Feb 23-27, 2015

1. Swimming permission forms are being sent home today (Feb 24). Please fill out and return (with payment) by March 13. Please note that if you pay online, a receipt of payment will need to be sent. 

2. Wednesday Feb 25 is PINK SHIRT DAY. Students are encouraged to wear a pink shirt in recognition of no bullying. 

3. Scholastic Book orders are due on Thursday. Also there is an in-school field trip Thursday afternoon which will focus on Softball. A group from Softball Alberta will come in and work with the students for 1 hour. 

4. Spelling Test on Friday and Hot Lunch (Subway). I will not be here on Friday so there will be a Substitute here for me. There will be no assembly on Friday afternoon.

Once again, there are a lot of illnesses going around so I really encourage you to keep your child at home if he/she is experiencing symptoms. Ensure that your child is receiving enough sleep every night and eating healthy 'immune boosting' food, and daily vitamins never hurt. 

Language Arts

Writing-Students are learning to write 'convincing' writing. We have started to talk about gifts they would like to receive from a family member, but trying to think of ways to convince you to purchase the item for them.  (Please note, this is just a writing technique...you don't have to purchase anything for them!) Later this week we will be starting POETRY. This is the first time (this year) that the students will experience writing poetry. Our topic will be 'Winter Poetry'. We are going to start with Haiku poetry. This type of poetry has a 3-5-3 rule (3 syllables on the first line, 5 syllables on the second, and 3 syllables on the third line). The traditional Haiku follows the 5-7-5 rule, but we are adapting it for Grade 2. 

Reading-I have noticed a huge decrease in home reading sheets returning to school. I am hoping that students are still doing reading at home every night, however, I encourage you (and your child) to send the red duotangs back to school. We do quite a bit of individual and group reading at school, but students reading at home is a great way to demonstrate their ability to concentrate and recognize good areas around your home to read. 

Phonics-Last week we worked on high frequency words (only, even, laugh, own, their, might), and this week we are moving on to a new section: sounds of c/g, words with an 'le' ending, and compound words. This will take us into the next part of 'blends with consonants'. 

Math

We have been spending extra time working on fact families, addition and subtraction to 18, and understanding the "triangle rule". Have no clue what the triangle rule is?? Ask your child to explain it to you! Having them teach you about it demonstrates a higher level of understanding and is a great conversation starter with your child. 

In addition to the extra help with the above topics, we have been experimenting with measurement and using different instruments (pipe cleaners, straws, blocks, dice, etc) to measure larger objects. We are going to be working with objects that we only have 1 of, and the techniques used to measure with the one object. 

Social

Last week we spent quite a bit of time learning about the Canadian Flag, as it turned 50 years old on Feb 15. This week, the students will be researching different types of country flags and creating their own flag. 

Science

We have wrapped up our Hot and Cold unit and the students will have a final test on Thursday. Next week will begin our 'Exploring Liquids' unit. 

Before the long weekend starts...

Good Afternoon!
Here are some things before the long weekend starts (yes, Monday is Family Day and there is no school): 

1. Beginning next Tuesday, our school will be starting Tutti Fruitty Tuesdays. This means that all students are encouraged to bring any "fresh" fruit or vegetable to school. This does NOT include juice, gummies, apple sauce, or anything else packaged. This means REAL FOOD. Each Tuesday right before snack, a SWAT member will come to your class and ask "who has a fresh fruit or veggie in their lunch?" A tally will be recorded from each class each Tuesday. A grand total will be added up for the last week of March before Spring Break. There will be a "healthy" class prize to the class with the highest total. Ultimately this is clearly to encourage fresh fruit and veggies. 

2. Family Day. We are challenging our East Elementary Families to go 'unplugged' for Monday Feb 16. Everyone is asked to disconnect from technology for the day in order to reconnect with family, friends and community. Go for a walk, gather for a board game, eat dinner together, or play in the snow. 

Enjoy the long weekend :)

Feb 9-13, 2015

A 5 day week! We have been so lucky lately to have short weeks! Our class is gaining another person too! Mrs Pomeranz is going to be joining our class and sharing her time with the 2A class. She will be working with students one-on-one to help develop a variety of skills. We are so lucky to have her!

The Talent Show is coming up and students who were interested in participating took a permission form home on Monday. These forms are due back Wednesday Feb 11. 
Yearbook order forms are due back on Friday Feb 13. 
Our 2K Valentine's Day party will be on Friday morning (Feb 13).

Just a few reminders: 

-Please ensure your child is dressed for the weather. The kids got in the habit of wearing thin coats this week and with the cooler weather returning, they need to have the proper attire to go outside. 

-As the second half of Grade 2 is here, I encourage each student to take ownership of coming in the school and getting settled independently. Students should be able to put their backpacks and boots away, get the necessary items (agenda), go to the bathroom, and come to class without any assistance. Please assist me in this transition. 

-Ask your child if their indoor shoes fit. I find right after the holidays (especially in January) that students hit a growth spurt and usually need a new pair. 

LA

Writing-The theme of this months writing is "Gifts and Gift Givers". This week we are working on sentence writing (subject/predicate, capitalization, and punctuation), sorting details into main idea categories, and an introduction to suspense writing.

Spelling-Words are on the Blog with a test on Friday.

We will continue with our Story Prompt and Reading Comprehension. The emphasis is still on applying the lessons (from our writing) to our writing during Story Prompt.

If you have your child write for you at home, get them to edit their writing (focus on punctuation, capital letters, and spelling).

Math
Measurement: We have jumped right into our measurement unit by looking at calendars (focus on Months, Days, and a year in relation to each other). On Monday, we looked at using smaller items (straws, paper clips, blocks, ones cubes, etc) to measure other large items (window, carpet, desk, etc). Challenge your child to show you their measuring abilities at home!

Addition and Subtraction to 18-Although we have just begun this unit, it is a unit that continues on throughout the year. We are starting to look at the relationship between addition and subtraction. For example: 5+6=11 and 6+5=11 and 11-5=6 and 11-6=5. This is quite an abstract thought for most students. There is no overdoing this! Simple questions at home are a good review for them. By the end of Grade 2, students should be able to recall (from memory without any help) addition and subtraction to 12.

Science
We are wrapping up our Hot and Cold unit this week. Today we talked about hazards and rules of household items and situations (ex. BBQ, space heaters, hot tubs, the beach, etc) where we need to be cautious of temperatures. We will be looking at insulators later this week to determine which insulator is the best for hot and cold water.