The Last Day of Grade 2

 It is hard to believe that today was the last day of grade 2... It was a wonderful last day!  We performed a drumming song for the assembly and we sounded great!! The sound of the drums in our gym was very powerful and all the students were on beat.  In our assembly, we also had some time to reflect on the year as we watched a slideshow of the first year of Ken Taylor.  It is amazing how much we did this year!

I want to thank every family for all your support, guidance, and trust this year.  As a team, we really made a difference in your child's learning.  I couldn't have asked for a better class for my first year at a new school. I learned so much from each student and have walked away a better teacher because of it.  I look forward to next year and seeing each of you again in the hallways, in the field, or even in the community.  Have a wonderful, restful summer, 

Mrs. Jordan

June 27

Over the last few days, we have been working on some insect/small creature research.  Take some time to check it out in your child's visual journal that was sent home today.  Students were so excited to learn about their chosen creature and discover even more about them.  They used both books and websites to help them learn about the life cycle, adaptations and their diet.  It's exciting to watch them use their critical thinking skills such as analyzing and evaluating as they completed their research. Check out these two life cycle diagrams done by two girls today! Wow!

We have also enjoyed our time for our 30x30 challenge.  We have been doing everything from reading stories, playing games, going for nature walks, art, and even eating our lunch outside!  I have noticed a difference in their awareness of changes in the environment around us and and appreciation of nature. For example the other day a small spider was in the hallway and some kids from other classes were poking at it. Many of the students from our class intervened saying things like "we should leave it alone, it is part of nature" and "maybe we should bring it back to its habitat".  It was noticed not only by myself but by other adults in the hallway at the time.  

Believe it or not... tomorrow is the last day of grade 2.  Today we had some good class discussions around the end of the school year and dealing with feelings associated with changes.  Many students shared their feelings of joy and happiness related to the summer vacation but many others had some feelings of fear, nervousness, and sadness.  We talked about how all these feelings are normal and ways that we can deal with these feelings.  We also talked about the word bittersweet and how at times changes in our lives can make us feel these bittersweet feelings.

Tomorrow our class will be performing a drum song for the beginning of our Year End Assembly. You are welcome to come to the assembly at 8:30 am tomorrow.  Their drumming skills are really impressive!   Also, tomorrow is our last spirit day - Canada Red and White Day!  Let's make a sea of red and white for our assembly.  Lastly, tomorrow is a early dismissal day and we will dismiss at 11:30.

I look forward to a fun day last day tomorrow as a grade 2 class.  I hope to see you tomorrow!

June 22

Although we are officially in summer, it sure doesn't feel like it...  We got lucky yesterday with our weather for our Sports Day.  The weather was just perfect for the afternoon!

The students had a blast playing some new Aboriginal games and getting the chance to play some of the ones we learned on our field trip. The favourite ones seemed to be "run and scream", throw the stick, and jump the stick.  The students were active for the entire time and it was so nice to see how they included everyone as they played.  One of the stations was a watermelon station - I think this was also a favourite. Thank you to those families who sent this is in for our students.

In class, we have continued working with our Giants.  We used them to do some non standard measurement.  We measured their legs, feet, head and even whole body using various objects such as a stapler, paperclip, and glue stick.  We spent some time reading the book: How Big is a Foot . We loved the part that shows the queen in a super small bed. This opened up a great conversation about why non-standard measurement can be ineffective if not used properly. 

 

  

 

Coming Up:

• Calgary Public Library Summer Reading presentation Monday
• Year End Assembly - Wednesday 8:30 - 9:30
• Last Day of School/ Early Dismissal Wednesday
• Report Cards go home Wednesday

June 19

Happy Monday! It is hard to believe that have only one Monday left in the grade 2 school year! Where does time go?

Today was our 2nd to last swimming lesson too. The class continues to enjoy their lessons and they are becoming more comfortable in the water each day.  Please don't forget to send swimsuits and towels tomorrow!

Today we had the chance to get outside to test and refine our boats.  We brought our supplies and our boats outside.  When students were ready, they tested their boats to see if they would float, hold some weight, could move, and could survive a collision with an iceberg.  Students had the chance to change/ refine/ alter their boat if their boat couldn't do one of these things.  In the end, all of our boats could float and hold at least some weight.  Some questions asked today were: How could you improve the stability of your boat?/ What could you change to make it stronger so that it doesn't break when hitting the iceberg?/  How does a motor work?

