Grade 2 News - Nov. 22nd

Thursday, November 22nd, 2012

Grade Two News from BVE

Dear Families,

Reminders

Ø  The computer lab is open before school (Mon-Thurs), at recess, and after school (Mon-Fri) for students to take AR Tests.  Many of the books in our classroom library are AR books (even if they don’t have a sticker on them!)  If you or your child is unsure whether a book is an AR book, please ask – I can easily check for you!

Ø  Water bottles – I will be sending home water bottles at the end of each week to be cleaned.  Please return the water bottle to school each Monday.  I cannot stress how important a hydrated brain is for learning!

Units/Topics of Study

In Language Arts we have been busy writing (among many other things!) and I am SO impressed and proud of the hard work I have seen happening.  We have discussed how writing is just like “talk written down,” and that what we say about a topic or an idea is the same as what we can write down.  My mom, a retired primary teacher, visited us last Friday to do a story drama on the Aesop’s Fable, “The Ant and the Grasshopper.”  Wow – what creative minds we have in our class!  We did a written response to the activity and had students read them aloud on Monday – they were very well done.  Good job everyone!  Here is a link to the Aesop’s Fable we based our story drama on – the quality isn’t the best, sorry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM1DgihKHVI

In Math we are continuing to explore numbers from 0-100.  We have moved on from our focus on estimation, and are continuing with place value, equal/unequal, comparing numbers, as well as money.  We have been discussing pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.  These coins are excellent for practicing our skip counting skills.  You can support your child at home by encouraging them to count any change you have, or find the right coins to pay for an item.  A fun activity to play is  “How Many Ways.”  With a collection of coins, challenge your child to find how many ways they can make a certain amount.  For example, “How many ways can you make 25 cents?”  (2 dimes, 1 nickel – or – 5 nickels – or – 1 dime, 3 nickels) 

We wrapped up our Science unit on Matter this Tuesday, by making Oobleck.  Oobleck behaves like a solid AND a liquid at the same time!  I’ve included a link that has directions and a video if you would like to do this fun activity at home.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oobleck-bring-science-home

Our Georgia O’Keefe inspired poppies will be ready to go home next week.  If you would like to pick up your child’s poppy (to carefully transport it home) just let me know!  They are SO beautiful!

Our Chinook salmon eggs arrived on Tuesday.  We are very excited!  They will hopefully hatch before we break for our Christmas holidays!

Thank-you for your continued support!

Naomi                                     

Grade 2 News - Oct. 26th

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Friday, October 26th, 2012

Grade Two News from BVE

Dear Families,

Reminders

-  Halloween is here!  We will be participating in school wide activities next Wednesday!  Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in their costumes.

- We are enjoying our sharing routine each day.  A student’s sharing day is the day AFTER he/she is the VIP.  The student will be sent home with the Sharing Duotang the night before.  The bottom section, “Questions to Ask” is for the student who is sharing to come up with some questions to ask the class to see what they can remember from what he/she has shared.

- Accelerated Read – Many of our classroom books are A.R. books.  If your child would like to take an A.R. test on a book he/she has read, the computer lab and library are open Monday-Thursday before and after school, as well as Friday after school for writing AR tests.  If your child is unsure if the book he/she is reading is an A.R. book, they can ask me, I can help them out!

Units/Topics of Study

In Language Arts we have added Read-to-Someone to our Daily 5 routine.  Each student will have their own bookbox full of good-fit books for them to practice with. Yahoo!  We will be working towards beginning our guided reading routine as well in early November.  We have been working hard on writing complete sentences in response to stories that we read in as a class.

In Math we are continuing to explore numbers from 0-100.  We have skip counted our way through the last few weeks, explored odd/even numbers, skip counting using money (pennies, nickels, and dimes), as well as ordinal numbers (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd etc).  We will be looking at estimating numbers from 0-100 starting next week!

