Orange Shirt Day

Today is September 30, which is "Orange Shirt Day".  We learned about the significance of wearing an orange shirt today and how it is a symbol of honoring the Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools.  Thankfully, these residential schools no longer exist.  Click HERE for the website and story of Phyllis Webstad.  Every child matters and should be treated with respect.  

Spelling Poem #4: October

I can't believe that we are already in the month of October!  Boys and girls are settling into the routines of Grade 2 and the pace of learning is picking up.  Please remember to sign the 'Spelling Bee' books and do your corrections.  Continue to read your book and RAZ kids.     

The poem for this week is called ''October".  Please do the Additional Questions on a piece of paper (or in your Agenda) and bring them to school!  You have all week to do them.

Spelling Words:

1) when
2) who
3) what
4) where
5) why
6) how
7) make
8) down
9) up
10) are

Additional Questions:

1)  When you think of October, what are some colours that you think of?

2)  What do you like to do in the Fall?

Snuggle Up and Read

Today I sent home everyone's "Snuggle Up and Read" folders.  We should be reading a book every night and recording it on the Reading Logs.  We will change our books every day when we do Agendas and will have to record the title and author.  Once we finish reading at home, please get it signed and bring your folder to school every day.  Read to yourself or with someone.  You can also read right before bed so that you are all comfy.  If it is a long book, you may borrow it again the next night.  Please ALSO read RAZ Kids at home.

Library books were also borrowed yesterday.  Please remember to return them on Day 2s in order to get a new book!

Spelling Poem #3: Terry Fox

We have been learning about Terry Fox and why he is a Canadian hero.  Thank you for bringing in your Toonies for Terry.  We will have our Terry Fox walk tomorrow morning...please dress for the weather as it is supposed to rain.   Remember to study the words for our Spelling Bee this Friday!

Spelling Words: 

1) the
2) he
3) she
4) to
5) ran
6) help
7) other
8) his
9) her
10) save

Additional Questions:

1) What did Terry Fox want to do?

2)  What is the past tense of the word 'run'?  Write a sentence with that word.

Celebrations and Traditions

In Social Studies, we have been learning about different celebrations and traditions.  Some celebrations that we celebrate are: Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and Canada Day.  There are many more that some of us celebrate.  We learnt about how Halloween came to be and today we looked at how Christmas is different around the world.  Click HERE for a good website about Christmas Around the World.

Thanks for coming!

It was really nice to see everyone come out to our Curriculum Night!  I'm glad to see so much home support.  Please use the RAZ kids password to log onto RAZ kids and read this weekend.  I will send home the home reading books next week, along with the reading logs.  Hopefully the reminders can help you remember what you need to do for school!

Different Achievement Levels

How do we know how well we did?  Today we talked about the different levels of achievement, and compared it to an ice cream sundae.  We want at least Level 3 or 4.  If we are at Level 1 or 2, that means we have to work harder and try to improve.  I have also included examples of Level 1-4 work and pictures.  Students can take a look at their own work and compare it to these Levels to see where they are.  We should all be responsible and try our best in school!

Spelling Poem #2: All About Us

Here is our poem # 2.  Everyone is different and that is okay!  We are all unique and special.  Please practice this poem and the spelling words to prepare for our next Spelling Bee this Friday!  Boys and girls did very well on their first Spelling Bee - please sign it and bring it back to school.  Thank you.

Here are the spelling words this week:

1) all

2) and

3) is

4) we

5) or

6) our

7) that

8) look

9) on
10) today  

Additional Questions: *do them on a piece of paper at home and bring it to school for a special sticker prize!*

1)  List all the colours that are mentioned in the poem.

2)  Describe yourself.  What colour is your hair?  How about your eyes?  How tall are you?

Happy Mid Autumn Festival!

