Terrific Thursday - April 26

OOPS! I am so sorry! I had written up our final fabulous day and forgot to post it!  I am so sorry as I know I had put in the student's agendas to check the blog - so here is our final day!

Our amazing day started with our morning smile in which the students were working on a word search of "Miss Clarke's favourite things!"  We then read some of the Flat stories that arrived :)  The students were then off to drama....with their pencil crayons and markers (I began to wonder what was up...I found out later!).

After nutrition break the students and I made our very own rain drops using wax paper and tissue paper - they turned out so beautifully and we all had such a wonderful time working through the creative process!

After the second nutrition break the students had a surprise for me and I had a surprise for them!  I presented the class with a new book about animals as I know their next science unit is all about animals and many of the students LOVE animals!  The students then surprised me with a teacher's dream gift - a cart on wheels with a handle (hard to explain but amazing to carry all my stuff in!).  The students then presented me with a book about teaching advice from the Grade 2's - this was what the students were working on in drama, such sneaky kids! :)  The advice was too cute!  I then presented the students with brand new animal, sports, and spring pencils and a flower cookie!  We had a wonderful period reading through the different books and eating our cookies!

In the last period we went to the computer lab and finished up our mapping unit by reading books about people and places on bookflix!

THANK YOU so much to all my amazing students for making this teaching block so incredible!  I learned so much with the students and feel like this experience has made me become the teacher I always wanted to be.  To the parents and families of my amazing grade 2's, thank you for all the support you provided me as a new teacher and for taking part in the Flat Stanley project!  I have an incredible experience and will be back in a few weeks to volunteer!

Below are some pictures from our classroom that are new and amazing!!

Wonderful Wednesday!

Today was a wonderful day in grade 2!  We began the day with our morning smile in which the students used clues to make a spring item - we will finish it tomorrow to find out what the spring item is!  After the students and I read our Flat Stanley book and read some of the Flat Stanley adventures that arrived today in the mail.  After the students wrote a paragraph using the success criteria about the country that they had been researching for social studies.


After nutrition break the students were engaged in a problem solving task for math.  We read a story about seating plans and then the students worked in small groups to find the perimeter and area of different seating plans and then they got to make their own.  The students did an amazing job problem solving today!  We then moved into science and we reviewed the simple machines test from last week and discovered simple machines that are in our kitchen!  The students were then given some time for quiet reading.


The students then had lunch!  After lunch the students had gym class and said they played at different stations and then got to play zombie tag!  For our last period of the day our fabulous reading buddies came and the students got to read some of their favourite stories with their buddies!


The homework for tonight was the mathtastic duotang...but Miss Clarke forgot to send it home with the students!  Sorry!  Tomorrow the students will bring home their mathtastic duotang and their "I can read like a pro" duotang.


There is no spelling test tomorrow :)


And....tomorrow is Miss Clarke's last day :(  I am going to miss my amazing grade 2's so much but am looking forward to tomorrow and having a fun final day!

fanTastic Tuesday! April 24

It was a fanTastic day in Grade 2 today.  We began the morning with our morning smile.  The students first had to estimate and then they used a ruler to measure the lengths of different pencils - please keep practicing with students at home on how to use a ruler :) We then moved into language and worked on "determining importance".  The students helped me to determine what was important to take to dinner (wallet and keys) and what items were not important (ruler and book).  The students then practiced this skill in regards to items that I wanted to bring camping with me.  We are beginning to work on determining importance first through pictures and then through text.  


The students then had nutrition break and we had an indoor recess.  In third period we did some math!  We learned about perimeter and area.  We first found what the area and perimeter was of different items using rockets and then using graph paper.  The students then completed a job for me in determining which garden I should plant my flowers in.  The problem solving the students were engaged in was so amazing to see!  The students were then off to music class in which they were a part of a huge drum circle - it sounded and looked like a lot of fun!


The students were then able to go out for their second nutrition break.  We then finished up our math from the morning and then worked on our social studies projects - we are comparing a warm country to Nunavut.  The interesting facts the students are learning and finding in the books are so amazing - they are great researchers!  We then had Tribes :)  we worked on becoming bucket fillers and talked about how important it is to be a bucket filler instead of a bucket tipper - ask the students about this.  We ended the day with a wonderful community circle.


