End of (school) Days

Wow! What an amazing learning journey. It has been my pleasure to teach each and everyone of the students in this grade 2 class. I have enjoyed it so much. Thank you for all of your help and support this year. It has also been pretty cool to enter into our deep learning journey with the other grade 2 classes. Here is a short video of our last field trip at the Summer Solstice Festival during National Aboriginal Day.

Today students will be bringing home some artwork. They will also be bringing home 2 different sets of pictures. One is a picture that was taken on the first day of grade 2 way back in September. The other is a set of pictures on a 12x12 piece of cardstock that shows what our students look like now. They have come a long way in their transformation from students who have just finished grade 1 to capable and confident youngsters who are ready for grade 3. It has been an awesome metamorphosis. I feel sad to see them go but am happy that they have completed this amazing transformation.

Multiplying our Knowledge

The past 2 weeks we have been learning the basics of multiplication and division. We learned how multiplication is making a number of equal groups. We explored different ways to make those equal groups through various centers and worksheets. We learned that division is breaking up a number into equal groups. We explored division through centers as well.

We are busy this week finishing up our animal reports for Science and our Narrative folktale for Language. We are also completing our Fully Alive Family Life unit which concludes with a simple explanation of how a baby is born.

Next Tuesday is our last field trip of the year to Major's Hill Park to take part in the Aboriginal Summer solstice festival. This will also wrap up our Deep Learning adventure where we explored and connected with an Inuit community and collaborated on projects such as the photo book. At the festival we will explore arts and crafts activities as well as dances and singing. We will also get to see First Nations people in their regalia as the perform different ceremonies. It will be an excellent culmination. Thank you as well to all of the parent volunteers who have signed up so far to help supervise.

We have also been observing the life cycle of a butterfly in action. we received them as caterpillars, watched as they turned into chrysalides and the observed in amazement as they became butterflies.


Forming a Chrysalid


How's it hanging


Multiply beside a butterfly


Snowman Multiplication and Division


Multiplication Array

Animal adaptations

This week we concluded our exploration of fractions. We covered up shapes by trying to use the smallest number of pieces possible. We explored fraction relationships using fraction blocks and discovered different ways to make a pattern block hexagon.

In language we used the 5 finger method for summarizing a folktale. (Somebody...wanted...but...so...then). We also learned what  a folktale is and how it often tries to teach a lesson about the natural world. We practised our summarizing with the First Nation story from Canada's West Coast "How the Raven Stole the Sun." We also looked at how to illustrate a book using that story. 

In Science we learned more about animal adaptations and characteristics.  We made animals out of available materials and described their adaptations. We also learned about classification of animals into the major animal groups mammal, reptile, fish, insect, amphibian, and bird. We took an in depth look at mammals and will be exploring more of the animals next week. Below are some videos of students describing their animal's adaptations. 

I'm actually pretty good at fractions.

This week we began our work on fractions. We have been exploring what a fraction is through various activities. Today, we were discovering what "halfness" is. We look at different ways to make a half out of something.

What is half of his height?

We used spinners to see what half of the carpet is

We filled half of the water bottle

I found the halfway point of this book

What is half of nineteen hands?

In Language we continued to work on our narrative stories using the prompt "There's a creature in my House." We have been using a graphic organizer to put our story together and the writing our rough drafts based on our outline form the organizer. Most of us will finish before the May Long weekend begins.

We are also learning about Animals and their adaptations in science with a focus on animals from the Arctic

Donations

Please consider donating what you can. The crate will be shipped within the next few weeks. You can also continue to purchase picture books. Supplies will be purchased from the money raised from sales of the picture book. Thank you for continuing to help students in this learning journey.

Education Week

Next week is education week which is a showcase for our school and school board. We have been hard at work getting ready for this week and for the open house. The Grade 2's have been especially busy as we have chosen this week to sell our My Community picture book which includes pictures taken by our grade 2's as well as grade 5 students from St. Luke in Barrhaven and Grade 5 students at Alookie school in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. We have been preparing ads to play over the school announcements. Here's what we have so far.

https://youtu.be/XrW5knRR9ys
https://youtu.be/VI_PwZ85IIE
https://youtu.be/l7PX3Lv9Mgs


Please help support this project.

I would also love to see you at the open house on Tuesday May 2, 2017 from 8:30-9:15 followed by an in class activity until 10:00 which parents are invited to take part in.

Easter

I hope that you have all had a happy and blessed Easter. We celebrate that Jesus is Risen. We also celebrate our earth week at St. Anne's which will culminate in our eco parade on Friday April 21.

We have been working this week on exploring 3D shapes by naming them, and describing them by the number of vertices, edges and faces. We are also discovering how a 3D shape is made up of 2D shapes.

In language we are working on writing to persuade. We worked in groups by discussing and coming up with 3 things that should be packed into the crate that is going to Pangnirtung and finding reasons to include each of those things.  We also read the story I wanna Iguana and had students write a letter persuading their parents to get them a pet. Parents are under no obligation to get their child a pet but please praise their efforts when the letter comes home later next week.

