduces the problem in the story and the third chapter presents the solution to the problem. Of course, the students are allowed to write as many chapters as they wish and are encouraged to write a longer, more detailed story, as I will be typing the good copies of these books.

Science:   The children began the unit on "Understanding Life Systems - Growth and Changes in Animals". Last week the students talked about how to research a topic. After generating questions about octopuses, we used text, video and google searches to answer these questions and through this process managed to learn additional facts, not covered by the initial questions. The students then each chose a fact and created a fact page for our newest class book, "Octopus Facts". Did you know that octopuses have 9 brains and smell with the ends of their arms?

Art:   The children finished their soft sculpture glovetopuses by sewing button eyes on them using a needle and thread and creating three blue paper hearts to put inside them. These are now on the students' desks to inspire them when writing their chapter books.

Later in the week the children used what they know about symmetry to create symmetrical abstract art out of coloured paper, using only a pair of scissors and glue. This project will continue next week.

Oral Communication and Media Literacy:   The class talked about another way to do research. If you want to know more about a person how would you find out? Could you read a book or google their names? Most people do not have a book written about them or an internet presence. So, the children discussed interviewing people. The children already had ideas about this as they have interviewed their parents for a previous class book. The class generated interview questions (for example, "What is your favourite animal? Why is it your favourite?) and a list of adults in our school that they wanted to learn more about. Our first guest was our school's principal, Mrs. Farrelly. This video can be viewed in a separate posting.

(Please know that we will do one interview each week for the next 12 weeks to allow every student in our class to have a chance to be an interviewer.)

Books read aloud this week:

Octopus Facts by Room 222
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (chapter book - to be continued)
Donut Chef by Bob Staake