Our class is becoming very familiar with matter, and it’s three states: solid, liquid, and gas.  In Science we have been discussing the various properties of matter (what does it look like, feel like, sound like, taste like, etc.)  You can support your child at home by selecting objects around your house and listing all of the interesting words you can think of to describe that object.

Come and check out our “Spooky Tree” artwork that we made with our Grade 6/7 buddies.  They are up on the bulletin board outside of our classroom.  Thank-you to everyone who attended our POPS session on Wednesday evening, it was wonderful to see you there!  Thank-you for the support! 

Have a fantastic weekend!

                                                                                               

Grade Two News - October 12th

Friday, October 11th, 2012

Grade Two News from BVE

Dear Families,

I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday weekend.  October is here, and we are getting into the full swing of things at school. 

Reminders

Ø  No school on next Friday, October 19^th (Pro-D day)

Ø  Ms. Dollar and I have started a school choir.  If your child is interested we will be practicing Tuesdays and Fridays at lunch from 12:20 to 1:00pm. 

Ø  We have begun our “sharing” routine for the year.  The night before your child’s sharing, he/she will be bringing home the yellow sharing duotang.  The student is to complete the activity sheet, writing a description of his/her sharing with details they would like to share.  I have asked the students also to come up with two or three questions they can ask the class after they are finished sharing, to check their understanding and listening skills. 

Units/Topics of Study

In Language Arts we are continuing to work on our Daily 5 routine.  Our author for the month is David Wiesner.  We have been looking at, studying, and writing about his amazing picture books.  Our favourite book so far is a book called Tuesday.  An animated version of this picture book can be watched online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Uvxjsooik.   Next week, we will be creating our own text to go along with Tuesday!

In Math we have started our unit on numbers.  We will be focusing on using number lines and hundreds charts, skip counting, and odd and even numbers to start.  You can support your child’s learning at home by practicing skip counting by 2s, 5s, or 10s, forwards and backwards, starting at different numbers. 

For example:  “Let’s skip count:

·           by 10 from 0 to 100”

·           by 2 from 40 to 60”

·           by 5 from 25 to 85”

Remind your child that if you are skip counting forward, the numbers will get bigger.  If you are skip counting backward the numbers will get smaller.

We are wrapping up our Social Studies unit on rights, roles and responsibilities.  We will begin our Science unit on Monday!  

Gym – Mrs. Von Bremen has been very pleased with the effort and participation from the Grade 2s.  Well done everyone!

We had a fun visit to the fire hall on Thursday afternoon.  Thank-you to parents who joined us for our fieldtrip!  Students will be coming home with a fire safety activity booklet, letter, and contest entry form.  Please have the entry forms returned to me by Friday, October 19^th, so I can drop them off at the fire hall. 

Have a fantastic weekend!

Naomi

Grade Two News - Friday, September 28th

Friday, September 28th, 2012

Grade Two News from BVE

Dear Families,

Welcome fall, and October!  I can hardly believe that we are nearing the end of our first month at school.  It has been a very busy first month in Grade 2, and I am so impressed and proud of the hard work that I see happening every day in our classroom.  Thank-you students for the amazing work you do, and thank-you parents for your support at home.    

Classroom Expectations

We have been reviewing our classroom expectations daily:

            1.  Quick, quiet transitions

            2.  Use kind language

            3.  Take care of our room and each other

            4.  Co-operate with others

            5.  Work independently

            6.  Stay in our own space

As well our class has started collecting “work ethic” points.  Work ethic points are given when the class as a whole is positively demonstrating our classroom expectations.  Once we have collected 100 work ethic points we will decide as a class how to celebrate our success.

Important Reminders (and some changes!)

