'Tis the Season!

Happy birthday to our little girl angel who turned 8 years old on Friday!

These two models are showing you all that the Grade two classes are going to be angels at the Christmas concert on December 10th.  When I was at Jean Vanier Catholic School, I had sewn 19 angel robes, which they have allowed us to borrow.  This weekend, I sewed another 15 for a total of 34.  That means that we are 10 short for the two classes.  If you have an angel costume at home, or if you know a neighbour or relative that has one, please ask if our school could borrow it!  If we do not have enough, then we (the two Gr. 2 teachers) are asking that any little girl who has a white dress (perhaps an opportunity to borrow a sibling's Communion dress??), consider wearing it for the concert.  Please contact either teacher as soon as possible so that we can organize the logistics of who is wearing which costume.

Speaking of organizing....there are 19 sets of angel wings lent to us by Jean Vanier Catholic School.  They are relatively easy to create.  They are cut out of hard cardboard, taped for strength down the centre (both sides), hole punched and then looped with sewing elastic so that the children's arms can go through.  They are embellished with tinsel that is hot glued onto the cardboard.  The budget to make more is exactly $0.00!

I will organize a location here at the school for any moms who would like to help make more, this THURSDAY, December 4th @ 9:00 a.m..  I will see whether the school can provide the cardboard and wide tape.  The tinsel and the elastic will have to be donated.  Let me know if you can come to create these for the kids.  The ones you create will stay here at the school so that this work won't have to be done again.  Maybe grandmas or aunties would like to help!?!  Again, I can't provide the tinsel or elastic, but it is relatively easy to purchase at the local Dollarama.

I am hoping to send home a note tomorrow explaining a number of classroom projects that the students will be participating in, during the last three weeks before Christmas holidays.  The note will ask for some support both financially and with your presence!  Again, letting me know if you can come and help by writing in your child's agenda is best!

In this season of Advent,  FAITH  makes all things possible, HOPE makes all things work, LOVE  makes all things beautiful!  May you have all three for this Christmas!

Landforms

Using a resource shared with me by Amanda Nickerson, a blogger from the USA, the children had the chance to get up and move during Social Studies today.

They were trying to find two other students who had information on the landform that matched their own.  A group would have a drawing of the landform, the landform's name and information about what the landform looks like.

Why don't you ask your child about the various landforms they remember learning about during the last few lessons?

How to 'attract'.....

Here are some of the wonderful students from Madonna who took the big step to go to confession.  They know the difference between right and wrong.  To all the parents who led the children on this path to a closer relationship with God, thank you for being such an important influence in your child's faith journey.  Many of the church staff commented on the way that families gathered together and the respectful way the children were attired.

Congratulations to all our students!

This morning our class participated in five hands-on stations all about the wonders of magnets.

Thank you to the 3 moms and the dad who led us on this path of discovery!  The children learned about magnets having two poles, north and south.  They understand that these poles create a magnetic field.

They learned about electromagnets and how they are used in real world applications such as moving smashed up cars in an auto wreckers' yard.

They learned about the strength of magnets and how they had the power to attract items through various materials.

They found out that many toys use magnets in them and created one of their own!

They learned that not all items are attracted to magnets.  

Here are some questions to ask:

What would you find in an object that is attracted to a magnet?

When does a magnet repel?

What everyday objects have magnets in them?

What is an example of a permanent magnet?

It was a fun morning!  

On Saturday, we await our treasure....

The students had an amazing time creating their treasure boxes.

They loved each and every detail, from the gold foil paper,

to adding the jewels inside.

They loved the sparkles, the glitter glue and the gold ribbon.

What was the reason for creating treasure boxes?

What was inside?

They are the gifts of the spirit that each child will receive when they spend time with Father on Saturday and make their first confession.  They are the treasures of Reconciliation.

                                Increases my treasures in heaven

                                       Helps me say no to sin

                                    Makes my soul more beautiful

                                        Takes away my sins

                                     Restores grace to my soul

                                          Helps me to be good

I couldn't resist sharing this lovely image....totally engaged with the lesson!

How are those puppies doing?

Our students, the puppies that Rocket invited into our class, are working hard this week!

They are practising their word work and learning to spell words using magnets

and alphabet stamps.

They are listening to reading, using our iPads and scanning the QR codes to hear stories about puppies.

Their favourite activity, so far, has been to cuddle up with their teacher, as a story is read to them!

Good work puppies!  Soon you will be reading to the teachers!

How Rocket Learned to Read

Tad Hill's book "How Rocket Learned to Read" will be our jumping off point for focusing on all aspects of the Daily Five for the next month.  Thank you to a librarian known as Swersty, who shared this wonderful idea with me!

In the story, Rocket's teacher is a little yellow bird.  Here in our classroom, Rocket brought all of his friends to school today and the students are going to be these little puppies' teachers.

Today the students started the puppies' lessons by demonstrating how to spell some words, and then showed them how to read the colour words.

In the story, the little yellow bird put a name tag around Rocket's neck.  Each child was able to choose a name for their student puppy and now all of the puppies have a name tag around their neck!

The purpose of having the students learn different strategies in mathematics is for them to be able to use them easily and efficiently, making the adding, and subtracting of numbers be something that they do not find difficult.  The strategy the students practised today is known as 'doubles plus one.'  If you know your doubles, then a neighbour number can be easy to figure out.

Here's an example:

I know 6 add 6 is 12, so then 6 add 7 will be one more, 13!

In pairs, the students practised this skill with a fun game.

This afternoon, both Grade Two classes listened to a safety presentation offered through the County of Strathcona.  The presentation focused on fire safety, making a plan to be safe in our homes and knowing when to ask an adult to phone 911.  The children have 'talking homework' tonight, to explain the three things that they felt was the most important that Evelyn taught them today.

This bookmark will be coming home.  Please check out this cool idea that the County has set up as a free service to its residents.  When you sign up through www.strathcona.ca/scalerts you will get messages about severe weather, fire and water bans, significant traffic disruptions and other important information through cell phones and/or e-mails.  Check it out!