The wonder of a child and snow

This little sweetie came to live in Canada on August 6th.  Imagine his delight in seeing and playing in snow for the first time on Monday morning!  I just had to capture his excitement!

Snow must still be on his mind because he handed me this drawing today!

Shake and rattle those bones!

We watched this great little video on SchoolTube to add to our scheme about skeletons.

Click on the words to view it yourself.

Using a little plastic skeleton found at the Halloween section at Dollarama, the students shared what they knew about skeletons already.

When they share together, it is possible that the students are sharing new knowledge for their peers.

Using some little colourful 'bones', the students had a chance to create and then read their own graph. Using the 'more than' and 'less than' symbols was new for them this year.

Many years ago this cute little project was one that I found in a magazine.  Imagine using Q-tips to create a skeleton.  It was a fun way to review the names of the bones that we had learned in the morning, such as clavicle, spine, skull and femur.

Each one has its own personality!

Meet our friend Frankie!

We read a cute little book about a new boy at school, then made pictures of him.  His name was Frankie!

This was an activity where the students were given the necessary materials, watched and listened to the directions and then tried it on their own.  There were no tracers involved!

Once Frankie was made, we tried to describe him using adjectives.  Adjectives are the words that add interest to what we are talking or writing about.  They describe things we can touch or label.  Those words are nouns.  The students wrote their adjectives using their red pens (oh joy!) and the nouns with their pencils.

A mini version of Frankie (thanks to an American blogger who shared this cute pattern) came home tonight to add some interest to Read to Someone.  After reading, the students are to draw what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the book.  They can also challenge themselves and write a sentence as well for each section.

It's a wonder we got anything done with all the excitement of going to our first swimming lesson of the year.  Look at the happy faces!

Here's a little boy who hasn't taken lessons before!  I can't even put my face in the water and here he is doing it on the first lesson!  Congrats!

The students really enjoyed their time at the pool!

After the tragedy of losing a member of our military on home soil yesterday, I would like to encourage all of my little ones to consider wearing red on Fridays, starting tomorrow and continuing throughout November.  They may not know the sad reason, but just showing that we are proud to be Canadians is a fine thing to know!

Your child might come and tell you that they did not do anything at school today!  Not quite true, but true in the sense that regular curriculum was put away today as they all were given the INSIGHT assessment, a new tool that all Grade 2 students in Elk Island Catholic Schools have been directed to complete.  The assessment is actually pre-recorded onto a DVD.  Using the SmartBoard and the computer, the students are given oral directions, examples and a count down timer is displayed.

Here's an example of what the SMARTBoard looks like with an appropriate answer being displayed for the students to see.

Each child has their own assessment booklet and their answers are recorded inside by filling 'bubbles' next to the chosen one, often using a multiple choice format or a yes or no format.

The children used 'offices to allow them to have a private spot to work in.

It was a long, long morning!

BUGS in my hair!

Here's a book you might want to see if you can sign out of the library.  It's a funny and non judgemental look at the reality of head lice, which often find their way into classrooms.

Had I known about their existence in our room before the end of the school day, I would have sent home the bright green pamphlets with your children today.  Another teacher suggested I needed to blog about it!  Hope you are all reading this post this weekend so that you can get a head start on treating the little guys!

I took a series of photos of the front of the pamphlet that gives you some information about the treatment.  Remember, the little bugs play no favourites and it is not a sign of uncleanliness to find that they have decided to invade your life!

It really is important that you begin treatment immediately and be diligent in searching for the little bugs and their eggs each and every day for at least a week.  Like fruit flies, they are not so very easy to eliminate.

With our impending swimming lessons, please ensure that you do not allow your child to share combs or brushes.  Hats should only be worn by your own child.  I suggest that all hats be given a thorough washing over the weekend as well.  I know that the health centre has great information, as do all of the pharmacies.  There are special kits that you can buy, and looking for the nits and removing them each and every day will make this 'little' problem go away much sooner!

Happy weekend!

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

On Wednesday we were welcomed along with another school from our community to our Catholic parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Because of the bishops' congregation, Father Pierre was our priest.

The church was full of children from the age of 5 to 10.  The sound of laughter and excitement was everywhere.  The 'Hymn Squad' from our school led the congregation in happy song!

The two littles ones from my class were so proud that they were able to receive Communion.  The rest of the children went up for a blessing.  It will be wonderful for the others when we return to mass  at the church closer to the end of the year, and they will also be able to fully participate.

Here are some of my lovelies from last year.  In Grade Four, the students receive their own Bible.  It is touched to their foreheads, mouth and chest so that the Word of God can be in their minds, on their lips, and in their hearts.

Back at school, the students are getting into the spirit of Halloween by studying bats.   They paired up and read some nonfiction books about these creatures.  As they found facts, they then added those facts to their sheet, and also added the page number from the book to prove that they could confirm the new learning.

They worked co-operatively and diligently!  This topic is proving to be a real hit with them all!