Ready for the Holidays!

Math: 3 Dimensional Shapes

In math, the second graders have been learning about two dimensional and three dimensional shapes. We have been exploring, comparing, and contrasting the characteristics of different shapes. Watch the video below to see some of the three dimensional shapes that one of our second graders have built. 

Looking Good!

Writer's Workshop: Personal Narratives

After completing our unit Authors as Mentors, our first and second graders took everything they have learned from Ezra Jack Keats and Angel Johnson and applied it to creating a final published piece. 

You will be able to see your child's published story posted in the hallway early next week. Please stop by and leave a post-it comment. As I'm sure you have already heard, our second graders were thrilled to publish with their MacBooks for the first time! Please watch the video below to see a sneak peak of one of our student's published stories!

Reader’s Workshop: Visual Reflection

Recently during our readers workshop, we read the book, Under the Lemon Moon. In this fictional text, the protagonist Rosalinda is awakened one night to discover a man stealing lemons from her beloved lemon tree. After the theft, the tree begins to die. Rosalinda seeks advice from friends and family as to how she can heal her tree. Rosalinda learns a lesson of forgiveness and generosity, from La Anciana, while healing her tree. 

Sour Grade 1 and 2 students were asked to make text-to-self connections and identify the author’s message during the read aloud. After the read aloud, our students created a visual reflection that portrayed their connections and what they identified as the author’s message.

Please watch the video below to hear one of our student’s reflections for the book Under the Lemon Moon. Your child’s reflection can be seen on Easyblog.

Writer’s Workshop: Personal Narratives - Authors as Mentors

During our second wiring unit of the year, our students have been studying the works of Ezra Jack Keats and Angela Johnson. We have been looking for different craft moves, as seen in these authors’ works, to improve our writing. 

Our students have selected one of their personal narrative drafts and have been moving through the stages of writing process. Please watch the video below to learn a little more about the revising step of the writing process. 

We will begin publishing next week.  You can look forward to seeing your child’s published story on the hallway bulletin board or on their personal blog in the first week of December. 

Social Studies: Citizenship

Prior to October break, we completed our first social studies unit of the year. Our initial unit, Citizenship, focused on communities, being a good citizenship, the challenges we may encounter as a citizen, and strategies for managing potential problems with other citizens.

As a culminating activity, our students brainstormed different actions which could identify the key concepts of the unit. They then photographed these actions and recorded an audio narration sharing their knowledge and how the photo they planned demonstrates the concept.

Watch the video below to see one of our student's citizenship books.

Book Recommendation

National Batik Day - Looking Good!!

Mother Tongue Reading Session

This week, we held our first monthly Mother Tongue Reading Session. This project was designed to help celebrate the many languages spoken, at home, by our students. Our dedicated moms arrived at 8:00AM, ready to read! Each mother and child pair read a native language book and completed a written response. 

The children were so excited to have their moms at school! A BIG thank you to the devoted moms for sharing their time and participating in this project! The photos and written responses will be posted on the hallway bulletin board early next week. 

Please click on the link below to see some of the photos from this event. 

Mother Tongue Reading Session

Pajama Day!

Social Studies: Being a Good Citizen

During our current unit in social studies, we have been learning about citizenship. We have learned what a citizen is and how to be a good citizen, As well we have explored some of the responsibilities of a good citizen, including the importance of cooperation, identifying conflict, and problem solving by finding solutions. Please watch the video below to hear a little more about what we have been learning. 

Writer's Workshop: Personal Narratives

In writer’s workshop, we are learning how to write effective personal narratives. We began with a review of the elements of the personal narrative genre. We have learned some new craft moves, which a writer can use to make their narrative more effective. So far, we have learned to ensure our stories have a clear beginning, middle, and end. As well, we have learned how to make effective beginnings through the use of dialogue, action sentences, and sound words. 

Check out the video below to hear a little more about our personal narrative unit from two of our experts! 

Our First Full Week of School!

Our first and second graders are nearly finished their first full week of school! We are beginning to become familiar with our classroom routines and expectations. Please see below some of the great activities, which we have completed!

The Dot - “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.”

We shared a read aloud of The Dot by Peter Reynolds. In this realistic fiction story, the main character, Vashti, learns to be brave enough to try painting even though she believes she is not talented at drawing. We learned from Vashti that taking the first step and trying can lead to a journey where we discover and develop our talents. 

Our discussions focused on questions such as:

• How did Vashti feel about herself at the begging and end of the story?
• What did Vashti discover while painting dots?
• What made Vashti try something new?
• Why did Vashti’s teacher ask her to sign her name?
• What do you think happened after the boy signed his name?
• Have you ever felt like Vashti?
• What is something you would like to improve?
• What can we learn from Vashti? 

