FYI

Click on the photo for a clearer image. 

November 18, 2019

Hello Families,

New Words of the Week

Christmas Concert Info

Fun Lunch Wednesday

Parent Teacher Conferences

Thursday 4:00pm - 7:00 pm - Half Day for Students

Friday 8:00am - 12:00 pm - No School for Students

Book Order Due Friday

November 12, 2019

Hello Families,

We had a great time last week with the Leighton Art center learning how to make wire armatures. The students were very creative. We are doing some writing using our piece for inspiration. Thank you to the volunteers who were able to come out and help us!!

Reminders:

1. Home Reading
2. Words of the Week practice
3. Nunavut donations
4. Book orders Due end of next week
5. Fun Lunch Nov 20th - subway
6. Parent Teacher Interviews Nov 21 and Nov 22
7. Nov 21 is a half day and no school Nov 22

Language Arts:

We have been exploring descriptive language and similes to help make our writing interesting. The students have started to brain storm using their five senses how to describe a season without using the name of the season to help create their 'What Season am I?".

New Words Of The Week

Math:

We have continued to explore place value and base ten blocks by building numbers and recognizing the value of each digit. We have started to explore 3D shapes and are learning how to describe them using the number of edges, vertices, and faces on each object.

Social Studies:

We have been learning a lot about Saskatchewan's farming communities and their way of life. As well we have started to talk about Nunavut and how we can help bring them Christmas Cheer this holiday season by sending donations. Please let me know if you can donate a large prepaid shipping box to help get our special gifts all the way to the north. 

Science:

We have been using our scientist brains to learning about liquids. Ask your child out our drop race and mixing solids with water. 

November

Hello Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween! Please remind your child to enjoy their sweet treats at lunch time. At snack time students are encouraged to eat healthy snacks.

 📕📗📘Home Reading!!📙📚📖

In Language Arts we have continued to finish up our Halloween stories and have started to learn about Story Jumper. Story Jumper is a website where students can create original books and add photos, writing and a voice over. If you would like to check it out please do not work on school pieces at home, but feel free to create new pieces.

Storyjumper.com
Students need to use their CBE google account email address. If your child isn't sure of their email, let me know and I can send that info home.

New Words of the Week

In Math we have started to work on Place Value. We have been working on pulling numbers apart a learning about Tens and Ones. Learning about place value will help us when we start to add and subtract greater (larger) numbers. 

Have a look at this great video to learn more: Place Value: Tens and Ones

Tomorrow is our IN CLASS Leighton Art Center field trip! Volunteers please arrive at 8:15 and sign in at the office. If you have not yet paid online please do so as soon as possible. 

Please Stay Tuned for a great initiative we will be starting to help families in Nunavut. We will be sending care packages in time for Christmas! 

October 28th

Hello Families,

Please Send Home Reading Back As Often As You Can!!

Ask your child about their new story writing piece. They have started to write their own Halloween/Haunted House stories. We are using our 5 senses to add details and juicy words to our work. On Friday we created our Haunted House settings to go along with our stories. Students are now working on using their 'Word Wall' lists to edit their own work.

Vowels are very important letters when learning how to read and write. Doing some extra review of the vowel sounds is a great way to help your child build their reading and writing skills. A reading strategy we use is 'Flippy Dolphin' he reminds us to try both the vowel sounds when decoding a new word. 

If you are looking for some ideas to practice at home, I came across the following blog that has some neat printable games to play to practice long and short vowel sounds as well as blends and digraphs. I do not own the rights or have any say over the content or information found in the following blog. 

https://www.themeasuredmom.com/print-2/

In Math we will be starting to look at the 'Friendly Tens'. All the numbers that add to ten and their corresponding subtraction facts. 
What Makes Ten Video

In Social Studies we have been learning about Saskatchewan and the prairie communities. We explored Saskatchewan's flag today and learned why the top is green and the bottom is yellow/golden. Please ask your child what they learned about the flag. 

*Please check your email from the school regarding costumes on THURSDAY.

Fun lunch will be on  -Little Caesars Pizza
No school Friday
In-Class Leighton Art Centre Field Trip - Nov 5th

DATE CHANGE!!

Hello Families,

We had to rebook our Leighton Art Center in -class field trip. Originally we had it booked for November 8th, however we have our school Remembrance Day assembly that morning. We have rebooked for November 5th. Please let me know if you can volunteer for that day. We need 6 volunteers for this field trip.
Sorry for the confusion.

Please email me!


-Book Orders Due Tomorrow Please
-Keep working on Skip Counting and Even and Odd numbers

October 21st, 2019

Hello Families, 

**Please continue to do Home Reading**

These are our reading strategies we use 

at school to help us decode new words!

Reminders:

• Book Orders due end of this week
• Picture Retake day on October 24th. Please let me know if you would like retakes
• Fun Lunch October 30 -Healthy Hunger Website to order
• November 1st - No school
• We Scare Hunger Donations
• Please help us reach our school goal!

Leighton Art Center

Just wanted to let everyone know the fees have not yet been post onto your MYCBE accounts as of yet. Hopefully they will be up in the next couple days. I will let you know when they are up. Please note we do require 6 volunteers for this in class field trip. If you can volunteer and have your CBE police clearance please email me to let me know. 

Language Arts

I am so happy to hear that students are practicing their Words of the Week at home! Keep up the hard work!! We have been focusing on our vowel sounds and vowel combinations in class. This is often a tricky concept in Grade 2. Long vowels and Short vowels are a vital part of reading and writing. 

