Hello Parents and/or Guardians,
I hope everyone is enjoying the winter weather we have been receiving. December has been quite a busy month and it will continue that way up until the Christmas Break. It is hard to believe that we only have one week of school left for the 2016 year.
St. John Paul II will be participating in many festive activities next week to celebrate the holiday season. Here is our schedule:
Monday
- Jersey/Sports Day (wear your favourite sports gear)
Tuesday
- Wear your Christmas sweater, shirt, or any apparel
- Our "Happy Birthday Jesus" luncheon
Wednesday
- PJ Day
- Advent Liturgy and Tableau (second block)
- Gingerbread House Activity (third block)
Thursday
- Wear your Christmas socks, Santa hats, or festive headbands
- Joy Day (half day - Christmas activities in classrooms)
Friday
- Red and Green Day
- Spirit Assembly (first block)
- Christmas Bingo (last block)
It should be a fantastic week! I hope all students will be able to attend school each day so that we may celebrate the holidays together!
Friday, 16 December 2016
Friday, 18 November 2016
November Updates
Hello Parents and Guardians,
November has been a busy month so far and time has been flying by quickly. Our class started a new math unit a few weeks ago which we are currently still working on. In addition, the month of November has some very special days which we have been focusing on in Religion class.
Thank you to those parents who were able to attend the Parent-Teacher Interviews last night. It was wonderful to meet you all and discuss your child's progress. If you were unable to attend the interview, I would love the opportunity to speak or meet with you. I will contact you to set up a time next week.
Here are a few reminders before I share what the class has been working on.
1. As the weather gets colder, please ensure your child is dressed appropriately. A warm jacket, boots, as well as a hat, scarf, and mitts are strongly encouraged. Just a reminder that students are not permitted on the field on wet or snowy days without boots and snow pants.
2. Students are encouraged to bring a healthy lunch along with at least two healthy snacks. We have some hungry friends in our class this year and they seem to eating their snacks at lunch therefore they have nothing to eat in the afternoon. The school does provide fruit each week for our class snack bins however once the fruit is gone, we have nothing left. Please ask your child if he/she has enough food to last the day. Sharing food is not encouraged for safely reasons. Thank you.
Language
Our focus in reading has been on retell. Students are learning to retell (or recount) a story using evidence from the text. Retelling events that occur that the beginning of the text, in the middle of the text, and at the end is our goal. Students are also learning the importance of a sequence of events.
In writing, the class is focusing on recounts. Students have been learning to recount events in their own lives (e.g., their weekend, Thanksgiving, Halloween) through incorporating various elements of recount writing such as including a sequence of events, sequence words, past tense verbs, etc. Below is a picture of our Success Criteria for Recount Writing.
Math
Our new focus in math has been on Number Sense and Numeration, specifically place value. The students have been learning to represent numbers in various ways such as standard form, expanded form, written form, and using base ten materials. In addition, students are learning how to compare and order numbers from least to greatest as well as greatest to least.
November has been a busy month so far and time has been flying by quickly. Our class started a new math unit a few weeks ago which we are currently still working on. In addition, the month of November has some very special days which we have been focusing on in Religion class.
Thank you to those parents who were able to attend the Parent-Teacher Interviews last night. It was wonderful to meet you all and discuss your child's progress. If you were unable to attend the interview, I would love the opportunity to speak or meet with you. I will contact you to set up a time next week.
Here are a few reminders before I share what the class has been working on.
1. As the weather gets colder, please ensure your child is dressed appropriately. A warm jacket, boots, as well as a hat, scarf, and mitts are strongly encouraged. Just a reminder that students are not permitted on the field on wet or snowy days without boots and snow pants.
2. Students are encouraged to bring a healthy lunch along with at least two healthy snacks. We have some hungry friends in our class this year and they seem to eating their snacks at lunch therefore they have nothing to eat in the afternoon. The school does provide fruit each week for our class snack bins however once the fruit is gone, we have nothing left. Please ask your child if he/she has enough food to last the day. Sharing food is not encouraged for safely reasons. Thank you.
Language
Our focus in reading has been on retell. Students are learning to retell (or recount) a story using evidence from the text. Retelling events that occur that the beginning of the text, in the middle of the text, and at the end is our goal. Students are also learning the importance of a sequence of events.
In writing, the class is focusing on recounts. Students have been learning to recount events in their own lives (e.g., their weekend, Thanksgiving, Halloween) through incorporating various elements of recount writing such as including a sequence of events, sequence words, past tense verbs, etc. Below is a picture of our Success Criteria for Recount Writing.
Just before Halloween we also touched on verbs and adjectives. To help students understand what an adjective is, I brought in a pumpkin and asked students to describe it using one word answers. We focused on how the pumpkin looks, feels, smells, sounds, and tastes. This activity will help us when we focus on descriptive writing in a few weeks.
