Halloween, Bats and Pudding!

Just a quick post today...
I wanted to capture a few moments from today. For science, the students worked on 'Procedural Writing' as they worked through 'how to make pudding'. This group really had the 'teamwork' concept.

                               This pudding didn't last long!

                 Out looking for teasels to create our bats today. 

              Found some perfect ones for the bodies of our bats.

Hard to get the bats to stay still for a picture...they kept flying around the room!

                            Have a Happy Hallowe'en! 
Looking forward to seeing the Halloween parade tomorrow after announcements. Remember we will be having our parade upstairs. It usually only takes about 15 minutes or so...not very long. 

Technical Difficulties

Well, of course it is Progress Report card writing time and right on schedule my laptop dies. Not a slow death...instant, and according to my technology people...fatal! No problem, but then my printer decides it can't align labels either so that is why I had the children write their 'Dreambox logins' for you...sorry about that. 

Picture Day
We all looked lovely for picture day on Thursday. Can't wait to see the class picture. Here is mine from Grade three (couldn't find grade two pic)...can you find me? 

         Clue: I'm wearing purple and very close to the teacher :)

We also really enjoyed reading this book. It's hilarious...

Hallowe'en
You will notice that there will be no homework this week. This is to accommodate Hallowe'en falling mid-week and the excitement of candy high and lows :) 
Parade
The Florence Meares school tradition involves a parade first thing in the morning right after announcements. I will send more information once I have met with the primary division on Monday. We usually invite students to come in full or partial costume. Students walk around the school and show off their costumes to each other. Parents are welcome to come for photo opportunities if you would like. 

Random facts about my class...
Did you know that most children in my class tried 'saurkraut' as part of our Oktoberfest 'traditions and celebrations' social studies reading? Guess what...many students actually liked it! When I have done this in other years, it was more like an episode of 'Fear Factor'. This class is so open to trying new things! 

Have you noticed that the children are actually eating the apples in their lunch? I have an apple slicer at school and for some reason this has become motivation to bring apples to school and actually eat them. Fine with me...apples are a healthy snack! 

Seasonal activities

Shared Reading
As you know, this week was a shortened week due to the Canadian holiday Monday for Thanksgiving. Did you read the 'I can Read like a Pro' shared reading with your child? When I told my family that I decided to go with the Canadian version of events (Martin Frobisher) instead of the American history (pilgrims, Mayflower etc.) the reaction was hilarious. Apparently no one knew the Canadian version of events except my Dad who was a former history teacher. 

Remembrance Day cards

Florence Meares P.S. has a wonderful tradition whereby the students make cards for war veterans who attend a gathering in Oakville. It is difficult to teach students who are so young and thankfully unaware of war, how to be respectful and what to write. Finally, after much discussion we were able to come up with some kind words to communicate our respect. An unintentional funny moment happened when I realized we were making Remembrance day cards before Hallowe'en while the children were singing Christmas songs at their desk. I pointed this out and we all had a good laugh :)

Home reading
Home reading will start with some students next week. I am re-thinking what to do with my really high readers (and thankfully I have many). I have noticed that many students have already developed those higher level decoding skills and enjoy self selecting chapter books or series. So, I am thinking that these students might enjoy choosing their own library books and adding a writing component monthly. I think if a student is enjoying reading, I don't want to make this tedious so am considering making it optional with some incentives to provide initiative. I have a few ideas but just need some time to talk to the students and get their input too. The purpose of adding a writing component would be to support comprehension skills, build vocabulary and improve structural knowledge of language. 

***Dreambox has a link on this webpage*** Go into the 'Fabulous Websites' tab and you will find it located at the top of the list. I think this might be easier for students find on their own. 

Coffee Filter turkeys, Switch Days and Doubles Facts

Switch Days
This Tuesday we had our first switch day. Have you ever wondered why or what that means? While primary classes usually have fairly seamless daily transitions (language to math for example), some classes are on rotary (e.g., music). So, if students have music on a Monday or a Friday, they would in essence miss some classes due to holiday weekends. Having a switch day ensures an equal number of certain classes for students as well it equalizes curriculum minutes per subject. I know my class would mutiny if they missed art! 

Doubles Facts
I got a few notes this week about last weeks homework. We are working on developing strategies for adding numbers to 10 (and later to 20) quickly. In Grade Two, students need to develop these strategies to ensure quicker calculations and to move away from using manipulative materials (e.g. counting fingers or using cubes etc.). This is only gained through constant modeling (teacher or parent), gaining familiarity (using dice or cards to provide visuals) and repetition. Please don't panic if your child came home and wasn't able to fully articulate a strategy. They are still gaining familiarity and have not yet transferred information in class to their own independent work. The easiest strategies to start with are:
Doubles Facts 
If the question is 7 + 6 =
Then the doubles facts are: 7+7=   or 6+6 =
So, if a student knows 6+6= 12 from playing dice games, then they can easily figure out that 7+6 will be one more so 13.
Counting On
If a question is 10+3= then students hold the bigger number in their head (10) and then use their fingers to count on, 11, 12, 13. 
So, play those card, dice, bingo or snakes and ladders games! It will help your child gain number sense while having a little fun. Hopefully you find this helpful as you assist with your learner at home.

Some turkey talk:
I will leave you with a few pictures of our wonderful coffee filter turkeys completed for your windows at home. Hope you find them as groovy and festive as I do!

Holding our turkeys up to the window to see the light shine through the coffee filter. Using markers and water, we really had a good time mixing colours. 
                     Have a restful and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Safety Village, Music and a new Student teacher

Our first class trip of the year was to Halton's Safety Village in Oakville. We listened to the Police Officer talk about traffic safety, when to call 911 for an emergency and what all the different traffic signs mean. Then it was time to go out into the mini-village and practise what we learned. Here is the village, complete with working traffic lights and mini-stores. Oh yes, the highlight was visiting the jail. I have some good pictures of that for the yearbook.

Here are our vehicles waiting for us.

 And we're off! Some of us were natural drivers while a few others need to remember which side of the road to drive on :) 

                     What a perfect day for a class trip outside! 


Music
Students get their music lessons from the fabulous 'Mrs Kirk'. This week students practised an amazing song and performed it for me in perfect synchronicity. They were so proud and so was I. 

                         (in case you are new to my blog, I never put the children's faces on this blog)

Student teacher
This year my class and I will host a student teacher from Brock University. This will be for her first term with observation time this month and one lesson taught by her in November. Eventually in December she will have a teaching block. Of course, I will always be in the room and teaching in some capacity. As well, there will be lots of opportunity for both of us to work in small groups with the children. You may hear about 'Miss Rioux' in the next little while and now you know who she is.