Knitting club, Holidays, Character traits,

Knitting Club
In the New Year, I will be starting knitting club for those students who might be interested. If you have a child that might want to learn, perhaps Santa or a family member might be interested in picking up some 'beginning knitting' tools for Christmas. While I do provide much of the wool from my own stash or donations from friends, I will gratefully accept wool donations throughout the year. Beginning knitters work well with the cheap, colourful acrylic yarns that you can get at any department store. Just make sure it isn't too thin as this is a struggle for a new knitter to manage. Please see this link from last year for ideas:   Knitting club: what to buy 



Holiday Concert
Thank you to all who attended the Holiday Concert! It was very exciting for the 'Grade Two' students to present their songs to you. If you had a chance to look around the gym, the snowflakes were all done by our students! 

Character Traits 
In language we have been talking about character traits and how to use them in our writing. Here is an example of our class discussion using the fictional 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' by Dr. Seuss. We have also been learning about letter writing. We used this skill when writing our letters to Santa using e mail. The students were very excited to get their replies. We have learned so much about life at the North Pole! 

                    Have a wonderful and relaxing holiday! 

                                                     

Interviews, Learning skills, Pajama day art

Interviews: (November 20 and 21st)

Progress Reports go home Monday, November 17th. 

Please make sure to send in your interview forms so we can schedule your interviews. It is a challenge to coordinate sibling interviews back to back with various teachers. We always try our best to do this for you! In case you were wondering what the format for the 'Grade Two' interviews will be this year, it is as follows:

10 minutes (student led) Each student will meet with their parent with their personal portfolio. 

In each portfolio is a booklet where students self assessed their learning skills and goals. Take a moment to look through this booklet and see if your child critiqued themselves in an honest way. Some children can be quite hard on themselves while others seem unaware of potential areas to improve upon. There will also be a writing and math sample for you to see. All of this will provide an opportunity for good discussion. 

10 minutes (teacher led) I will join you at this point and we will set goals together as indicated on the back of the report card. Please take a moment to jot ideas down or you are welcome to leave it blank and we can discuss those goals together. If you would like to discuss anything privately with me we can do so at this time and your child may read quietly in the hall if you would prefer. 

Learning skills

We have spent time talking about what the 'Learning Skills' on the report mean to us. Although the headings (Responsibility, Organization, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative, Self Regulation) are quite big words for small children, we discuss them in class to create understanding. We co-created charts that hang in our classroom to help provide a culture of 'shared language'. Learning skills are an area of the report card that students can control. Making this content understood and demonstrating school expectations are an important part of our program. 

Pajama day art

Since this Friday was pajama day we tried to come up with a winter themed 'night' time art idea. So, we first read the book 'Owl Moon' which is a wonderful book about walking through the woods, making owl sounds and then finally encountering a Great Horned Owl. Our owl art was created in layers. First the moon (crayon), then the snowy tree (using white paint, brushes and the edge of cardboard to make the branches). Then we picked an owl and either drew or coloured our own special owl using markers. Finally we added some glitter using glue and sparkles. You will see them when you drop by this week for interviews! (click the pic to enlarge and see some of our 'Night owls')

            Have a great weekend and see most of you next week!

Happy Diwali! Marcel the Shell, Recipes for Fall

Happy Diwali!
This week for our Grade Two Social studies unit 'Traditions and Celebrations' we learned about the Hindu festival Diwali. It was extra special as we have a few students in the class who are experts on the subject and could answer questions for some of us. We started the week gathering information by reading a few books and watching a movie. 

We learned about 'Rangoli' designs and had fun colouring some of those during 'read aloud' time. (By the way, we have started 'James and the Giant Peach' by Roald Dahl...I tried another author but they are pretty keen on this author).


For art this week we decorated our clay diyas and took them home right away. Enjoy!

Internet Fun!
Have you met Marcel the Shell? Kind of cute and I've asked Mr. Cann to buy the book for the library. 

Have you checked out Howard B. Wigglebottom yet? I've put the link here and under the tab 'Fabulous Websites' with a bit of an explanation. Check it out!

