WOW! Earth Day was such a success last week! The Grade 2 students went all day without turning on the lights, made pinecone bird feeders, created a 'tie dye world', and worked with the Grade 1 students to pick up garbage around our school yard! So AmAzInG!
Last week I sent out an email about bringing recyclable items to our classroom. I appreciate all that has come in, but we still need a little bit more! Please feel free to bring some extras in for our students to work with. Items can be: plastic, glass, styrofoam, bottles, cardboard, etc.
Library this week has been moved to Thursday, so please ensure that all books are back by then to ensure that your child can take out new books.
Language Arts
Over the past week, the students have been working on developing a fictional story (although some chose non-fictional). They had to plan it out (problem/adventure, characters, setting, etc), and have began their introduction to their story. This week we hope to develop our story even further and start the body.
We continue to work on our phonics, 6+1 Traits of Writing, story prompts, and reading comprehension. It is fantastic to see the students using their skills they are developing in Language Arts (writing component) transfer into their other writing (journals and story prompt).
I introduced a rubric (1-4 rating scale) that focuses on 5 aspects: sentence structure, punctuation, detail, overall structure, and overall appearance. The students self-evaluate their writing and are reminded of important parts throughout their writing. The students have really taken to having this assessment available and enjoy the immediate feedback.
Math
We are simultaneously working on our Addition and Subtraction to 18 and 100 (separate units). With addition and subtraction to 18, we have really been working with strategies to determine doubles (ex. 5+5), and doubles plus/minus one. In addition and subtraction to 100, we started to touch on addition equations that involve 'carrying'. As this is an important concept, we will be working on this quite a bit over the next week.
Science
Our Boats and Buoyancy unit will take full swing over the next two weeks. Students will be testing items to test their buoyancy, testing multiple items (put together), create a boat/flotation device, and test their boat (hold weight).
Social
Natural Resources has been our huge topic of discussion lately. What are they? Do all 3 communities have the same natural resources? What are the natural resources in each community? What do they use the natural resources for? Ask your child what natural resources are in Meteghan, Iqaluit, or Saskatoon...and how do they compare to Leduc?
Monday 27 April 2015
Wednesday 15 April 2015
April 13-17, 2015
Students are back in the swing of things and we are actually 'gaining momentum' through these last 2.5 months of school!
Swimming is happening 3 afternoons this week, so please make sure your child has their swim attire on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Wednesday: Swimming and Popcorn
Thursday: Swimming (Last Day)
Friday: Spelling Test, Hot lunch, and Scholastic Book Orders due
Language Arts
Writing-The students were introduced to Research last week. They responded to weather questions based on a research website about thunderstorms. We have also been discussing the difference between 'good paragraphs' and 'strong paragraphs' and what distinguishes the two. The theme for our writing (through April 23) is Weather.
Spelling-Last week and this week have been focused on ed/ing/est endings. This weeks' list is made up of words that have short vowel sounds with an ending.
6+1 Traits of Writing-We have been adding to our writing with this 6+1 Writing program. Parts of writing that we have been talking about are: focusing on one topic/story at a time, what makes a good ending, writing with a voice, and how our voice comes through writing.
Phonics-The students have been learning different ways to use the letter 'y', and its different sounds. The letter "Y" has two sounds when it is at the end of a word: I or E (ex. cry vs baby). Moving forward we will be looking at consonant digraphs (two consonants that together stand for one sound; ex. sh, th, wh, ch; ex shells, choose, the, why)
Home Reading-I am noticing the Red Duotangs return to school less and less, but I am hoping that your child is still doing home reading :)
Math
We are still working on addition and subtraction to 18. These math facts need to be answered immediately without any assistance (using fingers, manipulatives, hundreds chart, etc).
We have started our addition and subtraction to 100 unit as well. The students are being exposed to different ways of adding 10s to a number (ex. 19+10; 19+50) and different strategies to determine the answer. Most adults were taught the vertical addition, and although that is successful, students are being exposed to different routes of providing the same result.
Science
We spent quite a bit of time on the past unit 'Exploring Liquids', and that is a tie-in to our next unit "Boats and Buoyancy". The students got a little intro to this unit when we went to the Telus World of Science, but they will be able to explore with different materials as to what helps an item float or sink. This unit will continue through most of April.
Social
"Looking at Work" will be our next major unit. We will be spending some time looking at different occupations, natural resources, and other defining characteristics of the 3 communities (Meteghan, Iqaluit, and Saskatoon) as well as our own community of Leduc.
This unit will continue most of April.
Swimming is happening 3 afternoons this week, so please make sure your child has their swim attire on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Wednesday: Swimming and Popcorn
Thursday: Swimming (Last Day)
Friday: Spelling Test, Hot lunch, and Scholastic Book Orders due
Language Arts
Writing-The students were introduced to Research last week. They responded to weather questions based on a research website about thunderstorms. We have also been discussing the difference between 'good paragraphs' and 'strong paragraphs' and what distinguishes the two. The theme for our writing (through April 23) is Weather.
Spelling-Last week and this week have been focused on ed/ing/est endings. This weeks' list is made up of words that have short vowel sounds with an ending.
6+1 Traits of Writing-We have been adding to our writing with this 6+1 Writing program. Parts of writing that we have been talking about are: focusing on one topic/story at a time, what makes a good ending, writing with a voice, and how our voice comes through writing.
Phonics-The students have been learning different ways to use the letter 'y', and its different sounds. The letter "Y" has two sounds when it is at the end of a word: I or E (ex. cry vs baby). Moving forward we will be looking at consonant digraphs (two consonants that together stand for one sound; ex. sh, th, wh, ch; ex shells, choose, the, why)
Home Reading-I am noticing the Red Duotangs return to school less and less, but I am hoping that your child is still doing home reading :)
Math
We are still working on addition and subtraction to 18. These math facts need to be answered immediately without any assistance (using fingers, manipulatives, hundreds chart, etc).
We have started our addition and subtraction to 100 unit as well. The students are being exposed to different ways of adding 10s to a number (ex. 19+10; 19+50) and different strategies to determine the answer. Most adults were taught the vertical addition, and although that is successful, students are being exposed to different routes of providing the same result.
Science
We spent quite a bit of time on the past unit 'Exploring Liquids', and that is a tie-in to our next unit "Boats and Buoyancy". The students got a little intro to this unit when we went to the Telus World of Science, but they will be able to explore with different materials as to what helps an item float or sink. This unit will continue through most of April.
Social
"Looking at Work" will be our next major unit. We will be spending some time looking at different occupations, natural resources, and other defining characteristics of the 3 communities (Meteghan, Iqaluit, and Saskatoon) as well as our own community of Leduc.
This unit will continue most of April.
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