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Daily Updates

Page history last edited by Sandra McVannel 10 years, 9 months ago

Welcome parents to the Daily Updates page.  This is the place where you can find out what is happening in room 17 at Millen Woods school.  Look for links that will also take you to other pages to show you photos or provide practise activities or games to support your child's learning.  

 

June 24th, 2013.

 

We are entering our final week of school together in room 17.  Last week was a phenomenal week of activities.  Students participated in the Rainforest Days electives on Thursday including weaving, face painting, musical drumming and composing, aboriginal arts and crafts, and even outdoor environmental games and a trek through our forest.  On Friday, students participated in a play day run by grade 5 and 6's.  They created and ran the entire event under the supervision of Mlle. Doherty.  To end the day, students watched the Lorax in the gym.  The general consensus seemed to be that students had a great time!  Students also celebrated their nights of reading with a Home REading assembly on WEdnesday.  Grade 2 and 3's have "graduated" from home reading as it will look different next year.  Students in grade 3 next year will still be invited to read from our collection, but also encouraged to read their own choices from our library, from  home or the public library.  Students will be sharing their reading in the classroom through discussion and not necessarily focus on keeping track of the number of nights read.  The purpose of Home REading is to create "lovers of reading", which we feel we are accomplishing at Millen Woods through instruction and your interest in your child's reading choices at home!

 

This coming week will be more low key with less activities going on.  Students in room 17 will be cleaning our classroom since we've lived in it since September and sorting and organizing our classroom materials.  Students will be bringing home the contents of their desks over the span of the next few days.  

 

I have enjoyed spending every moment with your children this year.  They are a truly amazing group of children.  They show their respect to each other and to adults in our school community.  They share their news and their talents with such enthusiasm and fervor.  They are keen and excited learners.  They are quick to help out whenever needed, and ask for nothing in return.  They are truly genuine friends.  This is a group to whom I hesitate to say goodbye as I feel they will remain in my heart for years to come.

 

I want to thank you for all your support this year with your child's learning.  You make a huge difference in the daily learning of your child by showing interest and by giving support whenever needed.   I wish you all a very happy and safe summer holiday with your friends and family.  

 

Mrs. Sandra McVannel

 

 

May 30, 2013

 

Another short week and yet we covered so much!  We have finished our multiplication and division unit but still practising our speed with the facts.  Check out the chants/songs and rhymes we are using to help us remember.  We have been working on 3D solids and learning about their properties as well as comparing prisms and pyramids.  In Language we have been writing adventure stories and also started literacy circles with Magic Tree House books.  Each student is reading a Magic Tree House book with a group of three other students.  Every two chapters students have an assigned job to complete in order to be part of the dialogue in their group about their books.  This encourages students to communicate ABOUT their reading.  This will be the focus for grade 3 Home Reading next year...

 

Next week, students in grade 2 are asked to bring in any pictures for their social studies projects on the country they chose to research.  Also, students are asked to bring in a photo of a structure that they want to use for an art project coming up.  It could be a famous building somewhere in the world, or a building locally that they know and love, like maybe their own house!  The pictures need to come to school for Monday also.  

 

Enjoy the PD Day...

 

May 24, 2013.

 

For a short week we managed to pack in lots of fun this week.  The Eastwood Travelling Troupe made a drama presentation of fairy tales with a twist on Thursday.  Great fun was had by all.  We are working on our math facts for multiplication having done mad minutes for 3X, 4X, 5X and are now working on 6X.  Check out the math page for the songs to go along with the counting practise.  Even our grade 2's are taking the challenge of learning their facts!  Congrats to them for their hard work.  We will be moving on to 3D shapes, and balanced equations this week then working on probability.  

 

EQAO begins this week on Wednesday.  Grade 3's will be writing the Primary Assessment during the first block of each of the six consecutive days.  Wednesday and Thursday this week we will work on language.  Friday is a PD Day.  Then on Monday, and Tuesday of next week, we will continue with language and finish off on Wednesday, and Thursday next week with the math booklets.  Grade 2's will spend the first block with Ms. Straus in room 16.  

Grade 2's are reminded that on Monday, May 27th, they will be going to Huron Naturalized Area from 12:00 to the end of the day.  They are encouraged to pack a small snack that they can carry in a jacket pocket.  Students need to be dressed for the weather as the trip will continue despite the weather conditions.  They will be walking through the forest and working near a pond area.  Check the temperature and the weather that morning!

 

We have also been talking about Adventure stories.  This week we talked about the characteristics of an adventure story and started working on a short adventure about our missing backpack.  We will be embarking on a reading unit with Magic Tree House which will hopefully encourage students to write their own Magic Tree House adventure!

 

May 17, 2013.

Happy Friday!  This week continues to be busy in room 17.  Today the students made a "cootie catcher" or "paper fortune teller" to practise the 4X tables.  We learned a song to the tune of "Baa Baa Black Sheep":

 

4, 8 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 40

44, 48, That is it!

Count by 4's and swing your hips!

4, 8 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44...

...and 48!

 

Next week we will do Mad Minute with the 4X tables.  So practise your counting by 4's, use your paper fortune teller to have fun with math with your friends and family this weekend!

 

Today we had a Home Reading assembly to celebrate all students reading every night at home.  Featured were some medal winners for reading 200 nights already this year!  Congratulations to all Home REaders and to parents to support students with this school wide initiative.  

 

Again, please view our beautiful artwork on on Art page.  We focussed on folk art, colour, and varying lines to complete our most recent work.  

 

Wishing everyone a wonderful and safe holiday Victoria Day weekend.

 

May 14, 2013.

Here's a great game to practise multiplication:

 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012.

Play Circles and Dots to practice your multiplication facts.

 

1.  Player one rolls a dice and records the number circles shown on the dice.

2.  Player one rolls again and puts that number of dots in each circle.

 

i.e.  roll #1 rolls a 4 and draws four circles, roll #2 rolls a 6, draw 6 dots in each of the four circles.

3.  Player one writes the repeated addition fact (6+6+6+6=24) then writes the multiplication fact 4 X 6 = 24.  (we are calling the X = "groups of" ) so that students are writing the fact that best represents the picture.

4.  If the player is correct, he/she receives a point.

5.  Player two does the same.

6.  First player to 10 points wins the game!

 

May 12, 2013.

 

Happy Mother's Day!  Despite the chilly weather, may you enjoy a day of spoiling by your amazing children.  Each week I am blessed to be sharing time with them in room 17.  They are kind, genuine, good friends and enthusiastic learners!

 

Last week was Music Monday.  Students sang the Music Monday song with Commander Chris Hadfield on the International Space Station.  Tuesday was equally as exciting as we spent the entire final block outside skipping for Jump Rope for Heart.  It's amazing the progress kids make when they first learn to skip and enjoy practising.  Thanks to Mr. Philip and the team of teachers who organized and ran the activities taking place outside.  We had a blast!

