Library day this week is on Monday period 3. Picture day is on Tuesday, September 30. We have a Fire Safety
Presentation on Friday. This week we will continue our science studies of small crawling and flying animals. We have completed the ladybug and bee focus and have started spiders, caterpillars and butterflies. In math, we will focus on place value, number words, greater/less than as well as numeration. In language arts, we are retelling stories, working with words (lesson 4—short vowels u and o), journal writing, and report writing. In art, we will be working with chalk pastels and creating a still life picture that will help decorate your home for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. We will have a computerized reading assessment on Thursday using our new Chrome Books! Looking forward to a great week of learning in 2T! This past week, we completed our science studies
of the grasshopper and the cricket and started exploring the lives of bees and ladybugs. In math, we continued our study of numeration with number words and adding and subtracting by 10. In language arts, we enjoyed a successful first week of independent learning centers (daily diner). It is because of this independent student learning structure that I am able to have quality time to listen to and assist your child with his/her reading and spelling development and enrichment. We have completed two of the seven modules of digital citizenship. You can find this information on the IREC home page under quick links. We should start work with Chrome Books (laptops) soon on a daily basis as they are scheduled to arrive at our school soon. Please do make a point of introducing your child to the Blackfalds Public Library. He/She can have his/her own library card for a nominal fee and, as a bonus, have the potential to develop as an independent and responsible lifelong reader at home and at school. In spelling this week, we are focusing on Lesson 3 words with short a and i vowels. 2T 2T is excited about this blog and how parents and students can easily find information updates here.
Please feel free to post comments to the blog, however, due to the amount of time it takes to create blog posts, I will not always reply to blog comments. If you have questions or just need to commuicate something to me about your child, please email me at [email protected] 2T thanks you in advance for your interest in our blog. This week we are formally starting our learning centres during
our Daily Diner language/math structured time. Your child will work and learn at each centre once a week. Retelling Centre: As a class, we read a new book together each week. Students at this center are expected to retell the events in the story at the beginning, middle and end of the story. They print complete and descriptive sentences in their retelling scribblers to describe the sequence of the story. Once this learning opportunity is done, this center group democratically chooses who will read and who will illustrate (on the white board) the events in the story. The students rotate from reading to illustrating so everyone has had a turn to share both learning experiences and have a stronger understanding and discussion of story structure and meaning as well as the author’s intent. Journal Writing Centre: Students at this center write, at minimum, 5 complete descriptive sentences based on a relevant and meaningful journal prompt. Working with Words Centre (aka spelling): Students at this center work with the spelling words of the week. They practice skills such as: alphabetization, word structure, identifying patterns, word shapes, puzzles/riddles with choice words, proofreading sentences with choice words, and word groups/families. Math Centre: Students at this center work with one to two different math concepts. This week the focus is counting and number words. Daily Diner Centre: Students at this center work with me one-on-one with their reading and spelling levels in order to provide differentiated, relevant and meaningful instruction to each individual student. Computer Project Centre: When we receive a class set of ChromeBooks (laptops) we can start our computer projects that will incorporate the four core subjects of: language arts, math, science and social studies, and eventually, digital student portfolios. Snow!!!! Already???? Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather each day for outdoor recesses.
Your child can check the weather channel or a weather website such as Environment Canada in order to proactively choose what to wear for the day. Learning Focus for this week: Spelling: Lesson 1 working with words with focus on consonants. See spelling list on this blog. Math: numeration, place value, number words, seration (what number comes before and/or after). Science: Small Crawling and Flying Animlas. See science learning outcomes on this blog. Daily Diner (aka Language Arts): students will be reading to me and others will be working in their learning centres of: Retelling, Journal Writing, Working with Words, Math Centre, Computer Project, Device Learning. I will try to send out parent emails after school tomorrow to let you know how your child is doing so far in grade two. A list of acceptable educational apps will go home today. Please load these onto your child's ipod or ipad if he/she is allowed to bring these devices to school. Have a great week! This year we do not have planners. Each week there will be a post on this blog that will provide information about what we will be learning or what we have already learned. Please read the sections labelled: Spelling, Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies to better understand the Alberta Education learning outcomes that are expected of your child in his/her grade two year.
I will try to send home a weekly communication email to each individual family as to how your child is doing. Some weeks will be busier than others, so I thank you in advance for your understanding of the time it takes to communicate individually. Please refer to the IREC website calendar for whole school updates and events. If you need to communicate with me, please email me any time at [email protected] We have had a busy three days in our new grade! We like the way our classroom is set up. We have stools, counters, a very long couch and two very large tables in which to work and learn.
We have practiced spelling, reading, basic math facts and numeration skills such as place value this week. Today we will start our first science unit called "Small Crawling and Flying Animals." Ms. Tisdale has listened to me read and has tested me on my alphabetical organization skills, vowel pair sounds, letter chunk sounds and consonant blend sounds. I am allowed to bring my own device to school to use when my work is done. We will have Chrome books (laptop computers) to use soon for half of the day every day! Please remember to send back to school all the forms that Ms. Tisdale sent home on the first day. We do not have planners this year so please read this blog once a week for updates. We are looking so forward to a great year of learning together! |
AuthorAn inspiring and informed educator for many years. Advocate and mentor for youth for a more relevant and realistic transition from school to work with a focus on lifelong learning. Archives
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