Quick Post

This will just be a quick update as I've been away sick for the last couple of days. In Language, we read the poem "Avril" for a shared reading. The classe reviewed the "qu" sound in "La queue". They learned the "esse" spelling pattern in "La princesse". We discussed how that spelling pattern is always found in words that are feminine. 

In Math, we began daily 5 centres on money. I will include some photos of the activities next week. There are several money games, a problem-solving booklet on money and a booklet on money that they will be completing in a guided group with me. We also began some money whole class lessons on the Smartboard. An area to practise at home would be different ways to make a dollar: 4 quarters, 10 dimes, 20 nickels, 100 pennies. 

In Social Studies, we did some activities on China. We've also been practising our dance for the May assembly. Next week, the class will be teaching the other grade twos the dance. 

Have a great weekend!

Easter Time

Although it's been a short week, we've done lots of work. Our shared reading was the poem "Une graine qui voyageait". The students reviewed the "gn" and "ph" sounds in "Charlemagne" and "Le téléphone". I read some books on exclusion and kindness as read alouds. We finished up our reading centres cycle earlier this week and I began doing GB+ reading assessments with the class again yesterday and today to see our progress since the end of January. I'm just over halfway through and hope to finish up on Tuesday. 

We will be starting a unit on money in Math next week. The students will be required to count and make money amounts to $1.00, add/subtract money amounts to $1.00, and make change for purchases that cost up to a dollar. They will continue to practise 2-digit addition and subtraction in their homework. 

In Social Studies, the students learned why Poisson d'avril (April Fool's Day) is celebrated. I enjoyed playing a few April Fool's jokes on Wednesday. Our schedule was full, they started the day at the very bottom of our behaviour chart, and some were a little surprised when I gave them some very difficult grade 4 math problems! We also learned about the celebration of Easter.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend with family!

Refreshed and Back At It!

March Break is over and it was right back to work. In Language, our shared reading was the poem "Le premier vol de l'hirondelle". We discussed the metaphors in the poem, the scissors were wings, the nest was so small that is was like an insect, the writing was the swallow's flight. We reviewed the "ui" and "un" sounds in " La pluie" and "Le chocolat brun". We also got right back into our Daily 5 centres. 

In Math, the class continued to try out the new games as we rotated thought centres. Understanding of when to use addition and when to use subtraction has also greatly improved during problem solving activities. An area that we need to continue to work on is in accuracy when subtracting. 

In Art, we began an activity on patterning and fractions. Some are done and their work is up in the hall and a few others have yet to finish next week. Also look for some up in the school frames near the office. I love when students work gets show-cased for many others to see. 

This week during Social Studies, the class needed a reminder about quality of work. We spent some time discussing what grade two work should look like and how it was more important to do less and do it well than it was to do lots but rush and not do your best work. 

We are trying something new for bucket filling. Before the break, we were working on working well in groups. We've now shifted the focus on treating others kindly and working as a class to fill each other's buckets daily. Each time I catch them "filling a bucket", I will add a sticker to the jar. When they get to 25, we will vote on a new class reward. 

Even with all the work this week, there was still time for some brain and body breaks!

Please remember, spring is a very wet, messy time of year on the school yard and accidents are frequent. If your child has not already brought in a spare set of clothing, please send some. Splash pants are also highly recommended as the need for snowpants disappears. (Hopefully!?!)

The March/April newsletter link has been put at the top of the blog. There are several upcoming important dates, so please check it out. 

Hot dog orders are due on Tuesday for Thursday's Hot Dog Day. Also, both next week and the following week are short weeks with the Easter holiday in between. 

Have a great weekend!

Break Time!

I have to admit that I'm ready for a break, and for all of the snow to go! It's been such a busy week. In Language, we read the poem "À l'aube du printemps" for our shared reading. It was a good poem for practising some of the more difficult sounds in French. We reviewed the different spellings for "o" in "Au trot, au galop!" and "eu" in "À la queue leu leu!" We've finished up another cycle of reading centres and will start fresh after the break. We are still looking at punctuation in the writing centres. We will probably need one more cycle to finish this up and then we will also do a new assessment of which spelling patterns have been mastered. 

We had some fun new activities in our math centres. The students really enjoyed "Zap" and the "greater than/equal/less than" games. We are almost finished our unit on two-digit addition and subtraction and will move on but will continue to practise these skills regularly. 

In Social Studies, we learned about the reason that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated and completed some activities on that. We also tried class-to-class Skyping today with Mme Deloughery's class after working through some technical difficulties this morning. Each group shared a comptine with her class and her students shared the musical instruments that they made with us. I'm hoping to try Skyping a class in another province or country to learn about a different community, so this was great practice. 

There was so much going on this week that the kids were pretty wound up by today. Monday was Backward Day. Tuesday, we had School Clothing/Colours Day as well as our last skating trip. Wednesday was Retro Day. Yesterday, we got to enjoy the Talent Show with a fun body break that had the whole school dancing right in the middle. Today was Twin Day and we kicked off March Break with a dance this afternoon. 

I'm sure the students will enjoy this much-deserved a break and I look forward to seeing them all back on the 23rd, refreshed and ready to get back to it. 

HAVE A GREAT MARCH BREAK!

Counting Down to March Break

This week in Language, we read "Mars" for our shared reading. We reviewed the "é/è" sounds and their various spellings in "Le secret" and "Le bébé". The students tried out some reading games at this week's centres. The reading and writing centres switched again today and they had lots of new activities to try. We will continue this rotation next week. 

We have been focusing a lot on different ways to add and subtract over the past few weeks; such as using a hundreds chart, paper-pencil with and without regrouping, and mental math strategies. This week, week we focused more on using the number line and did various activities on the Smartboard. The numbers we used in class are quite a bit higher than those they've been seeing in their math homework. 

We began a project in Social Studies and Art that incorporates a lot of the concepts about how a community fits in the world. The class is completing booklets starting from their homes and working out to the world. As there is cutting, gluing, drawing and colouring, we get to use some Art skills. It's also a great review of some of the maps we have seen this year. This will hopefully help those students who are still having some difficulty differentiating between city, province, country, and continent. 

In Music, we learned about forte and piano. We came up with arm movements to represent each. We also spent some time looking at scales, practising singing the notes, and learning the letters of the notes. 

On Thursday afternoon, the entire class got to enjoy some free time on the computers after voting on this reward for good group work. It was great to see that almost all of them chose to play math games. 

There will be a lot going on in the upcoming week. Please check the agenda for any additional information that may come home. Here is a schedule of next week's activities:

Monday: Backwards Day

Tuesday: School Colours/Clothing Day and Skating

Wednesday: Retro Day

Thursday: AVPS Talent Show

Friday: Mystery Spirit Day and Dance