Feb. 29

This morning we went to the Whispering Woods to get our next note. The note said we had to collect 34 pinecones for Lord and Lady Squirrel. It said we had to put them into two equal piles and figure out how many were in each pile. Then we had to leave them for the squirrels.

Today in gym we started badminton. We learned that in badminton we don't use a ball, instead we use a birdie or a shuttle.  We are learning to do an underhand serve.

Tomorrow is treat day! Please remember to bring 25 cents. 

Tomorrow our helper is: Teagan

We have a new sharing category starting tomorrow. The new category is favourite animal. Please bring a photo or other way of showing your animal and a few facts. 

Feb. 26

Today we went to Nosehill. We were working on researching our Nosehill animals in their natural habitat. We were looking for food that our animals would eat. We were also looking for places that are animals could use for homes.  We took pictures of the evidence we found.

Ava's group found deer tracks. Erik's group found dirt piles that weasels could live in and some berries for them to eat. Jajohn's group found something that looked like scat but it had fur in it. The animal who made that scat must have eaten something furry. Neelayan's group found a place where a red fox could live and where they could hide their babies. Carissa's group saw a mouse near the dogwood bushes. Freya's group found lots of sticks piled on a hole that could be a home for a vole.

Our helper on Monday is: Hussain

Have a great weekend!

Feb. 25

This morning we went out to Whispering Woods to see if there was another note. Today the note asked us to figure out how many steps it would take to walk the perimeter of the Whispering Woods. Perimeter means the distance around something.  We discovered that it takes over 600 steps to walk the perimeter. Some of us took up to 900 steps because we all took different sized steps.

We continued our storytelling after recess today. One group was ready to record their story on the iPad. More of us are going to try to be ready next week.

Today for gym we had some outside gym because the weather was so beautiful!

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We will be walking to Nosehill. Please make sure you are wearing appropriate clothing and footwear for hiking. It would also be a good idea to bring an extra snack. 

Our helper on Monday is: Hussain

Feb. 24

Today we practices storytelling again. Some groups are ready to try recording their stories on the iPads. That will be part of the job tomorrow.

We also went back to the Whispering Woods to see if there was another note. There was! The challenge was to count how many steps it takes to go all the way from the fence to the bottom of the Whispering Woods. Then, we had to count how many steps it takes to get back up to the top. We had to see if it took the same number of steps to go in each direction. We are wondering what our challenge will be tomorrow???

This afternoon our friends from Simon Fraser School came to visit! They planned a lot of activities for us. We did a craft, read books, and played games outside. The craft was making an animal or monster bookmark. Outside we played British Bulldog, Infection, and Knights, Horses, and Cavaliers.

Parent FYI

Hello Room 2 Parents,

I came across this great book chart and thought I would share it with you. It gives some ideas of book series that might be right for your child's reading level. The books are ranked by reading level but also include a grade. Eg. You'll notice levels J, K, L are all grade 2. J would be considered beginning grade 2, K would be mid-grade 2 and L is end grade 2.


Here is a link to the website if you have trouble reading the image: http://lehmanlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Book-Series-by-GR-Level.pdf

Feb. 23

This morning after recess we went outside to do some bird watching. We heard some birds in the distance but we didn't see any. When we were out there Emma and some other people discovered a note!  It was from the Whispering Woods!


The note says that we need to go back tomorrow to get our first challenge!

This afternoon we continued our animal research. Today we were researching where our animals live. Some animals live in wooded areas, some live in burrows, some have a home range, some roost in caves, some live in open grasslands, some live in the mountains, and some even live in the city!

Tomorrow is anti-bullying day. Our friends from Simon Fraser School will be coming to visit in the afternoon to do some friendship activities. In honor of anti-bullying day please try to wear a pink shirt if you can. 

On Friday we are hoping to go to Nosehill. If you are able to volunteer to come with us please email Ms. Boyer. We are still looking for 2 more volunteers. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Claire

Feb. 19

Today was Fresh Air Friday. We did orienteering. We used a map of the schoolyard and went out to find hidden treasures. We had to find 15 treasures that were marked on the map! It was really fun because all the treasures were different and they were hidden in lots of different places all over the schoolyard.  Sometimes it was challenging to read the map and record the treasures in the right spots.  Some of treasure were really hidden and you had to look closely to find them.

We noticed that some of the bugs are coming out thanks to this warm weather. We wonder if that is a sign of spring?
 

Feb. 18

Today we worked on our animal research. Lots of people were able to finish the "what I eat" section. Did you know that hares have to digest some of their food twice? Did you know coyotes are omnivores just like us? Did you know Western Jumping mice are herbivores? Did you know the big brown bat is an insectivore and uses echolocation to find food? Did you know the long-tailed weasel crushes its prey's skull with its canines?

This afternoon when Atiksh was doing his sharing we learned how to use the Zoomy Camera. It is a microscope that hooks up to the computer. We took some pictures of Atiksh's geode and of the cow bone that Sanuka brought.

Mrs. Smith found a neat tool for us to use to measure our classroom noise. The website is called bouncyballs.org . You can try it at home to measure your noise level.

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We will be spending quite a bit of time outside doing an orienteering challenge! Please dress appropriately. 

Feb. 17

Today was the science fair at school for the grade 5-6 students. We got to go and see their displays. We tried to ask them 2 questions: What was your hypothesis? and What were your conclusions?

