Jump Rope for Heart - February is Heart Health Month!

A team from the Heart and Stroke Foundation visited us on Thursday to kick off a "Jump Rope For Heart" activity/fundraiser.  You'll see the materials to explain how to be involved in your child's bee binder pouch (if you're interested!)  The students in the school were very excited for this opportunity to try out some skills!

I usually do the skipping unit in March, just before Spring arrives, but it will be moved to February because of this little school initiative.  These gals were demonstrators and were part of my class last year, so they knew most of the tricks being demonstrated.

Here's the school, just in awe of what different things can be done with a skipping rope!

This was one I had never seen before, called the corner, so three long skipping ropes were going at once with 3 gals turning and 6 students skipping!  FUN!!

There was a contest to see if the teachers could skip more times than the students in 60 seconds.  Guess who won?

Thursday, February 12th is our school's special Jump Off date, so packages are due then.

We're forever learning something new and on Thursday we practised trading ten ones for a ten and then ten tens for a hundred.  This is in preparation for adding and subtracting large numbers.

These games always are so popular!  The room is vibrating with excitement.

Report Cards were also sent home on Thursday.  If you have any specific questions, I will gladly meet with you but please make arrangements ahead of time. Thanks!

Later this month we will be celebrating Valentine's Day, 100th Day, and we will have a special visitor to explain life in a different part of Canada as part of our Social Studies curriculum.  That's on top of Family Day, Teacher's Convention and by what I hear, a return to the cold of winter.  I will send home a little sheet explaining things sometimes next week.  Keep your eyes open for it!

So that's how it works....

Our science unit "Hot and Cold Temperature" really has some wonderful experiments that are very 'hands-on' and 'brains-on'.  That means that the connections are made so that the students can understand how something works, why it works, and the importance of it to our everyday lives.

Case in point, the experiment on Monday was all about the properties of insulating materials, how they worked and where we might find them.  Lucky for me, all I had to do was get some leftovers just outside my backdoor, as my husband has built an insulated house for our cats so they can go outside in the winter and be snuggly warm.  

The children made 'in your head' predictions.  Which material would keep an ice cube from melting? Which material would keep hot water, hot?  The materials were:

styrofoam insulation

pink insulation

bendy silver insulation

flannette (like your pyjamas are made out of)

Arctic fleece (like you scarf or hoodie is made from)

knitted gloves

torn up paper

Each material was put into two black plastic containers, one for the ice cube experiment and one for the hot water experiment.  We did this almost first thing in the morning.  Right after lunch, we got to open the containers to see what happened.

I must confess, that I was as excited as the students as each one was opened and the baggies with ice cubes and hot water revealed.  We were half way through the experiment when I remembered to take a couple snap shots!

(Here's my beautiful assistant for the ice cube part!)

What would your predictions be?  What part of the experiment didn't work for us and why?  What 'big idea' can we say that we learned by trying this?  For the answers, ask you child!

In honour of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police man who sadly lost his life, the students and staff will wear red on Monday, January 26, 2015 as this brave man is laid to rest.  May God welcome Constable David Wynn into heaven with open arms. May He send His healing angels to his family, who will always miss him.

Please pray for the swift recovery of the auxiliary policeman who was also wounded.

Literacy Bags

Congratulations to this cutie who has been working hard on a home reading program and was awarded a certificate for moving up to a new level!  Hard work pays off!

Just a quick note about our Friday Literacy Bags....

I do so appreciate when I get a note that something is missing, but please remember that you agreed to ensure that everything in the bag, would be returned.  If you lost something from the bag, I would appreciate you replacing it.  I am now off to buy another book that was torn, buy three toy animals that are missing, another plastic measuring tool and then later I will have to reprint pages because pieces are no longer in bags, laminate them, cut them out and  put them into the correct bags.  That's after phoning four families tonight who hadn't returned bags on Monday.  I understand you all have busy lives.  I love working with your children and put in lots and lots of hours to ensure that your children have many opportunities to try new things.  Please help me out by ensuring that the items are all returned in the bags on Monday.  It will be so much better for our kiddos that way.  Thanks!

I've been working on the HUNDREDS!

According to Alberta Learning, one area that students in Grade Two  should be comfortable in is number sense.  The students will demonstrate their understanding through being able to do the following:

Specific Outcomes

1. Say the number sequence 0 to 100 by:

• 2s, 5s and 10s, forward and backward, using starting points that are multiples of 2, 5 and 10 respectively

• 10s, using starting points from 1 to 9

• 2s, starting from 1.

[C, CN, ME, R]

2. Demonstrate if a number (up to 100) is even or odd.

[C, CN, PS, R]

3. Describe order or relative position, using ordinal numbers (up to tenth).

[C, CN, R]

4. Represent and describe numbers to 100, concretely, pictorially and symbolically.

[C, CN, V]

5. Compare and order numbers up to 100.

[C, CN, ME, R, V]

6. Estimate quantities to 100, using referents.

[C, ME, PS, R]

7. Illustrate, concretely and pictorially, the meaning of place value for numerals to 100.

[C, CN, R, V]

8. Demonstrate and explain the effect of adding zero to, or subtracting zero from, any number.

[C, R]

9. Demonstrate an understanding of addition (limited to 1- and 2-digit numerals) with answers to 100 and the

corresponding subtraction by:

• using personal strategies for adding and subtracting with and without the support of manipulatives

• creating and solving problems that involve addition and subtraction

• using the commutative property of addition (the order in which numbers are added does not affect the sum)

• using the associative property of addition (grouping a set of numbers in different ways does not

affect the sum)

• explaining that the order in which numbers are subtracted may affect the difference.

