April 27 2015 week with Ms. Selimos

Hello Parents and Students,

I hope everyone has a chance to look at his/her child’s agenda tonight re:  up and coming trips and activities.  Again, the Grant Road Office is highly encouraging that parents use PARENT PORTAL to pay for children’s trips, fees, activities, on-line. 

Enjoy the photos enclosed from last Friday’s CAREER DAY.  The kids had so much fun dressing up!

This week, we created paragraphs in our journals re:  Circle of Courage Independence goal for Term III.  For language arts we continue to read stories about nutrition.  We read “What Did You Put In Your Pocket?” and created a tune, as we read it.  The children created exact nouns, interpreting the story in their own words.  On Wednesday we read, Split Pea Soup by James Marshall and did a writing activity about likes and dislikes.   For Writing Traits, we focused on exact nouns (choosing the right word for what you want to say). 

Here are some links to explore with your child re:  weather study.  This is our NEW SCIENCE unit.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/climate-weather-sci   Real examples of weather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Li59FFilYQ   Stormy Weather fiction story

http://fox2now.com/2014/05/15/weather-and-kids-how-to-keep-children-calm-before-and-during-a-storm/    News story to keep kids, adults calm re:  storms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dxbC4-nlEc   Weather rap song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Lig67t2xg     Seasons song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UckUHeWXD0  Weather trends during different seasons video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1hwLi3smwM   Season Adventure with Shawn and Team (8 min.)

REMINDERS:

1.        Reading Logs due Thursday, April 30^th

2.       Send donations re:  Nepal this week.

3.       Bake sale for Nepal fund on Monday.  Send 50 cents to $2.00 if you would like your child to purchase a treat.

4.       See MAY calendar in your child’s agenda on Thursday.

5.       Aazan is STAR OF THE WEEK on Monday, May 4^th.

6.        Grade 2 MATH:  Parents, sign and return binder with Unit 6 geometry unit.  LAST UNIT of math for GRADE 2 is: Data Analysis

We are enjoying extra time on the playground in the sunshine this week!  We have been eating our lunches and going outside to play from 12:15 to 12:45.  Love this weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ms. Selimos

April 20, 2015 week with Ms. Selimos

Hello Parents and Students,

Mathematically, we constructed 3 – D solids out of clay and labeled them with attributes.  Thanks to Imogen’s mom for helping with this activity. We are now working on analyzing the FACES of objects/solids.  For example:  What is a Kleenex box?  Rectangular prism.  How many faces does it have?  6   What are the shapes (2-D) of the faces?  Rectangles and squares.  Play this solid game at home with your child using real items.  EXAMPLES:  yogurt container, cereal box, ice cream pail, etc.

Language arts activities this week were of stories based on food/nutrition.  We read REGGIE ALONE and focused on reading fluency and expression.  The writing component focus was:  sequencing (first, then, next, after) and answering questions (comprehension). We read PORRIDGE FOR EVERYONE and focused on adjectives and contractions.

Our phonics letter of the week was Ll. 

For French we played the HAMBURGER BATTLESHIP GAME in class. The children LOVED this activity!   I sent the activity home for you to play in French with your child.  Bonne chance = Good luck J See photo as well.

Sabah was our amazing STAR OF THE WEEK.  Sabah arrived to Canada from Libya last spring and joined us for Grade 2, speaking no English.  We are very proud of her efforts with language acquisition!  She is in Grade 3 now and is the oldest of 4 siblings.  She is a great helper at home to her mom and dad.  She is very helpful; washing dishes, making her bed, holding the baby, etc. as the “big sister.”  Sabah enjoys singing, dancing, riding her bike and playing with her 2 dogs.  Her neighbours are wonderful people who she refers to as her Canadian grandpa and grandma and they often help her with her studies. 

We completed our 2 week unit on maps for SOCIAL STUDIES.  We went outside and drew symbols of landmarks north, east, south and west of the school.  The kids Vocabulary included: compass rose, directions, north, south, east, west, continents, oceans, community, map symbols, legend.  Please use the following links with your child to reinforce MAPS. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeeLivQH7Ok  Cardinal Directions (north, south, east, west)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRYSSNq5GSc       Maps,  an intro. for kids

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj1veZY5hrY          Navigation song PBS kids

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IpdjyD_uPo         Maps and cardinal directions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLrxbbP31NA         Maps and globes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QlJn_iMeAg        How to read a map song

This week I have been administering the DNA (Diagnostic Numeracy Assessment) to the Grade 2s.  This involves testing of equality and number facts.  I administered the test in early fall, as well.

DATES TO NOTE:

1.     On the afternoon of WEDNESDAY, MAY 27^th, I will be taking the 2/3 class with the Gr. 3 class to Regina Police Service Showcase at the Brandt Center in the afternoon.  The trip is FREE.  We only need to pay for the bus cost of $1.20 / student.  I will be looking for parents to join us!

2.   READING LOGS DUE  on THURSDAY, APRIL 30^TH.

3.  «AAZAN IS STAR OF WEEK MAY 4^TH«

April 13, 2015 week with Ms. Selimos

Greetings Parents and Students,

I hope everyone enjoyed the Spring Break.  Please remember to send a water bottle to school for your child.  I have many thirsty children, especially after recess breaks.

We began the week with an awesome trip to the ROYAL SASKATCHEWAN MUSEUM on Monday afternoon.  We followed up on Tuesday with a language arts writing project.  Each child created a brochure including information about the following:  bus ride, First Nations Gallery, legend (Bee Stinger), toys and games and the Paleo Pit.  Expectations for this writing lesson included:  factual sentences with capitals and periods, illustrations including First Nations and animal content, and drawings to support their sentences.  Legible printing was reinforced. We used walking dictionaries and inventive spelling.

Mathematically, we reviewed 2-D shapes (triangle, square, rectangle, circle) this week.  Vocabulary included:  corners (vertices, straight/curved lines).  We played some riddle games, used geo-boards and elastics to create shapes,  and mid-week,  we made models of shapes using straws and play dough.

We have engaged in concrete math activities this week for our geometry unit.  The kids loved using the solids (cones, cylinders, spheres, rectangular prisms, cubes) to create structures.  They were introduced to geo-boards and elastics, in order to create shapes (2-D) before the break.  On Monday we made shapes (triangles, squares, rectangles) using straws and play dough.  New vocabulary included:  corners=vertices, line segment, sides, curved lines, length and width. 

Ask your child questions about the solids/objects poster.  Example:  How many vertices does a cone have?  Does it stack?  What shape it its face? Which object has exactly 6 faces that look the same? Cube…  The Grade 2s will be making our own solids using clay on Friday.  We will display them in the egg cartons.

Another language arts focus this week was:  rhyming, after reading the story, THE HUNGRY THING.  They had a blast creating their own HUNGRY THING MONSTER.  We also studied adjectives for Writing Traits, which carried into THE HUNGRY THING story. 

We received MAIL this week.  We finished our Urdu lessons before the break and received a Certificate of Achievement Award from Saskatchewan Organization for Heritage Languages (SOHL).

For French, we enjoyed creating Garfield cartoons about Garfield’s favourite hobby, eating!  The children practiced reading their cartoon strips to each other.

Sabah will be our Star of the Week on April 20^th.   We are looking forward to her presentation. 

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Ms. Selimos