Tomorrow we will start some research about Insects and Small Crawling Creatures of the Prairies.  Your child has picked a creature that he/she would like to learn more about and using a Google Doc, they will record their notes about the creature.  They will work in teams to find out more about their diet, food chain, habitat, and unique features. They are excited to learn more about these creepy crawlies and teach the class about what they have learned!

On Wednesday we will have our Sports Day.  This will be tied in with Aboriginal Day and we will get the chance to play the games we learned about from our field trip and learn a few more.  Please ensure your child has running shoes and comfortable clothing for this day. 

Coming up:

• Sports Day Wednesday
• Calgary Public Library Summer Reading presentation Monday June 26
• Last Day of School (Early Dismissal Day ) Wed. June 28
• Year End Assembly - Wed. June 28 8:30 - 9:30
• Report cards home Wed. June 28

June 14

Thank you to everyone for sending swim bags and all that the students need for the past 3 days! The students are loving their lessons and I am hearing about all the neat things they get to learn.  It was especially fun to watch some of the students jump off the diving board for the first time.In class, we have had some pretty quiet afternoons.  The students are definitely tired and have expressed that they need some quiet time.  I am so impressed with their ability to express what they need.

 Most of us have finished painting our "giants" and we stuck them on the walls today.  Those who are not done, will get theirs up tomorrow.  We have been using Google Docs to write our description to match our giant.  Tomorrow, we will peer edit our work using the share option on Google Docs.  When we are done, we will print these out to go beside our giant.  I love the creativity and uniqueness of each giant.  It is amazing to me that we all started at the same time, with the same conversations, yet all of our giants are different.  Here is a peek of some of them:

In math, we have been reviewing some of our addition and subtraction strategies. Yesterday we played a game called "Double Down".  Students take turns rolling two dice. If they get a double, they yell "Double Down" and write down the double questions.  After the timer goes off (usually 5  minutes is enough) they add up all their addition facts.  As an extra challenge, students can add up their sums of all the doubles facts.  This is a fun, quick and easy way to practice their basic facts.  Next, we will be using non standard measurement tools to measure our giants: their feet, fingers, arms etc!

As I wrote about earlier in the week, we will have school yearbooks. As they prepare to finalize the books, they are looking for student submissions for the front cover of the book.  If your child would like to enter a submission for this, please see the information below!

OUR FIRST YEAR AND SO MANY MEMORIES!!

Our first year is coming to an end, and we would love to see your drawing of your favorite school memory from the year!

Submissions will appear on the cover and throughout our first Yearbook at Ken Taylor

Please return your drawing by Monday, June 19, 2017

Coming up:

• Swimming Thursday, Monday and Tuesday
• Beach Wear Day Friday
• Early Dismissal Friday

June 12

Today we had our first day of swimming and we had a great time!  There was some anxiety with where to go, where to change, how deep the water was... BUT after the lesson everyone was full of smiles and said they can't wait to go back tomorrow.   Students were split into ability groupings and each group did something a little different based on their needs. Thank you to everyone for sending a separate swimming bag!  This made it much less squishy on the bus!

This Thursday will be our last day for home reading.  We would like to collect all home reading books by Friday in order to reorganize them for next year.  Please send all books back Friday morning!

This Friday is Beach Wear Day. It is our last spirit day of the year. Students are invited to wear shorts, tank tops, sun glasses, hats, sun dresses etc for Friday!

Yearbook and school photo orders have started!  Please see your child's snail mail for the whole school photo order.  Yearbook order information is below:

Don't forget that Friday is Early Dismissal!

June 9

We are super excited about swimming!! Lessons will consist of six 40-min lessons.  We will be swimming June 12 - 15, 19, and 20 at Thornhill Aquatic Centre.  We will leave the school at 9:20 and be back in time for lunch. 

Students will be taking a bus to and from the pool.  Students will need to bring a swimsuit and a towel on swim days. They are also welcome to bring a swim cap and goggles if those are items that they regularly use for swimming. They should bring these items in a bag other than their backpack.  This helps avoid bulky bags and soggy lunches! Do not send money or valuables, as we cannot be responsible for lost or stolen items.  Badges will be awarded upon completion of an entire level.  If only a portion of specified skills are achieved at their level, this will be indicated on a progress card, which will be sent home.Please Note: It is not unusual for a child to require more than 6 lessons to complete ALL requirements to earn a badge, especially for children who don’t swim often.

