Today was super fun! We did a lot of exciting things. We began our morning by painting blue and green paper. It seemed strange at first, but little did the students know that we would be using them for an art project in the afternoon with our buddies.
Next, we were lucky enough to have Mrs. Otterson's husband come and give a "rock talk". He is a Geologist and talked about:
Another successful fun lunch was had and then students headed off to the gym to do some carolling. It was the best day carolling yet. Grade 2's performed a winter dance for us and did a wonderful job. Lastly, our buddies came for a visit and we made beautiful artwork. We can't tell you can't tell you what it is yet but it will come home with us tomorrow. We also read winter books before our buddies had to go back to their own classroom. Reminders: Tomorrow is the LAST day of school before winter break. Report cards will be sent home with your child tomorrow.
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For our morning eye opener we watched a video about the 12 Days of Christmas (the Canadian style) and then we had to find out how many presents we would get in total. See if I remember how many there were all together. You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKyV9QR_CvI.
We had another fun morning of carolling. We still love Rudolph, 12 Days of Christmas, Walking in a Winterland, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, and Jingle Bell Rock were a few favourites. In social studies we made a KWL chart. This was a chart where we listed all the things we know about Alberta, things we want to know (asking questions) and what we will learn. We will have a visitor tomorrow that will do a "rock talk" and hopefullly can answer some of our "I wonders"..... In math we got to complete another mystery winter picture. Your child was able to bring it home in their backpack. We also did some writing around the 12 Days of Christmas. But..... this was the 12 Days of Winter. Students had to list all the things there teacher gave them over the twelve days! Some were pretty funny :) In gym we played Mr. Mars. Ask me if I can remember the rules for this tag game. Guided reading we are playing literacy games and carrying on with our chapter books. This would be a good opportunity to ask your child about the book that they are currently reading. They should be able to summarize. Lastly, we did an art project but we can not tell you - hahahahaha! Reminders: Dress for the weather - it's cold out there! December 15 - Fun Lunch, Caroling in gym p.m. (Gr 2 Dance Performance) December 16 - Last day (report cards go home) Students started their day by watching two short videos and reading a newspaper article about fossil discoveries. This ties into what we have been focusing on in Social Studies. Students have been presented with the question: Who should own the bones? They have had to read, discuss and write about their opinion/perspective.
In math we conducted a survey of some of the favourite holiday movies we like to watch. Students used the information to create bar graphs and then had to explain which movie most people enjoyed and which was the least popular (range). We also began a new read aloud novel called "The One and Only Ivan". This is a story about a gorilla that lives in a shopping mall. He is lonely and has a few other animal friends that live at the mall with him. He has talked about his life and how he understands humans, but they do not appear to understand him. Guided reading continues as normal. Literacy games, reading to self and working with the teacher will be the focus until winter break. Please ensure that your child continues to read independently or with you during the holidays. Lastly, in science we talked about the science review we took last week. We discussed how the marks were given and will continue to reveiw some of the concepts in the new year. We also discussed how to read questions carefully and how it's important to learn how to take tests/reveiws as opportunities to see where our gaps are. Then we can come up with a plan of how to ensure we know what we need to know. Reminders: Dress for the weather - it's cold out there! December 14 - Caroling in gym a.m. December 15 - Fun Lunch, Caroling in gym p.m. (Gr 2 Dance Performance) December 16 - Last day (report cards go home) We began our day by having all the students in the school gather in the gym to sing Christmas carols. Rudolph, Jolly Old St. Nick, and 12 Days of Christmas were a few favourites amoung the students. We will be participating in carolling again tomorrow afternoon.
In social studies we had a discussion about "Who Should Own the Bones". Should individuals that find the bones keep them? Or should they belong to all Albertans? Some students thought that the bones should remain where they are found so that all people can enjoy them. Another perspective was that the individual that found them should keep them for a decoration or be able to sell them for money. Ultimately, most of us think that fossils should remain in the hands of palaeontologists who will study them and put them in museums. Since most of our knitters were watching a presentation from the Mustard Seed, the remaining students had the chance to play some math games. Miss Lysak had us practicing teamwork using spoons and keep the rhythm/beat using counts. Ask your child if they can show you the pattern that they made at school. Word work was a fun winter word search! Your child was able to bring this home in their backpack. We have finished the novel "The Secret Garden". At the end of the book Colin's father returns to find that Colin is better. He is shocked to discover them in the garden and that the garden is growing again. Colin's father has an epiphany and recognizes that he was a bad father. He returns to make it better if it is not too late. Science was a fun game of Waste In Our World Jeopardy. This covered all of the topics we have been learning about. Science reviews will be given back tomorrow due to one student being absent last week. Reminders: Dress for the weather - it's cold out there! December 13 - Caroling in gym p.m. December 14 - Caroling in gym a.m. December 15 - Fun Lunch, Caroling in gym p.m. (Gr 2 Dance Performance) December 16 - Last day (report cards go home) If you require your child's report before Friday due to absence please contact Mrs. Otterson. Today was another busy day! We began our morning reviewing some of the mental math strategies that Ms. McComish had come in and taught us. She had written us feedback in our math journals and challenged us with new mental math strategies. There were even opportunities to extend our thinking and challenging us with a more difficult questions. We are working on explaining our thinking.
