Do Foxes Hibernate?

 

In Science, both grade ones and two's are learning about the adaptations of animals in response to seasonal changes. Our poem for this week sparked some great debate around which animals hibernate, which do not and what happens if you wake a sleeping bear!

Guess the Covered Word

chubby little snowman
had a nose.
Along came a
and what do you suppose?
That hungry little ,
looking for some lunch,
ate the carrot nose....
nibble, nibble,
CRUNCH!

 

Most mornings start with a "shared reading" poem. It is a poem that we read all week, each day learning something new from our reading. When we play Guess the Covered Word, students are learning great skills that they can use when reading independently. They read the poem and then get to a missing word. As they read, ideas for the missing word will pop into their head. They have to ask themselves, "Does that word sound right there?" and "Does that make sense?". After we take a few guesses, we start to slowly uncover the word from left to right. Now they have to put this visual information (the letters and sounds in the word) together with their guesses and find one that looks right, sounds right and makes sense!

Sorting Shapes

In math, we have begun sorting 2-dimensional figures. We have found many different ways to sort: by colour, shape, size, number of sides, number of "corners" or vertices. We made an interesting observation when we counted the number of sides and the number of corners on each shape.

At home, you could have your child create all of the 2-D figures that he/she can using whatever building materials you have. (e.g., straws and plastercine, toothpicks and marshmallows, popsicle sticks and glue). Talk about how many sides each shape has and (for grade 2's) how many corners or vertices each shape has.

Some shapes to try: triangle, square, rectangle... some more for grade 2's: pentagon, hexagon, octagon, quadrilateral (any four-sided shape like a square, rhombus, trapezoid, etc.)

"Choice" Time

If you're looking for a good conversation starter after school, you could ask, "What did you do during choice time today?". Some students will talk about a map they are working on for their Lego movie. Others will talk about making a book, drawing on the Smart Board to music (or making up a waiting list to draw on the Smart Board and watching a timer while they wait!), mailing a letter to a friend, or making a costume for their next play.

This is a time of day (which happens most days) where students get to direct their own learning. Great learning and interesting projects come out of this time. Students get to explore areas of interest and they get to "play" with their peers. I put "play" in quotations because it is a special kind of play known as "guided play". Through selection of materials, demonstrations and suggestions, I help to guide students in their play to maximize learning opportunities.

A lot of their oral language development (which is required in order for more complex writing to occur in older grades), happens during this time. It is really important for students to talk to each other, to collaborate and to "write" stories by talking them out through play.

Try this at home: The next time your child is playing pretend (e.g., Lego, dress up), ask them to tell you the story or just listen in on the play and write down what they say. You will be amazed by their descriptive "writing" skills. Let's remember that the hardest part of learning to write is thinking up the ideas and the words.

Mrs. James's Grade 1 and 2 Christmas Tree

This is the class's Crystal Explosion tree. This is not an ordinary tree. It's a magic tree. The tree grows crystals out of it and when it's tomorrow we'll see all the crystals. It's an experiment. We made this tree in our class and other people helped. It's growing crystals out of it but they're first starting little, but they're going to grow bigger to be crystals. This is how we made the tree. We put water in the tub and then we got magic powder and the powder is magic. We made the crystals with the salt and the salt was in the water and when the water went into the root the salt went with it and it went to the colours on the tops and it made the salt turn colours and made it into crystals.

Written by the grade one students in our class!

Cheerios, Cheerios.... And More Cheerios!

Today students made their own quantity number line which they will be able to use to help them to compare and order numbers from least to greatest or greatest to least. It was a challenge, but many students demonstrated perseverance today! Some students used clothespins or some other method to mark the groups of ten cheerios to help them keep track all the way to 100.

How old are your grandma and grandpa?

Sometimes our learning is planned ahead of time, but often, some of the best learning happens when real things come up on the spot! One day a student in our class shared that her grandma was turning 75. We got talking about how old everyone's grandma and grandpa were (or how old they lived to be) and we used our quantity number line to compare. The quantity number line is a string with 100 beads on it. We can clip clothespins on to represent different numbers and compare which is bigger.

Comparing Animals

 In Science, we have been comparing a variety of animals. Students are very interested and have a lot of knowledge already about many different animals. On Friday, we wrote about animals that move on land, in water or in the air. We found that some animals could move in more than one of those places. It was a great learning experience for Science and also for Writing. A lot can be learned by just writing one word. It can be broken into parts by clapping the syllables. It might have parts in it that are in other words we know.