 

This month in math we have completed our study of perimeter and area and have embarked on multiplication and division.  Students have been practising 3X table and making attempts to learn the facts.  We have studied some strategies for students to help them become more proficient. 

 

Grade 3 science is wrapping up Structures and Stability by the end of May and Grade 2's have started a study on Animals and Habitats.  We will continue to work on personal reading goals, and we are working on communicating our thinking in writing. In writing we have completed some persuasive text which you can find on Kidblog.  Login in with your child and read some of their opinions.  Finally, students completed a 3D plasticene project reflecting on the read aloud, Sarah Plain and Tall.  During this coming week, students will post their art work on Kidblog and write about the scene from the story.  Stay Tuned!

 

 

May 3rd, 2013.

 

This was an exciting week for us in room 17.  We celebrated birthdays and had surprise visitors.  We are mastering perimeter and are with a great math problem featuring a real world scenario.  We are writing persuasive texts to share our opinions and in hopes of posting them our kidblogs. Grade threes are continuing to study the strength and stabiliy of large structures and the grade twos are beginning to learn about animals in science.  We continue to work on Urban and Rural communities in grade 3 social studies and the grade twos continue to research countries around the world.  

 

Featured next week is Music Monday...a sing along with schools all across Canada and with Commander Chris Hadfield on the ISS.  Tuesday brings Jump Rope for Heart...bring your skipping rope and keep practising!  And finally be spiffy for Thursday as we are having our class photos taken. 

 

Hope you are all enjoying this GORGEOUS spring weather!

April 23, 2013.

On Thursday we attended the Dance-a-thon and everyone had a great time moving to the music.  Many students had pictures taken at the photo booth but managed to get some dancing in.  Friday was a PD Day and teachers worked in the school and at various workshops around the county.  This week will be a quieter week.  Students will attend an assembly for Jump Rope for Heart kickoff on Thursday.

 

April 17, 2013.

Today the grade 2's joined Mrs. Upshaw for an EArth Day Celebration.  They returned to room 17 to share the purpose of Earth Day with the grade 3's.  Tomorrow and Monday, the students will be working with www.voki.com to create a talking avatar to advertise the importance of Earth Day.  Students will learn to embed the voki on their Kidblog.  Stay tuned to check out your child's work.

 

We also had an art class unlike the usual.  Today we looked at photographs.  Jack asked how photographs could be art?  So that was our first question to dialogue about.  We checked out some national geographic photographs and decided what was the important thing about the photograph.  We really took the time to look closely at what was going on in the photos.  It was amazing the comments that your children made, and the indepth thinking that was shared about the meaning or the message of the photographs.

 

April 14, 2013.

 

Well last week was definitely exciting being that we had one "snow day" due to weather and yet another "snow day" due to power outages.  Next week will be busy to catch up the time we lost last week.  Wednesday is our Spring Walk-to-School day.  Students are encouraged to walk to school with friends.  Thursday is our Dance-a-thon day so wear your dancing shoes for some great fun!  Friday is a PD Day.  Teachers will be working in the school and attending workshops across the county.

 

Next week during our math classes, we will have some brief assessments on +/-.  Grade twos worked on double digit and grade threes on triple digit.  Students will be encouraged to use various strategies to show their thinking.  There will also be some word problem questions as well.

 

April 9, 2013.

 

The students participated in a french play that they performed on Tuesday morning for parents.  Bravo to everyone in room 17 for a stellar performance!  Thanks to Mlle. Doherty for her awesomeness!

 

We have been finishing up addition and subtraction in our class (gr. 2- 2 digit, gr. 3 - 3 digit) and hope to have a few short quizzes to share various strategies. Some of the strategies we have used are Big w, Base Ten blocks, Empty numberline, hundreds chart (gr2), and a new strategy for subtraction call "the count up strategy".  We have also focussed on formal algorithm.  These very short quizzes will not take place till next week and will only consist of one or two questions at a time.  Students can practise using printables from the math page.

 

We have also been working on letters to new pen pals in Alberta.  Students are responding to a group who sent us a Flat Stanley from Blackfalds, Alberta.  We will be sending letters back giving them information about our community and our school.  Likewise we are spending time doing some debates on such topics as:  should students get paid for good grades?  should cities ban street hockey?  should we be allowed to share "treats" at school?  We plan to use these facts and opinions and write some persuasive text.

April 5, 2013

 

This week has been incredibly busy for a short week!  Upon arriving back after the Easter weekend, we greeted our friend Mustafa, who has been visiting in Pakistan for a whole month.  We heard some exciting news from him about his trip as well as news from everyone else about their weekend!

 

We are working this week on subtraction strategies:  empty numberline, base ten blocks, formal algorithm and counting up strategy.  Grade 2's are working with two digit numbers but some of them are taking the grade 3 challenge and working with three digit numbers!  WOW! So you can probably guess that  Grade 3's are working with three digit numbers.  Next week we will be moving into measurement, then area and perimeter.

 

In Language we are continuing the story of Sarah, Plain and Tall, a story about a pioneer family.  We are making connections, learning to make inferences and reviewing how to answer a question effectively.  We will be reviewing the POINT/PROOF/COMMENT formula to help students answer questions.  

 

Once again, I want to tell you what a pleasure it is each and every day to work with your children.  They are respectful, kind, attentive listeners and wonderful, enthusiastic learners!

 

March 24, 2013.

A reminder that grade 2's need to bring two hard boiled eggs for Monday morning's Easter Celebration with Mrs. Upshaw for Social Studies.  Also check out the Challenge of the Week and the new games that are posted on the Math page.  Students are having difficulty making change from $5. and $10.  We have covered the "counting up" strategy and tried using an "exchange" strategy where we exchange money to find out how much is left.  Most students simply need practise counting money.

 

Grade threes are starting a new science unit on Structures and Stability.  Check out the new page on the Science page and check out some of the cool sites about structures.  We are looking for donations of playing cards to use later on in our unit.  If you have any decks of playing cards where some may be missing and the deck is rendered useless, please send them in for us to use for science.  We would appreciate it!

 

Next week is a short week, with a reminder that next Thursday is our Home REading assembly.  Students are reminded to wear ALL their home reading ribbons for this celebration.  Also, that day we are celebrating Hat and Gum day.  Money will collected for a charity in order to wear your hat or to chew gum.

March 17, 2013.

Happy St. Patrick's Day if you are Irish or if you celebrate any Irish heritage.  The March Break is coming to a close and I hope that you spent quality time with friends and family, as well as enjoyed our interesting Canadian weather!

 

Starting next week, students will be doing gymnastics in the gym with Mme. Kazamzadeh for phys. ed.  Students are reminded to have indoor shoes and appropriate shoes for gym as well.  

