January 25th, 2018

Dear Parents,

Below is an overview of our learning last week and this week.

Math
In math we have been working hard to tell the time. Last week students were given 2 days to create their own schedule and manage their time wisely. It gave them the opportunity to carry out their day in the order that they liked, as well as giving them greater independence on when classes should start and finish. This week we have been estimating time, having quizzes (The students love getting into groups and working together to solve time based problems), and creating a given time. The skills we need to master in Grade 2 within this topic is telling time to the closest minute. Most students are very good at doing this, therefore, we have been extending our skills by learning different ways to say the time - quarter past, half past, and quarter to. We have also been adding a certain amount of time to a given time, for example - If it is 10.05am right now, what will the time be in 25 minutes from now?

Please note that you can extend your child's IXL skill level by pressing onto Grade 3, 4, 5 etc. I always try to extend students in class who are reaching the math standards for our grade level.

**If our calculations are right we will be celebrating 100 days of school on Monday 5th of Feb (counting the snow days). Students can be creative and bring in 100 of something on that day.

Unit
Last week, the students worked very independently to create their science projects. I was very impressed with the range of experiments this year. The students followed the scientific procedure with great accuracy, and were able to present their work in a variety of ways. I am really proud of how far our class has come this year. The thinking skills that P2 now shows is such a huge progression compared to the beginning of the year. We started our brand new unit this week, and again, the students thinking, questioning, and discussions are showing more depth. It is very exciting! Our new unit is all about role models. We have been talking about how every single student in P2 can change the world if they put their mind to it whether it be big or small. My aim is for our class to take action in some way or another and the students are already suggesting some great ideas.

Central idea; People are admired for different reasons and can encourage us to take action.

Literacy
We have been using pictures to prompt story ideas. The students loved creating a spooky story by using a spooky picture to help inspire them. There were many great ideas. As we have now started the new semester, I will be doing some reading tests and words-their-way testing (spelling) to check on our progress. I would just like to remind you that your child should be doing some reading each night as it can really make a difference to their learning. Reading for 20 minutes a day can expose a child to 1,800,000 words a year. If a student reads for 5 minutes a day it can expose them to 282,000 words a year, and reading just 1 minute a day exposes them to just 8,000 words a year. If you don't have access to books, your child can use the school library, classroom library, or Raz-Kids. 


Enjoy your long weekend and I will see you on Monday.