A Little Bit of Everything.....

In small groups, the students explored three dimensional objects.  An excellent question to ask would be What is the difference between two dimensional shapes and three dimensional objects?  There are so many important vocabulary words to understand in the area of geometry.  Sometimes the students can be confused because the words begin with the same letter, or because the words have similar endings.

The students were challenged to come up with ways that they would sort these objects and then defend their reasons that the sorting rules worked.

Three dimensional objects are classified using the number of faces, edges and vertices that they possess.  What is the singular of vertices? (Hint:  answer is above!!)  I am challenged to keep the terms correct when I speak as well.  For example, if I were talking about a square I might ask "How many sides does this shape have?" but if I held up a cube, I would ask "How many edges does this object have?" instead.

The supper table homework for this evening was to ask an adult the following "How many faces does a sphere have?"  It will be interesting to find out what answers the students will report they received on Monday!

It's almost time to take down our 'tooth' work display but I did want to share the students' work about the Tooth Fairy.  Each student filled out an application in case the tooth fairy retired and they needed a replacement.  They then wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy, exchanged letters with a classmate and finally, wrote a letter back to their friend, as if they were writing the letter as the Tooth Fairy.  Each child looked their work over and completed a rubric, self evaluating their ability to write a letter properly.

There are male Tooth Fairies, by the way!

Last night, our school held their Open House.  We are working hard to entice more Catholic children to attend our school.  These sweeties told our visitors about our Character Education program.  Isn't it amazing that there just happened to be six pillars in our hallway that I could paint to match the six pillars of character in our program?  God works in such amazing ways!

Somehow the purple (citizenship) pillar is not in the photo, but the others are, as follows:

red(caring), orange (fairness), green (responsibility), yellow (respect) and blue (trust).  I love that I was able to convince the school administration that our students needed to have a T-shirt to wear on spirit days.  The front says "JV Pride" and the back says "JV A Great Place to Be  Where Character Counts!"

These darlings worked in the library, allowing visitors to make "Cat in the Hat" treats using cookies, icing and gummy lifesavers!  I've known the sweetie with the long hair since she was a preschooler, coming in to my classroom when her older brother was in Grade Three.  Can't believe how our little ones all grow up!

Important Information

We found out yesterday that all of our plans for Track meet need to revamped because our actual date is now WEDNESDAY, MAY 2nd, 2012. We appreciate all the forms that have already been filled out and returned, but for legal reasons, if the date is incorrect the note is void.  For those who are coming to our Open House here at the school tonight, Wednesday, April 25, 2012, please drop by and change the date on the form and initial.  Those who have not ordered lunch for your child yet, tomorrow is the LAST day to do so because of the need to let the Knights of Columbus know how much food to order and prepare.  Thanks for getting all of the forms back to us.  Because of the change of date, please confirm that you are able to still come and volunteer for the day.  The Track Meet cannot run without our dedicated parent volunteers.  We thank you for your continued support and involvement!

Learning the "tooth"

Sometimes it is the simple things that make the greatest impact.  The students marveled at our model of a tooth, which was simply a hard boiled egg. The shell of the egg related to the enamel on our teeth, which we want to keep clean. We even tried to brush it!

How did it get to be so dirty?  The egg on the left was left in juice for about 12 hours, the middle egg in coca cola and the last one on the right is just a simple hard

boiled egg.  The students were amazed that the coca cola would stain the egg so quickly.  They learned that if they did not brush their teeth, the germ would attach themselves and create plaque that could lead to cavities.  We could not really get that egg clean even with toothpaste!  

In the second 'eggs'periment, a hard boiled egg was left in a bowl with vinegar overnight.

The students again were amazed that the vinegar broke down the shell enough that they could 'squish' it with their fingers.  Vinegar is acidic and this reminds the students that acidic foods must be brushed off our teeth just like sugary foods.  They learned that the enamel on our teeth is the hardest substance in our bodies, even harder than our bones, but that the enamel still needs our help to keep it clean and healthy so that we can keep our teeth for our lifetime!

Bringing geometry to life

One of the important aspects of the way we teach mathematics today is that we try to relate what is happening in the classroom to real world applications.  Two dimensional geometry can be seen at play in the world of quilting (along with estimation, measurement and pattern).  The children 'oohhhhed' and 'aahhhhed' as they unfolded the quilt that my own grandmother made for me almost 3 decades ago.  There was so much to talk about!

The next day, two of the girls shared their own quilts, one through pictures and this little one by bringing it into class!  Hers was made by her great grandmother!  What a treasure!

Using the squares and the triangles that are created from the squares, each child was invited to make a 'paper quilt.'  What aspect of pattern is amiss in this example and the other one below?

This student took a chance but didn't plan out the layout before gluing and now is struggling to fill in the areas with either squares or triangles.  Sometimes it is the mistakes in life that teach us our greatest lessons!

Today was a good day!

The staff at Jean Vanier Catholic School LOVE our parents who support the learning in the classroom, the need for fundraising, and the family that we have become.  To say 'thank you' in a meaningful way, we offered a hot cup of coffee (donated by Starbucks! THANK YOU!) and some little delicious pastries to those who dropped their children  off for school.  Those who could, came inside where the library was all sent up (and warm!) for the chance to partake and visit!