Math
Our new focus in math has been on Number Sense and Numeration, specifically place value. The students have been learning to represent numbers in various ways such as standard form, expanded form, written form, and using base ten materials. In addition, students are learning how to compare and order numbers from least to greatest as well as greatest to least.
 |
| This picture shows different ways to represent numbers. |
 |
| This picture outlines the steps students can take in order to compare two or more numbers. |
The class also learned how compose and decompose numbers.
Science
The grade two students have learned alot about animals over the last few weeks. The boys and girls learned the difference between various animals and how they can classify them into the following various groups: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, and insects. We have also learned how animals grow, specifically looking into the life cycle of frogs, butterflies, and chickens. The video below is one we've watched in class which provides some simple facts about each animal type.
The grade three students have learned about the parts of a plant and flower as well as each of their functions. They have also learned about the life cycle of a plant, beginning with a seed. The video below demonstrates the life cycle of a flowering plant.
Religion
Our focus in November has been on All Saints Day which took place on November 1st. The class learned about what a saint is, why they are important, and why we celebrate All Saints Day. Remembrance Day has been a major focus this month as well. Much of our discussions and activities involved determining what peace means.
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| Our religious read alouds. |
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| Our poppy mosaic made from construction paper. |
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| After reading "The Peace Book," students brainstormed what peace meant to them and wrote their thoughts on a dove. |
Art
We have been learning about primary and secondary colours as well as the difference between warm colours (red, orange, yellow) and cool colours (green, blue, purple). The class learned about the artist, Ted Harrison, who draws and paints many pictures of the Yukon. He uses warm and cool colours to depict the land and sky. Please enjoy our masterpieces!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Long Overdue Updates
Hello Parents and/or Guardians,
It is hard to believe that we are well into October. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I know the students were eager to discuss their weekends when they arrived on Tuesday. The Grade 2/3 Class has been busy learning lots of new information, getting use to school rules and routines again, as well as making new friends.
Before I share what our class has been working on so far, I have a few updates to share:
1. Our Terry Fox Walk will take place tomorrow Friday October 14th during third block (weather permitted). Please go to School Cash Online to give permission and to make a $2.00 donation.
2. Raz Kids login information was sent home in your child's agenda. Students are encouraged to read for 20 to 30 minutes each night. The 'Reading Room' is where students can find books that are at their reading level.
3. Students were introduced to a math website called Prodigy Play which they have been enjoying using in class. The students explore different locations while answering grade appropriate math questions. I am able to create assignments that focus on topics we have been working on it class. If students complete those assignments, the systems generates other curriculum based questions in the various math strands. Usernames and passwords are also found in your child`s agenda.
4. Our class will be hosting the Thanksgiving Mass at our school on Wednesday October 19th. Many of our classmates will be reading various prayers and intentions as well as presenting gifts. If your child has a reading stapled in their agenda, please have them practice reading it aloud. Our Mass will take place during second block if you would like to attend.
Language
In Language we have been focusing on the Daily 5 centers. Currently, the students have learned about `Read to Self`` and `Work on Writing`. Essentially the class has learned how to read and write independently for a short period of time. We will be incorporating our focus in reading and writing into our centers. Please see our success criteria for our Daily 5 centers.
The class has also been learning about nouns. Nouns are parts of speech that are considered to be people, places, and things. The students are also learning about the difference between common and proper nouns.
Our focus in reading has been on `Making Connections.` Making connections is a reading strategy in which the children make a connection to their own knowledge and experience, to another text, and to the world around them in order to understand the text better. I read a lovely story in class titled `Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge` which is a about a boy trying to help an elderly lady find her memory. Students were encouraged to make connections to their own special memories. Please ask your child about this lesson.
Math
Our focus in Math has been on reading and interpreting graphs as well as creating graphs from tallies and survey results. Students have been learning about how to read and interpret data found in horizontal and vertical bar graphs, pictographs, and line plots. In addition, students have created a few survey questions, recorded their results using a tally chart, and displayed their results in various graphs. The class is working on coming up with conclusions based on data found in graphs. Reviewing math words such as horizontal, vertical, more than, less than, most, least, fewer, scale, and conclusions is encouraged.
Science
Our Science units are now under way and the students are very eager to learn alot of new information. We started our units by brainstorming things we already knew about plants and animals. Then we thought about questions we have about plants and animals that we would like answered. This led our grade 2 students to learn about butterflies as well a their life cycle. The grade 3 students were curious to learn about what plants need to grow (sunlight, warmth, space, air, water).
Our classroom library has been filled with non-fiction books in which the students can read during Read to Self time.
