River Safety

Thank you Maranda for coming into our classroom to teach us about 'River Safety'.

*We discussed the places where water runs in St. Marys and how quickly the water flows at this time of year when snow has melted and there is lots of rain.

*We learned that our Watershed is the place where all the streams and creeks in the area join the Thames river

*We read a story about Splish and Splash - two water droplets that travel through the water cycle.

*We were reminded that water is very cold at this time of year.
*We discussed why rivers overflow  and cause flooding.
*We discussed that water is usually deepest in the springtime.

Most importantly, we learned HOW TO STAY SAFE NEAR RIVERS AND STREAMS!
Here are some safety rules:
*Don't go near the water without an adult. Keep a safe distance from the water.
*Avoid slippery rocks near the river edge.  You could slip on them and fall into the water.
*avoid flooded areas
*avoid waterfalls
*Stay away from dams - the water flows very fast in these areas when they open the gates.
*Stay off frozen rivers/streams especially when the weather warms up.  It's not strong enough to support a person. The water is cold and it is difficult to get out if you fall through the ice. An adult will help you know when ice is strong enough for skating.

We played a game to get us thinking about all the plants and animals that live in our watershed area.  Students had to listen to clues and fit a puzzle piece into a giant puzzle of our watershed.  These are some things that live in our watershed area:
cat tails, frogs, herons, snails, geese, turtles, fish

These living things need our water to be clean. So remember...  "nothing but rain should go down the drain".

At the end of the presentation we played splish - splash bingo to see if we could figure out whether people were being safe around rivers and streams or not.

Wonderful Water!

We have had a lot of great discussion in our room about WATER! We know animals, plants and humans need it to survive, but we hadn't realized how many things we actually use water for. We thought about the sources of water on Earth and considered ways that we could be smarter about how we use water so that we aren't wasting it. We also learned about the water cycle. We created posters to teach others about this cycle and practiced explaining the water cycle to our friends. Ask your child to explain the water cycle to you. Listen for the key words: evaporation, condensation, precipitation!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

On March 2nd, we celebrated Dr. Seuss's Birthday in our classroom.  

*We noticed features of Dr. Seuss's books (rhymes, nonsense words, funny characters) and had fun making as many rhyming words as we could.
*We played a fun Dr. Seuss themed math game that helped us practice our adding facts and coloured a 'hidden picture' to reveal one of Dr. Seuss's famous characters!
*We read Dr. Seuss books with a buddy and read a short biography about Dr. Seuss to learn more about this famous author.
*We also read my favourite Dr. Seuss book, "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are".  After reading the book (and laughing at the pictures), we discussed all the things that we are lucky to have and the things we are lucky we don't have to worry about!
The writing we did on this topic was a pleasure to read.  We really are a lucky bunch! 

Clock Craze!

By the end of Grade 2, students should be able to tell and write time to the quarter hour and should also be able to solve problems involving the relationships between minutes and hours, hours and days, days and weeks and weeks and years, using a variety of tools (clocks, calendars).

We have been working on some of these expectations in our class.  We have played on 'Jungle Time' which is an amazing time-telling app.  We have done clock matching puzzles, many 'math on the move' games,  a 'Crazy Clock Booklet' and some partner problem solving using our 'learning clocks'.

We have really improved at reading/telling and recording times.  We are still practicing our ability to apply this skill to solve time problems.

You can help at home by asking your child to figure out problems like the one we did in class today:

Mr. Stacey dropped his truck off at the garage to get fixed at 9:00 this morning.  It needs the brakes repaired and the oil changed.  The mechanic said it will take 2 hours and 30 minutes to fix the brakes and 30 minutes to change the oil.  What time can Mr. Stacey pick up his truck?  

Have fun creating your own 'time problems'. 

February = Family and Friends!

We hope everyone enjoyed their Family Day!  At school, we enjoyed learning a bit more about your families and talked a bit about how all families are different.  Students wrote about the people in their families and shared this information orally.  We also spent some time learning more about our friends.  Each student had the opportunity to interview a classmate to find the answers to a set of questions.  They wrote what they had learned about their friend and shared this with the rest of the class!  Great writing and oral communication practice!

Wildwood!

We had a fun morning at Wildwood despite the wet weather.  This was supposed to be our 'Winter' visit to the forest, but it actually looked and felt more like early spring.  Special thanks to all the adults who joined us to help supervise this excursion.  Here are some things we did that morning:
*We read a story by the fire.
*We went on a hike through the forest...watching out for the slippery, wet parts of the path.  A deer trail kept us in a single file.
*While hiking, we noticed things that Maranda put rope loops around....we saw a lot of scat!
*We fed the birds....who were likely grateful because finding food at this time of year can be difficult.
*We made shelters for animals using natural materials and thought about how challenging this must be for animals who stay and adapt in the winter.
*We played a camouflage game which also got us thinking about how smaller animals have to hide to stay alive.