Recipes: I've put this on my website before but it is an awesome soup recipe for this time of year! I've made it and can vouch for it's success.
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/pumpkin-soup/

Here is another hearty fabulous soup recipe for this time of year. I've made this one too and it is amazing. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup with Shaved Parmesan
(Makes 6-8 servings; recipe adapted from The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone.)

Equipment:
I used my Crock-Pot 5-Quart Smart-Pot for this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped small
2 T minced garlic (or less if you're not a garlic fan)
2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning (contains oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme and rosemary)
2 cans (15 oz. can) Cannellini beans and juice (or use 4 cups cooked cannellini beans and a little water)
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes with juice
8 oz. finely chopped kale, washed if needed (about 8 cups finely chopped kale)
4-5 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I used 4 cups, but next time I would probably use 5)
4 fresh sage leaves, or 1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
1-2 pieces of Parmesan rind to add flavor (optional)
freshly shaved Parmesan, to garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan; add the onions and cook 4-5 minutes or until they are just starting to brown. Add the garlic and Italian Seasoning and saute 1-2 minutes more, being careful not to let the garlic brown. Spray the slow cooker with non-stick spray; then put onions and garlic into the slow cooker.

While the onions are cooking use an immersion blender or food processor to puree the cannellini beans and juice, keeping them a little chunky if you prefer. (If you're using freshly-cooked beans I would add about 1/4 cup water.) Finely chop the kale (cutting away thick center ribs if you have them) and wash kale in the salad spinner if you're using garden kale.

Put the pureed beans, chopped kale, chicken or vegetable stock, canned tomatoes and juice, and sage leaves (or dried sage) into the slow cooker with the onion mixture. (Add one or two pieces of Parmesan rind if desired for extra flavor.) Cook 4 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. Serve the soup hot, with strips of Parmesan shaved over if desired.

This soup will keep for at least a week in the fridge, and it freezes well.

Visualization as a Reading strategy, Giving Thanks

Class Trip to Safety Village
The Grade Two students enjoyed their visit to Safety Village. We enjoyed a beautiful autumn day. The students listened to a presentation about traffic signs and their meaning. They learned about Railway crossings and how the colour and shape of safety signs all have meaning. Officer Lawrence then took us out to the Safety village where students took turns driving the jeeps through the village. It took some student time to master driving on the right side of the road. As well, some students learned you must keep both hands on the wheel while driving. Hard to wave at your teacher and still drive safely :)


Reading Strategy of the Week
Each week we focus on a different reading strategy based on the book 'Reading with Meaning' by Debbie Miller. This week Mrs. Homewood our learning resource teacher, introduced us to a new story book called 'Imagine a Day' by Sarah L. Thomson. Students listened to the story without looking at the pictures. Instead, they had to visualize what the words meant, by painting a picture in their minds. To conceptualize their thoughts we integrated this reading strategy with our art. Using a new type of artistic media (watercolour paper and watercolour pencil crayons) we painted a picture based on the sentence we were given from the book. The ultimate goal is to create a class book, inspired by Thomson's book 'Imagine a Day' that we can put in our own classroom library. Books created by our class are always a popular read by students!

Here is the book that inspired the art:

Here are some of our artworks taking shape!

After our art was finished, we looked at what the illustrator of the book drew. Often, the students had more creative ideas or similar ones to the artist. They found their creativity was affirmed and are beginning to use 'visualization' as a strategy when they listen to my 'read aloud'  chapter books. 

Canadian Thanksgiving
Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I enjoyed having the family over at my home for a great dinner. So many things to be thankful for this year. The students were really creative making their coffee filter turkeys for the window. They do make me smile...

Safety Village Trip
This trip will be in the morning for our class (right after announcements) on October 3rd. This is a rain or shine event. Students will go by bus to the mini-village located in Oakville. Here is a picture of the jeeps they will get to drive! Today some of the students asked if they could drive the jeeps on the highway if they get really good. I love how children see the world...one driving lesson and they are ready to drive on the Q.E.W.