 

We are hoping that Flat Stanley had many adventures last week during the March break and we hope there are some Stanleys waiting for us in the mailbox at the school!  Any students who have photos with their Flat Stanley from their March Break adventures are encouraged to either bring them to school using their personal device OR they can upload them to their Kidblog page and write about their adventures.  We can access their blog at school.

 

March 7, 2013.

 

This week the kids in room 17 are busy finishing up projects and activities before the March Break begins.  Grade 3's are finishing their mapping project to create and map their own pioneer village.  They are also finishing touches on their cars for science.  Presentations will take place Thursday.  We are also working with colour and lines in art and working on some folkart in preparation for a major art project after the March Break.  Students also wrote some mini quizzes on patterning during math this week.  Look for them coming home after the March Break.  

 

A final reminder that Friday is celebration day and students are invited to bring board games to share during the final block of the day.  Please make sure your son/daughter has his/her name on the board game.

 

February 27, 2013.

 

Our friend Mustafa wore today's message well:  Be a Buddy, not a Bully!  Today kids at Millen Woods wore

pink to stop bullying.  We had a great discussion about what can do every day to stop bullying.  We read a story called "The Secret Bully" and discussed strategies for handling tough situations with others.  

 

Not only that but we had a great time enjoying the snowy weather outside.  Perfect weather and perfect snow for building snowforts and rolling huge snowballs.  

 

Check out The Flat Stanley project to see the newest adventures of Flat Stanley with the friends and relatives of Room 17!  Thanks to all parents for helping us with this amazing learning adventure.   

 

 

 

February 20, 2013.

Our week has been very exciting...first starting off with a Monday Holiday for Family Day, then starting our first day back on Tuesday with DrumFit.  The students had a great time drumming and exercising with the instructors.  Lots of fun and fitness!  Today students worked with a partner on Bunnyhero Labs, a website that allows you to choose a virtual pet.  Students not only personalized their virtual pets, but they learned how to "embed" their pets onto their Kidblog post.  Students are invited to show off their virtual pets as well as make comments on their peers' pets.  Also, two more Flat Stanleys have returned to Millen Woods.  Stanley visited Brampton and made a short, quick visit with Ben Fanelli to the Kitchener Rangers rink.  We look forward to more Stanleys arriving in the future! 

 

February 13, 2013.

 

The Flat Stanleys have been coming in steadily from all over Canada and the world.  Please make sure you check out The Flat Stanley Project page to see our latest Stanley adventures.  Students are invited to take snapshots of the information that we receive and post it on their blog in Kidblog.  Students are invited to bring their personal devices to school if they are interested in doing this at home as well!

 

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  Today we decorated our Valentines bags to house the Valentines we will hand out.  Students are asked to bring any cards tomorrow.  If they are bringing treats to hand out, they will be sent home at the end of the day so students can consume them at home with your permission.

 

Grade 3's are working on a project for Science and an information letter came home today outlining the project.  Our next Science day is Tuesday, at which point, students should complete their plan to bring home and begin building.  If you have any questions about this project, please don't hesitate to write a note in the planner or call and leave a message on my voicemail.  Thanks!

February 10, 2013.

 

I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable snow day on Friday. What a surprise that was to have 40 cm of snow!  There was lots of shovelling going on here at my house as I'm sure there was wherever you were!  Students will have so much fun next week playing in our back field in the snow!

 

This week is Valentine's Day.  Please send cards on Thursday, Feb. 14th for distribution and not before.  We will allot time for students to hand out and open cards on that day.  Also a reminder that report cards will be coming home on Monday.  Please read and sign the report card and return it in the report card envelope.  We are trying to reuse the same envelope for the final term two report card as well.  Finally, Friday is a Spirit Day and students are invited to wear their pyjamas to school on that day! 

 

Flat Stanleys have been coming in steadily.  Please check out Flat Stanley Project page to keep updated!  We have collected all the Flat Stanley info that has been sent to us in a binder at school for students to look through at their leisure.  Information sent to specific students will be sent home with them at the end of the year.  Thanks to all parents who helped their child connect with someone across Canada or around the world!  It's been a great learning experience so far!

 

January 27, 2013.

 

Be sure to check out the Challenge of the Week this week.  It has to do with our Flat Stanley letters.  We have heard that Stanley has landed in Rosthern, Saskatchewan and in New Hamburg, Ontario.  We eagerly await responses from Stanley!  Follow the Flat Stanley Project on our wiki page as well as on Twitter (#FlatStanleyProject).

 

We have completed our two dimensional shapes centres and will finish this unit this week.  We will be starting two- and three-digit addition and subtraction soon, but first we will work with the numeration activities decomposing big numbers.  I will post activities to the Mathematics page when we start the unit.   Thanks to all parents for participating and taking the time to send in Flat Stanley addresses and postage.  Thanks also to parents for continuing to encourage home reading.  Our students are achieving success in reading and many have reached 50 and 100 nights of reading!

 

January 24, 2013

 

More labels came in today for our Flat Stanley Project.  We are so excited.  Please make sure that the persons to whom we sent those Flat Stanley's to, know to expect that Stanley is coming their way!!!  We enclosed a Flat Stanley for them to colour and decorat any way they wanted to, and a sheet of directions with accompanying questions on the back. 

 

Students are working on math centres for geometry on two dimensional shapes this week including a focus on vocabulary to compare and identify properties of shapes, as well as identify shapes that are congruent and symmetrical.  For more information, and printables, see the Mathematics page.

 

 

January 23, 2013.

 

It was a very exciting day today.  Most of our Flat Stanley letters are ready for the mailbox!  Thanks to all parents who sent in postage to support this project!  About half of our letters have postage already on them and ready to mail.  We are excited as we are sending Stanley to Japan, Scotland, India, Australia,  England, Pakistan, Jerusalem and many states in the US.  as well as to many communities across Canada from the farthest west coast to the east coast.  We can't wait to find out what Stanley experiences.  

 

This weekend, each student in the class will be invited to take Flat Stanley home for the weekend.  Please feel free to take photos of Stanley participating in your child's weekend...whether it be a hockey game, kung fu, music lessons, basketball, swimming lessons, or just hanging out with the family in our community.  We encourage you to take Stanley along with you!  We would love to have pictures recording his adventures.  There is no due date for these adventures....especially if you know there is a family trip coming up, let me know and you are invited to let Stanley tag along!  We'd love to hear about his adventures with the family!

 

Thanks to all parents for your cooperation.

 

P.S.  Follow Stanley on his adventures here on our site or on twitter #FlatStanleyProject

 

January 20, 2013.

 

Just a few reminders that tomorrow will be out Word Wall quiz from Friday.  Due to the short week, I wanted to give the students a bit more time to work with the words.  Also, tomorrow is the day to start sending in your address labels for the Flat Stanley Project.  We are excited to find out where we will be sending him!  Any parents interested in helping to support this project by sending in stamps, please do so as soon as possible as we hope to be mailing out at least 60 Flat Stanleys!  Any support would be appreciated.  