Self-Regulation

Self-regulation will be a focus in many classrooms at Ballantrae P.S. this year. It is an area in education that is increasingly gaining attention. In short, the ability to self-regulate is the ability to maintain a calm, alert and focused state of mind, regulating behaviour, emotions and learning. Follow this link to learn more:

Self-Regulation Explained

So what are we doing? We are "up-regulating" and "down-regulating" throughout the day. To help students move from hyperalert to calmly focused and alert, we listen to relaxing music, nature sounds or chimes. You'd be amazing at just how calming this can be. To help students move from hypoalert to calmly focused and alert, we get up and move around. We have found lots of opportunities for counting and exercising!

At home, observe your child carefully. Notice when he/she is calmly focused and alert. Is it after a really good night's sleep or a filling and nutritious snack? Maybe it's after being outdoors and getting exercise. Also, talk to your child regularly about how he/she is feeling and what is making him/her feel that way. Children's lives look playful and easy, but to them, sometimes life can feel really stressful. They need help figuring out how they are feeling, why they are feeling that way and what they can do about it.

Are there monsters living in your closet?

Students are still having lots of fun with the monsters they have created. We read a funny book about how to get rid of monsters that live in different places in your home and then talked about where their monsters live. They have created habitats for their monsters by painting a picture or actually building the habitat out of plastercine or other craft materials. Many students are working together to build an environment or ecosystem for several of the monsters to live together.

During our sharing time, a lot of their Science learning is evident. We are finding out about the kinds of things the monsters need to survive and also the similarities and differences between the characteristics of the different monsters. Some questions you could ask your child about his/her monster are: Describe its habitat. How does it stay warm or does it like the cold? How does it move? What does it eat? What are its enemies or predators? How is it similar to another animal you know about?

You've Got Mail!

Today we started our classroom mail. We read some of "The Jolly Postman" which included real letters they took out of envelopes. There was an apology letter to the three bears from Goldilocks and another to the giant from Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk. Students then had a chance to write a letter to a friend or family member. Each morning, whoever is the mail carrier for the week will deliver mail to our classroom mailboxes, to other classrooms or to zipper bags if students have written to a family member. They are all anxiously awaiting the morning mail delivery!

At home, you can encourage your child to write letters too or to write emails to family members. Including photographs would make it even more fun. As well, it would be helpful for students to know their home address so that they can address their letters to a family member. Many students could either tell their house number OR their street name.

Room on the Broom

Students enjoyed a great story called "Room on the Broom". It is a repetitive story about a witch who keeps letting more and more people/animals onto her broom. We made our own broom and students thought about who would like to ride on the witch's broom.

Ask your child what/who he/she drew and wrote about.

Also ask who was the big muddy monster at the end of the book...

Wreck n' wreck? No... rekenrek

 

If your child has been talking about math class at home, they have probably been doing a good job of confusing you! We have been working with a counting tool at school, similar to an abacus, called a rekenrek. Grade 1's were asked to make theirs to 50 and grade 2's to 100, although many students went well past the minimum. The construction of this counting tool helped students to understand counting by 10's. (It is one thing to say, "10, 20, 30, ..., and it is another to understand what that means.)

The one pictured here has 10 rows of 10 beads. Each row consists of 5 beads in one colour and the next five beads in the second colour. The two colours help students think about numbers in parts. For example, in the picture on the right, you can see that 7 is made up of 5 and 2 more or that 7 and 3 more makes 10.

Some students have been using their rekenreks while playing book store to help add up the prices of the different books and figure out the total amount owed. They have pretend money to use, although some of them have decided to make their own credit card!

At home, look for opportunities to think about and compare numbers. Your child will probably enjoy sorting all that Hallowe'en candy, counting each type and comparing which one they have more of. You can ask: How many chocolate bars did you get? How many suckers did you get? Do you have more chocolate bars or more suckers?

How many days until Hallowe'en?

 

This question is harder than it sounds! First students had to find today's date on the blackboard and read it, "October 24th". Next, they had to look at the numbers on the calendar and figure out where they would find the number 24. They also had to find out that Hallowe'en is on "October 31st". Then they had the challenge of counting on from 24 to 31, remembering not to count the 24 and being sure not to skip any days or count the same day twice. Many students were able to figure out that Hallowe'en is 7 days away. Some also noticed that today is Friday and Hallowe'en will be on a Friday too. Our work with calendars will be ongoing throughout the year.

