September 28, 2018

Today was the Terry Fox walk.  Students walked in memory of those they know who are suffering, or whose lives have been lost to this horrible disease.  I could not be more proud of our 17 students who persevered through some horrible weather to complete their first year of the "long route".  This is the same route they will now complete for the remaining 10 years of schooling.  A giant thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Primosch and Mrs. Howatt who joined us on the walk.  Also, thank you to the Devon Lions Club for the healthy snack.


Have a fabulous weekend!  

September 27, 2018

This morning we introduced the term, compound word - here is a video you can watch with your child to review this concept.  The students accepted a challenge for tomorrow - come to class with a compound word written in their agenda.  On Monday, we will be completing an activity with these words.

Please ensure your Student Verification forms are completed and also that your child has weather appropriate clothing for the Terry Fox walk tomorrow.  

September 26, 2018

CHEESE!  I can't wait until to see the school photos; 2D students are positively adorable!!

ART ART ART!  Today we painted, and cut; tomorrow we will assemble our fall masterpieces!  Students painted the 6 colours in two shades, then used various tools to add texture.  Once that was dry, they cut and glued circles to create beautiful fall trees.  The trees are hanging outside our classroom, be sure to stop by and see them! 

September 25, 2018

During our morning calendar, students practice counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.  These are concepts that can be reinforced at home, while you are commuting or while waiting in lineups.  Encourage your child to count by multiples daily to strengthen their knowledge of this skill.  Today we went a step further and began rocket launchers  (counting backwards by 2s, 5s and 10s).  Today it was counting backwards from 100 to 0 by 10s.  Each day the rocket launch challenge will be different and will become progressively more difficult.

Students had their social studies unit assessment on mapping.  This assessment is recorded in Powerschool, feel free to check out the assessments which have been entered thus far.  As Mrs. Kloschinsky has shared with you, this is our first year using this program and although we are trying our very best to enter everything accurately, there may be bumps along the journey.  Please reach out if you see anything that appears unusual or odd on your child's account.  

September 24, 2018

Today we launched our second Math unit: Numbers to 20.  This unit will review and strengthen basic numeracy skills.

We also completed our Mapping unit in Social Studies.  In this unit, students gained the skills necessary to read a simple map.  They are familiar with the terms: cardinal directions, compass rose, key, symbol.  They can also identify, North, South, East and West on a map.  Tomorrow we will have a short assessment on these concepts.

We read the story, Decibella.  It is a wonderful story designed to teach students about the various volumes we use when speaking.  It also gives us common language that will aid students in knowing what is an appropriate volume in different social settings.  I encourage you to check out the YouTube link and reinforce these terms at home. 

Weekly Reminders:

- Fruit orders are coming home today and are due October 18.

- School photos are Wednesday.

- Cross Country is on Wednesday - please ensure you have completed the permission form in Powerschool. Cross country athletes will have their photos taken on Thursday.

September 20, 2018

In Math, we continued our exploration of numbers to 10 by diving into basic subtraction.  Ask your child to show you how to solve this equation (using both pictures and a subtraction sentence).  I had 9 cars and I gave 2 to Mrs. Kloschinsky, how many cars do I have left?  

Today was also our first  day of Library.  Our library block will be every Thursday afternoon.  Please be sure your child returns his/her library book prior to Thursday, so that he/she is able to sign out a new book the following week.  

