Groovin' This Week

It was another short week, with lots crammed in! The grade twos reviewed the "euse" sound in "La berceuse" and the "bl" sound in "Blaise". The grade threes finished up the story "Truffe la chatte". Some are getting quite good at answering comprehension questions in complete sentences while others continue to need practice with this. Today we discussed the difference between level 4 (A), level 3 (B), and level 2 (C) answers. We looked at how you could get the right answer for all three levels but depending on the detail of your answer, it could be any of the three levels. 

We continued with our spring poems as shared readings. These two poems will be among the 5 poems the class will present at our primary assembly on Tuesday. I read the book "Gros poulet" as a read aloud. It had some great themes about getting to know someone before making judgments, and accepting differences. I loved the images and all the different fonts used throughout the book. We followed it up by reflecting on the book. The students drew their favourite part but I also had them write a sentence explaining why they liked the book, tying in nicely with our explanation writing. 

We continued to work on our money unit. I love using the SMARTBOARD and there are some wonderful lessons on Smart Exchange and they are quite easy to translate to French. Today we looked at different ways to make $1.00 (grade two expectation) and $10.00 (grade three expectation). The grade twos love getting to see the grade three work and to try to do it as well as their own, especially when we use the SMARTBOARD! The grade threes also learned how to use a multiplication table to do  simple multiplication and division questions. We looked at how to do area and perimeter for a shape that has a cutout and again the grade twos loved learning this grade three concept after having started area and perimeter a few weeks ago. 

Yesterday, we got to participate in the Groove workshop. It was lots of fun and there are some very good dancers and some very enthusiastic participants in the class!  Next week we will be presenting our poems and our soundscape at our primary assembly. We practised several times this week and the class is looking forward to sharing. The primary choir will also be singing. Hopefully a few parents will be able to make it on Tuesday, 2-3 pm. 

The First of April's Short Weeks

It was a very short week, especially as I was away on Monday.  In language, the grade twos looked at the comptines "Le carrosse" with the "osse" sound and "Le virus" with the "uce" sound. The grade threes finished up "Les galettes de Geneviève" and began the story "Truffe la chatte" with the "if, af, of, uf, ef" sounds. We looked at some more spring poems. These will not be in next week's homework as the students will take turns presenting on of the three poems at our Primary Assembly on April 29. It will take place at 2 p.m. so hopefully some parents will be able to make it to see the children present their poems and our other presentation. 

In math, we continued with our money unit. Having your children count change at home and make money amounts in several different ways is a great way to practise the concepts we are looking at in class. We have been spending some time looking at the math tests and the students have been making corrections. I am in the process of preparing a rubric encompassing the test results as well as observations of their work (problem solving) throughout the unit to send home.

In science, the grade twos have been looking at the properties of air and the grade threes have begun looking at soils. The grade threes are now looking at the lives of pioneers in Upper Canada and the grade twos are continuing to look at various celebrations from different religions in social studies. They have been very good at pointing out similarities between different celebrations, for example, the lighting of the Kinara during Kwanzaa and of the Menorah during Hannuka. 

I hope everyone has a lovely long weekend and happe Easter to those who celebrate this holiday!

Lot$ Going On!

This week, the grade twos looked at the "ace/asse" sound in "Horace" and the "isse" sound in "Mathis". The grade threes looked at soft and hard "g" in " Les galettes de Geneviève" and worked on comprehension. The focus has been on looking for answers by looking for the key words in the text and ensuring that answers are written in complete sentences. In our reading ateliers, the new game was to make sight word rings. They only had time to make them, not play with them so that will be done in the next cycle of ateliers. The new games in the writing ateliers were to figure out if the sentence was past, present or future and to figure out which part of the sentence was underlined (noun, verb, or adjective). Today we did a shared reading of the story "La petite poule rousse" on the SMARTBOARD. Then we spent some time completing cloze passages and other follow-up comprehension activities together. 

Making sight word rings

Expanding vocabulary by adding word lists to personal dictionaries

Passé, présent, futur? and Nom, verbe, adjectif?

We finished up 2- and 3-digit addition and subtraction on Monday with a test. We then began a new unit on money this week. There were several new activities in our ateliers, however, the students will continue to practise adding and subtracting skills in the numeration centre and in the problem-solving centre with Mme McLaren. They played two new money games: a piggy bank game and a money bingo game. 

Two new money games

Working with Mme at the guided math centre

Grade two booklet

Grade three booklet

The grade threes went to Swim to Survive this week for their first session. Despite a mix-up in times, they will still be going on the next two Thursdays, but at a later time. The students also put lots of effort into preparing acrostic poems in English and spring scenes in Art. These will be taken to a children's hospital/retirement home in Columbia over the Easter Holiday by Gabe's parents. 

Bubbles, Soundscapes, and Fire Safety!

This has been such a busy week. I was at a conference on Monday all day, a workshop after school on Tuesday, and have been muddling through the rest of the week with a sinus infection. In language, the grade twos worked on the "or" sound in "Météore" and the "ure" sound in "La caricature". The grade threes read the story "Au camp d'été" which looked at hard and soft "c". Our Poem this week, "Les petits Lapons" tied nicely into the grade two social studies curriculum. In math, we've pretty much finished up addition and subtraction. The class will have a short test on Monday and we'll be moving on to money. 

On Tuesday after school, I attended a Primary Arts workshop. I picked up some wonderful ideas that I have already tried with the class. We did a drama/movement activity to work on respecting the personal spaces of others. The students created an imaginary bubble and had to move throughout the room while respecting their own and the bubbles of others. It was also good at desks and as a reminder of working quietly as bubbles don't speak!

I also had the students perform a soundscape using their bodies to respresentative a force of nature. The grade threes have been looking at forces of nature this week. I've uploaded the recording of the class's soundscape to YouTube. It's pretty amazing how it sounds when you can't actually see the actions that the students were doing. You can have a listen by checking out the following link to YouTube. 

http://youtu.be/WG5vgPn5uFE

On Friday morning, we had a Fire Safety presentation with Andrew and Eric from the fire department. The class watched a short movie "Sparky's ABCs". They discussed making and practising an exit plan. They also discussed when to change fire alarms, twice a year when the clocks go forward/backward. The children saw what equipment a fireman will wear when entering a fire scene. After the class practised crawling to stay under the smoke, the firemen had Kyle demonstrate "stop, drop, and roll" for if clothes are on fire.

Andrew explaining exit plan

Eric putting on his equipment

Ready to fight a fire!