Our next visit to the forest is in May.  We can't wait to see what the forest looks like then!

Valentine's Day

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone!  We enjoyed some special activities in our class to help us celebrate friendship. Here is a glimpse of some of the fun things we did in Grade 2 on February 14th!  

*We mailed and enjoyed looking at the Valentines we had received from our friends.

*We estimated, sorted, tallied and graphed the Smartie Box Valentine from Mrs. Stacey and then we ate our smarties!

*We played some fun Valentine games involving words (ABC order) and a fun Valentine Math game that was similar to tic tac toe but involved even more strategic planning to win!   

*We did some Valentine problem solving with a partner.  

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!  

Humane Society Visit

Humane Society Visit

Thank you to the Humane Society for visiting us today with 'Buddy' a beautiful, calm teaching dog.  Here are some things we did during our visit.
*We checked out the Humane Society Adoption Center on their website to see animals that were looking for homes.
*We learned that you can visit the Humane Society during March Break for special activities and can even hold your birthday party there if you really love animals.
*We learned rules for pet owners (stoop and scoop, leash law).
*We learned how to take care of pets by providing for them, protecting them and preventing unwanted 'litters'.
*We learned how to approach a dog that we don't know and everyone got to pet Buddy!

Here are some tips:
Never approach a dog that you don't know- leave it alone.
We learned that we should always ask an owner if we can touch their dog.
When touching a dog, curl your fingers underneath so that the animal can't bite fingers.
Stand beside the dog and let it sniff you.
Stroke the chin, chest or back.....NEVER the head.

After this visit, we were inspired to think about other ways animals help humans. We read books about animals that help people and also discussed how animals can harm people. We had a debate in our class about the best pet to get.  We read books about different kinds of pets (cats, dogs, fish or rabbits) and wrote reasons to support our opinion on which pet is best.  The students had some very convincing arguments.  

Pancake Day!

We certainly enjoyed 'Pancake Day' in Grade 2.  We read a wonderful book to get us started and then we followed a recipe to make pancakes right in our classroom.  Students enjoyed mixing the ingredients and watching the process from start to finish.  We even practiced our 'procedural writing' by recording the recipe and including step by step directions.  Even though we had made pancakes in our class, we hadn't had enough, so we also got to eat the pancakes that had been made by our Parents In Action.  Both batches of pancakes were delicious!  Thank you to this amazing team of adults for the yummy treat!  

Buoyant Boats!

Earlier this month, students applied their knowledge of buoyancy to create a boat out of modelling clay.  Each student was given the same amount of clay.  Initially, we noted that the clay would sink, but with some creative changes, students could alter it's 'shape and density' to make it float.  The goal was to create a boat that would float and hold a number of gems before sinking. 

After our initial testing, students were encouraged to change their boat design in order to improve its performance.  Many students were able to use their knowledge and observations of more successful boats to successfully change their boat.  We had a lot of fun cheering for each other.  Eventually, everyone managed to create a boat that would float!  Great job everyone!Ministry Expectation:  

By the end of Grade Two, students will :
-use technological problem-solving skills and knowledge acquired from previous investigations, to design, build, and test a structure that involves interactions between liquids and solids (e.g., an object that floats)
Sample guiding questions: What did you build? How does it use the properties of liquids and solids? What changes might you make based on the testing that you did on your object? Who might find this information useful? 

Matter, Money and More!

Even though it was only a four day week, we managed to get lots accomplished in our classroom. Unfortunately, that nasty flu bug took me down and I missed some of the fun on Wednesday and Thursday, but I did manage to capture the students working hard on Monday and Tuesday. Here are some highlights:

*We read a great book called 'Brave Irene'. We looked for evidence in the text to prove Irene was brave. Along the way, we discovered more qualities of this character and wrote about her.
*We have been talking about money, counting coins and playing various money games to strengthen our understanding of the relationship between coins. We have noticed the importance of knowing how to count by 5s and 10s when we need to count nickels and dimes. Using a hundred board to help has made this easier for some.
*We tested different solids to see which ones would absorb water and which would repel water.
* We learned that buoyancy refers to whether something will sink or float. We predicted and tested many different materials to determine if they were buoyant or not. We learned that matter that is more dense than water will sink and matter that is less dense will float.