Religion
Our focus over the last few weeks has been on Thanksgiving. Students learned about what Thanksgiving is and why we celebrate it. In addition, we've discussed what we are thankful for and why. The class has also been preparing for our Thanksgiving Mass and learning to sing some new songs.
Physical Education
Through small group and larger group activities, students have learned how to participate actively, cooperatively, and safely. During the month of September, students participated in many icebreaker/cooperative games in order to get to know one another better. We reviewed how to travel safely, where to look when moving around in the gym, various boundaries, and well as important safety words. This week, students participated in two sessions of 'Golf in the Schools.' Students learned about various golf techniques such as how to stand, hold a club, swing, and hit the ball different ways. Lots of fun wad had by all!
Art
In Art, we have been learning about various lines (e.g., straight, wavy, vertical, horizontal, etc). In addition, the class learned about mosaics and were able to create their own acorn mosaic using construction paper. Please see our masterpieces below.
It is hard to believe that we are well into October. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I know the students were eager to discuss their weekends when they arrived on Tuesday. The Grade 2/3 Class has been busy learning lots of new information, getting use to school rules and routines again, as well as making new friends.
Before I share what our class has been working on so far, I have a few updates to share:
1. Our Terry Fox Walk will take place tomorrow Friday October 14th during third block (weather permitted). Please go to School Cash Online to give permission and to make a $2.00 donation.
2. Raz Kids login information was sent home in your child's agenda. Students are encouraged to read for 20 to 30 minutes each night. The 'Reading Room' is where students can find books that are at their reading level.
3. Students were introduced to a math website called Prodigy Play which they have been enjoying using in class. The students explore different locations while answering grade appropriate math questions. I am able to create assignments that focus on topics we have been working on it class. If students complete those assignments, the systems generates other curriculum based questions in the various math strands. Usernames and passwords are also found in your child`s agenda.
4. Our class will be hosting the Thanksgiving Mass at our school on Wednesday October 19th. Many of our classmates will be reading various prayers and intentions as well as presenting gifts. If your child has a reading stapled in their agenda, please have them practice reading it aloud. Our Mass will take place during second block if you would like to attend.
Language
In Language we have been focusing on the Daily 5 centers. Currently, the students have learned about `Read to Self`` and `Work on Writing`. Essentially the class has learned how to read and write independently for a short period of time. We will be incorporating our focus in reading and writing into our centers. Please see our success criteria for our Daily 5 centers.
The class has also been learning about nouns. Nouns are parts of speech that are considered to be people, places, and things. The students are also learning about the difference between common and proper nouns.
 |
| In this activity, students created a flip book about different kinds of nouns. |
Math
Our focus in Math has been on reading and interpreting graphs as well as creating graphs from tallies and survey results. Students have been learning about how to read and interpret data found in horizontal and vertical bar graphs, pictographs, and line plots. In addition, students have created a few survey questions, recorded their results using a tally chart, and displayed their results in various graphs. The class is working on coming up with conclusions based on data found in graphs. Reviewing math words such as horizontal, vertical, more than, less than, most, least, fewer, scale, and conclusions is encouraged.
Science
Our Science units are now under way and the students are very eager to learn alot of new information. We started our units by brainstorming things we already knew about plants and animals. Then we thought about questions we have about plants and animals that we would like answered. This led our grade 2 students to learn about butterflies as well a their life cycle. The grade 3 students were curious to learn about what plants need to grow (sunlight, warmth, space, air, water).
Our classroom library has been filled with non-fiction books in which the students can read during Read to Self time.
Religion
Our focus over the last few weeks has been on Thanksgiving. Students learned about what Thanksgiving is and why we celebrate it. In addition, we've discussed what we are thankful for and why. The class has also been preparing for our Thanksgiving Mass and learning to sing some new songs.
Physical Education
Through small group and larger group activities, students have learned how to participate actively, cooperatively, and safely. During the month of September, students participated in many icebreaker/cooperative games in order to get to know one another better. We reviewed how to travel safely, where to look when moving around in the gym, various boundaries, and well as important safety words. This week, students participated in two sessions of 'Golf in the Schools.' Students learned about various golf techniques such as how to stand, hold a club, swing, and hit the ball different ways. Lots of fun wad had by all!
Art
In Art, we have been learning about various lines (e.g., straight, wavy, vertical, horizontal, etc). In addition, the class learned about mosaics and were able to create their own acorn mosaic using construction paper. Please see our masterpieces below.
Have a great evening!
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
First Week of School
Hello Parents and/or Guardians,
We had a fantastic first week of school! The students arrived on Tuesday very eager to see their friends and find out who their teachers were. Our returning students have done a great job welcoming our new classmates to St. John Paul II and have been helping to model the rules and routines of our school.