We are also wrapping up our exploration of solids and liquids in science by creating a structure that can float for 2 minutes in water, be moved 1 m by a fan and hold a little lego figure. A student posed the question whether or not cardstock would be a better choice than paper. We decided to do a test by floating a piece of paper and a piece cardstock. in a container for 2 minutes.

The cardstock still kept its shape but the paper quickly absorbed the water. 

Basketball skills in the gym.

Attending the stations of the cross put on by Grade 6 students.

working on the crate top. Oops we spilled some paint.

Our completed crate. We made our oops into a beautiful oops. Way to stay positive Grade 2's.

Tomatosphere. Most seeds germinated. This little guy came up but did not put out any leaves. 

Creating our Easter posters on cardstock. 

Busy beavers

This past week we have continued to explore different strategies for subtraction. We also built igloos last week as a way to practice procedural writing. We will finish procedural writing next week. We will also begin exploring time and temperature. Here are some highlights from the past week. 

Igloo construction

Sometimes it doesn't always work out. 

But we still keep trying

Rocks and rings curling.

We have also been practicing our addition and subtraction by keeping track of the Senators playoff run. They have finally clinched a playoff spot. Go sens go. 

Building an igloo and other procedures

This week in language we worked on procedural writing. We built our own creation out of Lego and then wrote how to build each step. 

We then read the story "Grandfather tell us about the igloo." We then came up with the steps for how the Inuit built igloos. We also decided that it would be great to build an igloo as a class. However we had just learned that to build an igloo you need hard packed snow. Because the recently fallen snow wasn't hard enough or deep enough we decided to build individual igloos indoors. Sugar cubes were used because they are the most like the hard packed snow and we used homemade icing to stick them together for extra strength. Igloos are being sent home today. Hopefully they will still be standing when they arrive home. 

Unfortunately there are sometimes cave ins. 

This cap cube was attached by putting icing on both sides of the cube and letting the pressure from the other cubes help keep it in place. 

Examining the waterproofness and structural integrity of the igloo. Students have since been instructed to check with parents before consuming their igloo. Some students were also inspired to build an Inukshuk beside the igloo. 

Capturing Community

It has been brought to my attention that some students were unable to see the Capturing Community workspace in Hapara. I have reshared the workspace and all students should be able to see the workspace now. The workspace is in the ANN-1LAN-22-1617 folder.

When submitting a photo insert an image into the Google slides under Evidence by first opening the document. The insert image and also add a one to two sentence caption describing why this picture best represents your community. 

Please feel free to contact me if there are any questions or difficulties logging in. 

Have a safe and enjoyable March Break! 

40 days of Lent and Spirit Week.

Today marks the beginning of Lent with our celebration of Ash Wednesday. We receive ashes on our foreheads to symbolize a turning away from our bad choices and a turning towards good choices that build ourselves and our community. Tat is why as a school we are ebarking on the 40 days for Leny challenge.

Lent is a time when we think of others and try to make better choices. We do works of charity and make sacrifices to help others. During this Lenten season, we're challenging all the Lions of St. Anne to complete 40 Acts. We call it “The 40 Act Challenge”!

At the beginning of each day, we will read out a challenge act for you to complete at some point during the day. You may complete the act as often as you want. It can be for anyone: friends, classmates, someone you see on the yard, teachers, and other staff in the school. You can also continue this when you go home at the end of the day with your parents, brothers, sisters, and grandparents. This is a special way for all of us to come together and show how much we care for our St. Anne Lion Family. Remember, we're all in this together – all students and all staff. Let's make these 40 days an opportunity to make a difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmvpBGPlnXk

Next week we will also hold our spirit week as a lead up to March Break. The events and explanation is below. All proceeds will go to support the St. Anne Kingdom Club Social Justice initiatives.

We take the time of Lent to teach the children about being a light in the darkness. One of the ways children can let their light shine is by helping others. The week of March 6 is a fundraising Spirit week. Each student is encouraged to bring in a loonie or a toonie each day and participate in the fun. Funds will go to our Lenten initiatives.

March 6 – PJ Day

March 7 – Stuffy Day

March 8 – Jersey Day

March 9 – Lion School Spirit Day

March 10 – Tacky Tourist Day

Inuit cultural workshop

Yesterday's field trip to the Ottawa Art Center in Downtown Ottawa. We participated in workshops and a performance in the Arts Center Theatre. The Inuit group Nunavut Sivuniksavut did a great job organizing and putting on the workshops. We had a workshop on Inuit syllabics which is their version of the alphabet and learned how to write our name in Inuktitut. We also participated in a workshop on Inuit string games and learned how to make a tipi. We also learned how to juggle 2 balls at the same time. We learned three different strength games as well We tried the airplane carry, the arm pull and the high kick. After a nutrition break we we treated to a performance of Inuit music and dance as well as an Inuit traditional clothing and artifact demonstration. Below are just a few pictures and videos from our trip.

