Happy 50 Day!

It's hard to believe we've been at school for 50 Days already!  Today was a day of fun and counting in Grade Two!  We started the day with skip counting to 50 by 2's, 5's and 10's and then also by 4's, 7's and even 20's.  Counting to 50 in 50's didn't take long!  We figured out that the kids in our class will turn 50 years old in the years 2055 or 2056!

The students were challenged to create a recipe with 5 ingredients that totalled 50 items.  Then they had to make another recipe, in case there wasn't enough to make their first idea.  Students did a great job partitioning the number 50 into smaller units.

Happy 50 Day!

Dinosaurs

The Grade Two class has begun a theme all about dinosaurs! This card game is like "Go Fish" but with dinosaurs.  It takes great phonics skills to try to say those names correctly!

 We have an amazing app for the Ipads that brings 3D dinosaurs to life from a piece of paper.  It is so hard to capture it with a photo but have a look at the video below that describes similar augmented reality.

Links to videos and educational sites that we use our desktop computers and Chromebooks to view can be found linked to our classroom web page here.

We also have an amazing collection of both fiction and non fiction books on the theme.  Some of the students have even brought their own books from home to share with their classmates.  Lots of literacy skills are going on around the theme and that's what it's all about!

Lost and Found Art!

What do you do when students don't recognize anything from the Lost and Found to take it back home?  Turn it into Art!

 

We hope that our Artwork disappears before Parent Teacher Conference day on November 25th!

How Our Communities Remember

In Grade Two this week, we have been talking about Remembrance Day and its symbols.  We decided to find ways that our communities have found to remember.  We took a walking field trip to the Reston Memorial Park to visit our community's cenotaph.

The students took along the Ipads to take pictures of what they saw and back at school we will study the pictures and learn about them. The back of the cenotaph is inscribed as below and the Grade Twos are busy finding out what these words refer to.

We also stopped in at the Reston Memorial Theatre and looked at the plaques that are hanging on the wall inside.  There are maps, medals and lists on names of those who served.  The outside sign has a picture of a soldier and now we understand why.

Some students in our class live in the Pipestone Community and they also have a cenotaph in their town.

Inside the hall at Sinclair are some other items that help us remember.  We would love to know more about the propeller pictured below.  Please email us at ssimms@flbsd.mb.ca if you know its story.

We have been reading "In Flanders Fields" and the "Ode to Remembrance" together and are looking forward to our school's Remembrance Day Service on November 10th.  

Read Alouds

One of my favorite times of the day in Grade Two is when I read aloud to the students.  Robert Munsch is my favourite children's author of all time and I love to read his stories aloud.  The reaction of the class is always big!

This week, I have been reading a chapter book from the Bad Kitty series by Nick Brunel.  It is a good chapter book series for Grade Twos with lots of picture clues and funny illustrations.

Reading to children even after they can read themselves is so important to introduce new authors and let them enjoy the stories without the hard work. I hope you make time for read alouds at home too!