Monday, February 29 - Reports Go Home Today!

Hi everyone! The kiddos will be bringing home their report cards today. Some things to remember:

• Please fill out the bottom of pages 3-4 and return it ASAP.
• Please return the envelope so we can reuse it in June.
• Please email me if you would like to sit down and chat about your child's progress.

Ms. Douglas has sent home some art today as well. She asks that you spend some time looking through it as a family and reflecting on how awesome it is. Here's a little note from her.

Dear Families,

The grade two students are bringing home a collection of their artwork today. They are quite proud of their work and are eager to show it to you. Together, please look through it and answer the following questions:

Our favourite piece of artwork is _____________because____________________________________

The one we feel can be improved is ____________________. This could be done by ____________

We find ___________________ to be most interesting because _____________________________

Please write the answers on a piece of paper and return it by Friday.

Thanks,

Ms. Douglas 

Wednesday, February 24 - Pink Shirt Day!

Today is Pink Shirt Day! We'll be having some discussion in class about bullying and anti-bullying. My observation, since becoming a teacher, is that many people (kids and adults alike) don't have a really clear definition of what bullying is. We'll be looking at a video today that talks about what bullying is and what it is not. 

Here's the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYx4CSOtsl0

I'm going to ask the kids to take the discussion home tonight and discuss it with their families. 

Weekend Update: Sunday, February 21

Just a quick reminder that term 1 report cards will be sent home with the kiddos on Monday, February 29. Unclaimed reports will be held for pickup in the main office after that date.

The coolest part about writing report cards is the opportunity I have to reflect on the growth of each child in my class. My conclusion: We have 25 amazing and unique individuals in grade 2! How lucky I am to spend my days with this bunch. :)

Have a wonderful week.

Wednesday, February 17

We have started looking at simple machines as part of our our Science unit on Movement. I've placed a few references on the Science tab (at the top of the main blog page) to help reinforce the concepts. Tonight's homework is a request for the kids to take a look around the house to see if they can find any simple machines. They're everywhere, but sometimes they're so simple we don't realize they're simple machines. :)

Weekend Update - Saturday, February 6

Happy weekend, everyone!

I now have the scoop regarding our Valentine's Day schedule for Friday, February 12.

Show your spirit: Everyone in grade 2 is invited to wear red or pink that day.

Dance-a-thon: Pledge forms went home last week and will be accepted until Friday. We will dance during periods 1 and 2.

Valentines: We will spend the last hour of the day exchanging valentine cards. Students are encouraged to bring a valentine for each of their classmates to ensure nobody feels excluded. If you need a checklist, a list of first names can be found HERE.

***Please remember that the school has a strict policy that makes us unable to accept outside food into our classroom. This is due to allergies, food sensitivities, and preferences.

Friday, February 5 -- Social Studies Update

Further to my previous post, here is the next bit of information for the Social Studies celebrations and traditions assignment.

The two pieces of homework we've been working on this week are due by Monday at the latest. Some students didn't realize that they were to investigate only one holiday, so they are expected to go back and ensure they have information on both sheets for just one holiday. Here are links to the organizers and explanations of what's expected:

1. Home Interview: This is meant to highlight why the chosen holiday is special for the student's family as well as the family traditions for the celebration. 
2. Background Information: This online research is meant to be an investigation of the common threads associated with the holiday. When they search online what type of information do they find? This might be significantly different from the personal family traditions associated with the celebration.

On Monday during class time we will start creating the posters that the students will use to present their findings. Here is the success criteria list we came up with for the poster:

• Title, including the name of the holiday/celebration
• Information from the interview about the details of the family's traditional celebration
• Information from the background research about the holiday's origins, and other details
• Pictures from family celebrations, pictures from the internet, drawings, etc. 
• Any other artifacts that will make the poster interesting.

Monday, February 1

This afternoon we discussed the expected final outcome of our social studies inquiry and made some decisions about how to go about meeting our goal.

Expected outcome: A poster that shows details of a celebration that is important to the student and the student's family as well as background information about the holiday. (Success criteria for poster layout to be created.)

The process we established:

1. Pick a holiday that is special for you and your family. This was homework over the weekend.
2. Gather information:

• Ask family members or other people close to us about information and/or stories that relate to the holiday and the family's traditions related to that holiday. This is to be completed at home using the yellow Home Interview worksheet, which was sent home in the agenda on Monday. Please return this completed by Wednesday. 
• Also ask family members for interesting artifacts related to the holiday. This can also be done at home up until the date we start working on the posters.  
• Use the internet and library books to find background information about the holiday. We will use online tools, such as Canadian Encyclopedia and Britannica School to search for information. This is to be completed in school on Tuesday (without home support). An organizer will be provided with prompts for the necessary information. We will assess our progress after one visit to the computer lab to see if we need to schedule more time.

3. Create our posters. This is being done at school next week without home support. Materials to be provided. 

4. Sharing: Gallery walk to display the posters and the kids can ask each other questions about the work presented in the posters. I will also be conferencing with each student to get the scoop on their learning. 

Please note: Because of the fluid nature of our inquiry, we reserve the right to add or rearrange steps in our process. This is a basic overview of what we have planned.