At home, try to involve your children with your family calendar as much as possible. Have them write on the family calendar, get them their own special calendar or use the calendar in the agenda. Regularly read the date and have countdowns to special days like birthdays, holidays or special outings. Notice the order of the months in a year and (grade 2's) notice how many days are in a week and how many months are in a year.

Sharing Time and the Talking Monster

This is our "talking monster". We use it to help identify whose turn it is to speak. If you are holding the talking monster, it is your turn to share and the rest of us are looking at you, listening and waiting our turn to respond. We use it at different times throughout the day, but it is especially useful during "sharing time".

Each morning, a few (and sometimes more than a few!) students share their learning with the class. This is different from Show and Tell. Here are some examples of what sharing might look like:

• Read something that you have written
• Read a section of a book aloud
• Share something interesting that you learned (e.g., when reading a book)
• Show something that you have made
• Explain something that you figured out
• Share a question that you have or a problem that you were unable to solve

This can be sharing of learning done at school or at home. The purpose is for students to feel proud of their learning, for students to learn from each other and for students to practice their oral communication skills.

We are keeping track of how many sharing turns everyone has and encouraging those with fewer tallies to share more often.

A Creature in our Classroom

While listening to the poem "A Creature in the Classroom" by Jack Prelutsky, students visualized what they thought the creature might look like. Visualization is a strategy that can help students to comprehend a story that they read or hear.

Next students made their creature. They will be asked to describe their creature. We are learning what describe means and we are practicing describing familiar things (e.g., our clothing). Tomorrow we will describe our favourite food and also describe some of the living things we find outside.

Ask your child to describe for you what his/her creature looks like.

Jumping Over Pumpkins!

Ask your child what he/she did in gym class today... We had a variety of relay races involving the gourds that have been generously donated. Students hopped over them, ran around them, carried them without using their hands and passed them over their head and through their legs. Students had a great time and got a lot of exercise!

You did what? Really? When? Where? With who?

In writing, we have been using some of the 5W's to help add detail. On Mondays, (or if Monday is a holiday, then on Tuesdays) students talk about and write about their weekend. It is a great opportunity to practice writing without struggling to come up with the ideas. Using the organizer you see here, students are required to give details about their weekend.

At home, you could support your child by having a conversation at the end of the weekend about what you did. It is a great chance to remember fun times and also to remind your child of some of the details of his/her weekend that he/she may have forgotten about already!

We have started to use this organizer to give an oral recount of the weekend. Next, we will be putting these ideas together to write a recount in proper sentence format. Some students are expected to write one sentence, while others are expected to write several detailed sentences. Everyone is working at their own pace, trying to improve each day.

Please look at me when I'm talking to you.

 

Do you ever find yourself saying that? Well, we are working on it. Part of the Oral Communication (Language) curriculum includes active listening. When students are listening actively, they are looking at the person who is talking to them. They are waiting their turn to share and trying hard not to interrupt. At an appropriate time, they are responding with a comment or question.

Every morning when students come in, they are given a topic to discuss with a partner. Sometimes it is a topic of interest like what they did on the weekend or their favourite sport. Other times it is a topic related to a book we will be reading or to what we are learning in another subject. This is an opportunity for students to practice their active listening in a conversation with a peer.

At home you can support your child by being mindful during your conversations. Model good eye contact and respond with a comment or question. Be consistent in your expectations about taking turns speaking in a conversation.

What are we learning in math?

Symmetry is all around us. The towers we are building, the pictures we are drawing with miras, the shapes we are tracing, the paper we are folding are all examples of symmetry. All students are recognizing the symmetry and grade twos are also drawing lines of symmetry.

We have also been learning about mass. Students have been exploring the relative mass of a variety of objects using a balance scale. Grade ones are describing which object is heavier or lighter. Grade twos are counting how many cubes it takes to balance an object and ordering a group of objects from lightest to heaviest.

As well, we have been working with numbers in words. Through simple printing practice and also games like memory, go fish and hopscotch, students are learning how to read and write numbers in words. (Grade ones to 10 and grade twos to 20)

Fall is Here

 

For Science we have been going on nature walks around the school yard to observe the variety of living and non-living things and discuss what those living things need to survive. Most recently, we have been looking for signs of fall. Students found many signs of fall and drew and labelled diagrams of what they saw.