Some just had to drive through, though, as they were on their way to work!  We thank you all!

In mathematics, we are being a study of shapes (geometry) and learning a whole new vocabulary!

Do you know what a parallelogram or a rhombus is?  Ask and the Grade 2 students will tell you!

The students are currently working on taking a square, folding it on the diagonal, cutting it into 2 triangles, and then using 4 of those triangles to create a new shape.  Wow!  Geometry requires a good understanding of the vocabulary used!

We have been combining our health and language learning lessons.  Today we finished writing directions on how to properly clean our teeth.  All students should be reaching their writing targets independently now.  That means that capital letters begin a sentence, punctuation ends a sentence, the majority of words are spelled correctly, joining words are not used to begin a sentence, adjectives are added, sentences vary in structure and paragraphs can be attempted.

Can you guess what we used to create the model of our teeth as we flossed?

First Communion

The first of our little angels received her First Holy Communion tonight!  May her relationship with Our Lord continue to be strengthened as she continues on her faith journey!

Solving problems is what mathematics is all about!

What some of you might not know is that I have a younger brother whose older son is in Grade Two.  Recently, my brother called and asked if I "understood the new math"?  I laughed!  There is nothing new  about math.  What is new is that the students are not taught only one method to find an answer.  Instead, the students are encouraged to explore possibilities, play with numbers, look for strategies that are efficient, and most importantly, understand the meaning of numbers.

Seldom are the students asked to find the answer.  Instead, they are asked to solve a problem.  It might sound like semantics, but there is an underlying message.  I want the students to feel comfortable with the process of trying to solve a problem, rather than worry about getting a correct answer.

Today we met for our 'math congress' which basically is an opportunity for us to share, safely, as a group, the manner in which a problem was attempted to be solved.  It never ceases to amaze me how deeply and richly the students think when they are not tied to following one particular way to do things!  In the photo above, the girl was demonstrating how she figured out how much money would be needed to buy 17 party hats, it each one cost 15 cents.  Look at her rich understanding of numbers, as she added 15 to each previous number to create a counting or number line:  15, 30, 45, 60. 75. etc.  She did it!

We shared our different ways to try this problem.  What 5 coins could you use to equal 45 cents?

Note the thinking here:  This child didn't need to count each dime, instead recognizing 4 X 10 is 40!  He was multiplying and didn't even now it!

No child is ever reprimanded for mistakes.  One of our beliefs in our math community of learners is that WE LEARN FROM MISTAKES.  This gal didn't  realize that she had only used 4 coins, or that they added to 50 cents until she shared.  It was the perfect opportunity to reinforce that once a solution is figured out, the student should go back and check it again. By doing this is a group setting, all of the students got the benefit of hearing this valuable feedback.

Sharing is encouraged and valued.  When one student is 'stuck', the others volunteer to 'whisper in his/her ear', allowing one student to practise their learning, and the other to have 'a hand up' to assist them in being successful.

How would you count out 6 coins to equal 55 cents?  We found more than one way!

This little guy choose one nickel, then five dimes.  The next girl wanted to share her idea which was 5 dimes, then one nickel.  Again it was a wonderful opportunity for the group to be reminded of the associative property, not that they heard that big fancy word.  It means that I can add the same numbers in different order and still arrive at the same sum.

The minute this girl put down her coins, she said "Oh no!  I see what I forgot!  I needed 6 coins!"

Learning from our own mistakes, or those of others, really moves our own learning forward.  It was a great day in math and each of the students agreed, almost crawling over each other to be the next to share!  This new math is creating students who aren't afraid of numbers and don't say "I don't get it" quite as often!

The Last Supper

                    May the joy of the Risen Lord be with all of you!

Using a project found on the Catholic Icing blog , the students learned about the Last Supper, the Passover meal that Jesus and His Disciples ate before Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  We referred to the painting by Leonardo da Vinci and noted that the men were in groups of three to represent the Holy Trinity.  They learned the names of the men, recognized that they could imagine what the men were thinking by their arm gestures, and recognize some of the desciples by what was in their hands.

I hope that this child-friendly version of The Last Supper takes 'pride of place' on your Easter Sunday table

and that Jesus, Our Risen Lord and Saviour, takes His place within your heart!

A picture is worth a thousand words

Yesterday, we heard what would happen to our part of the world overnight.  We now know that the groundhog's prediction was true...we did have 6 more weeks of winter!  What we didn't know was that we actually are onto our 10th more week of winter!

Here's my vehicle before I left for school....can't even see what colour it is meant to be!

The front of the school at around 11:00 a.m.

A view of the school drop-off zone in the parent parking area!

BUT...I'll take the snow rather than tornadoes, any day!

A swimming we will go.....

What a great morning the students in our class had as they worked swimming at their individual level.  Some worked on their floating, 

on their ability to keep their head under water, and

on keeping their arms straight during a swimming stroke.

Look at those happy faces!

They will be swimming every Tuesday morning, as part of their physical education program until the end of May.  Feel free to come and watch!