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!

Decorating our Gingerbread Houses!

We have really enjoyed talking about our Holiday Traditions.  Christmas is such a magical time of year!  Its always fun to hear the students compare "naughty Elf on a shelf" stories and talk about the fun things they do with their families over the holidays.  A few years ago, I decided to start a 'holiday tradition' in my classroom.  I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to decorate a gingerbread house which is something that my own daughters have done (and continue to do) every Christmas.  I pre-assembled the houses so they would be sturdy enough to hold lots of goodies and then just enjoyed watching the students transform their houses. We were so proud of our creations! Thanks Grade 2 for helping me keep this tradition alive!  I hope those houses made it home in one piece!  LOL!  Merry Christmas to all!

Sights and Sounds of the Season!

Our classroom has been a very busy place.  We got our letters to Santa done and our Christmas countdown has been on since the first of December!  LOL!  We have been thinking about past Christmass' and various holiday symbols and traditions and practiced our oral communication skills as we each took turns presenting these to the class.   We have also learned about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa which are celebrated at this time of year!  Ask your child to tell you about these celebrations! We made 'Holiday' Cards and even some ornaments to give as gifts (these are coming home tomorrow....so no pictures of the finished products as I don't want to spoil the surprise).  We talked about how these ornaments are more precious than anything you can buy in a store because they are made with love. We have also enjoyed carol singing in the gym with the whole school!   Only two more crazy, fun-filled days remain before the break!  Fasten your seat-belt...it's going to be fun!  

Our Trip to the Library, Downtown and the Museum!

We had a great time yesterday!  First we walked to the Library and Karen read us some wonderful Christmas stories. After the stories we made a reindeer ornament and we enjoyed our pizza lunch.
Amy from the Museum met us at the Library and we started our walk downtown.  She showed us pictures of the old stores that used to be downtown and we tried to recognize some of those buildings today.  While we were downtown we even saw Santa!  At the Museum we saw old toys that boys and girls got as gifts in the olden days.  We even got to play with a couple of old toys (there was an old, tin cat that you wound up with a key...it was cool). We made a Christmas Card from old magazine pictures.
Special thanks to Mrs. Zulu, Mrs. Chateauvert and Mrs. De Vries.
Here are some of the things that the children had to say about our day:

I liked when we saw Santa. -Spencer, Owen
I liked the craft at the Library. - Maeve, Mark
I liked the tin cat! - Aiden, Ryan, Hayley, Dylan
I liked seeing all the old toys. -Dominic
I liked seeing the wooden, Jacob's ladder. - Lu, Andrea, Hayley
I liked trying to get the ball in the wooden cup. - Madison, Emma
I liked seeing the old snowmobile. - Landon, Graham
I liked seeing the two toy dolls. One was made of string and one was made of corn husks. - Whitney
I liked the toys that were on display at the Museum.  - Charlotte, Dylan

I liked seeing the smiling faces of these WONDERFUL students as they learned a little bit about our town and Christmas long ago.

Holiday Performance!

We hope you enjoyed our performance of Toys yesterday!  The dress rehearsal and the evening performance were both very well done!  Congratulations to all students who worked so hard to remember speaking parts and words to all songs.  Seeing their proud smiles and hearing their sweet singing voices was the perfect way to get everyone in the holiday spirit!

Polygon Power!

We have been exploring 2D shapes/polygons in our classroom using a variety of math materials.
Students have been especially focused on the geometric attributes of each shapes - the number of sides and the number of vertices that each shape has.

We know that all polygons have straight sides and are 'closed in'.
We know that polygons can be regular...with equal sides and anglesOR they can be irregular...with different length sides and angles.

We have noticed different kinds of triangles, but they ALL have 3 sides and 3 corners.
We were surprised by how many different shapes have 4 sides and 4 corners.  We learned that these shapes have specific names (square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, parallelogram) but that they are ALL called 'quadrilaterals' because they have 4 sides/corners.
We also learned the properties of pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons, nonagons and decagons.

As always, we are playing a lot of games and solving some fun polygon problems to reinforce new vocabulary and to provide practice identifying, creating, comparing and thinking about the 2D shapes.

Geometry is Great!

Super Skaters!

Our first trip to the Pyramid Center was successful.  Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to skate!  It was amazing exercise and a great chance to connect with friends from the other grade 2 classes!

Thank you so much to the parents who came to assist with tying/untying skates, snapping/unsnapping  helmets and helping both on and off the ice.  I certainly couldn't do it without you.

Our next skating date is Friday, December 15th  If you are able to help us either on or off the ice, please let me know! I would really appreciate the extra hands and eyes.  Many hands to tie skates enables us to get on the ice faster!  Thanks again!