November 26th, 2018 week with Ms. Selimos FARM INQUIRY and more

Hello Parents and Students,

This week we wrapped up our farm unit by completing a series of activities. With our learning buddies we created 3-D barns as a home for each child’s farm animal. For French we made 2-D barns with animals we drew in the barns and the French sounds they make.  In class, we made bread in the bread maker and discussed that bread comes from grains. As a team, we made our very own butter by shaking whipping cream in a jar until it became solid. We enjoyed our butter and Ms. Selimos’ homemade jam on our fresh loaf of bread we made in our bread maker this morning. YUM! See this week’s photos of the students with the bread and eating the delicious homemade treats.

On Wednesday, George Bothwell Librarian, Jane Grigg, visited our class in the afternoon for half an hour.  She read Polar Bear’s Underwear and performed the Gingerbread Man puppet show. We sang some Christmas carols using musical instruments. It was a great session!

Try making butter at home as a fun family experiment. Click on this link for the directions:

https://www.thebalance.com/homemade-butter-in-a-jar-1388339

 ‘Sitting on the Farm’ by Bob King was a huge hit on our class. Sing this great song with your child and have them show you the actions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foOvSUTpcyQ

This week, we completed the farm inquiry study with poster presentations. The Grade 1/2 put a lot of effort creating their posters.  They are very proud of their finished product. Please have your child present to you at home and celebrate their inquiry learning.

For math, both grades continued their work on number families. See the new NUMBER FACTS DOUBLES RAP attached in the pictures. With addition, we have been trying to memorize our doubles (2 + 2 = 4; 6 + 6 = 12; 9 + 9 = 18). Ask your child if they know their double facts. Play the doubles songs to them as a tool for them to memorize the facts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jOzhiACB68

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YQ4phTB0E

The Grade Ones have started working with subtraction stories in their math this week. The Grade Twos have been working with missing parts addition and subtraction. See the photos for students work samples.

Continue at home to make addition and subtraction stories with your child. If I had 2 bananas at home and I bought a bunch of 6 bananas at the grocery store, how many do I have now? OR I baked 18 holiday cookies and I gave 8 away to my friends, how many are left?

Great job Grade Ones and Twos with your Reading Log minutes! We are so proud of the many minutes you have logged by reading at home. Enjoy your Pizza Hut coupon for a personal pan pizza before the end of December.

Remember to hand in your ONE PAGE “Celebrations” homework by Dec. 17^th.We have already received a few and are looking forward to the children sharing their celebrations with their classmates.

The Grade 1/2 MULTICULTURAL BREAKFAST will be on WED. DEC. 19^th.  Please send your child to school with a food sample of a dish (small portion), if possible, from your cultural background.  No nuts please. EXAMPLES:  6 to 12 portions of something:  6 yogurt cups, 6 cheese strings, 6 spring rolls, 6 samosas, 6 tiropites (Greek cheese pies), small bag of crackers or tortilla chips.  Each child will be asked to bring something and to present their items.

On Tues. Dec. 18^th you, your child, and family are invited to the GRANT ROAD CARNIVAL (6 to 8 p.m.) There will be free entertainment, stations, and more, for all of you to enjoy.  We will be performing a 3 song medley.  It begins with Deck the Halls, then Jingle Bells, and finally, We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  If possible, please find a SANTA HAT for your child to wear. We are accepting a monetary donation of your choice or food items for the FOOD BANK. We will also hold a bake sale.

Also, a friendly reminder to please send a 2 L carton (cut and taped into the shape of a gingerbread house) to school with your child the morning of DEC. 13^th with the icing, candy decorations, etc. The instructions were given to you at the 3 Way Conferences.

Ian will be our next STAR OF THE WEEK on Dec. 3^rd. Austin is the STAR OF THE WEEK the week of Dec. 10^th, and Kintley the week of Dec. 17^th.

Have fun today at Grant Road’s INCREDIBLES II movie night in the gym.

 

Have a wonderful beginning of December weekend everyone!

Cheers,

Ms. Holtby, Ms. Selimos and Ms. Daniels

  

  

  

   

  

  

Nov. 19th, 2018 Week with Ms. Selimos Agribition Fun and MORE

Hello Parents and Students,

Thank you to all the families who came to our 3 Way Conferences to celebrate your child’s learning with us. It was so great to see each and every one of you!