Wemberly Worried 

We also shared a read aloud of the book Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. In this story, the main character, Wemberly, is a worrier. She worries about a variety of different scenarios. Then she encounters the biggest worry of all - the first day of school. We discovered how Wemberly overcame her worries and had a great day at school! Students made text-to-self connections and identified times they also felt worried. 

Beautiful Oops!

Finally, we shared a read aloud of the book Beautiful Opps! by Barney Saltzberg. Through this book we learned that mistakes are opportunities. We learned that mistakes are not a negative experience  but an opportunity for learning and personal growth. 

Each child received a page which had a randomly drawn “mistake”. Their challenge was to make the mistake into something beautiful. Everyone rose to the challenge!

Click on the link to see how our first and second graders used their creativity to turn a mistake into something beautiful! 

Beautiful Oops! Photos

The First Day of School!

Our first and second graders had a wonderful first day of school! We spent the day participating in activities which supported us in establishing a warm and inclusive classroom environment. Please click on the link below to see some of our first day photos!

First Day Photos

End of Year Celebration!

Yesterday, we had our end of year celebration. Our students had the opportunity to celebrate a year’s worth of hard work with their parents. During the celebration we had a poetry reading and shared the contents of our portfolios. The students were very proud!

Click on the link below to see some photos from the event.

Photo Album

Writer’s Workshop: Fairy Tale Adaptations

We recently finished publishing our fairy tale adaptations! The children had a fantastic time putting their own twists on some of our favorite fairy tales. The fairytales have now been posted on the bulletin board in the hallway. Drop by and leave a comment for our authors! 

Watch the video below to see one of our first graders' adaptations. 

Science: Plants

We have finished our final science unit, Plants. Our students have learned about plant needs, plant parts, the plant life cycle, how plants make food, and how plants help to clean the air. We have also grown a number of plants while observing and recording their growth and changes. 

Next week, we will move on to our final social studies unit, Meeting Our Needs. This unit will focus on people’s wants and needs.  

Click on the link below to see some photos from our Plant unit. 

Plant Photos

Social Studies: Cultural Celebration

Last week, we held a cultural celebration as the culminating activity for our social studies unit “Who Are We?”. During the celebration, each child presented their photo essay, which shared how their traditions, celebrations, and culture has helped to make them who they are. As well, our parents made a traditional family recipe, which they brought to share. We had an amazing time sampling recipes and learning a little more about each other. Many thanks to the dedicated parents who made this event possible. The students were elated! 

Cultural Celebration Photos

Social Studies: Our Traditions, Culture, and Identity

Throughout our social studies unit “Who Are We?”, we have been examining how our beliefs, traditions, and celebrations are impacted by our culture and help to make us who we are. Recently, our students brought their i-Pads home to create a Photo Essay by photographing items that have played an important role in their lives. 

Please watch the video below to learn a little more about one of our students. Our students will share their Photo Essays at the Cultural Celebration on April 10. 

Writer's Workshop: Realistic Fiction

We recently published our first fiction stories! Our students had a fabulous time creating their characters and planning their main character's problem and solution. We were writing realistic fiction. So, the goal was to create characters and events which were realistic and could occur in real life. Our realistic fiction stories are now posted on the hallway bulletin board. You can watch the video below to hear one of our first grader’s stories!

Visiting Authors: Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann

Last week, we had the fortune of welcoming Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann into our classroom. During the week, our two visiting authors supported our students in developing their ability to write fiction stories. As well, Eric shared his skills as an artist by leading one of our art classes.  

The students loved having our visiting authors here! Two of our favourite books, from our guests, were Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! and The Cinder-Eyed Cats. We will certainly revisit these favourites in the future. 

Day 100

On Wednesday, February 4, we celebrated the 100th day of school! We completed a variety of activities to celebrate this milestone. Some of the activities we completed included math activities, art activities, reading activities, and exercises all focused on the number 100! 

The students had a fabulous time trying to guess what was in their friends’ Mystery Bags. Everyone did a wonderful job of creating clues and making inferences to predict what was in their friends' bags. Moms and Dads, a big thank you for taking the time to help your child make their Mystery Bag. They loved it! 

Reader's Workshop: Nonfiction

In reading, we are presently learning about the nonfiction genre. We have focused on understanding nonfiction text features and how we can use these features to support our comprehension.  As well, we are learning how to identity the main idea, supporting details, and interesting facts which we did not previously know about the topic. 

Click on the video below to learn a little more about nonfiction texts from two of our students.