The first week back at school is always a busy one, here are some highlights:
Language
Last week, we read many back to school books including "First Day Jitters." Students were able to make connections between the character's feelings and their own emotions in regards to the first day of school. We also spent some time sharing our summer memories
We had a fantastic first week of school! The students arrived on Tuesday very eager to see their friends and find out who their teachers were. Our returning students have done a great job welcoming our new classmates to St. John Paul II and have been helping to model the rules and routines of our school.
The first week back at school is always a busy one, here are some highlights:
Language
Last week, we read many back to school books including "First Day Jitters." Students were able to make connections between the character's feelings and their own emotions in regards to the first day of school. We also spent some time sharing our summer memories
To review some phonological awareness concepts, students identified the differences between vowels and consonants as well as syllables. To practise counting syllables, each student said their name aloud and the class counted the syllables in each of their classmates' names. To tie our math unit into our language lesson, we graphed how many syllables are in each name.
Math
The class got to know each other a little better after working on a 'Math All About Me' activity. Students represented their age, birth date, favourite number, number of pets, pets, number of lost teeth, and family members using various math equations (addition and subtraction).
Religion
We reviewed the concept of community and discussed how our classroom is a community of its own. Students also learned a bit about the various Church Seasons and the importance of our classroom prayer table.
Physical Education
The first week of gym activities included reviewing how to actively and safely participate in the gymnasium. Students are learning to work together through cooperative games.
Other things to note
1. On Friday morning, St John Paul II had our first liturgy of the school year. The focus of the liturgy was to welcome everyone back to school and teach the students and staff more about Saint John Paul II.
2. Please ask your children about "Beat the Teacher."
3. Our Program Night (Meet the Teachers) is tomorrow. Please join us in the gym at 6:00 pm.
4. Milk orders can be placed through School Cashonline.
5. Please complete the parent survey that was sent home on Friday. Thank you to those who have handed them in already.
6. A copy of my Welcome Newsletter was sent home on Friday as well but if you did not have a chance to read it, please click on the link below.
Thank you,
S. Perrone
Thursday, 8 September 2016
Welcome to a New School Year!
Hello Parents/Guardians and Students,
Welcome to a new school year! It is an absolute pleasure to have your child in our class. My name is Sara Perrone and I will be your child's teacher for this school year. Our class is a combined grade which means that we have both Grade 2 and Grade 3 students in our class. I am looking forward to working with you in partnership to ensure your child has an enjoyable and successful year in Grade Two or Three.
I will be using this blog to inform you of the curriculum expectations that the Grade Twos and Threes are working on, as well as weekly classroom activities, web-based resources, and any reminders about various school events. There is also a spot (right hand side) for you to follow our blog by e-mail.
A welcome letter will be sent home in your child's agenda on Friday outlining important information such as the class hours, the library and gym schedules, healthy lunches, suggested classroom materials, etc. In addition to a healthy lunch, students are encouraged to bring two healthy snacks to school each day. Please refrain from sending food to school that contains any nuts as we are a nut free school. As well, we have a student who is allergic to shellfish (crab, shrimp, lobster) so please refrain from including those food items in your child's lunch as well.
Please note that students must have a pair of indoor and outdoor shoes to change into at school and to participate in physical education activities in the gym.
I feel that an open line of communication between the parent(s), student, and teacher is very important. If you have any questions or concerns you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact me using your child's agenda or by calling the school at 613-744-3591.
I am looking forward to meeting you at our Program Night on Wednesday September 14th from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm!
Your partner in education,
Mrs. S. Perrone
Welcome to a new school year! It is an absolute pleasure to have your child in our class. My name is Sara Perrone and I will be your child's teacher for this school year. Our class is a combined grade which means that we have both Grade 2 and Grade 3 students in our class. I am looking forward to working with you in partnership to ensure your child has an enjoyable and successful year in Grade Two or Three.
I will be using this blog to inform you of the curriculum expectations that the Grade Twos and Threes are working on, as well as weekly classroom activities, web-based resources, and any reminders about various school events. There is also a spot (right hand side) for you to follow our blog by e-mail.
A welcome letter will be sent home in your child's agenda on Friday outlining important information such as the class hours, the library and gym schedules, healthy lunches, suggested classroom materials, etc. In addition to a healthy lunch, students are encouraged to bring two healthy snacks to school each day. Please refrain from sending food to school that contains any nuts as we are a nut free school. As well, we have a student who is allergic to shellfish (crab, shrimp, lobster) so please refrain from including those food items in your child's lunch as well.
Please note that students must have a pair of indoor and outdoor shoes to change into at school and to participate in physical education activities in the gym.
I feel that an open line of communication between the parent(s), student, and teacher is very important. If you have any questions or concerns you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact me using your child's agenda or by calling the school at 613-744-3591.
I am looking forward to meeting you at our Program Night on Wednesday September 14th from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm!
Your partner in education,
Mrs. S. Perrone
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