Our class 'Dojo' account
Perhaps you have already logged in to see your child's account! I would encourage you to view the videos that are on youtube about 'Growth Mindset'. Link to Chapter 1 Growth Mindset movie. This is derived from the work of Carol Dweck whom I have written about previously on this blog feed. The new Dojo on-line program has provided a child friendly way of thinking about 'how we learn'. Many programs teach a student 'what' to learn but usually ignore the 'how' part. I believe that teaching students how to become resilient learners is a very important part of the education process.
Each week, our class watches a 5 minute video that discusses how our brain grows 'like any other muscle' when we experience new learning. Sometimes frustration happens when we experience a challenge.Strategies are explained to provide students a more positive way of thinking. Next week we are looking forward to the video 'The Power of Yet'. As in..."I can't do multiplication....yet" What a difference a simple word can make when articulating a more positive approach to learning!
Here we are watching the character Mojo!
There have been many activities happening this month. Here is a a picture montage to give you a glimpse into our classroom.
Our new bulletin board...Snowman portraits! Don't you love how each child interpreted the task differently. What results!
Smartboard centres!
Guided Reading with Ms Fink! (empty chair as she is currently taking the picture)
Daily 5 Reading Centres
Using the school chrome books to read
Learning about Tricky Y!
Read alouds
You may have heard about the stories we read in class. Currently we are reading THE BFG by Roald Dahl. We are also reading 'OWLS IN THE FAMILY' by Farley Mowat. I do allow the students to knit or draw when I read so this is a nice time to activate different parts of our brain. I have posted previously about the benefits of reading aloud to a class. If you have time, here is the link to that post. Why Read Aloud?
Reports - I will be working on reports in the next few weeks. Of course this will mean lots of skills checks and gathering data from the students. Reports go home at the end of February.
Welcome 2016!
What a busy week to start the New Year! First we did an activity called 'mingle to music'. Students drew pictures to help them remember a few of the activities they did over the winter break. Then they mingled to music ( a song called ninja tuna...you have to love that) and when the music stopped they shared one picture from their winter break memories. This activity is a great way to get students to talk to each other informally while having a bit of fun.
Art and Math
We have also done some marvellous art. Look closely...each student used the letter from their first name to create art using 'flips, slides and turns". Often math is integrated into our art. We have discussed symmetry in art as well as the use of various geometric shapes. Here is the bulletin board outside our room!
A big focus this month for math will be subtraction with re-grouping. This is a tough concept for some students, so help from home is a great support. If you look on this blog under Smartpen lessons, there is one on how I teach subtraction (click on it and you should hear my voice and see the writing appear).
Upcoming trips and projects
We (Grade Two teachers) try to limit projects to one per term and make them easily done by students with just a little guidance from home. There will be a 'Timeline' project coming home next week. I will give students lots of examples of how to do this and different ways to portray 5 significant events in their lives.Watch for further information coming home in the agenda. Grade Two students usually love this project as they get to talk about themselves to the class. Always fun and entertaining :)
We are working on a new trip for February/March. I will post information once dates are confirmed.
