Friday, January 31, 2020

Field Trip Information

Hi Parents,

We will be going to Ann and Sandy Cross on Tuesday. This is an outdoor field trip and it will be chilly. Mrs. Fraser and I visited the site a few nights ago and it is very wide open so it may be windy as well. Below is a list of things we need the students to bring for Tuesday. Please ensure your child comes with all items to ensure they are prepared and comfortable to be outside all day.

Have a great weekend!




Sunday, January 26, 2020

Ann and Sandy Cross trip

 Room 16 currently has no volunteers for our trip to Ann and Sandy Cross on February 4. We need at least 3 volunteers to make this trip happen and meet our required ratios. Please let me know by Wednesday January 29 if you are able to help out on this trip. We appreciate your support!!

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Updates

Room 15 and 16 still need volunteers for the following field trips:
Wednesday, January 29th - Arts Commons (all day)
Tuesday, February 4th - Ann and Sandy Cross (all day)
Please email if you are available.

This week we did some class research to find out more about community helpers. Facts we were looking for included what they do, what tools and equipment they use, where they work and what type of uniform they wear and why. We talked about the table of contents in a non-ficiton book and how it can direct us to what we are looking for. We used books and watched videos to gather information then students created a booklet representing their information in different ways (writing, drawing, labeling and building).

Please make sure your child has snow pants, boots and mitts for next week as we will be going outdoors for some of our learning.  

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Field Trip Volunteer Request

We have two upcoming field trips and are looking for parent volunteers to join us! If you have a current police clearance completed and are available to join us, please email your child's teacher. Both rooms 15 and 16 will be on the field trips on the following days:
Wednesday, January 29th - Arts Commons (all day)
Tuesday, February 4th - Ann and Sandy Cross (all day)

Gymnastics
This week we started our gymnastics unit. On gymnastics days, students are reminded to have their hair pulled back and not wear leggings. In the gym, students will be asked to remove any jewelry that they are wearing (bracelets, necklaces) as well as their shoes and socks. Students will also be asked to tuck in their shirt. This week we started using the mats, next week we will be adding some gymnastics equipment.

Sweaters
With the cold weather this week, our classroom has been a bit chilly. Students are welcome to bring an extra sweater and leave it on their coat hook incase they get cold throughout the day.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Community

Reminder: No school for students on Friday January 10.

Weather: We want to remind parents and students that we need to be prepared to go outside everyday as long as it is not a blue day. Students should have snow pants, boots, gloves and hat. Today was quite windy and we had some chilly kids. 

As we learn about places and people in our community, we decided to transform our classroom into a town during explore time. Students choose an occupation and spend their time role playing in their work location. We have engineers, architects and construction workers creating and building famous landmarks, using tools, foam and blocks. At our vet office, we have a hospital, xray viewer and lab where the doctors are creating medicine. The doctors are charting their diagnosis, bandaging up animals and managing money as patients come in for different services. At the ice cream shop and restaurant, the waiters and chefs take customer orders, create menu items and calculate costs of items. We have an engineering station that focuses on cause and effect relationships as rube goldberg machines are being designed and tested. 

Our dramatic play centers are the focus of our writing and students are recording and reflecting on activities while focusing on writing details, adding spaces, upper and lowercase letters and a detailed picture.

During math, we read a book about beavers bundling their sticks into groups of 5 and focused on skip counting using the hundreds chart.

Today both classes met with their grade 3 buddies. Ask your child what activity they did with a buddy. 












Monday, January 6, 2020

Melting Snowman

This afternoon we completed a fun science experiment. We put on our safety goggles and got right to work!







If you would like to try this experiment at home, you will need the following materials: baking soda, salt, dish soap, water and vinegar.

First, in a deep container, mix 1 cup of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of salt. Then, add 1/2 a teaspoon of dish soap and mix all of the ingredients together. Finally, add 4 tablespoons of water (pour in a little bit at a time and continue mixing). Mix until you are able to form sphere shapes to make a snowman. To make your snowman "melt" pour vinegar overtop. Watch closely to see what happens!

After watching our snowmen "melt" we talked about chemistry. We learned that when baking soda (solid) and vinegar (liquid) mix, they react and create a gas called carbon dioxide!