The mini village awaits us soon!

Terry Fox Run
Thank you to all who participated in the run or came out to cheer us on. The students did very well and met the challenge with enthusiasm. What a beautiful day for the event too!


School Barbecue and Open House
This Thursday October 2nd is our school Open House. From 5:30 to 8:00 is the school barbecue. From 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. is the Open House. There will be no formal presentation in the classroom but students will be given a checklist to complete with some fun activities. My favourite activity is 'the introduction' which we will be practising. I always love how students have to think what their parents names are instead of Mom and Dad. Looking forward to meeting you soon :)

Please remember to check the 'Homework' section of this blog for weekly updates and upcoming events. 

Terry Fox Run, Reading chapter books, Learning skills

Terry Fox Run
This week our 'Me to We' team held an assembly led by our Senior students to introduce the upcoming Terry Fox Run. We watched some inspiring videos of Terry's original 'Marathon of Hope' and his message to all of us. Please consider donating to our school goal of raising one dollar per student. I read this book to my students and we had a great chat about Terry Fox and his story. The students asked such great questions.
                             

Our Florence Meares', Terry Fox run will be held on September 24th at approximately 1:45 p.m. Hope we have lovely weather and a great school run! 

Books, books and more books
We have read many books already! As you may have heard, reading aloud is an integral part of my program. As well, I like to foster a real love of reading early by introducing books of all different variety and levels. I particularly have a love for well written humorous stories. We talk a lot about what we have read together which is the beginning of the 'shared language' created within our classroom community. Here are some of the stories we have read so far.

Chapter Books too!
We have also read two Roald Dahl beginning chapter stories. Everyone knows his 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' book but I like to introduce his lesser known works like the 'The Minpins' which is a lovely story about little people with suction boots that live in the trees. It is a great adventure story with a lovely ending. Other fun books include 'The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me' or 'The Enormous Crocodile'. 

Learning Skills
Understanding learning skills; knowing what those big words mean and working towards a goal is a big focus for term one. We co-created a learning goal chart using our understanding of what the words mean for us and what it may sound or look like. This year my students made an excellent suggestion. As I was creating the chart with them, they suggested I use 'word bubbles' to put the 'sound' words inside. I think this turned out really well and I already see students looking at it as a reference. 

Welcome back to a new school year!

Welcome to Ms Fink's Blog for the year 2014 to 2015!
This year I am teaching a straight Grade Two class and am really looking forward to working with a new group of students. Please take a moment to peruse this site and get acquainted with the many features and weekly updates. I will post information about how and what we will be learning as well as ways to help your student at home. I often post pictures but rest assured that I will never post a picture of your child's face on the internet. As indicated in my welcome newsletter, information on learning and exciting events will be posted here. Please have a look at the Twitter feed located on the right of this page to see updates about school-wide events. We will also record relevant information in our student agenda to assist communication between home and school. 

Something new I am trying...
I always try a new way of teaching something each year. This year, I decided to look at the 'whole picture' way of teaching the calendar. Rather than just focus on a month at a time (which has already been done in Kindergarten and Grade 1), I will present the whole picture as shown here:

I think if we look at the year as a whole, then it will be easily understood by students and the transfer of information to the agenda will be more practical and useful. We will see how it goes!


Did you know, this class LOVES the Black Lagoon series by Mark Thaler? 
                                  

Dreambox (Math program on-line)
Did you know that 'Dreambox' is already up and running for student use. I sent all the information (passwords and log-ins) in a letter which was put in the agenda bag on Tuesday. Lots of students have been asking about homework (yes, they are so keen in grade 2) so let them start Dreambox this week! 

Upcoming Trips
Did you know that our first trip to Safety Village will be on October 3rd? There is no charge for this trip and the best part is the students get to drive around a mini village in jeeps while obeying the traffic signs and rules of the road. Always a great start to the year! 

Mrs Kirk (our music teacher) is organizing a trip to see
Boris Brott and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada at Mohawk College Theatre: Gr 1-3 - Tuesday, November 4th at 9:40 am - Carnival of the Animals

Summer Reading: Places to Read and Things to See!

