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 :)