In math we started making our own version of a game called "The number walk game". It is an adding and subtracting game that we play using the hundreds chart and an instruction book. Once we have played with our friends at school we will bring the game home to play with you.

This afternoon we worked on our animal research again. We started writing and drawing information about our animal's diet. Next, we will research homes and habitat.

Tomorrow our helper is: Atiksh

We are hoping to go to Nosehill next Friday (Feb. 26). If you are available to come please email Ms. Boyer. We will be staying closer to the school this week. 

Feb. 16

During our animal research time today we started figuring out our animal's diet. That means what it eats. We used books to start our research. We learned that some animals are insectivores, some are herbivores, some are omnivores, and some are carnivores. Do you know what those big words mean? If not, ask your family's zoologist (a.k.a, your kid!).

Today we had Jungle Safari in gym. In Jungle Safari the gymnastics equipment is set up like  an obstacle course and we are pretending it is the jungle. There are snakes, gorillas, jaguars, and lions (even they don't really live in the jungle).  During Jungle Safari you have to be completely silent or you might get eaten!

We had library today because Mrs. Kidd will be away on Thursday. Some of us borrowed a new book today and promised Mrs. Kidd that we will return our old books tomorrow or Thursday.

Tomorrow is games club at lunch. If you are in games club please remember to bring your own game to play with a friend. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Isabel

Feb. 9

This morning we worked on storytelling. We have each chosen one of Mrs. Gummo's stories to tell in a small group. Today we started by drawing the story so we could remember all the parts.

After recess we kept working on our 100 challenge. We discovered that some of us can walk all the way around the school in only 100 steps!

This afternoon we worked on our animal research. Worked on putting the labels on our diagrams. Next time, we are going to move on to the next part of our research.

Tomorrow afternoon we will have our Friendship Party! Please remember to bring your Valentine's if you plan to hand them out. If you wish to bring a treat please feel free but don't feel obligated. We will have lots of fun and excitement already here! If you have been working on a mailbox at home please remember to bring it tomorrow. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Eiman

Feb. 8

Happy Lunar New Year!

Today we celebrated Lunar (or Chinese) New Year by reading some special stories and learning about our animals. Some of us were born in the year of the Rat and some of us were born in the year of the Ox.

We also started getting ready for our Friendship Party on Wednesday and had some special valentine's centres to start the day. Some of the choices for this week are:
1. Make a valentine
2. Make your mailbox
3. Make a special coupon book
4. Make a "Heart-imal"
5. Write or perform a poem
6. Complete a Valentine's word search

In math we started practicing using numbers to 100 with a "100 Challenge". The challenge has lots of tasks for us to complete that use the number 100. The first challenge is: How many times can you write your name in 100 seconds?  (One buddy has to count to 100 and the other buddy writes their name. )

This afternoon we kept working on our animal research. We are working on making diagrams of our animals that have specific and detailed labels. In gym we had to spent time reviewing the safety rules for the climber and other gymnastics equipment so we will be ready to use the equipment safely tomorrow.

Our helper tomorrow is: Stefan

Feb. 5

Today we worked with Mrs. Gummo outside.  It was our last day working with her. We played a game where we had to act out one of our favourite parts of a story and then everyone had to guess which story it was.  She also told us a story called "Mr. Fox's Sack". It had some songs in it. One went like this:

"Nobody knows but me,

Nobody knows but me.

Nobody knows what's in this sack,

Nobody knows but me."

We have learned so many stories from Mrs. Gummo. Here is a list:

Magpie Feathers Her Nest
The Bear Who Stole the Chinook
Whispering Woods
Prairie Princess
Mr. Fox's Sack
The Great Enormous Pumpkin

After recess we worked on our animal research pictures. We started adding colour to our pictures. Next week will be adding labels to our pictures and beginning our research.

Our helper on Monday is: Jason

Feb. 4

Today we played an odd and even game. To play the game you need a partner and a stack of cards. You start by picking a movement and deciding who will be odd and who would be even. Then you draw the first card. If the card is odd, the even person has to do that many of the movement. If the card is even, the odd person has to do that many of the movement.  You can try this game at home. It is a great workout, especially if you pick burpees as the activity!! We also learned a new lining up game called "Take my place".

This morning we also practiced our lockdown drill. We did a great job following the procedure and the police officer was really impressed!

This afternoon we also started our own animal research. We had to pick one animal that we are going to research and become an expert about. We started the project by printing out a picture of our animal. Next we will start using books and computers to find out lots of important fact about our animal.

Today we are bringing home our colour art. It is very fragile!

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We will be working on Storytelling outside with Mrs. Gummo. Please come dressed for the weather. 

Feb. 3

Do you know what a pulse is? Pulses are foods like beans, lentils, peas, and chickpeas. They are very healthy and they only need half as much water to grow as most other plants. Today our friend Sarah from Little Green Thumbs came and taught us all about pulses. We did some journaling about pulses and got to look at some different dried pulses. We saw kidney beans, pinto beans, split peas, green lentils, and chickpeas.

This afternoon we celebrated Winter Walk day by going for a walk around Whispering Woods. We walked all the way around the edge of the woods and then spent some time exploring for treasures. We talked about how important it is to get lots of time outside even in the winter. Spending time outside makes our bodies healthier, makes it easier for us to focus when we're trying to learn new things, and helps to keep us from getting gloomy during our long winter.

Today a notice is coming home about our Friendship Party that will be happening on Feb. 10. 
Tomorrow is our library day. Please be sure to bring back your books. 

Tomorrow our helper is: Levi