Deklan was our incredible Star of the Week.  His favourite colour is orange and he likes to eat cheese pizza.  Deklan likes to build Lego Ninjajo robots.  He enjoyed going to Fuddruckers for his birthday.  He enjoyed watching the movie, Inside Out, at Victoria Park this summer with his family.  He loves cheering on the Saskatchewan Roughriders!  He proudly saved his money on his own this past year to purchase a Nintendo Switch and even has 7 video games. 

On Monday, Outdoor Education Teacher, Fred, visited our classroom for the ‘Animals in Winter’ presentation.  The children enjoyed learning about our Saskatchewan animals and their methods of hunting and surviving in winter.  He shared taxidermy animals such as:  hare, fox, coyote, bison coat, lynx, mallard duck, badger, and more.  He discussed migration.  Jake was so excited when Fred chose him as a volunteer to try on the bison coat!  He discussed the importance of a long tail for a coyote and fox (keeps nose warm when sleeping).  A hare eats tree bark in the winter and they only search for every second meal, surviving on their scats to survive, as well.  The kids absolutely LOVED this presentation and were a ‘green zone’ audience.

Agribition highlights and special moments: Thank you VERY much to   parents for volunteering their time to join us for the day.  We could not have done the trip without you!  Your children were in excellent hands in small groups of 2 to 4. The day was educational, high energy and a lot of fun for everyone.  There was so much to see and do in the barns, at the Family Pavilion, in the Brandt Center and much more. We were fortunate to participate in the Rodeo Clown session in the morning. What a ‘barrel of laughs’. Please enjoy the many photos (over 100) attached and ask your child what he/she enjoyed about the Agribition experience.

Following Wednesday’s Agribition trip, the children engaged in a writing project of Agribition brochures. The brochures are to promote and share about our great experience at Agribition. Stay tuned for pictures of the Farm Inquiry posters and Agribition brochures next week.

For math this week the Gr. 2s continued to practice writing number sentences and describing what a number family is.  Ask your child how many number sentences are in a family.

Use numbers 9 and 7.  There are four number sentences in the family: 2 addition and 2 subtraction.

 1. 9+7=16

2. 7+9=16

3. 16-9=7

4. 16-7=9

 Gr. 2s   also revisited inequality and equality.  To practice this, ask your child the sign for inequality or “not the same as.”  Try the question: 3+7 ? 10 OR 2+5  ?   8   Is this the same as, or not the same as?  Try even more questions with your child for FUN! A great math gift is a set of dominoes for your child to learn to add and to subtract.  See photos.  Begin with doubles. 

Doubles song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik_-OAgzD-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YQ4phTB0E

The Gr. 1s worked on learning their DOUBLES.  1+1=2; 2+2=4; 3+3=6 Remember that the SUMS for all addition questions are EVEN. 

Please begin gathering materials for the Gingerbread Houses we will be making on the afternoon of Dec. 13^th.  Store bought icing is best, and is cheaper in the grocery stores in November. As well, please pay on-line for the December 18^th bowling/bus activity ($8.50). This covers the cost of the bus, the bowling fee for an hour and a half, as well as one drink for your child to enjoy while bowling.

At the 3 Way Conferences, you received the DECEMBER CELEBRATIONS writing assignment for you to complete with your child.  This assignment is due on Monday, Dec. 17^th. We look forward to sharing these in class the last school week of December.

Just a reminder that our READING LOGS are due this Thursday, November 29^th. Get your 250 reading minutes completed to receive a Pizza Hut coupon for a personal pan pizza.

Cheers,

Ms. Holtby, Ms. Selimos and Ms. Daniels

  

November 13th 2018 week with Ms. Selimos and Ms. Holtby

Hello Parents and Students,

Jake was our incredible Star of the Week.  His favourite colours are blue and red.  His favourite food to eat is a cheese burger with ketchup.  Jake lives with his mom, dad, and 2 older sisters. He enjoys spending time with his 2 older sisters, and built a snowman with his sister, Kate, and named it “Frosty the Snowman!” Jake went to Mexico when he was a baby with his family.  He plays on the Bobcats hockey team, which his dad coaches, and he enjoys his track and field club which involves running, jumping, and throwing.  His favourite series is Captain Underpants and he is excited to learn to ride his blue bike this coming spring without training wheels! 