The homework for tonight is to read, read, and read some more! :) 

Magnificent Last Monday - April 23

Today was my official "last Monday" as a grade 2 teacher.  I have 3 days left and am very sad to be leaving such amazing students!  Today was a super fun day though!  We began the morning in the library reading a wonderful story and then looking for some new books to check out.  The students were then off to the mass choir.


After snack we learned about the differences between centimetres and meters. The students did an activity in which they had to decide what the best unit was to measure different items - such as the school playground or their wrist.  The students then worked independently on a task that had them measuring different lines using different tools.  The students did a fabulous job!  We then moved into social studies and the students continued their research on their country and many groups began comparing their country to Nunavut using a venn diagram.  The students are working so well in their country groups, it is amazing to watch and learn with them.


The students then had lunch and an indoor break where they finished watching the Charlie and the Chocolate movie.  The students were then introduced into my paragraph about "Toast" and had to use our success criteria and bump it up wall to bump up my paragraph.  The students have become so familiar with what a paragraph is, how it is written, and what is needed.  All of the students were able to identify how to bump up my paragraph - I am looking forward to reading their paragraphs very soon.  For the last period of the day some of the students joined their guided reading groups while others silently read in class.


There are NO spelling words for this week :) 

Fantastic Friday - April 20

It was a fantastic day in grade 2!  Today at FM we celebrated Earth Day and began the day with an Earth Day activity in which the students had a word search and abc order it up words.  After the students were off to drama!  Then, after nutrition break, we had a double period of art!  The students made their own Earth person and they look really cute!

After our second nutrition break we had an Earth Day assembly and we saw different movies on Earth Day, met different superheros, and sang the FM song.  It was a great assembly and a perfect reminder of how precious the Earth is.  Last period we went to the computer lab and the students enjoyed playing on BookFlix and EdHead.

Have a super fun weekend and enjoy Earth Day on Sunday.  The homework for the weekend is to do the "I Can Read Like a Pro" reading and have the students cut and paste the missing words!

I am sad to say that next Thursday (April 26th) will be my last day in Grade 2.  I have had the most amazing 7 weeks with the students and have enjoyed every minute learning with them :)  Thank you for all your support over the past 7 weeks, esspecially with the Flat Stanley project!

Terrific Thursday!

It was a wonderful day in Grade 2.  We began the morning with our morning smile - the students practice their measuring skills and did a spring word search.  After the students and I unscrambled a paragraph and wrote it in proper structure using our success criteria.  The students then unscrambled another paragraph (on spaghetti and meatballs) and then wrote it in proper paragraph form - they all did such a great job and used our success criteria so well!


After nutrition break the students learned how to use a ruler and then measured different animals.  They loved this activity as they finally got to use a ruler and measure real life images.  We then began our final task for social studies, looking at a country near the equator and comparing it to Nunavut (what we have been studying for the past week together).  The students all got their groups and got to work - the enthusiasm the students projected in this activity was so amazing to see!


The students then had gym class and played soccer!  We then ended the day with our shared reading and then the students had some quiet reading time - perfect way to end the day :)


EXCITING NEWS - we received two flat friends today!  It was so much fun to read the adventures of these friends!  Hopefully we receive more in the mail very soon!  

Wow! It is already Wednesday - April 18

This week is flying by, I cannot believe it is already Wednesday.

The morning began a bit differently as we had our volunteer appreciation assembly :)  It was such a nice assembly to recognize our amazing volunteers.  The presentations put on by the students were so sweet - great job to all my students in primary choir!  After the assembly the students finished up their morning smiles and then we worked as a group to develop success criteria for writing a paragraph.  


After nutrition break the students had a mini quiz on the different simple machines.  We then had another fun math lesson in which we created our own measurement sticks!  The students then used these measurement sticks to measure different items around the classroom - they did such a great job.  The students should have brought home their measurement sticks to do their math homework for tonight.


Ms Fink and I enjoyed the students at recess (as we had duty) and it looked like everyone enjoyed getting outside and seeing the sunshine.  The students then had gym and they all came back with smiles on their faces and all tired (must have been fun).  We then read our shared reading together, a few quick stories, and then the students had reading buddies with our grade 5 friends.


The homework for tonight is to practice the spelling words and do the fun measurement work sent home in the mathtastic duotang!