                                  Summer Reading

How to avoid the dreaded Summer Reading Slide...(when reading skills go down a bit but really they could go up)!

1) Here is a great chart we made describing places to read this summer!

 2) Raz-Kids and Book-Flix (remember to use your library barcode which is on a sticker on the inside of your child’s agenda) will work all summer and have been purchased by the board for your child's usage. In the fall, your child's account will be moved to their new classroom account by their teacher. You don't have to do anything but log on! Here are the links:

Book Flix

Raz-Kids

3)Try ‘Storyline on-line’ http://www.storylineonline.net/ – this is a great link that has famous people reading well known stories. Check out James Earl Jones reading ‘To be a Drum’. I really enjoyed his introduction where he talks about his dyslexia and stuttering as a child.

4) Make reading part of your summer fun! Reading can include technical reading for learning a new skill..."How to Knit" "How to draw 'Fairies" or "How to play hockey" or "How to navigate Minecraft". Reading for a purpose is a particular trait for boys but there are some great manuals and 'How to' reading books for girls too.

5) Model reading for your child. Read the newspaper or read on-line blogs! Discuss what you have read!

6) Travel, read, write, journal! Create experiences for your child that makes them want to read and write. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money. 

    Have you ever been to the Cheltenham badlands in Caledon?

 (If you do go here, I would highly recommend visiting the 'Spirit Tree Cidery and bakery for lunch and trying the squash, feta pizza or pear cider) I have no affiliation to this business but I do like good food :) The Cidery is very close to the 'Badlands' Here is a link for Spirit Tree http://www.spirittreecider.com/

              Have you ever been to Webster's or Tiffany Falls?

                   How about kayaking to Princess Point?

           What about visiting the Donkey Sanctuary in Guelph?

A very good friend of mine runs a blog entitled 'Dundas Valley and Beyond'  http://dundasoutdoors.blogspot.ca/ which will allow you to see and hear about great local destinations. Read this blog with your child and pick an outdoor, low cost adventure!

7) Have you looked at Ms Fink’s list of ‘Hot Summer Reads’? I’m always adding new books. Here is where you can find this list:

http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~finkd/?OpenItemURL=S0E8D6D27

8) Don’t forget about Henry B Wigglebottom https://wedolisten.org/media/ – they update this site with new books so check in once in a while to find new e-book selections. Coming soon… Henry B Wigglebottom, ‘Learns we can all get along’.

9) Need more ideas? Try Mr. Cann’s  Library links and go to ‘Find a Book’ http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~cannm/Library%20Links#FIND A BOOK

How about visiting a local public library! Our friends at the Burlington Public Library visited Florence Meares P.S. today to discuss their great summer reading program.

10) Have a favourite author and want to learn more…

Check out Mr. Cann’s author links http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~cannm/Library%20Links#AUTHOR

Here are some extra sites that our class might be interested in:

https://www.roalddahl.com/

http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/

   Have a Happy Summer and make sure to ‘Read and Relax’!

Father's Day fun!

Father's Day Art
Hope every Dad enjoyed their 'Groovy' card and gift. Have to admit that tie-dyed socks was an idea that I had been thinking about for a while but wasn't sure if it would work. The key is to find socks with a high percentage of natural fibre (Cotton, not acrylic). Then lay the socks side by side when you are putting the dye on to create a similar effect on both socks. I know they look a little 'colourful' but they are fun. When one student said to me, "what if my Dad won't wear it because they are too crazy" I simply answered with 'hey, my Dad ate everything I used to make in my easybake oven and that was cooked by a light bulb". Sock wearing is easy compared to having to eat some of my doughy disasters made back in the day :)
Here they are being made in the classroom. Socks have been tied with elastic and now the dye is being added by squirt bottle.

                                          Here are a pretty wild pair drying!

Here are all of them after I washed them one evening and let them dry outside naturally. The heat of our weather helps the dye become more permanent. (however, I suggest you wash them separately to start, just in case)

Lots of smiles on the faces of the children as they set off home with their cards and gifts.

