Orange Shirt Day

Today was Orange Shirt Day and we took time to discuss and reflect on what this means.  Here are some of our thoughts:
They didn't get to pick their clothes that they wanted to. - Chase
That people need to realize that First Nation People are not so bad and different - Grace D
That the people who were taken away never got their own clothes back - Grace T
Kids got taken away from their families - Ryder
They were taken from their families around September 30 - Muhammad
They had to speak English or French and could not speak their people's language - Zoie


Picture Day Reminder going home.  

Ozobot Coding Club sign up sheet for those who are interested.  Please return by Oct 4th.  

Orange Shirt Day on Monday!

Today was a busy day for a half day Friday.  Here are some of the highlights from the morning:
We went to Phys Ed and we played Tic Tac Toe relay again - Grace D

We worked on math and we picked a number from 0 - 100 and had to decide if the number was even or odd - Zoie
Look for even and odd numbers around in your world this weekend.  Ask your child if they can explain why or how they know that the number is even or odd.  Some good vocabulary that shows understanding is saying:  they match, they are a pair, they all have a partner, nothing is left out, something is left by itself, one of the things does not have a match, does not have a partner.  

In writing, we worked more on our Roxaboxen and took our teacher feedback to improve our writing. - Cassia
In Phys Ed we had substitute teacher - Lauren.

We also read the story Tyson's New Orange Shirt and discussed Orange Shirt Day.  There is lots to understand about this complex day, and it is a good idea to continue the conversation at home.  
We will continue more on this discussion on Monday.  
Reminder:  Orange Shirt Day is on Monday.  Try your best to wear an orange shirt.  

Rainy and Cloudy Day Thursday

Here are some highlights from our Thursday:
We were working on our semi circle Social arches and we worked on the city today - Zoie
In PE we played Tic Tac Toe relay - Cayden
Today in music we practised singing our Remembrance Day song - Lauren
We had Fun Lunch today - Aiden T
We did math and in math we showed even and odd numbers.  Ask me if these numbers are even or odd:  45      74      70
Blog Check:If your child brings back something that shows me that they solved these 3 numbers, I will have something for them!    

Terry Fox Fun!

Today was an exciting and busy day with the Terry Fox run in the morning.  Here are some of our highlights from the run:
I ran 3 laps around the pond - Caleb
I ran 5 laps around the pond - Lauren
It was really tiring - Chase
Even the grade 1s and kindergarten students did it - Muhammad
The run was a way to get exercise - Cayden
Ever grade except for Kindergartens had to run until the teachers told us to stop - Zoie

Other highlights from our day:
We used the beaded number lines in math.  Ask me more about how they work and what they are - Grace T
Some of us finished exchanging our books today for Read to Self - Aiden R

Students are welcome to start returning their books from the learning commons and exchange them for new ones at any time, as we do not have a set day for the Learning Commons

Terry Fox Run is Tomorrow!

Reminder!
Don't forget that we have changed the Terry Fox Run to tomorrow (Wednesday) morning starting at 9am due to the weather forecast.
Going home with your child tonight is their "I'm Running for..." sticker.  Feel free to discuss this with your child and what they would like to put on the blank.  If they are not sure, it is always an option to say "I'm running for Terry" or "Terry Fox" and they can think about him as they are running.

Don't forget to bring in your TOONIES for TERRY!

Dress for the weather tomorrow morning and for being outside and walking/running for an hour!

Today we started a very special project in our Visual Journals!  Ask your child what they had to do to make the special pages.

Happy Day Monday

Highlights from the day:
Today we went on the computers for the first time.  Ask your child if they successful got logged in to a computer - Muhammad
We also went to the learning commons and took out books.  Enjoy reading the books with your child, and when you are finished, feel free to return your books back to school - Zoie
In writing, we worked on our "places" brain bubble - Ask your child, what place they wrote about in their journal - Cayden

Raz-kids
Since not everyone was successful at getting logged into our computers today, and also because so many parents asked during interviews, your child is coming home with their log-in information for their Raz-kids account this year.  Raz-kids is a great place to read books at are age appropriate and at your child's reading level.  

Reminders:
Terry Fox Run will be on Thursday this week!  

Wednesday Sept 18

Don't forget that tomorrow (Thursday) is a half day and dismissal will be at 11:45, due to conferences in the afternoon.

Highlights
We wrote about our Beautiful Oops art - Hanna
We exchanged our books in our book bins for Daily 5 - Muhammad
We had Phys Ed and played Team Tag and Keep it Up with the giant balls! - Hugo
In math we finished our math tickets focusing on skip counting to 100 - Cayden

Math practise:
We continue to work on skip counting, and is something you can practise at home with your child.  Your child needs to be able to count by 2s, 5s, and 10s, but from different starting points:  For example counting by 5s starting at 30:
30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100
or counting by 10s at different starting numbers:
3, 13, 33, 43, 53, 63, 73, 83, 93

Ms Gardner has Returned!

I am back from being away for a few days, and it sounds like things went smoothly for the last few days with Mrs. Stevenson.  I apologize for the lack of blog details, but hope that your child was able to fill in the blanks for you at home through conversations.

I look forward to meeting with you for Parent Teacher conferences on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning!  If you are still needing to sign up for a time, be sure to do so.  

Book fair flyers are going home today.  Book fair will be open during conferences on Thursday and Friday. 