For Math we began Unit 3; Addition/Subtraction to 12 for the Grade 1s and Unit 3; Addition/Subtraction to 18 for the Grade 2s.  We hinted to the children to ask for flashcards for Christmas or for a birthday, as it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for them to know their facts to 12 (Grade 1) and facts to 18 (Grade 2) automatically by the end of the year, in preparation for next year’s grade.

The students have been working with manipulatives such as: counters, cubes, toys, and food.  The students have been practicing creating addition and subtraction stories.  For example, Ms. Holtby has 5 red Smarties and Sophia gives her 3 more blue Smarties (5+3=8).  Another example; Ms. Selimos has 8 Smarties in total, but wants to give the red ones away.  How many blue Smarties will be left? (8-5=3). 

The students have been encouraged to use various strategies in order to create and solve math stories.  Try creating a number story with your child.  Ask them to show you four different equations. The 4 different equations are called NUMBER FAMILIES (2 addition equations, 2 subtraction equations).  For example:  4+3=7, 3+4=7, 7-3=4, 7-4=3   VOCABULARY:  The numbers you add together are called the ‘addends’ and the answer is the ‘sum’ for addition, and the answer is the  ‘difference’ for subtraction.

Math challenge:  Give your child the following numbers:  5, 7, and 12.  Is your child able to draw and to write the 4 number equations (Number Family)?

Please take some time to explore the following AWESOME resource for math games; on-line and printable, and all other subject areas:

http://faculty.usiouxfalls.edu/arpeterson/Second%20Grade%20SmartBoard.htm

For science this week, we continued our new unit about Farming. Our class learned about the importance of farms and what farms provide for us. We talked about Saskatchewan grown crops, worldly grown crops, as well as livestock farming. Check out the video on a Saskatchewan harvest, made by the ‘Saskatchewanderer’ in 2016. '

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69MAcNlJF_o

Our class is continuing on with their farm animal inquiry poster projects. Each student chose from either sheep, horses, poultry, cattle, and pigs to research for inquiry. The students began by researching in books to find information for their poster projects. With the information they learned, they have been collecting facts, using jot notes. This is the beginning stage of our inquiry process. Next week, they will use the iPads to research, as well.  The next step will be to create sentences from their jot notes.

This week’s writing traits lessons focused on DETAILS and supporting your TOPIC with details.  We talked about details with non-fiction information, as we read farm books based on our animal of study (horses, pigs, poultry, cattle, and sheep). Next week, after finishing our research and jot notes, students will create farm animal sentences, and then paragraphs, and then provide details.  One of the writing traits lessons this week involved labeling a school bus with details and another activity was about providing details about themselves.

Ms. Holtby began a NEW PWIM (Picture Word Inductive Model) POSTER last week.  The poster features a couple of farm scenes.  See photo and read the words with your child.  Wednesday’s feature lesson was ALPHABETICAL ORDER.  Choose 5 to 10 PWIM words with your child, write them out, and help your child to put them in alphabetical order. 

Our phonics letter of the week was Jj.  Jake thinks it’s an awesome letter. ;)   We brainstormed words beginning with Jj, explored rhymes and solved mystery sentences.  They children were able to successfully figure out the sentences with “j” words and brainstormed many words with “j”.

During French, the boys and girls are having a lot of fun learning the farm animal vocabulary and the sounds the animals make. As it is a short week with 3-Way Conferences on Friday, we will introduce a new song next week.  We will act it out  and sing the song “Les animaux de la ferme”. 

Read/sing the song with your child:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRhTQm_iTvc.

The students LOVE French class and all the interactive activities and games. Here is another farm video to read/sing with your child: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ms7e7O7TRk

AGRIBITION is around the corner:  Please send a healthy lunch (sandwiches, fruits, veggies, snacks) for your child with a bottle of water for the Agribition trip. Please make sure your child is wearing BOOTS, as we will be in the barns. Dress in layers.  No ski pants, as we will be doing a lot of walking and will get warm.  Do NOT send the AGENDAS to school in the backpacks.