That's a lot to know!

Sometimes practising needs to be a little different!  The children need to be able to demonstrate their understanding concretely, numerically and pictorially.  This website was very popular.  Perhaps your child would like to try it at home.  When the students are in Grade Three, they will be taking a government exam early in the year.  Part of the exam is completed on the Chrome books.  Learning how to log on and get to a particular location in the WORLD WIDE WEB is an important skill to acquire and be independent at.  It was so exciting to have all 23 students on chrome books at the same time.

 
The students were working on the Number Grid Fireworks game both yesterday and today.
 Access can be found at     http://www.abcya.com

You were right....this is a lot of work!

You might love to watch this wonderful 'claymation' video of the story that the children will be retelling in their own words.  We watched the video and heard the story read aloud from a big book.

In pairs, the children began with their own little book that has all the same illustrations as the original story by Arnold Lobel.  They told the story aloud while their partner listened.

The story is found in Frog and Toad Together, and is one of five stories found in this book.

It is easy enough that every child in class can read it, so that decoding does not interfere with comprehension.

The retelling is not meant to be be the story copied out of the book.  Instead, the children are practising telling the story in their own words.  The criteria with which the work will be assessed is given to them even before they begin to write.  As well, exemplars of basic, proficient and excellent work done by students in past years, was shared.  

What do potatoes have to do with our Hot and Cold Temperatures unit in science?

We asked a question:  Will a potato change if it is heated?  We made a prediction, which in science is called a hypothesis.  It must tell why we think something will happen.

After cooking, look at how the potato changed!  It smelled so good!

The students are really looking at the patterns of numbers, especially numbers to 100.  There will be a 120 chart sent home tomorrow that you can use to play some games on with your child. 

 For example, place a marker on any number you choose.  Let's say we choose 33.

Ask your child to place a marker on the number that is ten less.  Did they put it on 23?

Ask them to place another marker on the number that is one more. It should be on 24.

Continue in this vein, using the directions:

ten more

ten less

one more

one less

in any order and in any combination.  Each time, the child should place another marker on the number that will be the next move.  The goal is for them to be able to visual this pattern of movement without the chart in front of them...that's called mental math and still be able to make the moves.

Try this while you are travelling to hockey or piano practise in the car.  For example, say:

Start on 55.  What's ten less?  What's ten less?  What's one more? What's one more? What's ten more?

Did they end up on 47?  Hooray!!

Here is a link to a site where you could print out more 120 charts, if you would like your child to colour in the numbers as you give them.  

Click here!

Using what we know...

The real purpose of learning at school is so that we can apply that knowledge to real world situations.  

Today the students paired up and counted a large quantity of objects.  The instructions included having the pair of students use a strategy that was efficient. 

As many groups as there were, was just about how many strategies were used.  It is important to know that there are many different ways to get to the answer.  Those are the strategies.  Choosing which one works for you is important.  Being efficient is the ultimate goal!

Some groups counted by ones, some by 2s, some by 5s and some by 10s.  We met and discussed which way worked the best.  The children also labeled the boxes of items with the quantity inside.  It was a great reminder of what happens when you have a write a number that comes after the quantity of 99! 

                                        
The unit we have begun after Christmas is called Hot and Cold Temperature. Every morning we look at what the temperature is going to be as the day goes on.  What clothing should be worn naturally becomes part of the discussion.  How do we tell the weather?  How do we read a thermometer and how do we write the temperature?  We use this large thermometer to set the temperature for the day.

The students sorted a variety of temperatures to demonstrate where on the thermometer each would fall.  Just for fun, the children then became a thermometer.  Sometimes these types of lessons make the biggest impact and are the easiest to remember!

January 2015 'rolls' in!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! That's what some of the students may be saying as they had their first session with Alien In-line Skating.  Bringing this company to the school in the winter months has almost become a tradition.  The instructor spends a full week with the students, offering 2 or 3 hours per class of instruction and practise.

It's all about safety first!  The students start off by putting on their helmets, knee pads,

elbow pads and wrist guards.

They learn to help each other.  Moms and Dads, these little ones are completely capable!  When it's summer time, give them the responsibility to do it on their own.  Your job is to check AFTER they have had the chance to show what they can do independently.  There was one little girl who wanted an adult to dress her.  Sadly, she didn't think she could do it.  Don't rob your child of that wonderful feeling of pride for an accomplishment done on their own!

All suited up and learning how the feet will move...

and what to do if you feel like you are going to fall!

(Hint:  you touch your knees!!!)

In the class, there were three children who had never been on roller blades before!  How exciting to know they could do it by the end of an hour!  In this photo, they are getting extra support in the middle, as the others practise on their own.

Hard to catch a photo, as they were zipping along so fast!

This smile is for our new focus on the stories written by Arnold Lobel...

Frog and Toad!

The stories should be at a reading level that no one finds it difficult to read the words.  Instead, we are focusing on the thinking part  of reading.  What is happening What might happen next What does this mean  What would you do in this situation  Has this ever happened to you  (Sorry, computer settings won`t let me make a question mark!)

The students are going to focus on comprehension.  You aren`t really reading, if all you can do is say the word!  You have to know what you are reading about.

I hope you see a difference in how your child interacts with stories because of the work they are doing in the class right now.