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Thursday, 17 September 2015

Thursday, September 17th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • prepared for our weekly sharing time tomorrow by working on an outline of what we would like to present, continued to work with constructing complete sentences, and continued our unit on handwriting in language and spelling class
  • read, sequenced, and discussed "Henry and Mudge and the Yellow Moon" in reading and phonics class
  • worked with today's number (19) and practiced writing numbers in different ways in math class 
  • identified problems and practiced following steps to find solutions in social studies class
  • continued to work with problems with the first step of the design process in science class
  • listened to Sr. Heart present during ECA
We started the day by voting for the G3 festival posters.







Tonight's Homework:
  • Complete Math Practice pg. 3.3-3.6.
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 
  • Practice talking about your favorite animal in front of your family. You will have two minutes in front of the class tomorrow during our weekly sharing time. 

    *The students prepared an outline of what they want to present. On the back of their outline is a rubric of the points I will be grading their presentation on.

    These are questions you can answer:

    1. Describe the animal: What does the animal look like? Where does it live?
    2. Why do you like it?
    3. Where do you see it?
    4. Is it safe to play with?
    5. What makes it special?
    6. How long does it live?

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • added to our second class story with complete sentences, worked on our outline for Friday's sharing time, and continued our handwriting unit in language and spelling class
  • worked with today's number (18) and subtracted numbers through 20 using addition and counters in math class
  • compared various laws and the consequences for breaking said laws in social studies class
  • started our new unit technology by learning about the design process in science class
  • practiced September's class poem and song during ECA
The G2 students dig into library time today.
 Tonight's Homework:
  • Log onto your Science Fusion account to watch the first video on Unit 2: "What is the Design Process?" and complete the accompanying worksheet. The students have already started this worksheet.
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
  • Complete the outline for Friday's sharing time (some students have already completed this.)
Announcements:

Today the children had P.E. and it was quite hot! You are welcome to send a hat and/or other sun protection with your child to protect their skin during P.E. class and when they head out for recess. Julie shared the Australian P.S.A. Slip, Slop, Slap with us today, a fun song which encourages us to "have fun outside, but don't get fried!"

Tuesday, 15 September 2015

Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • previewed our weekly spelling words and retold "Henry and Mudge under the Yellow Moon" from Journeys in reading and phonics class
  • started our class story, focused on complete sentences, and continued our unit on handwriting in language and spelling class
  • worked with today's number (17) and subtracted numbers through eighteen using addition in math class
  • sang in the choir at our monthly mass during ECA
  



Tonight's Homework:
  • Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 13-14.
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 
Announcements:

I have inserted 21 different reading comprehension activities into your child's R.E.D. folder. The students are asked to complete these activities this semester, at their own pace. These activities will help the students become more reflective on what they are reading. 

Monday, 14 September 2015

Literacy Activities: 1st Class Story

The focus this year at DISK is literacy. The teachers of DISK are teaming up to create novel and engaging ways for our students to become more active, skillful and reflective readers and writers.

Thank you for helping your child with their reading log (R.E.D. folder) every night! Daily reading habits coupled with comprehension questions and activities help the students with their fluency and decoding skills.

The grade two students did a wonderful job meeting their K2 reading buddies last week. Ms. Zeng and I will continue to have our students meet on Tuesday during ECA when we don't have mass.

The grade 3 teacher, Mr. Yaremchuk, has arranged for the G3 and G2 students to have pen pals with the class of one of his teacher friends back home. I'm really excited by this opportunity for the students, and will let you know when we receive our first letters from Canada!

We are also keeping a running "Class Story," where the students are encouraged to come write a sentence or two during their downtime. We have completed our first class story and I am pleased to share it with you! It is a bit silly, but a solid effort for our first attempt at cooperative storytelling.