I will be making a final post about how to avoid the dreaded 'Summer Reading Slide'. It will be full of fun websites with links, ideas for local summer trips and suggested 'hot reads' for the summer. Stay tuned for more! 

Art Gallery of Burlington, Butterflies and being busy!

Class Trip
The Burlington Art Centre (BAC) is now called the Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) and is located on Lakeshore Road. Our class enjoyed a wonderful trip there this Wednesday. We started out with half of us going to the weaving area and doing a course there. The other half of our group went to the pottery room to make clay owls. My group started out in the weaving room. We were greeted by a whole table full of pre-cut wool and were asked to choose three colours. 

Then we went to the looms and thread our needles.

 It took us a little bit to get the hang of it but after a while most students were able to leave with a woven bracelet or headband. In between sessions our group went on a tour of the gallery exhibit. They had a lovely garden with fish and tropical plants with sculptures of the four elements (earth, wind, fire and water). Then we went to see another outdoor exhibit entitled 'The Watchers'. These were life size sculptures hiding around the garden in various poses and with a variety of expressions on their faces. Have to admit this was a little creepy but it really did get the students talking about art and how they felt viewing it. (The sculpture artist was Magdeline Dykstra) (Wayne Cardinelli was the artist who did all the amazing pottery teapots, many of which were on display for the children)

Then my group was off to the pottery room where we learned how to make hollow 3D owls. We had to follow many directions to create textured wings and ears. I was so engrossed in the pottery and looking at the exhibits in the hallway, I forgot to take pictures. I will be picking up the owls once they are fired in the kiln. I'll add pictures later :) Trust me, they are all very cute and every one of them is different depending on the little hands that made it.

Looking for summer activities? The AGB has many summer art courses for children. Looking through the booklet, there are clay, drawing comics, photography and even clay-mation art classes running all summer for children. Sounds fun to me! 

Butterflies
This week was exciting as we got to release most of our butterflies. We still have many still in the chrysalis and one slow caterpillar! I counted well over 65 chrysalis this year...which is an all time success record for us. Here they are in the container, feeling the warm breeze and flying around in there.

We read a book entitled 'Melody's Mystery' which talks about how Monarch butterflies are the only butterflies who instinctively know to migrate. We learned that Monarchs that live west of the Rocky Mountains migrate to California and those that live east of the Rocky Mountains migrate to Ciudad, Mexico! I guess Monarchs don't do mountains! 


Update: Make sure to check the homework section for updates
             We are working on a super secret Father's day gift - hopefully no one blabbed :)

Author visit, More butterfly news

Author visit
We started today with a visit from author 'Andrew Larsen. He has written some of the books that have been part of our 'Blue Spruce' book series. These are the books that are new to the library and students all over Halton, read them and vote on which should win an award. Mr. Larsen was very entertaining (with a magic lightbulb) and lots of great stories about how he started writing as early as kindergarten. It was nice that he brought in a book from those days to show students that he was a 'developing' writer. He read to us his published book 'In the Tree House' using a slideshow. Very entertaining and a nice way to start the day!

Butterfly news!
Well, the caterpillars ate like crazy last week and are now this big.

Many have made a chrysalis and were moved to the observation container. A few that fell had to be glued back up. Yes, I used the old, glue gun trick that worked so well last year. More pics soon!

Updates:
Looking forward to next week. Our trip to the Burlington Art Centre to do weaving and pottery should be fun. Please send the usual lunch and snack. We will eat our snack there and arrive back at school a little late and eat our lunch. If your child gets pizza from the school order it should be waiting for us upon our return. 

Hard to believe there are only a few weeks left. I've SO enjoyed this class. The other day I went to say my usual attendance joke, "Put up your hand if you are absent" (corny, I know). However, before I had a chance one of my student's did it for me! I laughed and said, "Oh no you know all my jokes I guess you will have to go to grade 3". The student ran over, hugged me and said, "Ms. Fink, you just need to get new jokes!"