In Science we are always asking questions or inquiring. We are wondering why leaves fall, why leaves have veins, if the needles will fall off of this tree, why wasps don't come out when it's cold, why bees die when they lose their stingers... The list goes on!

You're performing in a play?

Yes! The students have all decided that they would like to put on a play. We have been reading a variety of fairy tales for inspiration. We know that our story will have both good and evil characters and the good characters will have to defeat the evil ones! A team of writers helped to draft the storyline last week and now, with input from all students, we are continuing to modify the story as new characters or plot twists are created. Our next (BIG) job is to write lines for each character.

If you are available during the school day, stay tuned to find out when we are ready to perform....

I am running for Terry Fox!

Today was our annual Terry Fox run here at Ballantrae. Before the run, we watched a short video of Terry Fox running his Marathon of Hope and looked at a book about Terry Fox. Students had a lot of questions, including: Did this really happen? Is this a true story? Why did they take his leg off? How did he die? How far did he make it?

Following lunch recess, students met with up with their Reading Buddies for the big run. Each student wore a sticker, "I am running for _________", on which they wrote the name of someone who they were running for today. (e.g. Terry Fox, my auntie, my uncle, (Great) Grandpa, (Great) Grandma, or the name of a friend)

Thank you to everyone who donated a "Twoonie for Terry".

Media Literacy

Yes, we can read books, but we can also read signs, websites, food packaging and more! Part of the language curriculum is Media Literacy which, today, included reading a book about street signs and then hunting around the school for signs. We found signs to help us know where things are and also to teach us about rules at our school.

Fun in the Gym

Right now we have gym class on Days 4 and 5, just before lunch. Students are learning how to be safe in the gym, how to use a variety of equipment and also how to take turns. As well, they are learning the importance of a warm-up. Students have been divided into 4 colour teams. They have been rotating through different centres with their team. Last gym class students explored what they could do with basketballs, scooters, hockey equipment and balance beams. Fun was had by all!

On Days 1, 2 and 3 students will not be in the gym, but they will be participating in Daily Physical Activity (DPA) in the classroom, hallway or school yard with Mr. Horvath or Mrs. Stewart.

You're Hired!

Maybe you have heard that every student in the class has a job that will change each week. Students have decided what jobs need to be done and how many people should do each job. They wrote the name of each job and a description too to display in the classroom. Everything from figuring out which zipper bag was not handed in to taking pictures of the students working is up there. Ask your child what his/her job is for this week. As new ideas arise, we will modify our job board to make sure everything is taken care of!

What letters do you see???

Today, iPads in hand, students went on a hunt in and around the school for letters of the alphabet. After reading The City ABC Book we were inspired to start our own Ballantrae P.S. ABC Book. This gave us a chance to become a little more familiar with our school setting, including the courtyard area in the centre of the school.

We are learning how to use the iPads to take pictures. We have learned that they can act as magnifying glasses when we are scientists. They can help us to look closely and carefully at our environment... which will help us to use specific and descriptive language when we write.

Why is one glue stick heavier than the other? They are both the same size!

On our "I wonder..." board, students have begun to ask questions about anything and everything they are exploring or reading about in the classroom. Today, while exploring the mass of some familiar objects, we were puzzled by the fact that this balance scale would not balance even though the glue sticks were the same size. We are going to have to enlist the help of more students tomorrow to solve this problem!

First Day Jitters

It was easy to relate to this story today as we all had some jitters on the first day of school. Students were asked how they were feeling this morning before school. They talked to each other about it and then wrote down their ideas. Students used my example and also words on the word wall to help with their writing. Sometimes it was best to copy out a word (e.g. "because") and sometimes it was best to sound out a word (e.g. "class"). I think everyone had a great day and tomorrow I hope to hear that everyone was excited when they woke up rather than scared or nervous:)

Welcome!

Welcome to our class blog. I'm glad to see you have found it!

Here I will be posting photos of the work we are doing in the classroom. My hope is that the information posted here will support your conversations with your child around the question, "What did you do at school today?" I also hope to provide some suggestions for activities you could try at home to connect your child's learning at home and school.

Please visit again soon.