We have been enjoying our time in Asia and learning about the geography of the biggest continent of the World. We also spent time reading about Japan and learning about their culture. The kids loved learning about Children's Day and how the people in Japan fly carp kites to celebrate. We are even going to make our own carp kites! We also spent some time writing Haiku poems which is a type of poem that originated in Japan.
The students ability to write opinion pieces is continuing to strengthen. We put the final touches on our restaurant reviews and now the children are writing another review, this time they get to pick the topic they would like to write an opinion piece about. Some children have chosen to review a game, toy, place, famous person, pet, or sport. The children are getting really good at starting their writing by stating their opinion, giving their supporting details with examples, and ending with a conclusion.
In math, the children have been introduced to various diagrams to help them organize their mathematical thinking in order to solve addition and subtraction problems. The diagrams we discussed were: Total and Part Diagrams, Change Diagrams, and Comparison Diagrams. The children used their knowledge to decide what diagram worked best for various word problems. We also spent some time collecting data and graphing it with both picture and bar graphs.
During Guided Reading, we have read a variety of fictional texts. After reading the stories, we focused on 2 essential questions. The first being "What do you think was the most important event in the story? And Why? The second being "What do you think the author was trying to tell you in this story? These questions require the children to interpret and reflect on their reading. Next week I plan to begin checking in with each child and doing a DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) in order to get ready for the end of Term 2 and to adjust reading groups as necessary. I can't wait to share your child's reading growth with you at our next conference in March.
Mrs. Oliver is hosting a parent volunteer meeting for the upcoming 2nd Grade musical program "Colors" on Wednesday, February 15th from 10:45-11:30 in the music room. She is looking for parents to help with simple props and costumes. No experience necessary! :) More information about the performance will be coming home soon!
Upcoming Events:
- Tuesday, February 14th- School Store for Grade Two
- Tuesday, February 14th- Class Valentine Party
- Friday, February 17th- Crazy Hat Spirit Day
- February Vacation- February 20th-25th
"My Favorite part of the past 2 weeks was"
- celebrating the 100th Day of School because I liked the 100 seconds activities (Elizabeth)
- Patriot's Spirit Day because the Patriot's won and we get to wear red, white, and blue. (Melanie)
- celebrating the 100th Day of School because we got to do a fun activity instead of regular math. (Nicole)
- learning about Japan because I liked making the carp fish. (Rosalie)
- the 100th Day of School because we got to a couple things in 100 seconds. (Alexis)
- making Valentine bags because it is fun. (Annabelle)
- Wellness because I got to play games. (Sangeeta)
- Listening to Reading because we get to use the computer. (Malcolm)
- making a Valentine bag because I got to decorate it how I wanted. (Caitlin)
- 100th Day of School because we only have 81 more days until summer! (Patrick)
- celebrating the 100th Day of School because we got to do lots of fun activities. (Mary)
I hope you have a fun and relaxing February Vacation!