Scholastic Book orders are also going home today, so if you would like to order, please feel free to do so.  You can order by sending your child's order and money directly in to me, or by ordering online.  My account sometimes pops up as an old school that I used to work at, but I promise it is me and does come directly to our school, so ordering online is easy to do too!  Please have your orders in by Sept. 24th

Highlights from our day:
We did Daily 5 and work on reading our books from our bins - Vanessa
We had Phys Ed and in Phys Ed we were trying to build a castle with lego and follow the picture to build it correctly. - Grace D
We had Art and we coloured our Beautiful Oops pictures - Chase 
Today in Science, we talked about everyday magnets that we use daily in our lives.
See if you have some hidden magnets around your house and in your bathroom!

Reminders:
Early Dismissal on Thursday!!!
Parent Teacher Conferences Thursday and Friday

Cloudy Day that Turned into Sunshine

Highlights:
In Science we learned that magnets attract to a different side of the magnet - Grace T
Ask your child to explain the magnet experiment we did today.  See if they can tell you what 'attract' and 'repel' mean and what the magnets did.  
We exchanged our books in our classroom library for the first time - Muhammad
In Social Studies, we brainstormed different school problems - Jayden
We had Phys Ed and we had to guess the secret pattern of how to get across the path -  Grace D

Ms. Gardner is going to be away for the next few days (Thursday, Friday and Monday.) Everyone is set to go and will excellent learners and helpers for Ms. Stevenson.  We talked about being flexible and helpful with our substitute.  

There are still a few friends that need to return Blue forms.  Please do so, ASAP.  

Another Rainy Day

Highlights from our rainy Tuesday:
We had an indoor lunch recess and we played Rock, Paper, Scissor tag - Akyut
Today we tested magnets and we put them around the room to see what they stick on - Muhammad
We made a number line from 0 - 100 in math - Zoie
Today in PE we played Smugglers - Cayden
In writing we wrote about a problem that we had and our writing stamina over 20 minutes - Grade T

There are still some Blue forms that need to be returned.  

Also, Parent Teacher conferences opens up this afternoon for booking.  Please book your time to come and see Ms. Gardner.  

We had a mystery spoon today that appeared after having our snack.  If this belongs to your child, please tell them to claim it, or email me and I will be sure that it returns home with them! algardner@cbe.ab.ca

Monday Rainday

We had science and we were talking about magnets and wrote about what we think might happen with magnets - Muhammad
We played Race to 100 in Math - Zoie 
We got to enjoy music in the last block of the day.  Ask me what I did in music today.  

Please return your Blue forms!!  

Our First Week Complete!

Wow!  What a great start to our year together!  We have had a wonderful week getting to know each other in our class and I can tell that this is going to be a great group of learners!

We had an assembly this morning.  Mr. Murphy talked about some rules for our school.  Ask your child what he said about dogs and bikes on school property.  He also read us the story You Be You.  Ask your child what the message of the story was.  

Thank you to everyone who has already returned their Blue forms.  If you have not done so, please do as soon as possible.
Also, a few are having their forms returned home again, as a signature was missed.  So please just sign and return!  

Thursday, Sept 5

Highlights from our Thursday:
We went to music and we played Doggie, Doggie Where's Your Bone? - Muhammad
At the end of the day we gathered up all our puzzle pieces and we found different categories and ways that we connect to each other - Cayden
In Phys Ed we played a new version of rock, paper, scissors tag - Aiden R and Muhammad

In writing, we re-read the story, what do you do with a problem.  When then thought about a problem that had happened to us in our own lives and the opportunity that came out of that problem.
Some of us had a hard time thinking of a problem that we have had before.  Take time tonight to talk about problems that your child has had in the past, and how they worked to solve it or had help to solve it.  

Thank you to everyone who already returned their BLUE demographic forms

Tomorrow is a HALF DAY!

Day 2 of Grade 2

Here are some highlights from our busy day:
We picked up some nature from outside during our afternoon recess and we made our names with the pieces of nature - Lauren
Today in Phys Ed we played Zap to help us learn names of other people in different classes - Grace D
We did Daily 5 and practised reading.  We could choose to read the 3 different ways.  The last way that we learned about as a way to read is to Retell the Story - Zoie
Today in math we worked on filling in the missing numbers on a hundreds chart. - Grace T 

Going home are your BLUE forms that need to be completed and returned ASAP.  

Enjoy the warm weather this evening.  

A group who sorted the pictures of people in our school.  

Our nature collection outside for our art project 

First Day of Grade 2

Here are some highlights from our great first day together in Room 138:
To we did writing and wrote about what we like to do on puzzle pieces.  We did 4! - Muhammad
We did Daily 5.  We read in Daily 5 and discussed how there are 2 different ways to read a book.  Ask me what the 2 different ways are.  Aykut and Vanessa 
We had Phys Ed and we had 2 different classes in at the same time with us.  We had a Grade 1 class and our class together.  We played Where the West Wind Blows - Grace D
We had an art project to finish our day.  Ask me what we did - Grace T

It was very warm today and looks like the weather will continue to be warm.  If you choose, please send your child with a water bottle, so they can fill it up throughout the day.  It can also stay at school till the end of the week.  
 A few friends need to remember to bring in indoor shoes for Phys Ed.