Sock Hop

On Monday morning, the students got to try another part of the 1950's, bubblegum!  For some of the students, blowing bubbles

 was something they were already proficient at,

and for others, this was a new accomplishment!

Look for their writing the directions when you next see their Evidence of Learning binders!

In the afternoon, the students were excited to be part of the Sock Hop!  Thanks to the parents who came and helped keep us all under control!

The students learned how to do the stroll, the twist, the rock step and then

boys danced with girls and learned how to twirl them around!

Lots of smiles,

and giggles!

I think they had a BLAST!!

They loved bowling!!

Our 50th Day of School Celebration...Days One and Two

The 50th day of school is a reason to celebrate.  Even our friend, Kit, donned her poodle skirt and saddle shoes to join in the fun activities in the classroom.

The students compared life for a child in the 1950's with their own life today.  They looked at clothing, music, books, diners and toys as some of the examples.  They got to see readers that were used in classrooms, saw the gold, silver and red or green stars that the teacher would put onto very special school assignments, learned about mucilage glue, cellotape and tin lunch kits with thermos inside for milk or juice.

The girls created a picture of the poodle skirt and saddle shoes that a girl might wear and the boys made a picture with rolled up jeans with their saddle shoes. 

Each student got a chance to choose an idea that they could write a comparison sentence about such as "In the 1950's girls would wear a poodle skirt but today girls wear leggings."

"In the 1950's a boy would wear slicked back hair but today boys wear their hair without anything in it."

The students paired up and played a dice game to continue to practise their basic addition facts, or

they raced to the number 50, which also involved adding on.

Tuesday morning, thanks to many parents, the students got to try root beer floats! The science learned during this treat tied in well with the states of matter.  We discussed the state of liquid, and the qualities that liquids exemplify, talked about solids and how solids and liquids do not share the same qualities.  Finally, when we opened the bottle of root beer, we discovered the third state, which is gas and had a great discussion about how gas is not the same a gasoline.

We predicted whether the ice cream would sink or float when it was added to the cup of root beer.  Guess which one it did!

We also talked about and observed the changes that happened when the root beer and ice cream were stirred together and the reason that so many more bubbles were produced.

Even though I hope they remember all that science information,

the truth is that they really loved this little treat!

The students created records (no they didn't all know what those were!) that were labeled with greater than 50 and less than 50  on each side.  They were shown a number between one and one hundred and then had to decide which side of the record those numbers should be placed.

The making of the root beer floats led to an introduction on how to write instructions.  After the entire class created a plan and looked at the elements that needed to be included, they created a paper root beer float book with a three page set of directions.

This gal wrote "Pour (oops - pout??) the root beer slowly into the cup but also have fun."

Step Two: "Scoop the ice cream up and put it in the cup carefully and the bubbles pop and it is fun."

Step Three: "Drink with a straw and it tastes very good."

Monday afternoon is the sock hop!  Can't wait!

Reflex Math

You might remember a letter that was sent home earlier in September explaining that our class was gifted with a Reflex Math grant worth a pretty penny.  This web based program is designed to improve students' math face fluency.  Basically, it is an interactive way for students to practise and learn their basic addition and subtraction facts and for older students, their multiplication and division facts.

The students are being led through this program at school this week.  It will become one aspect of their practise, with a commitment of being on the program a minimum of three times a week.  Because it is web based, the students are encouraged to take some time to practise at home as well.  This post is about how to get your child onto the site.  I thought it would be easiest if I took photos of the SMARTBoard as we went through the steps and then both you and your child could follow along.

The website is easily accessed using a google search: reflex math

On the main page, start by hitting the Launch button on the top right hand side.

Here is the log-in code:     gradetwomatheson

Note that there are no spaces between the words.

Here is the next page.  Tap on this gold bar for my class.  I cannot show you the next page because it lists all of the students' names.   The student will find their name, and then there will be a password for them to enter.  I will send you that password through your e-mail address.  Please write it down so you have it handy.

We are using Chrome books in the class to access the program.  Chrome books are a bit challenging for young ones to start because it requires them to log in an ID code.  Good news is that after more than an hour of trouble shooting, all 19 students were on!

You can imagine the level of noise that would be coming from all 19 Chrome books.

If you have not yet done so, please send in a set of earbuds for your child's use here at school.

There were some very focused little ones, trying hard to do their best.  I am excited to see how well they all do with this motivating program.  

Please feel free to use this program often.  We are really lucky to have access for free and we want to take advantage of this opportunity.  Set aside a little time each day during Fall break for your child to work on this important skill in mathematics.  Your child will be the winner!

We got mail!

In this time of technology, the simple pleasure of getting something in the mail is somehow, even sweeter!  We got mail today! There are lots of incidental learning just in looking at the envelope to see our address (in the middle of the envelope), the address of the person who sent it (that is in the left hand top corner) and the stamps (on the top right hand corner).  Did you ever explain to your child why we put stamps onto a piece of mail?  Not a single child could tell me today that it was to pay for the service of having the mail delivered.  That was surprising to me!!

Here's what was inside!  The envelope was full of large red maple leaves that had been collected by my brother in law and his puppy, Sprocket, and sent to our room by my best ever sister in law.  They live in Ontario, where maple trees aren't as rare as they are here in Alberta.  The students oohed and ahead over the colours and the size!

They are going to adorn our Social Studies duotang.  Nothing says Canada like a big bright red maple leaf!  Thanks for thinking of us!

Wrapping up the October Fun!

These q-tip skeletons are always a class favourite.  Don't they look like they are dancing??

On Monday, each student will be bringing home their story that they wrote, which was based on the Great Big Enormous Turnip.  They loved finding out that the author Erica Silverman also told a story that was similar to the one that they wrote.  Parents, please follow the directions on the front sheet and return with your comments on Tuesday so that the stories can be added to the students' Evidence of Learning binders.

Zero the Hero missed us on Thursday!  When he showed up in class, we were all at swimming lessons, so he came on Friday, the 41st day of school.  

 He brought stickers to add to the spider's web. Because the ladies brought our hot lunch early, some of the students had to take home this fun activity to finish.

Look at these happy faces!

Our students had an amazingly good time at Kidz Quarterz on Friday afternoon.  By straw poll, they would love to go back again and they felt it was a wonderful way to spend their Halloween, being active with their friends in a safe environment!  Hope we can do it again next year!