Today is the Mid Autumn Festival or the Moon Festival in the Chinese community.  In Social Studies, we have been learning about celebrations and traditions from around the world.  We learned about the origins of the Mid Autumn Festival and how people celebrate it.  We made lanterns to signify happiness!  Happy Moon Festival to those who celebrate it!

Zones of Regulation

Throughout the day, we may experience a wide range of emotions.  Sometimes we may be tired, others times we may be happy, or excited.  These emotions fall under some colours, called Zones of Regulation.  We are learning to understand how we feel and what to do with these emotions.  There are 4 zones, the Red Zone, Blue Zone, Yellow Zone, and the Green Zone.  We are ready to learn in the Green Zone, and that is where we would all want to be.  Sometimes, we are not in the Green Zone.  We learned that even if we are in the other zones, it is ok, there are ways to help us get out of those zones.  For example, if you are in the Yellow Zone and are getting quite silly, you can take a deep breath and take a walk so that you can be ready to learn.  Which zone are you in?

First Poem of the Year - I Can

Starting this week, we will have a new poem each week!  For each poem, there are Spelling Words that you will need to learn.  We will have a Spelling Bee every Friday.  This is to help you when you are writing and reading.  Remember to read the poem and study the words each week! For the next  few weeks, some of the words are a review from Grade 1, let's see if we remember them!  

There are also ''Additional Questions'' that I will give you with each poem, please try to do them on a piece of paper during the week and bring them in for me for a sticker prize!  

Here is the first poem of the school year!  It is called ''I Can''.  Please read the poem together and practice the spelling words for this Friday's Spelling Bee.

 

Here are our spelling words this week:

1) I

2) can

3) of 

4) do

5) we

6) have

7) you

8) run

9) fun

Additional Question: 

1)  What are some things that you can do?  Talk about it with your family and write them down.  Remember to spend some time doing the things that you like to do.

Me Bags

Over the weekend, please remember to fill up your 'Me Bags' with items that describe you!  Remember not to bring anything too valuable and always ask if it's ok to bring that item before you put it in your bag.  We will be sharing them over the course of next week.  I'm looking forward to learning more about you!

Our Selfies!

We all use cell phones now to take pictures, so we made some selfies in class today!  We took a selfie with our 'phones' and then 'texted' me some things about themselves!  It was nice learning about everyone in the class.  Here are some of our selfies!

Kissing Hands

Another story that we read was 'The Kissing Hand' by Audrey Penn, which is about a little raccoon who is scared to go to school.  His mom gave him a 'kissing hand' to remind him that she loves him and that he will be fine by himself at school.  Sometimes at school, we may miss our families.  This is why we decided to make our own 'kissing hands'.  We made our handprints and had someone we love at home make a heart for us.  Our 'kissing hands' are all on our door and will remind us of our family when we are at school.  Here are some of our 'kissing hands'.

Our Class Quilt

  
Today we read the story "It's OK to be Different" by Todd Parr and discussed how we should accept everyone the way they are.  Even though we are all unique in our own way, we fit together as one whole class.  To show that, we decided to make a class quilt. We designed our own section with our favourite things and pieced the quilt together.  Here is our finished product!

Our Class Promise

Today we read a story about a boy called David.  He did not know how to behave at school and was really naughty.  We talked about having rules at school and made a list for our classroom.  We all signed it, promising to follow these rules.  Please discuss the importance of rules and why we should follow them.  To remember David, we made masks as well!

Welcome to our Classroom Blog!

Welcome to Grade 2!

I am very excited to have this blog so that we can share our learning, special events, and information with you.  I will update the blog throughout the year to reflect what we are doing in class, and suggest ways for additional learning.  This additional learning can be in the form of useful websites, or learning strategies for language and math.  There are already some useful websites that I have put up...you can take a look at them!  Private and confidential information will not be posted on this blog, as well as any pictures of the students. Please feel free to call me at the school or write in your child's agenda if you have any questions or concerns.  I look forward to learning with all of you!

Let's have a wonderful school year! :)

Ms. Jong