Second Week of December

Snowflake has been very generous!  She brought us a cute puzzle to put together.

She also brought us a movie to watch....hope we can finish our work tomorrow, so that we can!!

You'll have to look very closely to see Snowflake in our Christmas Concert picture (aren't my angels so very sweet?)  She is on the black chair on the right hand side, inside of the basket.  She was also dressed up, ready to join us for the concert, wearing angel wings and a tinsel halo.  She also wore a sparkly red skirt for the day.

Thank you again to my helper angels, the Grandma who sewed 6 costumes for our classes and the two moms who made 25 sets of wings for us.  You are the best!

Congratulations to my 3 little ones who celebrated Reconciliation on Tuesday for the first time!

How many days until the Christmas Concert?

Snowflake was waaaaaayyyyyy up high on top of the SMARTBoard speaker today.  I think she might be keeping a really close eye on all of the children.  

Our concert is on Wednesday.  There is a full dress rehearsal/concert in the afternoon, as well as the traditional concert in the evening.  Children are to be in their classrooms by 6:30.  We will have costume to put on before we start.  Please remember that the children are angels, so keeping their clothes simple for the day, like a pair of pants and a t-shirt, will allow them to be comfortable with the costume and wings on.  They can also wear their regular inside runners.  Fancy dress shoes may cause them to slip and being on the risers, the shoes may just be too noisy.  Once the concert is over, the children will be coming back to the classroom to take off their costumes.  Please give me at least 10 minutes to get all things sorted out before coming to the classroom.  There will be heaps of parents and grandparents in the hallway!  It will be a bit crazy!  I won't be allowing children out until I actually see the parents.  This will ensure safety for all.  Thank you to the lovely grandma who sewed 6 angel costumes for our Grade 2 classes and to the two mamas who made 25 sets of wings.  We know who the real angels are!

For our projects next week, I thank all who graciously have provided some of the sweets for us.  I may be returning some of the marshmallows, as there seems to be too much.  I haven't seen any small candy canes come in yet.  Please remember to send in the $ so that the supplies can be purchased.  Thanks again for pulling together for the students!

Snowflake's Adventures

Where is Snowflake?  That's what the students want to know every morning.

On Wednesday, she was up on a high display shelf.  She seems to have settled in with icons of her homeland of ice and snow...a polar bear, an inukshuk, an igloo and an Inuit person.

She must have been busy, because she put up all the student's names, in glitter on the Word wall.

She even managed to put up her own name!

On Thursday morning, she had brought back a couple of boxes of 

"Mrs. Claus' Crullers"

Don't they look yummy??

The children heard the story of "Santa's Stuck" by Rhonda Gowler Greene.  After writing what they would do if they were to find Santa stuck in their chimney, they completed a little craft activity.

The students are working to become more comfortable with printing one line high, with leaving one line empty after printing on one line, with using proper punctuation and with taking time to spell known words, especially sight words and those found on the Word Wall, correctly.

Did you know that December 6th is St. Nicholas Day?  In most European countries, children leave out their shoes on the night before and find fruit, candy, coins and toys in them when they wake up.  The students were so surprised to find coins in their shoes on Friday morning.  They all think Snowflake had something to do with it, but I am wondering if St. Nicholas had visited us?

We all know how excited (and exhausted) children can be in December.  Sadly, the students are finding it a challenge to behave properly when they are not in an organized, learning setting.  This means that the difficulties with playing outside are becoming more evident, that they are not using kind words with each other, and that the noon hour supervisors are being run ragged.

Please assist with setting your own expectations for behaviour with your child.  I spent the entire month of October eating my lunch in the classroom to ensure that expectations were clear.  I was at a math inservice on Friday and had the very bad misfortune to read the substitute teacher's notes that listed multiple incidents and many, many children needing to be reprimanded for their behaviour.  I would appreciate your support if your child's behaviour results in natural consequences, such as having to eat their lunch in another area of the school because they could not behave in the classroom.  With this being concert week, there will be less and less structure, as we practise.  

Meet the newest member of our class!

During our Fall break, I wrote a letter to Santa asking if he would consider sending us another scout elf, the way that he did last year.  It was exciting to have our school secretary arrive at our classroom on Monday morning after recess, with a little parcel, that was cold to the touch.

Inside was a lovely letter from Santa, saying that he would like the children to remember that he comes to visit them on Christmas Eve because it is Jesus' birthday.  He sent us an elf!

This book explains all anyone needs to know about how the elf manages to fly back to the North Pole to report to Santa every night. (It's magic!)  That's one of the reasons that we can't touch our elf.  Her magic would rub off!

Here she is!  The children named her, just like Santa asked them to.....Snowflake!

On Tuesday morning, the children found a pencil at each of their table spots.  Snowflake was on the back bench.  She had used some pencils to spell out the work "HI"

'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!