2nd Week in Second Grade

Our first class photo with all of our current members! 

This week we continued to inquire into how technology is used and organized. The students brought in some tech devices or photos of tech devices and did a show and tell with the others in their table groups sharing with each other about each device is used.

One of the skills that we focus on in Grade 2 is research skills. This week we looked at the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. Our focus was on discovering how non-fiction books are organized. We looked for similar features in the books and noticed that they had titles and subtitles on pages, realistic pictures or photos, a contents section, index and often captions under pictures. 

We then turned our focus to non-fiction writing and looked at examples of procedural writing, before trying our own hand at writing directions or instructions for how to use a piece of technology. We discovered the need to use sequencing words, as well as command verbs - also known as “bossy verbs” as they are always telling us what to do! The students used what they had learnt about writing, together with what they knew about how to use different pieces of technology to create “how to…. posters!”

During math, we continued working on numeracy skills with estimating and rounding numbers. In language, the students received their first spelling lists of the year and worked on cutting, sorting, pasting and writing their words out neatly. Then they had a chance to practice spelling their words while playing a couple games at PowerSpelling.com!

In PE, we continued with cooperative games such as leap from, under the rainbow, caterpillar tag and balancing sticks with partners.

Oktoberfest

Hello Parents, here is the sign up sheet to volunteer to help with Oktoberfest. We would really appreciate all the help you can give to make this a successful and fun event for everyone. Please get into contact with any members of the team if you have any questions.

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Clubs

Registration for school clubs is now open! We have clubs for both students and parents as well! Please click on the links below to register. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Student Club Registration

Parent Club Registration

First Full Week in Second Grade

 Our first full week in second grade was full of finding out what the weekly schedule was like as we experienced our first PE lessons and all of the other specialist classes. We also began our inquiry into our first unit of the year under the trans disciplinary theme - How We Organize Ourselves. This unit will be all about technology. Our central idea is: Technology influences how people work together and connect with each other. 

To begin the unit, each table group was given riddles or hints to find an item within the room. The first hint was always very vague, and the second gave a bit more detail, while the third could help them identify the object quite easily. The goal was to be the first team to guess their item correctly since each table had a different item to find. Once they discovered the five items—an electric pencil sharpener, a dictionary, a calculator, a paintbrush, and a fan—we then examined the connections they had to discover the theme of this unit. Some of the similarities that the students noticed were that they were things we use in the classroom, they are all man-made, and that more than half of them were electric. We then unscrambled the central idea and lines of inquiry, and looked up the meanings of some unfamiliar words to help us understand. 

The students also wrote down some of their questions for our Wonder Wall. 

Working in their table groups, they brainstormed the different types of technology they use on a daily basis at home,  school or even in between!

In PE, our first unit is focusing on cooperatives games and for at least one of the games the students physically connected with each other as they had to try to untangle themselves from a giant human knot! In another, they had to pass a hula hoop around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands, and in other they passed a ball over and under the long caterpillar’s body then crawl to the front of the linc to make the caterpillar move forward. They also hopped across the pond using hula hoops as lily pads and skipped over sticks carried by “loggers” in the logger race. 

Finally, in going along with the technology theme, during our ICT lesson time the students logged into their computer to practice some typing skills. 

Two Days in Grade Two

 Our first two days were spent getting to know our new classmates, classroom, routines and teachers. The students worked together in their table groups to help come up with our essential agreements and the similarity between the different group responses demonstrated that they know what is expected of them, For example, several groups mentioned, “We will be kind.” Some of the others said, “We will be respectful.” Others even used the learner profiles and stated, “We will be principled!”

We spent some time getting to know the classroom by completing a classroom scavenger hunt. Working with their table mates, the teams tried to be the first to answer as many of the 16 questions as possible. Questions ranged from, “How many chairs are in the room?” to “What lesson will you have after lunch?” The students really cooperated well with each other, and had some fun at the same time.

We also played a math quiz game reviewing some of what they learnt in grade 1 and started a little work in their new Cambridge math books. This year we have 2 books. The darker red book called the Learner’s Book is for use at school, and the lighter pink workbook is for use at home as homework. Today I’ll be sending both home for parents to see. For this weekend there won’t be any homework just yet. However, please make sure that the red book is returned on Monday as the students will need it in class!

This morning the students wrote about their first days in grade two and also wrote about their favorite food!

Finally, to learn more about each other we played a game of Find Someone Who….Bingo!

Welcome Grade 2 Class of 2023/24

 Hello to all of the new and returning families! I am excited to be teaching Grade 2 again this year and have been busy getting things ready for the first day of school tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon! Here’s a little preview of our class this year.