 

Next week we will continue to study two dimensional shapes in math with learning centres.  We are reading Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt and learning about the Mennonites in Waterloo County, as well as learning about the shapes and patterns used in quilting through an art project.  

 

January 17, 2013.

 

Today was a fun day!  We all participated in "Novel in an hour".  Students were in groups of four.  Each group received the text for one of the chapters in our Flat Stanley book.  They read the chapter then planned and performed a short skit to present the chapter.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and the humour of story shone through their performances.  AFter the performances, students were filled in on the Flat Stanley project.  Each student is bringing home an explanatory letter with an attachment of three mailing labels.  Please read the information and we look forward to having the labels returned next week.  Any parents who wish to donate stamps for this amazing project are invited to send them in as soon as possible.   Please check out our Flat Stanley page for information.

 

January 14, 2013.

 

Today the students worked vigourously on the "time test" during our math period.  I will do my best to mark them during my planning time at school this week in order to get them home to you. There is also a data management assessment which will be coming home.  

 

Today the students also voted on a Reading Celebration in order to celebrate the hard work we have done during the past two months.  On Wednesday, January 16, students are invited to wear comfy clothes, bring a small blanket and pillow, a flashlight (if they have one), and their favourite reading materials to share with friends.  We will settle in and spend some time reading our favourite books as well as watch some stories on our Smartboard, and enjoy a story from Ms. McCutcheon.  

 

January 13, 2013.

Last week was a busy week getting back on track and finishing up our Procedural writing.  Some students decided to create procedural videos.  You can find them on the wiki home page by clicking the link  Procedural videos.

Also, just a reminder that Monday, January 14th is a short test on time during our math period.  Students in grade 2 need to be prepared to be

able to tell time to the hour, half hour and quarter hour. Students in grade 3 need to be prepared to be able to tell time to the hour, half hour, quarter hour and five minute intervals.  We have since started a short unit on 2 dimensional shapes.  Please check out the Math page for definitions and information about polygons, angles and related Geometry vocabulary.

 

January 8, 2013.

 

Before the holidays, students were working on procedural writing.  Many students chose to use technology and make a short video of their writing.  Click on the link below and check out the first videos.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/proceduralvideos/

 

January 6, 2013.

 

Happy New Year to those of you who celebrated the arrival of 2013.  I look forward to spending the next six months with your children learning in room 17.  I hope that you are rested and enjoyed many happy times over the last two weeks of holidays with friends and with family.

 

Please note that there is a new January calendar posted on the Calendars page.  At this point, Book Orders are due on the 10th, however, no paper copies have been delivered to the school yet.  I have posted the online version of the book orders.  Feel free to browse through them and record your order on a small slip of paper with your child's name and return the order to school.  Please send a cheque to pay for your order.  Scholastic does not accept cash.  In the meantime, if the paper copies arrive, I will offer them to any students.  Thanks for your support.

 

During our first week back, we will be finishing up our TIME unit in math.  Grade 3 students are working on telling time to five minute intervals and grade 2's are expected to tell time to the quarter hour.  There will be a quickie quiz on Monday, January 14th.  We have also reviewed basic facts about time which can be found on the Math page for review.  Check out the printables on the Math page also to review telling time. Upon completion of this unit we will be working on a short unit in Geometry on 2 dimensional shapes.  There are also a few printable worksheets available for the information we will be covering.

 

Home Reading tally books will be collected on TUESDAY in case students have read daily over the holidays.  Please send in the tally books for tallying on that day.  Thanks to parents for supporting home reading.  

 

December 20, 2012.

To my wonderful and parents:

It is with great sadness that I have been absent this week and will not be returning to school before the holiday break.  My father has been ill for many many weeks and has since passed away peacefully.  

 

It is a great disappointment not to be spending these final few days with the kids at school, because it is always such a bonding time for a class at this time of the year.  After watching the power of a community come together during the Giving Week, and knowing that there are two full weeks of time off with family and friends, brings a joyous atmosphere among the students.  I will miss their smiles and their stories this week as I will need to be with my family during this difficult time.

 

Merry Christmas!  Happy Hannukah!  Happy New Year!  Whatever traditions you celebrate, my hopes are that you have time to spend with your friends and family during the school break, and that you love and hug those close to you.

 

Mrs. McVannel

 

December 13, 2012.

 

Wednesday was woolly!  Students brought in warm socks and other outdoor items for the Out of the Cold program.  Thursday was Thankful Thursday.  We started our day with an Appreciation Circle and although some friends "passed", they revisited their opportunity to share an appreciation about a friend or someone important in their life.  Later in the day, we took some time to write notes to others who we feel fortunate to have in our daily lives and some of them got delivered!  Once again, I feel fortunate to spend time every day with your children.  Friday is Food Bank Friday.  Please consider sending in a food donation for our local food bank.  There are many families in our communities that depend on the Food Bank and it is such a small donation to help a family in need.

 

Click below to watch the music video called

Homeless by local band "Keep the Change".

For sale on iTunes and all funds to support local

Foodbanks.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmccQflQ2ks

 

 

December 11, 2012.

Do you celebrate Christmas at your house?  Wondering what to do with those wrapping paper tubes after wrapping gifts?  Send them in to room 17.  I would love to get enough tubes so that each student can have one tube for an art project in the future.

 

Students are writing procedural text.  Some students are even making a video of their procedures.  We will post our procedures and our videos on Kidblog.  I hope you have all had a chance to visit your child's blog.

 

Giving Week so far has been amazing.  Check out the donations from the kids in room 17 so far!!!

 

   

 

 

December 9, 2012.

Tis the Season of Giving at Millen Woods.  I'm sure parents have read the emails and heard about our week of giving at Millen Woods school.  Just a reminder of what's coming up this week:

 

Munchkin Monday - bring in small items for babies - such as diaper cream, baby food, bibs, diapers.  These items will be donated to family shelters 

Toiletries Tuesday - bring in toiletries for shelters such as Mary's place - toothpaste, shampoo, women's sanitary products, soaps

Wooly Wednesday - new adult-sized socks for the Out of the Cold Program.  Can we beat our total of 1258 pairs collected last year?

Thank You Thursday - no donations.  But come to school prepared to express appreciation to someone.  Then at home, think of someone who also deserves a thank you!

Food Bank Friday - bring a canned good or non-perishable item.

 

At Friday's final assembly for Giving Week, teachers will be challenging students to the traditional sock relay.  Come out to support the superheroes of sockdom! (stay tuned for time).

 

December 4, 2012.

 

Today was an exciting day for everyone in room 17!  Today we learned how to make a comment on our blog.  We followed this procedure as a guideline to help us show appreciations to our classmates and to show good digital citizenship.