Butterfly larvae arrival! Lots of pictures!

It has been a busy week...
                        First of all this mysterious box arrived! 

Then we quickly had to get the butterfly larvae into their little containers and make sure they have enough food to grow into a chrysalis. Each child named their little creatures...'Ella' and 'Rose' seemed to be very popular! When the children return after the weekend, they won't believe how quickly these little guys will grow! They are eating machines!

Then of course we had to create some butterfly art! We created a fold on white paper and drew a design on one half using black pastel. Then we folded it to create a symmetrical imprint on the other half. After filling it in with colour, we used a toilet paper roll to secure it to our wrists, Then it was time to fly it around the room.                                 Lots of fun for a Friday :)

We are also getting the first of our Mr Men or Little Miss books done. They are looking good and the students love sharing them with each other!

Why Read Aloud?

                            Reading Aloud

One of my favourite things to do as a teacher is read aloud to my classes. We are currently enjoying the 'Little House' series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. There is enough interest and action for both girls and boys in these books. Particularly the second story 'Little House on the Prairie'. My class this year seems to have a particular interest in the historical aspects and we often look up pictures of the real people (photos on the internet) and places on a map. 


Reading aloud to children helps in a number of ways:

1. The teacher models expressive reading (many students need to hear your voice to understand fully how to move from a robotic reading style to a more conversational and expressive fluidity of thought and speech patterns). Yes, I model different voices, accents and affect when I'm reading...much more entertaining :) Developing fluid and expressive reading is especially important if you have second language learners in your classroom that may not be hearing English spoken regularly in their home.

2. Understanding the link between speech and print. Have you ever heard a word spoken and then realized that when you have been reading it, you were pronouncing it wrong? I have some funny ones I recall hearing for the first time; the proper pronunciations of such word like the name Seamus, or gazebo or the singer's name Sade. You do not even want to know how I thought they were pronounced!

3. To help children develop stronger vocabularies and more sophisticated language structures. A great example happened to us recently. In the 'Little House' book there is a chapter called 'Fever and Ague'. Since I wasn't entirely familiar with that term, I modeled how to look up the word and make sense of it in context (turns out it is malaria). As well we had a very interesting class discussion about pioneer misconceptions about illness (comparing what we know now to what they thought then). 

4. To increase attention span 
 Consider the amount of visual changes that occur when watching television or working with apps on an Ipad. Listening to a story allows for that 'slow, deep learning' that enables students to incubate ideas, discuss, ask questions and focus for longer duration. In my class, I also allow a kinesthetic activity such as knitting or corking to happen while I am reading aloud a book for enjoyment. (Not to be confused for when I am reading a 'mentor text' to be followed by a lesson...If this type of book is being read I usually set a context or purpose why we are listening so they know what to listen for). 

5. To introduce different genres and writing styles
Many of the books and series that we have read this year provide students with an overview of what is available at our own Florence Meares library. I know our librarian Mr. Cann has often said that my students know what interests them, are highly interested in certain authors and make requests about subjects/authors/genres with great sophistication. I love to hear that :) I especially like watching students who like similar books read together...like a mini Oprah book club!

If this topic interests you, consider reading more on this subject here: http://www.education.com/reference/article/reasons-read-aloud-children/
Some of the subject headings are from this article but I personalized the explanations to help you understand what that looks like in our classroom. 

If we want to help children learn to use cognition, imagination, and all six cues when they read, we need to get them excited about reading through energetic guidance and proactive practice. One of the most effective ways to guide children into becoming stronger readers and to give them the necessary mental practice for doing so is to read aloud to them every day. There is no substitute for regularly reading aloud to children; when we do so, we are helping them create meaning the way they do naturally—via the ear (Sanders 1995)

Class News:
Stay tuned for information about our last class trip to the Burlington Art Centre in June.

May 14th - Class butterflies (larvae) arrive

                          Time is flying by. Report card information soon!