September 19, 2018

Today, students signed their admirable use agreements with Mrs. Kloschinsky.  She spent 30 minutes with the students reading through and discussing the agreement.  It is important to reinforce digital citizenship at home by talking about the following points from the agreement.
Protecting me.
• I will only go on the computer when I have permission. 
• I will only go to pages I am allowed to go to. 
• I will only share pictures and stories about myself when my teacher asks me to. 
• I will talk to my parents and teacher about all of my online friends. 
• I will tell my teacher or parents if anyone is unkind to me on the computer. 
• I will only go to places that are nice and I will tell my parents or teacher if I go to a place that is negative, unkind or rude. 
Protecting others. 
• I will only say positive things about people. 
• I will ask before I share a picture or story about a person. 
Protecting property. 
• I will not download movies, games or music illegally.
• I will check that the information I get on the Internet is correct

In Math, we explored simple addition.  Students learned that an addition sentence must have a plus sign (+) and an equal sign (=).  We discussed in depth that both sides of the equation must balance.  See if your child can complete these two equations at home with you:
                                   6 + 3 = __                                    4 + __ = 10

September 18, 2018

We began our day with the HLAT.  The HLAT is a writing assessment which provides a snapshot of student writing ability at the start of each grade; students will write this test in September of each school year. I encourage you to talk to your child about their story; I was amazed by the creativity of the 2D storytellers and am looking forward to reading many more stories throughout the year!

It was also our first Tasty Tuesday today! Students followed a recipe to create gooey Caramel Apple Dips. Thank you to Mrs. Primosch for providing the ingredients for this recipe.

September 17, 2018

It's our first full week of school! 

Today we launched Buddy Read in Daily 5.  "Of all the choices children participate in, Read to Someone is often their favorite.  Reading with someone helps readers, especially developing readers, increase areas of comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and prosody.  It also increases reading involvement, attention, and collaboration. What's more, children love partner reading and readily participate with books they choose." (Daily 5 website).

We also used Chromebooks for the first time.  It was a challenge to create accounts, log in and try out a typing program, but in the end everyone was successful!  The typing program we are using is Typing Club, feel free to utilize this program at home also.  

Students were introduced to our first 5 Word Wall Words ( also, who, were, would, way).  We will be doing different activities with these words throughout the week, today students played Spider Trap.

We read the story, If Everybody Did, and students created illustrations of the chaos that could ensue if everyone failed to follow a school rule!  There were some hilarious illustrations!  

Reminders:

 - Please log into Powerschool this evening and complete your Student Verification.

September 13, 2018

We began our day with a Magic Show, where students learned about FRIENDSHIP.   


In the afternoon, students solved simple addition problems using numbers to 10.  

In Daily 5, students reached their goal of 7 stamina minutes and we are very excited to learn about and launch Buddy Reading on Monday!  

Thank you to the parents who have offered to donate ingredients for Tasty Tuesday.  We are still seeking donations for September, January and May.  If you are able to send ingredients, please contact me via email.

Tasty Tuesday Schedule

September	Leta Primosch
October	Nicol Howatt
November	Marianne Maygard
December	Michelle Miller
January	Alyssa Nicholson/Laila Craddock
February	Breana Dennis
March	Cassy Steeves
April	Staci St.Louis
May	Please email if you are able to sign up for May.

Have a wonderful long weekend!  Hopefully the weather turns around and you can enjoy some family time outdoors! 

September 12, 2018

Today we continued building read to self stamina in Daily 5.

During Math, students read number words from one to ten and matched them with their corresponding numeral (digit). 




















The afternoon was busy, as Mr. T was here to present Bus Safety to the Grade 2s.  He taught us to always do what the bus driver says and also to sit bum to seat, back to back.  
  


Although we were indoors for recess, we were outside for bus safety and it was quite cold.  Please be sure your child has appropriate clothing for the weather.  

September 11, 2018

For the past two days, we have been focused heavily on Zones of Regulation.  Students reviewed the four zones (Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green).  Students use the characters from Inside Out as a visual for the 4 zones.  If you are not familiar with the movie, HERE is a video which explains the emotions.  The ideal zone for learning is green, we will spend time learning strategies that will aid students in controlling their emotions and transitioning back to the green zone.

Today in Math, our focus was How Many More?  Students practiced a variety of counting on strategies.  Ask your child this question: How many more is 6 than 2?  