 

Making a comment on Kidblog:

1.  First, read the blog post carefully.

2.  Then, restate something you learned.  (I learned that...or...I didn't know that...)

3.  Next, give one or two appreciations.  (I really liked...or...It's really great that...) 

4.  After that, make sure that your comment makes sense.

5.  Finally, click SUBMIT COMMENT.

6.  Remember to Logout when you are done.

 

Please feel free to have your child login to kidblog and make a comment on your child's blog.  All comments are monitored by me, the master editor, before posting to ensure that students are following guidelines of good digital citizenship.  We are excited about using this blog to showcase our writing and our technological expertise!  Check it out!  P.S. You can access Kidblog by clicking on the icon on our home page or clicking here.....Kidblog.

December 3, 2012.

 

Welcome December!  I can't believe how quickly the year is flying by!  Once again I want to say how much I enjoy sharing each day with your children!  They bring smiles and happy news daily, and they demonstrate dedication to their classroom tasks and to each other as friends!

 

This morning we had the official ribbon cutting for our outdoor exploration areas.  Students were excited to finally have a chance to climb and visit the different areas.  Later in the day, we ventured outside to plant bulbs in the gardens for spring time!  

 

I would encourage you to have your child visit the Math page and click on Math Sites.  There are four new time games to help your child practise telling time.  We have started a short review with telling time to the nearest hour and half hour.  We will be continuing with grade 2's telling time to the quarter hour and grade 3's telling time to the nearest five minutes.  Also, visit the Extra Practise Worksheets page to find some extra practise with reading and showing the temperature on a thermometer.

 

November 29, 2012.

 

It has been a wonderful week for us in room 17.  We are so focussed and working hard to finish our autobiographies on Kidblog.  I would encourage you to have your child login and read the autobiographies offered there.  Next week we will be focussing on how to make an effective comment.  We will be talking about digital citizenship and being aware of your "personality on line".  

 

Please check the word wall word page for a correction in the weekly words.  Due to my absence on MOnday, there was some confusion about the weekly words.  Also, Friday is Movember Moustache day.  Students are invited to wear their mustaches and bring loonies and toonies for cancer.  

 

November 22, 2012.

Students in room 17 have been busily typing their autobiographies onto Kidblog.  Please take a moment to check out blogs and read some of the writing that students have posted.  We still have many who are working on adding their submissions so please be patient if you don't see your son or daughter's submission yet.  Students should consider working on Dance Mat Typing to help them improve their keyboarding skills.

 

Just a reminder that the grade 2's will be going to Doon Heritage Crossroads this coming Tuesday, November 27.  They will be going for the morning portion of the day.  Students are reminded to dress for the weather and to eat a good breakfast as they won't be returning to the school till at least 12:00.  

 

Please check out our Art page to see the beautiful "seed art" that the students created over a three week period.  They are beautiful and will be coming home soon!

 

November 15, 2012.

 

It has been another busy week of learning in room 17.  Students in grade 3 have been exploring soil samples and making comparisons between different samples.  Grade 2's are continuing to learn about traditions and celebrations with Mrs. Upshaw and today they participated in a Diwali celebration.  When we are together in room 17, we are exploring various way of recording data in Data Management.  We have learned about tally graphs, bar graphs, and line plots.  In Language Arts we are finalizing our autobiographies and some of us are starting to type them on our class blog.  Students are excited about being able to share their writing with parents at home and with friends too!  Congratulations to those students who tried this week's Challenge of the Week and answered the riddles!  

Sunday, November 11, 2012

This Sunday is a day for remembering the soldiers who stood for our country.  This morning my family visited the cenotaph for the Rememberance Day ceremonies.  This day holds personal importance as I have two cousins who have served their entire careers in the Canadian Army. They devoted their lives to peace-keeping efforts in the Gaza Strip, Bosnia and Afghanistan.  I am proud of their bravery and honour.  Likewise, students participated in the Rememberance Day assembly on Thursday.  Our class participated by performing a song for the audience.

 

This past week in room 17 has been another busy one!  On Monday, the grade 3 students participated in Scientists in Schools for the soils program.  Students studied and learned about the various layers of soil, investigated and observed earth worms, did an experiment about erosion and made a soil profile for their science folders.  On Tuesday, grade 3 students are asked to bring in a small ziploc bag with a soil sample in it.  The "soil" can be collected from whatever area....a garden, the backyard, a gravel pit, a construction site, the backyard sandbox, or even the composter.  We want to have a variety of soils for the students to investigate and examine.  Please make sure your child's name is on the ziploc bag and that they remember from where the sample came!  Thanks to the parents who volunteered that afternoon and for helping to make the program such a success with our grade 3's.

 

It was great to meet with parents on Friday and chat about your child and the Progress Report.  If you were unable to meet, please call and leave a message on my voicemail so that we can chat on the phone or make alternate arrangements to meet.  Please remember that you can always write a note in the planner, as they are checked daily.  I don't always have the opportunity to check my voicemail during the school day.  Thanks to all parents for their support by checking the planners daily.

 

 

Sunday, November 4, 2012.

I hope you all remembered to turn your clock back and hour and that you enjoyed the "extra hour sleep". This upcoming week will be a short week as there is a PD Day on Friday, November 9th.  Teachers will be conducting interviews on Thursday evening and Friday morning.  Your interview time will come home in the Progress Report envelope.  Please check out our November Calendar on the calendars page of the wiki site to fill you in on important dates this month.

 

Thanks to parents AGAIN for volunteering to help out with Scientists in Schools on Monday.  The grade 3's will be participating in this program on November 5th.  Room 17 grade 3's will take part in the afternoon beginning around 12:00.  Grade 2's will be joining Miss Strauss for part of the afternoon, then join their regular grade 2 science class to complete the afternoon.  Progress Reports also go home on Monday.  Be sure to look for your interview time in the envelope.  We are also planning to have a Rememberance Day assembly on Thursday since Rememberance Day falls on a Saturday this year.  It is still important for students to recognize the importance of this day.  Our Scholastic Book Fair begins on Thursday and continues into Friday.  We will be visiting the book fair so that students may browse through the books that are available to purchase.  

 

Thanks again to parents for ensuring that they check the planner every week to keep up to date on what's happening in room 17.  I appreciate all the support you have provided in our very busy fall events.  Thanks, too, for keeping up with the Home Reading program and filling in those tally books daily!  Students...check out the Challenge of the Week and try your hand and puzzle solving!

 

Thursday, November 1, 2012.

 

This has been a very busy week.  Students in grade 3 visited Crawford Lake and the response from the students was that they not only learned alot about the Longhouse Community but enjoyed feeling what it must have been like to live that way hundreds of years ago. Thanks to the parent volunteers Mrs. Bowen and Mr. Webber for attending and helping out on the trip!  In the meantime, the grade 2's stayed at school with Miss Strauss' grade 4's.  We read The Ghost Eye Tree, and made a work of art using crayon resist.  We read a story about Spookley the Square Pumpkin, a symbol of Halloween and created a three dimensional pumpkin using construction paper.  Finally, we watched and discussed the movie of Spookley, the Square Pumpkin and the message that it brought:  "Being different is okay" and "sometimes we can all be a hero".  

