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?!?

Olympics and Mapping

Schlegel's Trip

We really enjoyed our time at Schlegel's gym. It happened to occur right in the middle of the Olympic hockey games so excitement ran pretty high. We learned from Elfi Schlegel herself a little bit about her time in the Olympics (1980) and got to pose with the Olympic torch she carried when she ran four years ago. Students moved in small groups through the gym using equipment to strengthen core muscles. They really impressed me with their ability to try what might seem a daunting task, like climbing a knotted rope to the ceiling and ringing the bell at the top. Yikes! Although I had a small moment of worrying about the weather not cooperating (darn those incessant snow storms this winter) we got there safely and had a great time. 

Our next Social studies unit is mapping. Here is a link to the curriculum requirements of this unit if you are interested (page 81 in the pdf) :   Ministry curriculum  . We began our discussion about maps by learning about Harriet Tubman for Black History Month. We discussed the underground railroad and how she had to follow the 'North Star' to freedom. Using a world map, we then discussed how 'Slaves' had to escape to freedom and where the Northern free states are located. Sounds complicated for Grade Two but we used books like 'Henry's Freedom Box' to help explain. 
                                                               
The students have shown a great deal of interest in this topic. They have asked intelligent questions along the way and are quite engaged in the fact that "history really happened". If your child is interested, please help them to locate many of the great resources available on our school Book Flix program. There are great e books on there about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jackie Robinson and Harriett Tubman just to name a few. After this month we will be moving into creating maps and learning to read symbols e.g., understanding the compass rose. 

Inservices: I have been out of the classroom for a few in-services this week which is always a bit hard for the children and I. The good news is I have learned lots of great math and language ideas to implement in my classroom. I do always try to get great supply teachers to help provide seamless instruction. I know one of the retired teachers that comes in for me does magic tricks...hmmm, I might have to brush up on my magic skills to compete :)

Have a great week. I noticed that on Mineral Spring Road in Ancaster the sap buckets are out on the maple trees. Maybe the trees think 'Spring' is coming, even though it sure doesn't feel like it!

Reports, Schlegels trip, Olympics and fun!

Report Cards
Report cards will be coming home on February 24th. Although there will be no formal interviews with this reporting period, I will be touching base with a few of you to communicate prior to the reports coming home. 

Schlegel's Trip: Looking forward to our upcoming visit on February 21st (Friday). Here is their link if you would like to read more about them http://www.schlegelsgym.com/

Olympics
We have been watching the Olympics on our Smartboard when we can. This week we did a fun writing activity that involved creating our own Olympic events. Wow, one student thought there should be an 'Olympic maze event on skates' while another thought 'Olympic pinata whacking' might be a good sport. Very creative!
We even got to see some real Olympic medals up close. Ms Lane, one of the teachers at our school brought in her Grandfather's medals and personal mementos to show us. It was really interesting to hear that the daily diet for athletes back then included eating copious amounts of 'honey sandwiches'. 

Winter 'carnavale': was very successful once again at Florence Meares. All the Tribes enjoyed a good outdoor carnival with lots of good hot chocolate, face painting, games and an appearance from 'Bonhomme'. 

Healthy Eating unit:
We have enjoyed learning how to create healthy snacks and how to determine if a packaged food is in fact healthy for us. We tried some simple recipes that students can make on their own. A favourite one was 'frozen banana popsicles'. We took advantage of the cold Canadian weather, freezing popsicles by hanging them outside our classroom window in a bag. Sometimes it is an advantage to have a second floor classroom. If you would like to try this at home, here is the secret...

               Frozen Banana Popsicles
1) Take a banana and peel it- (no need to cut it up)
2) Place it in tinfoil and wrap it around the banana fairly tightly. 
3) Place it in the freezer overnight (or hang it out the window as we did!)
4)For a real treat, dip it in dark chocolate...yum!
And there you have it...frozen bananas that do not go brown. 
 Note: Should you ever have to soothe a baby who is teething...frozen bananas work every time!
                                        See, I'm just full of random knowledge!

Olympics, Dancemat typing, trip update

Quick update:
Olympic Spirit day: On Friday, February 7th the primary students may wear their Canada shirts or red and white clothing to celebrate the beginning of the Olympics in Sochi. We will try to livestream some of the opening ceremonies. Can't wait!

Dancemat typing: Today we spent some time on our keyboarding skills. Students really enjoyed using 'Dancemat' typing. I posted a link on our 'website' tab but you can also click here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

Remember, to look on 'library links' in the Florence Meares P.S. library website for more keyboarding activities. Mr. Cann has posted quite a few good ones under 'homework helpers'. 

Schlegel's trip notes went home today. If you were absent due to the weather you will get yours tomorrow. 

Valentine note: I sent a Valentine friend list home today. This will assist you should your child want to write out their Valentines in the next few days.