•   Kokanee Fish Fest Fieldtrip – Oct. 3^rd, 12:30-2:30pm
• School Photo Day – Friday, October 5^th
• Our library book exchange day will be Tuesday (it has been changed from Wednesday!), so please have books returned to school Monday in order to get them signed back in before our book exchange the next day.
•  Please be sure that your son/daughter has proper footwear for gym class.  Flip-flops or strappy sandals are not suitable for gym.
• Spelling words for the week will be assigned on Monday and our weekly test will occur every Friday.  We will be practicing our spelling words each day during our Word Work time.  
• We will begin “sharing” the week after Thanksgiving.  Each day we will have one student who gets to bring something for “sharing” (show and tell).  Your child will be asked to bring in their sharing the day AFTER they are the VIP.  
• Home Reading Program: I will be reviewing home reading over the weekend and sending it back out on Monday.  Please make sure all reading bags, books, and record sheets come to school every Friday.  If you or your child would prefer to have home reading over the weekend, please let me know and we can discuss this. 

 

Units/Topics of Study

For Language Arts we are working on our Daily 5 routines.  The students are building up their “stamina” during Read To Self time each day.  Our Word Work (spelling) routine is getting well under way.  Our topic this week for reading and writing was Terry Fox.  We read a non-fiction book all about Terry’s life, and are in the process of creating a classroom book about Terry Fox.  We will begin our Read To Someone routine next week.  

In Math we have been exploring repeating patterns and pattern cores.  Our next topic is increasing patterns, which will wrap up the unit.  Our next unit will explore numbers to 100.

We are continuing our Social Studies unit on “Who Am I? Our Friends, Our Classroom, Our School”.  We have been learning about our rights, roles, and responsibilities at home, as well as at school.  In the coming weeks we will be exploring our school through mapping, and learning about the people who work in our school.  We will finish this unit half way through our first term, and move into Science and properties of matter. 

Parent and community involvement can be a powerful tool for enriching the learning experience for students.  If you have any special gifts or talents to share or any ideas for enhancing our studies, please let me know.

I am enjoying each and every day in our classroom, and look forward to the rest of the year!

Yours,

Naomi

                                                                                                                       

Happy Fall!

Fall has officially arrived.  We welcomed it with a beautiful maple leaf art project that will be displayed in the hallway shortly.

Just a few reminders and changes:

• Could all home reading books, bags, and sheets be sent to school every Friday to be collected and reviewed.  I had originally planned to do this on Monday, but the students and I discussed this and agreed that Friday would be a better day.  Therefore, home reading will not be sent home over the weekend.  If you or your child feels strongly about continuing home reading over the weekend, please speak to me and we can work something out!
• Please send in some "Fall" items (rocks, leaves, moss, acorns, chestnuts, twigs, dried flowers, etc.) with your child.  Next week we will be creating Thanksgiving centerpieces during Art. 
• Wednesday Walk  - please feel free to join us if you are available.  We leave the front of the school around 10:10 am (weather permitting!)
• Word Work - We have started our spelling routine for the year!  I hope you received the introduction letter and first set of spelling words in your child's agenda today.  If not, please let me know! 
• I will send home/post a newsletter on Friday.

I am truly enjoying this amazing group of children!  Thank-you for your support!  Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone.

Our First Wednesday Walk

Today we took our first Wednesday Walk with Ms. Rollheiser's Grade 2/3 class.  Along our walk we made a quick stop at the home of Alexandra Luxmoore who is in Ms. Rollheiser's class.  While there we got to explore their fabulous backyard (urban farm) full of chickens, fish, a rope swing and beautiful gardens full of vegetables.  It was a wonderful experience, and had us back at school right as recess began!

Please feel free to join us for our Wednesday Walks at 10:10am!

Kokanee Fish Festival Fieldtrip - Re-scheduled!

I hope everyone received the school note in our agendas today.  Unfortunately the salmon have not yet arrived in Revelstoke, so we will be attending the Fish Fest on Wednesday, October 3rd in the afternoon (from 12:30-2:30pm).  If you indicated that you were able to join us on the permission slip initially, I will assume that you can still attend, unless you let me know. 

Thanks for your understanding!

Early Dismissal - Sept. 17th and 18th (Mon, Tues)

Just a reminder that students will be dismissed early on Monday and Tuesday of next week.  Early dismissal will be at 12:30pm on those days, followed by parent-teacher conferences.  I look forward to meeting with everyone!