I expect students will be quite tired next week as swimming is not part of the routine for many of our students.  We will try to keep the day calm and the routine in place as much as possible for them when they return to help with this adjustment.  

Coming Up:

Friday - Early Dismissal

June 21 - Aboriginal Games

June 26 - Public Library Summer Reading Presentations

June 28 - Year End Assembly

June 28 - Last Day of School; Early Dismissal

June 7

Today was Wacky Wednesday. We started by reading the story Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Suess.  Today, the students were also in charge of planning the day.  They were thoughtful about the day and they planned fun, but educational activities.  We started our day with math rather than our regular Daily 5.  We played a game of addition/subtraction war and then we finished our math challenge from yesterday.  We gave each letter a value and then we found the value of different words.

For example, the word Bag would be worth $2+ $1 + $7 = $10.  We also challenged ourselves to find the value of our name and lastly, find a word worth $25 and $50.  This was a hard challenge but many students started to find some words by the end of the class.   At home, you could try this together by finding the value of your names, grandparents names, or even street name!  It is fun to see the different strategies that the students use and how much they are able to do mentally!  

After math, we worked on designing our boat.  Students know their boats need to float, be stable, be able to move, hold a load of 10 marbles and survive a collision with an "iceberg".  Students are working in pairs or groups of three to collaboratively plan, prototype, and test the boat.   We got off to a good start!  We are still taking in supplies if you have other things at home you would like to send in!

We also worked in Google Docs on our giant descriptive writing.  We are working on using strong verbs and powerful adjectives to describe our imaginative giants.  Working on Google Docs allows us to practice our typing skills, use assistive technology, and learn how to share document so we can collaboratively edit each other's work. 

This afternoon we went into the project room to make some "Giants".  We traced each other's bodies and then used our rough copy of our giant to create a life sized version.  Tomorrow we will start to paint our giants.  Next week, we will use these to do some non-standard measurement.  

Tomorrow our literacy week continues with Colourful Thursday.  Wear different colours, all one colour or even clashing colours to go with tomorrow's theme.  It is also our Great Book Exchange.  Students are invited to bring in their quarters to buy some gently used books.  This will allow them to stock up on summer reading books!

We went outside this morning to read a fun story called "This is a Moose".  It is a cute story about how people (or moose) can do anything they want if they choose to.  This book even went to space!

Don't you just love Sam's "Wacky" hair?

June 5

We had a fantastic assembly on Friday!! The kids performed so well and you could tell by their smiles and proud singing that they were so excited.  They had worked so hard over the last couple of weeks and it paid off. As soon as I can get a photo, I will post one (I was so busy that I forgot to take one!)

This week is Literacy Week at Kenneth D. Taylor School.  That means that we will have different activities all week related to literacy, with many of them being tied to Dr. Suess Books.  See below for a list of our activities. Tomorrow is D.E.A.R Day which stands for Drop Everything And Read.  Throughout the day, we will drop whatever we are doing and start reading - whether it is gym, science or even recess!!  

Tomorrow is also Ride your Bike to School Day.  If you are comfortable letting your child ride or would like to ride to school with them, students are invited to ride to school and store their bikes in the gym as a safe place.  As with other school spirit days, this is voluntary.

Today in Science we talked about ways to make boats stable such as catamarans.  We looked at different types of catamarans and discussed what makes them so stable.  We also talked about how to make compartments in boats to spread the weight evenly.  

Tomorrow we will start to ideate about our own boats.  Students will need to create a boat that: can float, carry a load, move, and survive a glacier.  We will be designing, creating, and testing our boats in class this week. Many students already have ideas for their boat.   Students are asked to bring in materials that they may have at home as we have a limited supply here.  Here are some things they could bring in:

Good Waterproof Materials from Home:
-craft/household/kitchen supplies such as plasticine, modeling clay, toothpick, tin foil, corks, popsicle sticks, balloons, small bits of wood, small styrofoam trays, tacks, elastic bands, empty and clean plastic bottles/milk cartons etc.

Please don't hesitate to email if you have any questions about this. 

We are looking forward to a fun filled week!

Coming up:

• Mad Science Presentation tomorrow
• Ride your Bike to School tomorrow
• Mixed up Day (wear mixed up clothes) Wednesday
• Many coloured Day Thursday
• Book Exchange Thursday (Bring your quarters!)
• Crazy Sock Day Friday