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.

Weekly Update!

Another week jam-packed with amazing learning. Here's what we've been up to:

*We spent much of our writing time this week practicing "how to" writing. We learned to be very specific so that our readers would be able to follow our directions easily.
*We wrote the steps to building a snowman, how to make a gas and how to make oobleck.
* We enjoyed watching the Live Performance of 'The Lorax' at DCVI. We wrote a review of this performance to give specific reasons why we thought it was successful (costumes, voice, sounds etc.).
*We observed solids that dissolved in liquids.
*We observed water in all three states of matter- solid, liquid and gas.
*We made a gas.
*We made oobleck by mixing a liquid and a solid.
*We found patterns on the hundred chart and practiced counting by 5's and 10's.
*We practiced our basic adding and subtracting facts using efficient strategies.
*We enjoyed an outdoor learning opportunity with Maranda from Wildwood. We showed her around our playground using our owl eyes to keenly observe.  We reviewed how animals adapt to winter (stay and adapt, migrate, hibernate) and played predator vs prey.

New Year - New Learning!

Even though it was only our second week back after holidays, we were very busy in Grade 2!
We have set goals as a class and are working hard to achieve them.
**We help each other keep the room tidy.
**We encourage each other to listen attentively during group discussions to save time.
**We support each other  in small groups and partner situations in all subject areas.

This past week, we accomplished a lot.  Some of the activities we have been working on are listed below:
* We designed snowmen and practiced using adjectives to describe our snowman so that others would be able to pick our snowman from a lineup!
*We continued exploring symmetry by learning how to find the line of symmetry using a mira or paperfolding.  We also practiced drawing on the line of symmetry and tried making designs that had more than one line of symmetry.
*In Science, we learned more about the properties of liquids and solids.  We looked closely at liquids to determine if they were thick (slow moving) or thin (quick moving).  We mixed liquids with other liquids and learned that not all liquids will mix together.  Some will separate after a few minutes.
*We watched short video of "The Lorax" in preparation for going to DCVI on Jan. 23rd.  We created our own Truffula trees in Art using a variety of textures.  Ask your child to tell you the rules for shopping at our "Texture Store".
*We talked about what we would do to save the trees and recorded our ideas on the page that the students from DCVI gave us.
*We continued our 'Maps and Globes' unit which had been started before the holidays.  We reviewed the continents and oceans.  We remembered that the continent we live on is called North American.  We started to have a closer look at Canada.  We learned that Canada is made up of Provinces and Territories and we used a printed map to label each part of Canada on a blank map.  This was tricky, but we all did it by helping each other!

Hold onto your hats....we have lots more learning  to do before the month is over!

Happy New Year! Welcome Back!

We have had a great start to 2018 in our classroom.  We have been very busy in room 115!  Here are some of the things we have been up to this week:
*We enjoyed talking and writing about our holidays and we also wrote about our goals and resolutions for 2018.
*We played language and math games in small groups and with partners to practice various skills and also remind ourselves how to collaborate effectively with others.
*We talked about symmetry and made symmetrical designs using pattern blocks, geoboards and grid paper.
*We went skating!
*We started a new science unit about 'Matter'.

We are happy to be back at school, learning and playing together.  2018 is going to be a fantastic year!