Once upon a time, the beautiful and hard-working second graders of DISK were starting to sing a song. It was a nice song. But it was too loud, so the grade three teacher came into the grade two classroom. 
      “Hey!” asked Mr. Y. “Why are you so loud?” 
      “Sorry, Mr. Y,” said the grade two students.
      “Don’t be too loud,” warned Mr. Y as he left.
      The grade two students continued to sing. Mr. Y came again, asking: “Why are you so loud again? I am teaching math to the grade three students.”
      The grade two students continued to dance and sing.
      “Hey!” said Mr. Y. “Look at me! You kids are very impolite. I’m going to tell your teacher.” Then Mr. Y went back to his classroom while the grade two students kept singing and dancing.
      Victoria said, “I think I dance very well!”
      Suddenly Yoko walked into the grade two classroom. “Hey Yoko, did you see Mr. Y?” asked Julie.
      “Yes,” answered Yoko. “I saw a butterfly.”
      “That’s not what I asked! I asked if you saw Mr. Y,” said Julie.
      “Oh, no I haven’t seen him,” answered Yoko.
      Mr. Y came back into the grade two classroom for a third time. “Have you seen Ms. E?” he asked?
      “Oh!” said Sophie. “Ms. E is in the bathroom. And you can’t go into the girl’s bathroom. You are a boy. You must go into the boy’s bathroom.”
      “Mr. Y already knows that!” said Victoria. “He is very good and nice.”
      “Thank you, Victoria!” said Mr. Y. “I was going to go find your teacher because you are being too noisy, but maybe you can be quieter and I don’t have to talk to Ms. E?”
      “Ok!” agreed the grade two students. “We are sorry. We will be good!”
      “Thank you very much! Have a good day!” said Mr. Y.
      “You too!” said the grade two students, and they continued to sing…but only in their heads this time!

The End

Monday, September 14th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • learned about friendship during our weekly assembly
  • took our weekly spelling quiz, worked with rhyming words, and identified short vowel a and i words in reading and phonics class
  • worked with today's number (16) and used subtraction to compare two sets of numbers in math class
  • started our new unit on government in social studies class
  • had a mass rehearsal during ECA 







Tonight's Homework:
  • Complete the book report on "Henry and Mudge and the Yellow Moon" from Journeys pg. 67-76 and check the rubric (in your child's assignment book.) 
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
Announcements:
  • The topic for this Friday's weekly sharing time is: My Favorite Animal.
  • I sent home the weekly spelling quiz home. Please sign and return it with your child. Thank you!
  • The spelling words for next Monday's spelling quiz (September 14th) will come from Science Fusion unit 1 pg. 1-36:
  1. observe
  2. predict
  3. measure
  4. classify
  5. compare
  6. thermometer
  7. balance
  8. hand lens
  9. tape measure
  10. communicate

Friday, 11 September 2015

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • reviewed our weekly target vocabulary and started our second unit on short vowels in reading and phonics class
  • had our second dance class of the year! The dance instructor is very organized with the G2 and G3 students.
  • took turns sharing about our favorite toys during our weekly sharing time and continued our handwriting unit in language and spelling class
  • took our unit 1 quiz in science class













Tonight's Homework:
  • Complete Journeys Practice Book pg. 17-18.
  • Complete the Think-Tac-Toe (in your child's assignment book.) The students are directed to choose three activities from the sheet. You can sign each activity they complete. All written work should be shown in your child's language notebook
    The cartoon that the students were recommended to watch on the TTT is:
    Postman Pat and the Crazy Crockery
  •  Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
  • Prepare for next Monday's (September 14th) spelling quiz: community, citizen, rule, fair, main idea, detail, cooperate, city, state, change (from Horizons unit 1 pg. 1-40.)
Announcements:

I sent your child's pocket folder home for you to look through. Please send it back with your child on Monday, September 14th.

To my amazing and hard-working parents and students of G2...
have a glorious weekend!

Thursday, 10 September 2015

Thursday, September 10th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • prepared for our weekly sharing time tomorrow by working on an outline of what we would like to present, continued to work with constructing complete sentences, and continued our unit on handwriting in language and spelling class
  • pair read "Henry and Mudge and the Yellow Moon" and discussed the author's purpose in reading and phonics class
  • worked with today's number (15) and practiced using a number line to subtract in math class 
  • took our unit 1 quiz in social studies class
  • completed unit 1 and reviewed for tomorrow's quiz with a game of Jeopardy in science class
Tonight's Homework:
  • Complete Math Practice pg. 2.7-3.2.
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 
  • Study for tomorrow's science quiz on unit 1.
  • Practice talking about your favorite toy in front of your family. You will have two minutes in front of the class tomorrow during our weekly sharing time. 