Please review these sounds with your child. When students are confidently able to use long and short vowels, phonetic spelling and decoding new words when reading becomes much easier. Once students can confidently identify long and short vowels, they can begin to explore more complex vowel combinations. 

Long and Short Vowel Sounds

Vowel Combinations

New Words of the Week

Math:

We have continued to build on our skip counting skills, estimation, increasing patterns and even/odd numbers. Please see below for the Grade 2 Curriculum expectations.

"Specific Mathematics Outcomes:

* Say the number sequence 0 to 100 by: 

2s, 5s and 10s, forward and backward, using starting points that are multiples of 2, 5 and 10 respectively.

10s, using starting points from 1 to 9 

2s, starting from 1. 

 *Demonstrate if a number (up to 100) is even or odd.

*Estimate quantities to 100, using referents." 

(Alberta Curriculum)

Science:

We have continued to explore the water cycle. Today students created a flip book to explain the water cycle. Ask your child to explain the four main concepts of the water cycle. Precipitation, evaporation, collection/accumulation, condensation.

Here is a great video to help review the steps of the water cycle:

The Water Cycle

We get to meet our Roots of Empathy Baby tomorrow! Ask your child about Roots of Empathy! 

Check out our Twitter for some new photos!

*Volunteers WANTED *

Hi Families,

I am in search of some wonderful parent volunteers who have their CBE clearance, who would like to come into school next week to help tape our beautiful name art and self portrait into our visual journals. Essentially you will be using packing tape to tape the students work into their visual journals.

Please let me know if you have an hour or so you can spare to help out.

Thanks so much!

Dolch Sight Words

Hello Families,

As we continue our work during Language Arts, I would like to encourage families to start practicing the Pre-Primer, Primer, Grade one and Grade two sight word lists. Sight words are the foundational words used for reading and writing. By the end of grade two students will strive to be able to read all the words by sight (not sounding out each word) and they will hopefully be able to spell these words and/or be able to use a personal dictionary to edit for these words in their own writing.

Please follow the following link to download a Flashcard version of the lists:
Sight Word Flashcards

Here is a link to a website that has all the words in list format and many game ideas to help practice at home:
Sight Words

October 15, 2019

Hello Families, 

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. The students were very excited to share about all the adventures they had this weekend. 

Book Orders
The majority of our book orders finally arrived! yay! However a few items are on back order. If you have not received a specific item, it should be arriving in the next couple weeks. 
October Book orders are Due around the end of next week please.

All About Me Bags
The students are really enjoying sharing a special part of them selves. This activity is really helping the students connect and build new friendships based on the interests they share. 

Language Arts
In LA we have been working on adding 'juicy' words to our sentences. "I saw a cat" = "I saw a fluffy white fat cat running across the wide street". The more detail the better!!

We are practicing our Words of the Week through a variety of word work centers. Please practice your child's weekly words at home. Here are the new words for this week:

Math

In Math we have been working on What Doesn't belong images. These help the students to learn how to explain their thinking and justify their answers in math and learn that their isn't always just one correct answer or way to solve problems. 

We have also been exploring increasing and decreasing patterns. We read "The Napping House" to help us discover that patterns can be all around us. This story shows a great increasing and decreasing pattern.

Patterns & Relations - Patterns (Gr. 2)

General Outcome: Use patterns to describe the world and to solve problems. 

Specific Outcome 1

Demonstrate an understanding of repeating patterns (three to five elements) by:

• describing
• extending
• comparing
• creating

patterns using manipulatives, diagrams, sounds and actions. 

Specific Outcome 2

Demonstrate an understanding of increasing patterns by:

• describing
• reproducing
• extending
• creating

numerical (numbers to 100) and non-numerical patterns using manipulatives, diagrams, sounds and actions.  

Specific Outcome 3

Sort a set of objects, using two attributes, and explain the sorting rule. 


Science
In Science we have been exploring liquids. We have started to learn about the Water Cycle, States of Matter and properties of water. 

Please see our twitter for some photos of our water drop exploration. Feel free to do some liquid experiments at home. 

Topic A: Exploring Liquids

Students learn about the nature of liquids and the interactions of liquids with other materials. They explore liquids by examining droplets, by watching liquids trickle down slopes, by investigating flow rates and by observing liquid interactions with a variety of materials. They learn that some materials are impervious to liquids, while others are absorbent, and that some liquids mix readily while others do not. They observe that liquid water can be changed to ice or to steam, and back again, if heated and cooled, and that wet materials dry out when left open to the air. Through this topic, students learn that water is our most important liquid, that we use water in many ways, and that water is essential to life.

October 7, 2019

Good Afternoon Families,

The students received their first set of Word Work words.  Each student is in a particular animal group. Your child should know which group they are in. Following the list of words you will find some activities you can use at home to practice these words. There will not be a weekly test for these words, however these are words students should be able to use in their own writing and be able to edit for. During daily word work practice students will be learning about these words and practicing them in a variety of ways.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me.
lkjohnson@cbe.ab.ce

Reminders:

• We Scare Hunger Donations
• Home Reading 5-10 min every night 
• Ask your child about Eagle Eyes, Lips the Fish and Stretchy Snake our reading strategy helpers
• Practice repeating patterns and skip counting for Math
• Healthy Hunger email went out today for fun lunch/fun snacks
• Please send headphones if you have not had a chance yet
• No School Friday and Monday