Former students, Earth Day

Former Students!
I have taught long enough now that my former students are off into the world doing great things. Last night I was privileged to receive an invitation from a former group of students to come watch the White Oaks High School production of 'Hairspray'. Almost all the main lead parts were children I had taught! They were an incredible group of talent and it was so rewarding as a teacher to see them grow, thrive and find their creative spirits. When you teach children in the primary grades, you can still see that little person you used to know in the grown up bodies of the teenagers up on stage. Perhaps one day, I will get an invitation from your child to attend something wonderful that they are doing. Although we never know what the future holds, I would consider it an honor and if I could make it...I certainly would. 

Another former student, Kathryn who has been working in our classroom in between her teacher's college practicum assignments is off to Peru for the month of May. She is going to help teach English to school children and work on construction projects. She is allowed to take a suitcase full of donations and I have asked the students to consider looking around for a few small items so we could make a care package for her. I realize we are asked many times for donations but this is a chance to actually see our donations in action as I know Kathryn will bring back pictures and talk to the students about this adventure. Don't go out and buy anything. I'm just going to look around my house for a few items to donate so feel free to do the same if you can. 
Here are a few ideas:
markers, post-it notes, band-aids, dental hygiene things (floss, toothpaste), crayons, crafty items (rainbow loom bands). I know all items will be gratefully accepted and truly appreciated. No pressure though! 

Earth Day
April 22nd was Earth Day. We learned some of the history of Earth Day and discussed many ways to help our Earth. We explored the Eco-Kids website using the new Chrome books that the school has purchased. It seemed only fitting to go outside for some extra Gym time on a beautiful sunny day to celebrate as well. Our school will be doing a school-wide scavenger hunt in our Tribes this Friday afternoon, as well as working together to beautify the school (also known as picking up trash with gloves). We read the book Peter's Place (by Michael Foreman) which discusses what happens in an oil spill. As well, we had great discussion about our own classroom waste and how we could reduce and re-use a little better. 

Funny Story
Usually I tell a funny story about my class but today I will share with you my new learning. As some of you may or may not know, I like to grow my own vegetables and cook with organic foods as much as possible. I decided to make a lovely chicken soup this weekend. I added a purple, organic carrot to the crockpot. Who knew that one little, tiny purple carrot actually turns the whole soup...well...purple. An orange carrot doesn't turn it orange! No worries, I think. Then I tried to eat it. Let's just say it tastes great if you don't look at it. Who knew eating lilac coloured chicken with purple broth would be so hard to stomach! And here is your learning for the week...

                                                      Yep, it's really purple, isn't it?!?

Pysanky eggs, Art's Night, Story Mountains and Making Books

Pysanky Egg Art
Have you ever seen those beautiful Pysanky eggs? I have always thought they were so artfully created. When my father was in the Ukraine many years ago, he brought me one back and so began my little collection that you see here. I started to make a few and as I was doing them, I began to think how could I do something like this with children?

So, we made these 3D decorations. The children colour planned and persevered to create such wonderful Pysanky eggs using paper, small coloured markers, fancy scissors and small bits of sponge to separate the layers. Here is our bulletin board before I took it down today and sent them home for you!

Art's Night 
Thank you to everyone who came to listen to our choir performance and view our artwork. When we set the art up a few days before, it was lovely to see all the students admiring each other's work. Many of the older students came up to me and complimented our 'Grade Two' artwork. It was a positive experience all around. 


Story Mountains
Some of you may remember a post I did last year on how to identify or de-construct a basic story. Here is a link to that post: http://msfinksclass.blogspot.ca/2013_04_01_archive.html
Using familiar stories with predictable story patterns we plot the events on our story mountain and discuss all the elements of a basic narrative story. By this time in the year, students have heard many types of different text (fiction, non-fiction, info-fiction). Info-fiction is a story with both real and fake elements. An example that comes to mind is 'The Magic School Bus' series which has some great science facts but they are embedded with a fictional narrative (Ms Frizzle and her magic bus). As we look at the stories and discuss the 'beginning, middle and end' of the stories studied, we also begin to identify key elements that we will need to add to our own written work. Using the 'Little Miss' or 'Mr Men' books by Roger Hargreaves, which has a very predictable pattern, we will first draft a story outline before we begin to write our own stories. I am looking forward to reading some of our first Mr Men/Little Miss inspired published stories. We have titles like; 'Mr Slapshot', 'Miss Bad Luck', 'Mr Floppyfeet' and 'Little Miss Gymnast' just to name a few. Let the story writing begin! 