Have a wonderful weekend!  Enjoy the sunshine :)

Newsletter - Sept. 14

Friday, September 14, 2012

Ms. Ford’s Welcome Back Newsletter

Begbie View Elementary                                 Grade 2, Rm.111                     Ph. 250.837.3085

Dear Families,

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to meet the students who will make up this class, I know we are going to have a great year!   

           

To help you stay informed about our classroom activities, I will be preparing a classroom newsletter, electronically and on paper, every two weeks throughout the school year.

           

We have enjoyed a wonderful first full week and I am really excited about spending the year with this lovely group of students.  I will strive to build a safe, positive and effective learning community for everyone in my classroom and to provide your child with the strategies and tools they need in order to effectively explore the world around them.

Classroom–Management Procedures

Classroom Expectations

Throughout the first week of school we brainstormed and discussed what we wanted our classroom community to look like, sound like, and feel like.  We have narrowed it down to the following list of classroom rules:

            1.  Quick, quiet transitions

            2.  Use kind language

            3.  Take care of our room and each other

            4.  Co-operate with others

            5.  Work independently

            6.  Stay in our own space

These rules are posted in our classroom and will be reviewed regularly.  

Consequences

Consequences in our classroom will be logical and democratic and will, whenever possible, follow the process of least intervention.  Most importantly students will be given opportunities to practice and learn expected behaviours.  If I have concerns I will be in contact with parents as soon as possible.  If you have questions or concerns about your child’s school experiences, please contact me.

Routines

Classroom routines are essential for an effective learning environment.  From day one, the students and I have been working to become familiar with our classroom routines, and those of the school.  Below is a list of routines that I would like parents to be aware of:

Ø  Our library day is Wednesday, so please have books returned to school the day before (Tuesday) in order to get them signed back in before our book exchange the next day.

Ø  Indoor shoes are to be kept at school.

Ø  Spelling words for the week will be assigned on Monday and our weekly test will occur each Thursday.  Spelling will be starting next week.

Ø  If your child is absent from school, a “While I was away…” folder will be placed on his/her desk, and any handouts, marked work and notices will be placed in this folder.

Ø  At the end of each day, I will write homework and/or any reminders on the board and students will fill in their own agendas.

Ø  Each day we will have one student who gets to bring something for “sharing” (show and tell).  Your child will get to be “share” about 8 times throughout the year.  I’d like to add these topics to sharing:           
           -something I found
           -things I (we) collect
           -something old
           -something I can do
The other 4 times your child is “sharing,” the topic is open.

Units/Topics of Study

We will begin our year with a focus on setting up daily routines and structure, becoming familiar with classroom expectations, and building respectful relationships in our classroom. 

For Language Arts we will be kick starting our literacy routine called The Daily 5, which includes Read to Yourself, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Listen to Reading, and Spelling/Word Study.

Our first Math unit will be on patterns.  Alongside this unit we will be having daily discussions and activities around number sense with a focus on mental math strategies (doubling, making 10, one more, one less, etc.)

Kendra Von Bremen and I will be teaching our Physical Education this year.  She will teach PE Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons.  On Friday, we will be having buddy gym with the Grade 2/3 class.

During Science we will be studying the properties of matter!  We will spend time exploring all that is solid, liquid, and gas!

Parent and community involvement can be a powerful tool for enriching the learning experience for students.  If you have any special gifts or talents to share or any ideas for enhancing our studies, please let me know.

Important Reminders 

The following is a list of important reminders for you and your child:

Ø  If students wish to distribute any sort of invitation/cards, every student in our class must receive one.  Otherwise, please do so outside of the school setting.  Attached to this newsletter is a list of first names of every student in our class.  In the case of a new student, I will send home a revised list. 

Ø  If you wish to speak/contact me, please come and see me after school, or I can be reached by email at naomi.m.ford@gmail.com, by phone at school 250-837-3085, and at home 250-837-3443

I look forward to getting to know you all.  Have a great weekend!

                                                                                                                       

Naomi Ford