This afternoon we visited our awesome Grant Road Book Fair.  Be sure to check it out with your child before or after your interviews.  Looking forward to seeing you and your children at the 3-Way Conferences!

 Ms. Selimos, Ms. Holtby, Ms. Daniels

  

   

  

  

      

    

Nov. 5th, 2018 week with Ms. Selimos RCMP HERITAGE CENTER AND MORE

Happy November Parents and Students,

On Monday we welcomed Gr. 1 twins, Shaymaa and Shadia to our classroom.

Ms. Holtby began a NEW PWIM (Picture Word Inductive Model) POSTER on Monday.  The poster features a couple of farm scenes.  See photo and read the words with your child.  The sorting rule this week was to look for words with EXACTLY 2 vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y). Choose 4 words, write them out and help your child to put them in alphabetical order. 

Remember to log in your daily reading minutes kids!  Thank you to Ian for sharing his Pizza Hut reading incentive moments with us!  Bon appétit!

On Thursday, Nov. 8^th our entire class (26 kids) spent the day at the RCMP Heritage Center with our Gr. 4 Learning Buddies and Mrs. Hammett for the ‘Pledge for Peace’ program. We began with a video discussion with our education guide, Mrs. Le Dressay.  We discussed: RCMP acronym, the relevance of the Queen, Ottawa as our capital and the Parliament.  The children learned what you need to become an officer (age 18, Gr. 12, Canadian citizen, etc.).  Next, we went to the multipurpose room where Mrs. Le Dressay read Good Morning Sunshine, by Trina Markusson (story of mindfulness).  Following this, the children created their own mindfulness boxes with the 6 components; open your five senses, belly breaths, mindfulness jar, taking care of your feelings, gratefulness, and kind/caring thoughts to yourself and others. We took a few moments to share some of our personal writing of ‘Peace Promises’.  These were written at school earlier this week and will be posted throughout the RCMP Heritage Center for the general public to enjoy. We moved into the theatre room where we sang our ‘Pledge for Peace’ song and then had lunch.  It was a refreshing walk to Depot with security tags on each of us to enter the secured grounds to watch the RCMP cadets practice marching in the marching hall building.

The children wrote the poem, One Little Flower in their printing books on Friday afternoon and practised reading it to a partner, before performing as a class team.  Ms. Holtby read the story, A Poppy is to Remember by Heather Patterson.  The children learned how the bright red poppy became the symbol for honouring those who fought for freedom.  The children were curious to know where Flanders Fields was located (Belgium).  With the Gr. 4 Learning Buddies,  our class worked on a ‘peace’ activity for the RCMP trip last Friday afternoon and this Friday afternoon they wrote about their RCMP Heritage experiences.

Let There Be Peace on Earth; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_DxNpW1kHQ

This week’s writing traits lessons focused on DETAILS and supporting your TOPIC with details.  We talked about details with non-fiction information, as we read farm books based on our animal of study (horses, pigs, poultry, cattle, and sheep). Next week, after finishing our research and jot notes, students will create farm animal paragraphs, and then provide details. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSp9mGcaESc

   Taking Care of Livestock PETERSON BROTHERS VIDEOS . . . follow them on Instagram and Facebook

The Grade 1s reviewed estimating objects to 20 and then counting for exact answers.  The Grade 1s showed their answers as 10s and leftovers.  The Grade 1s took home their completed UNIT 2 – REPRESENTING NUMBERS TO 20 booklets on Wednesday to share with you.  Grade 1 parents, please go over the unit with your child, celebrate their learning, sign and return to school.

For math, the Grade 2s completed Unit 2 on Wednesday; Numbers to 100.  I CAN STATEMENTS:  The students can represent numbers using hundred charts, coins, ten frames, and rods and cube units (tens, and ones).  Ask your child to show you a number on a hundred chart, or ask him/her to make you 30 cents with coins! Your child can also sort numbers from greatest to least!  Find the completed unit in your child's agenda.  Please sign and return in their agenda next week. 

On Friday morning at 10:30 a.m., as a school, we proudly and respectfully took part in the Remembrance Day assembly in the gym.  Malika and Dyson did a beautiful job, representing our class as wreath carriers.  Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with us. . . Lest We Forget.

Happy Remembrance Day weekend everyone! 

Ms. Selimos, Ms. Holtby, and Ms. Daniels