Spring
I took this picture on Tuesday of this week when we had that surprise snowstorm. I had put up spring flowers on our windows and you can see them against the sky with all the snow. A bit of a paradox! Hopefully this is it and sunny skies are ahead :)

Butterfly larvae arrive May 14th! I know students who were with me in grade one last year have done this but I think it is a learning experience that can be repeated. It will be nice to have experts in the class :) 

Teaching Digital citizenship

Technology is a great thing. I will always remember when my Grandma (who was in her 90's) marveled at the fact that I could take a picture and casually send it to my printer via wi-fi and hand her the picture within minutes. 

Really, if you consider her first camera was a little 'Brownie camera' and most people didn't have the means to buy one...then the instantaneous ability of computers is truly amazing. Having said all this, a good teacher has to keep up to date on the technology and media that interests students at any age. Social media, changes so quickly. When you consider MySpace changed to Facebook, which also includes Twitter and now Instagram...it makes one wonder what  will be cool next week? Even though my students are in Grade Two, it is important to talk about 'Digital Citizenship'. We watched some age appropriate movies that featured scenarios that could happen when using the internet. Then we discussed what we would do. Many students were surprised that even if you delete material (e.g., on their chatt accounts) that someone could still retrieve the information. We also talked about personal safety and using the internet responsibly. Today the students brought home a stickie note with a few points to discuss with you. I hope you have a great discussion. As you can see by our chart...we certainly did. 

1.  

Henry B. Wigglebottom

Calling all Howard B. Wigglebottom fans
If you really enjoy these books then you will enjoy this interactive website. My students really love the songs and e books. When you watch the books, right after the credits there is a great rap or song. 
Here is the link for you:

                                        HOWARD B. WIGGLEBOTTOM


                                      More news soon! 

Ted Harrison Art, Celebrating the arts, Working with words lesson

Celebrating the Arts
Did you know Florence Meares P.S. has plans for an 'Arts' evening in April? Mrs. Kirk is getting ready for a fabulous musical showcase with many of our FM students. WE are working on art to display around the school with some special art for the gym for this night. You will be amazed at our creativity! More details soon :)
April 10th, Thursday. 7:00 p.m. (choir members need to come earlier as indicated in the note from Mrs. O'Rourke). There is even a silent auction for a guitar and 2 free lessons. Woo hoo!


Ted Harrison Art
You may have seen some of Ted Harrison's books in our school library. Although he was born in England, he spent many years working/teaching in the Yukon. I was fortunate enough to hear him speak at an art conference a few years ago and was very moved by his speech and artwork. Using bold colours, he depicts scenes from Canada. So, for our artwork....we read his books, discussed and analyzed the types of elements of design used in his work (colour, space, shape, line, texture and form). Then we picked our favourite piece and recreated the vibrant colours using a 3D line drawn with glue and then added some oil pastels. Here are some examples for you to see. I am always so proud of how my students try new techniques and don't give up if the product is not exactly as they envisioned. I think this is because so often they surprise themselves with how good it turns out!

Working with Words:
Each week when I send word wall words home, I always do a mini lesson to support the word choice sent home. For example it may be a lesson on 'silent e', 'blended sounds', word endings, or vowels. This week one of my students actually guessed the lesson for the week by asking the question; "Ms Fink, if the words this week are' to, too and two', how in the world will we ever know which one to write for the test? Great question! To help you at home, I am providing a copy of the chart that we used to help explain each of the words. Hope this helps you as you assist your little ones at home. 

Something to make you smile...
One of my former students visited today to show me the knitting she just did. She learned in my class and has kept it up with some support from home. She is in Grade 4 now and I couldn't be prouder! 

                                                                 How cute is this?!?