 

On Monday, the grade threes will be participating in Scientists in the Schools with the Soils program.  We have volunteers who have graciously agreed to give us their time to help deliver this program.  Grade 2's will be working with Miss Strauss again for three periods and then will resume their regular science program with Mrs. Meredith.

 

Sunday, October 28, 2012.

The students had a great two days with Miss Heather PIzzey.  She thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the students in room 17 and said they were amazing learners.  After spending two days in Richmond Hill learning more about technology I am ready to return to the classroom to share new ideas.  

 

In science, grade two students are still working with Mrs. Meredith and studying the life cycle of mealworms.  Grade threes are still learning about plants and soils.  In social studies, the grade two students continue to learn about celebration and traditions, and the grade three students are building a model of the longhouse community.  This WEDNESDAY is the trip to Crawford Lake for the grade three students.  They will need to have make sure they eat a hardy breakfast, bring drinks and a boomerang lunch, and dress for the weather.  Much of this program is outdoors, but if the weather is inclement, the leaders at Crawford Lake do our best to accomodate us inside at various options of the program.  Grade 2 students that day will remain with Mrs. McVannel in room 17.  Madame K. Marschuetz and Miss L. Strauss will be accompanying students on this trip.

 

Coming up on November 5th will be Scientists in the Schools for the grade 3 students.  Information forms will be coming home sometime this coming week.  We will need at least four volunteers to help us to deliver this program at school.  If you are available we would love to have you join us in the classroom. Look out for the letter coming home.

 

In math, both grade 2 and 3 students are working on Data Management.  We are taking surveys, and doing "tests" to practise recording our information in various ways.  We are also working on making effective bar graphs.  Visit out math page and click on Extra Practise Worksheets for new printables to practise bar graphing and pictographing.

 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012.

It's been another fun week with so much going on in room 17.  Students are writing autobiographies this week and our hopes are to learn more about editing and revising before we post our autobiographies on our new blogs.  We are continuing to work on extending our reading stamina and being Real Readers.  We started working on a Data Management unit in mathematics.  We are reviewing how to record data in tally graphs and now starting reviewing bar graphs.  In science, the grade 3's have shared what they have learned on their mini inquiries about parts of the plant, and we are moving on to discuss how everything we eat comes from plants, as well as have some dialogue about whether or not we should "take" things from the forest.  Grade 2's are excited to bring in a food for their mealworms on Thursday.  

 

For the next two days I will be away from the classroom at a conference in Toronto learning about technology in the classroom.  Miss Heather Pizzey will be in room 17 facilitating the learning in our classroom.

 

Monday, October 22, 2012.

It was a glorious day to be out in the woods!  The grade 3 science classes took a trip to Huron Park natural area today to learn about the importance of plants in our world.  With Anne and Sharon as our guides, we met some ghoulishly HUGE mongolian cockroaches, and learned more about "decomposers" or bugs that help decompose the forest naturally.  The students took a walk through the woods and did a search for decomposers.  They also played a Boardwalk Bingo game looking for wildlife and plant life on the boardwalk.  We highly recommend family hiking in this beautiful wooded area in Kitchener.

 

Monday, October 15, 2012.

Another start of a busy week ahead.  Reminders that most primary classes will be attending the Symphony tomorrow morning at Centre in the Square.  Buses leave the school at 9:30 and will likely return by 12:00.  Students are encouraged to eat a good breakfast as there will not be any opportunity for breaks or snacks at the theatre.  Madame Kazemzadeh will be accompanying the students on this trip as I will be attending a Networking Session meeting with other teachers in our county in regards to teaching reading.  I will be back in the afternoon.

 

Beginning this week we will be starting to work with some of the websites on our Language Websites page.  Students will begin working on Bitstrips tomorrow after a quick reminder of how the website works.  Each student will receive a sticker for inside the planner which will contain passwords to a few choice websites which we will be using.  One final request:  Students are asked to please purchase and bring in a set of earphones or earbuds.  Please send them to school in a ziploc bag with your child's name on it.  Thanks!

Friday, October 12, 2012.....Meet the Crew Day

Today was a fascinating day in Millen Woods history.  Today was Meet the Crew Day.  Students and teachers shared projects that were completed at home and shared their passions, their family, their cultures...or just something they knew alot about!...and what a wonderful collection of great projects!  Students eagerly shared their ideas, their insights and their lives with the other mariners at our school.  It was a very full day.

 

Because our day was so busy with Meet the Crew, we did not get to do our Word Wall quiz today.  It has been postponed to Monday.

Just a reminder to parents also that next week the students are going to the Symphony on Tuesday morning.  Yes, it is pizza day, but the pizza will be waiting for them upon return to school.  Thursday is our visit from Mr. Frank Glew, local author and environmentalist.

Also, all money for Huron Natural Park trip on the 22nd and for Crawford Lake need to be returned to school before Friday, October 19th please! One final request...Students are asked to please bring in a pair of earbuds or earphones to use at school when students work on the computer.  Earbuds and earphones can be purchased at the dollar store and should come to school in a ziploc bag labelled with your child's name.  They will be stored at school for use.

 

Thursday, October 11, 2012.

Science was very exciting for both the grade 2's and the grade 3's today.  Grade 2 students worked with Mrs. Meredith and each received their OWN mealworm.  Their job is to find out which environment the mealworm prefers during it's metamorphosis.  The students were VERY EXCITED to make hypotheses, make observations and can't wait to find out the answer!  Students in grade 3 took a brief walk through a new "learning environment"...the woods.  Accompanied by Ms. McCutcheon, Mrs. McVannel and Ms. Stenhouse (our teacher librarian), the students moved quietly through the forest as the natives did many years ago.  It was a walk to use our senses...to observes, to smell, to touch and to hear the ways of the forest.  Upon leaving the forest we discovered a large tree which we figured was likely over 200 years old.  Students were quick to hug the tree just as the child does in Frank Glew's book, I Need a Hug.  Students were asked to commit their discoveries to their memories, as the natives would have done also!  The discoveries made were phenomenal and we hope to visit the forest again in the future.  Our next step is to record our discoveries in our Field Logs about our trip through the forest.

 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012. 

It was lovely to return to room 17 today and see all the students.  Much to my surprise there was this lovely sign to greet me when I entered the classroom!  It was great to see happy smiling faces, receive a few hugs and hear the excitement as they shared news about their past week.

 

                                                   

Students are very excited about the Meet the Crew day coming up this Friday.  Many students have already completed their passion projects, and there are some still thinking about it!  Students are invited to bring their projects in on Friday.  Our class will be setting up in the Library and our viewing will take place during the middle block during period 6 and 7.  For the remainder of the day, students will be visiting other classes to view their projects.