Most students have completed their travel brochure or persausive letter for their social studies project. A few are bringing them home to put on the finishing touches. Students also completed a science review. We covered the following topics.
Students continue to have opprotunity to practice their addition and subtraction skills using a variety of math games. Lastly, we continue our work in IRIS. Students are working at choosing artfacts that represent something that they have learned and explaining why it is a good artifact. Reminders: Dress for the weather - it's cold out there! Students that were interested in calligraphy club - forms are due Dec 12th December 12 - Carolling in gym a.m. December 13 - Carolling in gym p.m. December 14 - Carolling in gym a.m. December 15 - Fun Lunch, Carolling in gym p.m. (Gr 2 Dance Performance) December 16 - Last day (report cards go home) Tonight is our Warm Feet For The Street family event and we are looking forward to seeing all those who RSVP'd. The event begins at 6:00pm and will run until 7pm, but families are free to come and leave as suites them. The crunch is on to work hard until winter break and the students are showing no signs of slowing down. We may be a bit silly and have a few more laughs/giggles these days but the work the students are doing continues to be excellent. We began our morning with a short video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB61rfeeAsM) reviewing the roles of producers, consumers and decomposers in nature. As we discuss how waste is produced by humans and where it goes, we have also been looking at how nature takes care of waste. There will be a short review on Friday about all the topics we have been studying related to Waste in our World:
Students have until this Friday to complete their travel brochure or persuasive letter as part of their social studies project. The ones that have been completed thus far are turning out great! Students also created some lovely artwork this afternoon based on the book "Snowmen at Night" by Caralyn Buehner. This delightful wintertime tale reveals all! Caralyn Buehner's witty, imaginative verse offers many amusing details about the secret life of snowmen and where they go at night. We used chalk pastels and studied shadows, shading and how to add depth to our work. Reminders:
Dress for the weather - it's cold out there! Students that were interested in calligraphy club - forms are due Dec 12th December 12 - Carolling in gym a.m. December 13 - Carolling in gym p.m. December 14 - Carolling in gym a.m. December 15 - Fun Lunch, Carolling in gym p.m. (Gr 2 Dance Performance) December 16 - Last day (report cards go home) This morning we began our final social studies project after learning about the six natural regions of Alberta. The students worked together to develop criteria on which they will be evaluated. They will be creating either a brochure or a persuasive letter. See the criteria below:
Criteria for Brochure and Persuasive Letter Brochure
Persuasive Letter
In math students used a hundreds chart to colour a mystery picture of a snowman. They brought these home in their backpack. After listening to today's read aloud of the "Secret Garden" we learned that the robin and his mate have laid eggs, that Colin has become much stronger and healthier. A woman came into the garden, which surprised Dickon, Colin, Mary and Ben. We learned that Dickon had told his mother where the door to the secret garden was hidden. Colin also has uncovered a portriate in his room - it was a picture of his mother. He is no longer angry that she has passed away. He is still sad and misses her, but with each passing day he becomes well again. As part of our study about waste, students brought home a check list last week for the amount of waste their family produces each week. This is an estimation. Have a conversation and help your child fill in the chart detailing how many items are thrown into the trash each week using the categories on the checklist. This is due tomorrow so we can create a bar graph and write about our observations. Reminders: Dress WARM and in layers :) Your child may bring an electronic device if you would like for tomorrow's lunch recess - it's supposed to be very cold and they will not be going outside. Our brains are tired and we are all grateful it is the weekend! This has been a very busy week and today was especially busy because two ladies from the City of Calgary came to our classroom today to help us perform a "waste audit". This meant that students worked with adults to help sort and classify several different kinds of waste (compostable, recyclable, refundable, etc.) to determine what we need to do differently at New Brighton School and what we are doing well. Students learned that most of what winds up in the landfill is either compostable or recyclable. There were even a few food items that nobody had eaten! We are coming up with a plan of action for how we can continue to make a difference at our school.
Students have completed their pros and cons list for each region and next week will need to decide upon which region will be the best place to live. You can work with your child over the weekend to help them decide which region they should choose for their persuasive letter writing or travel brochure. Any students that have not completed their visual journal pages for the six regions took it home as homework. They can use Google to help them act as "fact finders" and fill in any missing information. A few things were sent home today:
No school tomorrow - Professional Development Day Warm Feet For the Street Family Night - Wednesday, December 7 Last Day of School before winter break - December 16 |
Mrs. OttersonTeacher at New Brighton School and lover of the great outdoors! Archives
June 2017
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