Monday September 30

Today we celebrated Orange Shirt Day.

We listened how shi-shi-etko gathered memories of her home, family and place before she had to go off to a residential school.  We then had a chance to share about what we have heard so far.

In math we continued using the beaded number lines to solve problems. Here are some examples.

We continued developing the concept of being connected with others by using Google Earth to look at how big Canada is.  We identified three parts of Canada that we will be learning more about this year.

We are reviewing the Zones of Regulation.  It's important to be aware of your emotions and what you can do to make sure you are in the Green Zone and ready to learn at school.  Today we looked at the Blue Zone and started a visual journal page.

Today was our first day with snow and we were all super excited.  Some students had a hard time staying only on the snow and there were a few that got muddy.  The ground is not frozen yet.  Please ensure students have extra clothes or at least socks in their bags. 

Important dates for this month;

Oct. 10 - Fun Lunch - Chopped Leaf

Oct. 11 - Non- Instructional day

Oct. 14 - Thanksgiving

Oct. 16 - Picture Day

Oct. 25 - Fun Lunch - Little Caesars

Oct. 31 - Early Dismissal

Nov. 1 - Non-Instructional day 

Friday September 27

Monday is Orange Shirt Day

We will talk more about residential schools and how fortunate we are today.

We read this book today and started a discussion:

We worked with the beaded number lines this morning.

After Phys. ed this morning we had a chance to complete some of our work from earlier in the week.

We have been inspired by the book Beautiful Oops. 

Today we use dour imaginations to create art from paint spills.

Reminders:

Monday is Orange Shirt Day - wear one if you have one or something orange.  Please don't feel the need to buy a new shirt for this day.

Please dress for the weather.

Next week is October - Important October dates are now available on our school website.

Thursday September 26

Thank you to those who came out to enjoy the Terry Fox run with us and those sending a donation.  

Today in Rooms 126/127:

Students worked on making the big word Contests and found different word families and words that would fit.

We read this book and learned how you can sometimes make Text-to-Self connections while reading.  This is a comprehension strategy - it helps you understand.

We also had fun doing a free write in our journals.

In Math:

We are learning how to use our beaded number lines to help us understand numbers up to 100.  Here are some of the tasks we tried out.

Students continued to explore how we are connected by looking at Google Earth and creating this visual journal page.  We are working on understanding the difference between being part of:

- a community

- a city

- a province

- a country

- and the world.

In Health we learned that fair doesn't always mean that things will be equal.  Fairness means treating people according to their needs.

Please remember to dress for the weather as things continue to change outside.

Wednesday September 25th

Today we learned how Terry Fox decided to run across Canada to help raise money so that scientist could find better medicine to help people who are sick with cancer. Then we participated in the Terry Fox run to show our support.

In writing we took the opportunity to reflect on the Terry Fox run and why we had participated. Ask me about what I wrote.

During math we began to work with the beaded number lines we made yesterday. Here are some of the task cards we worked on together. We also practiced counting by 10's to quickly make the numbers. Try skip counting with me tonight. If counting by 10's from 10 is easy challenge yourself and try starting at 2 or 7 to count by 10's.

 

In social we continued to work on our community flip books. Today we completed My City and My Province. Ask me about some of the things that are unique to Calgary and Alberta.

Reminders:

Orange shirt day is on September 30th. Please remember to wear orange to show your support.

Tuesday September 24

Important Notice:

Dear Parents,

Due to rain and snow being forecasted for Thursday and Friday this week, we have decided to reschedule our Terry Fox Run for Wednesday, September 25th.  We will begin with a brief assembly and warm-up in the gymnasium at 9:00am, before heading out as a school to run around the New Brighton Pond.  Parents are also welcome to participate with us, if they choose.

If parents wish to donate $20 or more there is a pledge form on my blog:   https://nbsphysicaleducation.blogspot.com/ that they can fill out for a tax receipt.