 

Monday, October 7, 2012.

If you celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!  It has definitely been a very autumn-like weekend.  I hope you have had some quality time with friends and family.  I am very happy to say that I will be back at school on Tuesday, and I am looking forward to seeing all of the student, and the learning that took place while I was gone.

 

Next week will be a short week but there are some reminders: 

Thursday, October 11 is Picture Day for individual portraits. Please return picture envelope on that day.  It is also Library day.

Friday, October 12 is Meet the Crew Day - hope everyone has a passion project to share!

 

Also, just a reminder that permission forms went home last week for the grade 3 trip to Crawford Lake.  Please sign the permission form, and return it with a cheque as soon as possible.  Money and permission forms are due back at school before October 19th.  Thanks!

 

Tuesday, October 3, 2012.  Students have been working on an inquiry in science trying to find out the jobs of each part of the plant.  Parents can support their child by having a short discussion about which part of the plant they are learning about, and how they plan to go about finding out it's job.  Students can do research, design or find an experiment, watch a video, go to the library...just about whatever they want to find out their answer.  Tomorrow students will be expected to make a final decision about what they need for their inquiry and how they will present their "findings" to the others in the class.

 

Home Reading is off to a start.  Students are still getting their new tally books and reading levels.  Thanks to parents for supporting this very important reading opportunity for kids!  We are a fantastic group of readers!

 

Sunday, October 1, 2012.

Students in grade 3 started learning about the people of the Longhouse community last week.  Check out our Social Studies page and try to figure out what the items are in the photographs.  See if you can figure out why these items are important to the longhouse community.  The forest was very important to this community and we will learn all about it when we visit in October.  Students in grade 3 science are also trying to decide why the Millen Woods forest is important to our community.  Grade two students continue to study celebrations and traditions in social studies as well as Growth and Changes in animals in science.

 

Students in grade 2 are continuing to work on subtraction facts and need to practise to improve their speed and accuracy.  They will also begin working with a numberline and counting beads.  Grade three students are working on double digit subtraction using a numberline and hundreds chart as well as mental math strategies to help them.  Check out the math page for excellent sites to play games and for printable worksheets.

 

Check out the Challenge of the Week.  Many students have been trying the challenge and recording their results in writing, using diagrams, numbers and words as well as recording their results on their ipods.  

P.S.  Reminder to check out the beautiful art on the Art page.... 

 

Tuesday, September 25, 2012.  

Today was my last day at school until after Thanksgiving.  As you know I will be away until then due to some minor knee surgery.  Mrs. Kathy Gregory will be in room 17 continuing the learning with the grade 2/3 students.  Mrs. Gregory will be keeping in contact with me and we will keep the wiki site updated.  

 

Students are continuing to work with problem solving using addition strategies.  Grade 2's are using doubles, make 10 strategy, and this week we started working with empty numberline and hundreds charts.  Grade 3's are reviewing double digit addition using formal algorithm, empty numberlines and hundreds charts as well.  Next week, students will be working with subtraction.

 

In Language we are reviewing reading strategies, practising Read to Self, and we will begin making responses in our Reader's Notebooks.  In writing, we will be starting a short autobiography unit and writing our own autobiographies.  

 

Tomorrow in science, grade 3 students will begin their inquiry on parts of a plant.  Students signed up to prove our predictions about the jobs of the different parts of the plant.  Grade two's are continuing to work with Mrs. Meredith and learning about Growth and Changes of Animals.  It also seems that it may be likely that our chrysalis will not shed a butterfly.  After consulting with Mrs. Upshaw, it seems that our chrysalis could have a virus.  We have not had much luck with monarch caterpillars this year...this has provided important discussion around the lifecycle in our classroom.

 

Finally, today we worked on leaf rubbings, or frottage - the art of rubbing and making texture.  It's an age old art form and always fun to do.  The students were AMAZED at the beautiful results.  Please check out our Art page to admire the beautiful art from your children.

 

Friday, September 21, 2012.

Thanks so much to all parents and families who made it to Meet the Teacher Night at our school on Thursday evening.  It was such a pleasure to meet all of you and chat about your child.  I hope you got a tour of the classroom and heard about the exciting learning going on in room 17.  I must tell you that I feel very blessed to be working with such kind, thoughtful and energetic learners.  Our year has really started off with respectful and enthusiastic learning with and for each other.

 

I hope you took advantage of the PD Day to spend some time together.  At school, teachers participated in Board discussions about our school success plans and our direction with learning at Millen Woods.  We also had some time to work with other teachers in our grade groups and to focus on learning more about the inquiry process.  Students in room 17 are using the inquiry process for our science unit to learn and discover new things about the importance of plants in our environment.

 

Thanks to all students who are taking advantage of the Challenge of the Week!  Bravo to all of you who bring in any solutions.  I have been collecting them and keeping them on hand.  This week we happened to have two students who chose to videotape themselves solving the problem.  We watched Max and Jack solve the problem of the popcorn!  Way to go to all who love a challenge!

 

 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012.

 

Yesterday during grade 3 science, students pulled apart and inspected some pansies.  They drew a diagram of the plant in their field logs and labelled parts of the plant.  We will continue to work on finding out more about plants and asking questions.  Grade 2's joined Mrs. Meredith to continue to learn about the changes in animals.  They have been keeping an eye on a chrysalis in her classroom too.

 

We are also working on reviewing reading strategies and the first one we've discussed is "reading the pictures, words and thinking about reading".  Today we made a Heart Map to help us set seed for writing in our Writer's Notebook.  In math we continue to work on increasing our speed with addition facts.  Mrs. McVannel also shared her Identity Day project this morning with the students which started a discussion about palm oil and deforestaction.  Students will be invited to bring in their Identity Day projects on October 12.

 

I hope to get to meet you all tomorrow night at Meet the Teacher Night.

 

 

Monday, September 17, 2012.

We started off our week with Social Studies.  Students in grade 2 went to join Mrs. Upshaw's class downstairs.  Thanks to parents who took the time to fill our the Celebrations and Traditions survey.  Some were returned not filled in and will be sent home again.  I'd appreciate it if you could take the time with your child to fill it in and return it before next Tuesday.  Grade 3's started talking about the native aboriginal people of the longhouse today.  We looked at a picture of a community and started to determine the ways of this group...what do they eat, where do they live, how do they travel.  

 

Today we did an activity to show what you know about number sense and place value.  Everyone seemed to handle the activity independently.  We are focussing on FAST DOUBLES in grade 2, and improving our speed with addition facts in grade 3.  We will be reviewing some strategies.  Grade 2 will review "counting up", using doubles to solve equations, and numberlines.  Grade 3's will be working with double digit addition and reviewing the numberline, 100 charts and mental math strategies.