Reminders:
- Please ensure your child has headphones at school. 
- It is supposed to snow this evening, please send your child with warm outdoor clothes tomorrow.
- Hot lunch orders are due on the 12th.
- Million Words or Less is due on Thursday.  Additional copies are available HERE.
- No school on Friday.

September 10, 2018

This morning was a WET one!  Please ensure your child is dressed for the weather.  This morning we moved our bodies in the classroom, but at lunch, the rain had stopped, so students went outside; there were a lot of wet socks when they returned.  Rain jackets, umbrellas and rain boots are important on cold wet days.


Today was our first day of Daily 5.  Students learned about our gathering place, the carpet bell and 3 ways to read a book (read the words, read the pictures, retell the story).  Students successfully completed one minute of Read to Self!  

The Daily 5™ is a framework for structuring literacy time so students develop lifelong habits of reading, writing, and working independently.

How does it work?

Students select from five authentic reading and writing choices, working independently toward personalized goals, while the teacher meets individual needs through whole-group and small-group instruction, as well as one-on-one conferring. These choices include

• Read to Self,
• Work on Writing,
• Read to Someone,
• Listen to Reading, and
• Word Work. 

Daily 5 classrooms produce productive, highly engaged students who are developing a true love of literacy. 

The benefits of The Daily 5 for teachers and schools include the following:

• students develop independence, stamina, and accountability;
• less time consumed by classroom management leaves more for instruction;
• the framework adapts flawlessly to district-adopted curriculums and state mandates;
• improves schoolwide literacy achievement; and
• behaviors of independence transfer to other content areas.

Quoted from https://www.thedailycafe.com/daily-5

September 7, 2018

This morning, students participated in their first school-wide Friday Assembly.  At each assembly throughout the year, one child from our class will be recognized as Student of the Week.  If your child is receiving the award, you will be emailed prior to the assembly.  However, all parents are welcome to attend every assembly; join us and cheer on the accomplishments of all of our amazing RBES students! 

Students practiced good sportsmanship this morning by playing a game called, Stepping Stones.  We talked about the importance of being both a good loser and a gracious winner.  

In Math, we practiced one to one correspondence and students worked through 8 stations to identify which colour of cubes had more.  

We have reached the end of our first week of school!  Have a great weekend!  

September 6, 2018

We launched into our Number Sense Unit today.  For the next week, students will work with the number 1-10.  We will focus on counting, number recognition, subitizing, one-to-one correspondence, greater than, less than, number words, addition and subtraction.


We also began our morning routine Rise and Shine binders today.  We discussed ordinal numbers as part of our introduction to calendars today.  Ask your child if he/she can tell you today's date (Thursday, September 6th, 2018).  

Reminder:
Hot Lunch orders are due September 12, 2018.  Click HERE for online ordering. 

September 5, 2018

The second day of school is in the books.  We spent time this morning discussing appropriate classroom behaviours and students learned about Star Secret Student.  Congrats to Sophiee who was our first Star Secret Student!!!  

Students created their Rise and Shine binder covers and September calendar page.  


In the afternoon, we created a piece of writing called First Day Jitters.  Students wrote about the emotion they felt in the morning and how those emotions changed over the course of the day.  Stop by our classroom to read the student masterpieces.  


We also took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and went outside, where student completed an ABC Nature Scavenger Hunt.

September 4, 2018

Our first day of school went by in a flash!

This morning, we read the story First Day Jitters and discussed the emotions that we were experiencing as we began our first day of second grade.  It was not surprising that many of us had butterflies in our belly and were feeling a little yellow.  Luckily, last night, I brewed up some Jitter Juice, which calmed everyone and we were able to start our day free of those nervous feelings. 


Students who were missing items from their school supplies have a note in their agenda bag with the missing items highlighted.  It would be apprenticed if you can send any outstanding items as soon as you are able.  If possible, please send headphones and inside shoes tomorrow.

Students' first day photos were sent to your primary email on file, if you did not receive an email from me, please update your email address with the office (I had two bounce back to me).  Photos can also be viewed HERE.