We are also collecting Toonies for Terry in our classroom.

 We started our day reviewing blends and worked in pairs to brainstorm words starting with different blends.  Ask me about the song we listen to called - What is a Blend?  

Two letters make two sounds.

We also reviewed the strategy - Stretch and Blend when reading - we practiced this strategy when rereading the book Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully.

This was also our inspiration for writing about a time when we thought we had a problem but things worked out and we were worried for nothing.  Sometimes a problem brings along an opportunity.

We are working on becoming 

accurate

flexible

efficient 

when solving mental math questions.

The strategy we are using this week is to decompose numbers to help us make a ten.  

8 + 2 = 10

therefore 

8 + 6 = 14

Why?

we can decompose the number 6 into 2 + 4 

W can use the 2 to make a ten

8 + 2 = 10

and then we just need to add the 4 to get 14.

In science we did a check in to help us determine what we still want to find out about magnets.  We also started working in our Visual Journals on creating a special flip book to show how we are connected to others.

Reminders:

- Fun Lunch this coming Thursday

Monday September 23

Today while reading STUCK we practiced the accuracy strategy flip the vowel sound. Then during read to self we practiced using this strategy to check that we where reading the words accurately. Ask me about the book we read and what happened. Hint: items kept getting stuck in the tree. 

In writing we thought about problems we have and how we could turn our problems into opportunities. You can have a conversation with me about problems I might encounter and how these give me an opportunity to do something nice for someone or to learn something.

During math, we practiced counting to 10 and by 10's to make a 100 bead string for a tool in our classroom that we can use during math.

In the afternoon we had word work and practiced making words with the following letters. Our words used the vowels e and o today. Ask me about their sound and some of the words I can make with the following letters:

We also wrote the following letter to Ms. Spence to learn more about her job. We are waiting for a response.

Dear, Mrs. Spence

This is Ms. MacDonald’s and Mrs. McDougall’s grade 2 class. We are learning about the different people who make up our school community. We noticed that you help clean the school, take the balls of the roof, fix our lights, shovels when it snows and puts up the flag. We were wondering what else you do for your job? We were also wondering if you have any problems that you have to figure out how to solve? We are so excited to hear about your job maybe we can even help you with some of your problems.

From,

The M & M class

Then in science we watch a video about magnets and took some notes to help us remember the important information.

Reminders:

Terry Fox Run: Is on Thursday September 26th starting with an brief assembly at 9:00 am. Students may bring a Toonie for Terry or if parents wish to donate $20 or more there is a pledge at the following link  https://nbsphysicaleducation.blogspot.com/ 

Thursday September 19

We practiced placing numbers on a number line and then used number lines to add and subtract.  We also chose a challenge number how in different ways.

Busy Beaver caused many problems but that gave him the opportunity to fix things and show kindness to his friends.

We have been reviewing how to form letters appropriately.  Today we got to be the teachers during Morning Message and help Mrs. McDougall fix her messy printing.

Reminders:

Conferences: Thank you to everyone who has signed up for conferences. If you haven't had a chance please sign up as soon as possible.

No School tomorrow - Sept. 20

Book Fair: Will be running during conferences

Terry Fox Run Sept 26th

Fun Lunch - Healthy Hunger link on the school website

Wednesday September 19

During table time we used number dot cards and worked to organize the number dot cards to create a number line. We had to problem solve and think about how we could show 4 even if we where missing the number four. 

 For our read aloud today we read The WORST Day of My Life EVER and practiced sounding out words by stretching out the word and looking at the beginning and ending sound. We learned that it is important to look at the person when we are listening and follow through with the instructions.

During social we worked together to sort some of the people in our school and discussed how we are a community. We began wondering about what the people in our school do for their jobs and decided that we would need to ask them.

In science we learned about how magnets are used every day. Ask me about some of the magnets I learned to use. You can also take sometime to think about the magnets you have around the house and how they are used.