    *The students prepared an outline of what they want to present. On the back of their outline is a rubric of the points I will be grading their presentation on.

    These are questions you can answer:

    1. What is your favorite toy?
    2. When did you get your favorite toy?
    3. Who gave it to you?
    4. When do you like to play with it?
    5. Where do you like to play with it?
    6. Why do you like it more than other toys?
Announcements: 
  • Tomorrow is the second Friday of the month, meaning that the students are able to wear their own clothes for the day! They still need to bring an extra shirt to change into after P.E., please. I look forward to seeing my students in their everyday clothes!

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Wednesday, September 9th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • started editing our first class story, reviewed subject and predicates, and continued our handwriting unit in language and spelling class
  • took our quiz on unit 1, chapter 2 in math class
  • reviewed unit 1 in preparation for tomorrow's quiz with a rousing game of Jeopardy in social studies class
  • reviewed the steps of the scientific method in science class
  • practiced singing for mass during ECA
 Tonight's Homework:
  • Log onto your Science Fusion account and watch the five short videos on Unit 1:

    -"How Do We Use Inquiry Skills?"
    -"How Do We Use Science Tools?"
    -"What Tools Can We Use?"
    -"How Do Scientists Think?"
    -"How Do We Solve a Problem?"

    Your child's username and password for his or her Science Fusion account was stapled into their communication book today. The students were shown how to log onto their accounts and watch the videos.

    In your science notebook, write two sentences after watching each video: one sentence for something you already knew and one sentence for something new you learned. There should be a total of 10 sentences.

    Example Sentences:  "How Do We Use Inquiry Skills?"

    1. I already knew that you observe with your five senses.
    2. I learned that scientists often fail before they succeed.
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
  • Review for tomorrow's social studies quiz on unit 1.

Tuesday, 8 September 2015

Reading Buddies!

Today G2 met their K2 reading buddies for the first time. Ask your child what they thought about it!













Tuesday, September 8th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • previewed our weekly spelling words and echo read and discussed "Henry and Mudge under the Yellow Moon" from Journeys in reading and phonics class
  • added to our class story, worked more with subjects and predicates, and continued our unit on handwriting in language and spelling class
  • worked with today's number (14) and reviewed for tomorrow's quiz in math class
  • followed the steps of the scientific method during our oil and water experiment in science class
  • met with our K2 reading buddies for the first time this year during ECA







Tonight's Homework:
  • Complete Social Studies Activity Book pg. 10-12.
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log. 
  • Review for tomorrow's math quiz on unit 1, chapter 2.

Monday, 7 September 2015

Monday, September 7th, 2015

Today in the second grade, we:
  • learned about leadership and charity during assembly
  • took our weekly spelling quiz and our unit 1 phonics quiz in reading and phonics class
  • worked with today's number (13) and used strategies to solve problems in math class
  • differentiated between needs and wants in social studies class
  • practiced our class poem and song for the month of September during ECA 
Tonight's Homework:
  • Complete the reading response on "Cause and Effect" and check the rubric (in your child's assignment book.) 
  • Read aloud for 15 minutes and have a parent sign your reading log.
Announcements:
  • The topic for this Friday's weekly sharing time is: My Favorite Toy. The students are, as a whole, improving their public speaking skills by being more organized with their thoughts, speaking loudly and clearly, and maintaining eye contact during their presentations. As they continue to improve, I will continue to require more from them (slowly-don't worry!) Thank you for helping and encouraging your child to always try their best. I truly appreciate your support. 
  • Check out Go Noodle! for fun indoor activities that will help get your child's wiggles out on these rainy days.
  • I sent home the weekly spelling quiz home. Please sign and return it with your child. Thank you!
  • The spelling words for next Monday's spelling quiz (September 14th) will come from Horizons unit 1 pg. 1-40:
  1. community
  2. citizen
  3. rule
  4. fair
  5. main idea
  6. detail
  7. cooperate
  8. city
  9. state
  10. change