First Week of June is DONE!

Truly the best part of teaching in a Catholic School is not having to apologize for our belief in God.  We are free to worship, and pray and experience His presence daily.  I love watching my little ones take this giant step in their own faith journey, welcoming Christ into their hearts at Communion.  It is truly a reason to celebrate!

The student were visited this week by a representative of our parish's Knights of Columbus group.  These gentlemen take the time to create a cross for each and every Grade Two student in our district.  I was sooo impressed that this year, the gentleman took the time to come dressed in traditional garb and explained his mission.  I think the children understood that you are close to God no matter your age.  He loves us all, all the time.

Our science unit is called Small Crawling and Flying Creatures.  On Friday morning, we  became entomologists and explored and observed ants within the school yard.  We learned that ants are very fast!  We also learned that ants could be found just about anywhere we looked!

Every child had a magnifying glass to use.

That didn't stop the constant "Ant!  I see an ant!" from happening!

Ants in the tree?  Yep!  Even there!

There were a few small clear containers with magnifiers on top that I had found when Target was closing.  This allowed the students to get 'up close and personal.'

I didn't think there would be ants in the grass, but there were!

These students are noticing that there were a number of holes in the ground that the ants were coming  out of and then going into.  The question was "Why are they doing that?"

They were all so intent!

Can you see the sugar, oatmeal and cracker crumbs that we sprinkled to see if the ants would be interested in joining us for lunch?

After sharing, discussing, wondering and viewing a great Magic School Bus video, the students were able to create their version of what would be inside an ant hill.

Scientists label their sketches!

Earlier this week, we had focused our attention on ladybugs and wrote a paragraph of facts, independently,  that we learned.

What have we been up to lately?

We had lots of practise before the Cup Stacking Tournament.  Somehow practise is easier than the actual contest, but it was fun to try our best!

This fellow showed up in our room.  We are going to read, write, and explore all things DRAGON!

We started with this favourite by Robert Munsch.

Come on into our room and see the Paperboy Princesses that we created ourselves.

On Friday, with half a dozen moms and grandmas in tow, we took the bus trip to this cool location.  For some of the children it was their first visit, but many remember previous visits, especially into the corn maze in the Autumn.

The weather was delicious, just like the cookies that we got to nibble on as we watched a puppet show about the Little Red Hen, with some unusual characters!

It's always fun to go for a ride and we got to travel around the farm on this train...bumpy ride!

Everyone got to plant a little marigold to take home.  Should be blooming later this summer.

Oh my goodness!  These little baby bunnies were only 5 days old!  They were precious!

There were peacocks, goats, noisy sheep, quiet chickens, flower shops, a haunted house giant chess and checker games, an area to ride bikes and another to climb and slide.  It was a perfect day!

Thank you volunteers for being so helpful.  The students never stopped smiling!

Thank you BP ENERGY!

It's a long, long process but the reward is SOOOO worth the effort!

Today these two lovely people wandered into my classroom and presented me with a huge cheque for $7000.00!  BP Canada awarded me this amount to fund a project based learning opportunity for my Grade Two students in the 2015-2016 school year!  The students will be exploring alternative energy resources.  Perhaps one day, one of them will be a scientist who helps our world meet all of the needs that seem to be continually growing!

Though these tykes will be moving onto Grade Three and will miss the project, they were certainly happy to be there and learn that with three zeros, that number is thousands!

May flowers are buried!

Remember those May flowers?

They are buried under all the snow that we got today!

It is spring, right?

Scientific work!

The best part of doing the Buoyancy and Boats unit for four days in a row, was that the students remembered what they had done the days before and were able to apply that knowledge to their next day's challenge.

Yesterday, the challenge was to make a cargo ship using a plastic lid, which they already knew would float.  They were to add materials to the 'ship' to increase the load that could be held.  The kit did not have enough washers to act as weights for the load, so we improvised and used centicubes which were linked together in groups of 5 for ease of counting.

Some actually sank before any weight was added but the students were amazed that one design held 185 centicubes.  They cheered and clapped!

There are a few little items that were sent home that they might want to use to make a paddle boat, a boat propelled by a balloon and a keel to a sail boat.

There is a note about activities and field trips planned in their Bee Binders today.  On Monday, they will be creating two different Mother's Day projects.  This allows those children who have two households to be able to give a present at each one.  Materials have already been purchased so it would be lovely if you could send in $5.00 cash to cover the cost of the two of them.

April showers......and boats

I am including this photo from my garden for the little girl in my room who told me at the beginning of the month that "April Showers Brings May Flowers."  She was right!

Water is on our minds as we have our science unit "extravaganza"!

Both Grade Two classes are 'immersed' in the study of Boats and Buoyancy.

Monday was all about finding out about sinking and  floating.

What sinks? What floats? Why? How does it work?

The students worked co-operatively in small groups.

There were lots of things to try so everyone got a turn, but more importantly, the students got to discuss their ideas (some incorrect ones) with their peers.

Ask your child why an orange with a peel floats and why it sinks if the peel is removed.

Here are two pieces of plasticine that are the same size. They weigh the same. One has been made into a ball and sinks.  The other has been flattened out and floats.  Do you know why?

Please expect a note on Monday about the upcoming events in the months of May and June.  The Grade Two classes have at least three opportunities for volunteers to be part of our learning.  Just a heads up that Mother's Day is around the corner, so the students will need to bring $5.00 each to cover the cost of the materials for the lovely keepsake projects that we have planned for this special day.

Matryoshka

Our Friday art lesson focused on the lovely little matryoshka dolls that are found in all sizes, colours and designs throughout Ukraine.  History suggests that they were originally Russian in their background but since Ukraine has been under Russian rule in the past, it makes sense that they are now part of this culture.  It was a fun way to bring social studies alive.

We looked at various designs and colours and patterns.  We noticed that the hair styles and colours were not always the same.

Just for fun, we watched this cute little animation, which allowed us to see many different versions of the doll.

We practiced and practised making the shapes of the eyes, choosing the way that the pupils would be facing and learning how to put the 'sparkle' into the eye so that it looks alive.

We learned how to make the lips, added little cheeks and played with the hair style.

Eventually, there will be three dolls, which we will work on because the matryoshka dolls fit one in side the other in graduated sizes.  What pattern will each child choose for the design?