 

Sunday, September 16, 2012.

We had a great day on Friday.  Students had a double french period with Mlle. Doherty to start off the day.  We talked about being Real Readers again and reviewed that we could read a book by reading the pictures, and by reading the words.  The important part to reading was THINKING ABOUT READING!  We reviewed two very important aspects to reading:  IPICK - a way to pick books, then reviewed ways to pick books that are just right for us!  

IPICK chart

 

How to choose a book that is

JUST RIGHT for you!

Next week we will delve deeper into the kinds of books we enjoy and continue to improve our Real Reading time past 16 minutes straight!  Your children really love to read!

 

Grade 2's are working on getting faster with math facts especially using Fast Doubles.  Please consider reviewing these facts with your child at home. We will continue with new strategies like "counting one by 1, 2, 3" and "making 10".   Grade 3's are reviewing Fast Doubles, but we will be moving into a review of double digit addition and subtraction next week.  

 

***Final note:  Library days are always Day One.  That makes Library exchange day for us on Tuesday this coming week!!!

 

Thursday, September 13, 2012.

 

It was another truly exciting day in room 17.  Our caterpillar, Big Billie had formed a J on our milkweed inside the caterpillar tank.  But then, to add to the excitement, students were able to WATCH Big Billie shed his caterpillar skin and see the chrysalis emerge.  I only wish I had been there to make a video!  (It was nutrition break and I was out of the classroom).  Check out Growth and Changes in Animals to see the pictures.

 

We continue to work on improving our addition facts in math by playing some easy games using dice and a deck of cards.  Students can also check out the Math page for game sites.

 

Tomorrow there will be a quickie quiz on the words for this week.  Today we checked out Spelling City which is a great site to play with your words of the week!  Just click on Language Arts, and go to Language Arts sites then click on Spelling City!

 

 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012.

 

Today we welcomed our friend Satya to room 17.  It was a great surprise to him to find so many of his friends from last year in our class this year.  

 

Today we worked on choosing a book that is just right for you.  We spent time being Real Readers and modelling what that means.  We were able to read for 14 minutes and 26 seconds without a single interruption!  It was Writing Wednesday and the writers in room 17 were allowed to write about whatever they wanted, and use whatever form of writing they wanted.  

 

We continue to review basic addition facts, and talked more about Fast Doubles.  LEarning these fast doubles will allow students to use other strategies as well like the "count up" strategy.  We started Number Jeopardy today and students showed their knowledge of different operations by creating their own number equations.  

 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012.

Lots of learning going on in Room 17 today!  We reviewed what it means to be a Real Reader today.  Today in reading we talked about how shoes are a great fit when they serve their purpose (i.e. running, dressing up for a fancy occasion).  We related this to choosing books as well.  We can choose books that interest us, but might be too hard for us to read which wouldn't be a great fit.  We can choose books that interest us and that we can understand when we read.  That would be a great fit.  We practised being Real Readers today and managed to read for 12min. 46 seconds uninterrupted!  That's a fantastic start to reading stamina!  

 

We also looked at Fast Doubles in Math....1+1=2, 2+2=4, 3+3=6....for the grade threes it was a great review to get the mental math going!  For grade 2's it was an introduction to the Fast Doubles.  STudents are encouraged to practise learning these by heart to improve speed with mental math activities.

 

     

 

 We played the math game Add a Pair.  Use a deck of cards to lay them out in equal rows.  Turn over two cards.  If they are a "double" and you can answer the addition fact correctly, you get to keep the pair.  We added the challenge of keeping the Jacks, Queens and Kings and gave them an amount of J = 11, Q = 12 and K=13.  Everyone had fun and enjoyed the challenges.

 

Today was our first day of Science.  The grade 2's joined Mrs. Meredith with some of the other grade 2's in our school.  Grade 3's had some visitors from Miss Strauss' grade 3/4.  Today we started talking about plants and what we know about plants, plant and people, and plants and the environment.  We watched a video to help us form some questions about plants.  Grade 2's and 3's can visit the Science page on our wiki site.  Grade 2's can keep track of the metamorphosis of our caterpillars, and the grade 3's can check out the games and videos posted about plants.

 

Monday, September 10, 2012.

We had a lovely start to our second week at school.  We shared any exciting news from the weekend then had a 15 minute "quick write".  Students are invited to write about whatever they want to write about in their writer's notebooks.  We took some time to share with friends after our writing time was done.

 

The first day of the week brings the introduction to our new Words of the Week.  Your child printed the words in his/her planner, but you can also access the words by clicking on Words of the Week on the main page of this site.  We will be using these words daily and on Friday students will do an activity to exercise their knowledge of the words and demonstrate correct spelling.  

 

We also chatted about what a real reader looks like.  We put our ideas together on an anchor chart.  Tomorrow we will practise modelling this for each other, then have our first opportunity at Reading to Self.


 

We learned a new math game today called Top It! using addition and a deck of cards.  Ask your child to show you how to play it at home. We are learning many new games to practise our math facts in addition and subtraction.

 

Friday, September 7, 2012.

The end of our week was spectacular.  We started our day with a double french period and took some time to share some writing about our first week at school.  Students are focussing on working independently and quietly at their own desks, and they showed great stamina during the free write today.  

 

Today we took the Crazy Cooperation Challenge.  Each group were given coloured strips to work together to create a chain.  Once all groups created their chain, we connected it together.  Our chain represented all of us working together to create our community in room 17.  The students have some great ideas where to display our "community circle chain".  Keep posted to find out where it ends up!

 

We also worked on Attentive Listening all week.  Students are working to be respectful during our community circle and during read alouds and when instructions are being given.  We also  created our Lunch Procedures chart to remind us to be ready for play and for eating time.

 

 

Attentive Listening Chart

 

Lunch Procedures

Next week we will begin our reading and writing program and move into our first math units.  Science begins on Tuesday.  There has been a change, and grade 2 students will be working with Mrs. Laura Meredith for Science this year.   Enjoy the weekend! 

 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012.

It was another great day in room 17!  Today during Community Circle students were asked to share one thing that makes them special. Throughout the day we made discoveries about each other through a variety of activities:  a fun Shoe Scramble, the People Hunt and sharing our Extended Name tags.  

 

We are hoping to receive our new planners tomorrow.  Any parents who have not sent in planner money but intende to purchase one, money would be appreciated as soon as possible.  One final reminder that book orders are due on Friday, September 7.

 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012.

Welcome back to Millen Woods!  Welcome to room 17, grade 2/3.  Parents and students are encouraged to check out our website regularly because this is the spot where you will find our monthly calendars, information about what is going on in room 17, information about class trips, updates on what we are learning daily plus there are places where you and your child can access great websites!  Please check out the information below!  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to put any notes in your child's planner or call my voicemail and leave a message.  Please note that planners are checked daily and I may not always have the chance to check voicemail during the day!

 

 


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