We will begin procedural writing next week as well as learning about subtracting with dollar amounts. We will also be discussing air and water pollution in science

Measuring success

I am 6 and a half books long!

 We have begun our measurement study by measuring the things around us. We measured our hands, feet, and how tall we are compared to each other and compared to other non standard units. We measured the carpet using books, the classroom using linking cubes and desks using pencils. We will continue to explore measurement by using standard and non standard units to measure weight, volume, and time. We will also explore the concepts of area (how much space an object covers) and perimeter ( the distance around an object). 

In Language we are working on writing informational reports. We start by gathering facts, then creating a topic sentence. We then write our facts in a way that makes sense to us and to the reader. So far we have researched air and water facts and important objects in First Nations culture. We will continue to research facts and learn how to put them into a report. 

In gym we have been using our indoor curling set to practice skills learned from our exploration of throwing and catching. Students have been introduced to curling terminology such as house, button, draw, takeout and bonspiel. We will also begin our study of healthy eating in health. 

We continue to explore the topics of Reconciliation and forgiveness as we approach the day for our reconciliation service. We have read bible stories and continue to explore situations where we can ask for forgiveness and give forgiveness. 

Also a reminder of our Valentine raffle next Tuesday. Thank you for your support already. 

We are also still accepting donations for our pajama patrol. Please bring in any new pj's by the end of next week to support families in need. Next Friday the 17th we will have a PJ day for the entire school to celebrate our efforts. 

Finally we are still looking for anyone who can help us in our deep learning journey in the area of financial literacy, photography or and First Nations culture. Thank you for your support. 

Measuring the carpet using books.

Finding facts about the tipi

How many linking cubes are we at again? 

Drawing for the button

Attempting a takeout

A very close call. Red scores 1 point. 

National Sweater Day. Or is that Dab?

National Sweater Day!

Our school will be taking part in National Sweater Day on Thursday, February 2! National Sweater Day is an annual event organized by World Wildlife Fund Canada. On National Sweater Day, WWF asks Canadians to turn down thermostats by two degrees Celsius at home, at school and at work to highlight the role that energy conservation plays in preventing climate change.

Our school buildings will be a little chillier on February 2, so we are asking that all students wear or bring a sweater to school. 

In addition to turning down the heat and turning up our sweaters, our school will be participating in a number of activities designed to help students understand how everyday actions affect our planet’s future.

We are also holding a contest for coziest, most colourful, sportiest, craziest, or most nature like sweater. 

We are looking forward to a cozy day in the school. 

Counting coins

This week in Math we start exploring Canadian currency and working with dollar amounts. We will be adding and subtracting dollar amounts using play money. This is an important component of our deep learning journey as we want to explore financial literacy. If there are any parents who have experience in financial literacy, we would love to have you come and share your experiences with the class.

In language we are exploring First Nations culture and will begin writing to give information. 

The school will also be holding a pajama drive. Please see link to poster below for more info.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2e7tYXXyFvbbWpKd3JCa3FuUlBvOUNOVmlCQ0ZCTEZ5aFg0/view

Deep Learning

Today your child came home with a consent package related to the deep learning project that all the grade 2 classes will be participating in at our school. Please have these forms completed and returned to school as soon as possible. To find out more about our learning journey, please view the video below which was created by our very own Mrs. Latour.

https://youtu.be/jGK8RqO8Hhg

You can also find out more about what is going on in our school board in regards to deep learning through Twitter by following the #ocsbdl hashtag. 

Students have also received their Reconciliation booklets titled "God Has Forgiven You, Go in Peace". Typically we will begin a page at school and complete it at home. I appreciate the support of all of our parents in preparing the class for this important step in their spiritual journey. I recognize that not all parents wish to have their child participate in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion. However the activities in the booklet are still valuable for all of us to do, to reflect on the stories from the Bible and to learn how to be better friends and how to make up for times when we have done wrong to another. If their are any questions please feel free to contact me through your child's agenda. 

Happy New Year.

I hope everyone had a happy and restful Christmas break. This week we are back into the thick of things with a new homework calendar for January and a letter from St Patrick's Fallowfield regarding Reconciliation and First Communion as well as some dates to remember to prepare for these Sacraments. 

There will also be some changes to how Class Dojo is used. Instead of receiving a reward at a set number of points, students can cash in their points on Fridays during second block to receive a prize. Students can save up points for a more valuable prize or reward. As a result all class Dojo points have been reset to 0 as a fresh start for the new year. 

Please enjoy some pictures of our Christmas concert which the students did so well at. I am very proud of their hard work in performing a beautiful song. 

Waiting in the hallway for our turn to shine

It's a packed house!

Waiting in the wings. Everyone is quiet and focussed. 

Singing our hearts out with Ms. O'Neil's grade 3 class

Time to let loose! Great job everyone!