Oct. 26-30
It's Halloween week at GSP! We will be enjoying some Halloween themed activities throughout the week and have a little celebration on Friday.
Halloween Info:
Dress up: Students are welcome to wear costumes on the day of Halloween. We ask that costumes are age appropriate with no masks or weapons. Please have a costume that the students can put on quite independently, and if make up or similar is needed, that this is completed at home. In previous years, many families have opted to have their children wear an alternate costume, or a costume from a previous year, instead of the one they will wear trick or treating on Halloween night. This helps to avoid any disappointment should their costume accidentally get ripped, spilled on or forgotten at school on Friday. Please make sure that the costume allows for easy movement as students will still have recess and phys. ed - including our annual Spooktacular, Halloween themed movement activities in the gym.
Treats: Students are welcome to bring in treats for the class on Friday; though, there is certainly no expectation to do so. A friendly reminder that any treats brought in must be peanut and nut free.
Fundations: We are finishing up unit 2 and will be moving on to unit 3 later this week. I did not assign trick words for this evening and we will get our new ones at the beginning of the next unit.
Unit 3 concepts include - closed syllable exceptions:
/ild/ as in child /ind/ as in kind /old/ as in cold /olt/ as in colt /ost/ as in post
trick words: who, done, goes, pretty
Math: Addition strategy Partners for 10 (the numbers that go together to make 10). Continued practice on counting on (used when adding 1, 2 or 3) and and doubles facts up to 9+9. We will have ongoing review our hundreds charts - counting and noticing patterns in the chart. Ex. counting by 10s (moving up a column - minus 10 for each row) and down the column (add 10 for each row), and before and after numbers. We have been representing numbers with ten frames, tallies and base 10 blocks.
Writing: Small moments - zooming in and giving lots of details about an short event. We are learning to think about questions our readers might have to further expand our writing.
Notes:
Please pack any utensils that may be needed for lunch. This includes utensils for ordered lunches as they are not provided by the vendors.
Please send in a change of clothes for you child to keep in their backpack. These come in very handy if there are spills or slips into water or mud at recess time. We have had a number of students dig into their extra clothes bag already this year.
Have a fantastic week!
Oct. 19 - 23
Here's a look at our week:
Field trip: Our field trip to Cotton Park for outdoor learning activities is tomorrow and the weather looks like it is going to cooperate! Please ensure everyone is dressed for the crisp morning temperatures and is wearing footwear suitable for walking and playing. Students should also have snacks that will be easy to eat at the park. We will be back at the school in time for lunch.
Fundations: Continuing with Unit 2 -"glued" or welded sounds: am, an, ang, ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk.
- bonus letters. After a short vowel, the letters f, l and s get a bonus, or extra letter (ff, ll, ss). ex. stuff, will, miss
Trick words: shall, pull, full, both, walk, talk
(Trick words are words that don't follow the spelling rules - or those words for which we have not yet learned the spelling rule. )
Math: Addition strategy Counting On (used when adding 1, 2 or 3) and continued practice on doubles facts up to 9+9. We will continue to review our hundreds charts - counting and noticing patterns in the chart. Ex. counting by 10s (moving up a column - minus 10 for each row) and down the column (add 10 for each row), and before and after numbers. We have been representing numbers with ten frames, tallies and base 10 blocks.
L. Arts: Small moments - We are exploring small moments through mentor texts and using what we learn from these books in our own writing.
Small moments stories zoom in and share details of a single brief event. We think of big moments as watermelons and small moments as being the seeds.
Watermelon (Big Moment) Seed (Small Moment)
our trip to the zoo ------ when I got to hold the baby goat
my walk at the beach ____ when I lost my shoe in the waves
my soccer game ____ when our ball got lost in the bushes
Students are encouraged to collect tiny seed stories as ideas for possible future writing topics. Some practice retelling the story to recall details can be helpful. We are enjoying this unit!
Notes:
Please pack any utensils that may be needed for lunch. This includes utensils for ordered lunches as they are not provided by the vendors.
Please send in a change of clothes for you child to keep in their backpack. These come in very handy if there are spills or slips into water or mud at recess time. We have had a number of students dig into their extra clothes bag already this year.
Enjoy your week!
Oct. 13-16
Here's a look at our week:
Fundations: Beginning Unit 2 -"glued" or welded sounds: am, an, ang, ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk.
- bonus letters. After a short vowel, the letters f, l and s get a bonus, or extra letter (ff, ll, ss). ex. stuff, will, miss
Trick words: shall, pull, full, both, walk, talk
(Trick words are words that don't follow the spelling rules - or those words for which we have not yet learned the spelling rule. )
Math: We began our addition strategies with work on our doubles facts up to 9+9. We will continue to review our hundreds charts - counting and noticing patterns in the chart. Ex. counting by 10s (moving up a column - minus 10 for each row) and down the column (add 10 for each row), and before and after numbers. We have been representing numbers with ten frames, tallies and base 10 blocks.
L. Arts: We have begun our small moments writing unit. Small moments stories zoom in and share details of a single brief event. We think of big moments as watermelons and small moments as being the seeds.
Watermelon (Big Moment) Seed (Small Moment)
our trip to the zoo ------ when I got to hold the baby goat
my walk at the beach ____ when I lost my shoe in the waves
my soccer game ____ when our ball got lost in the bushes
Students are encouraged to collect tiny seed stories as ideas for possible future writing topics. Some practice retelling the story to recall details can be helpful. We are excited about this unit!
Notes:
Our Cotton Park field trip is scheduled for Thurdsday morning (rain date is Friday). Please pack snacks that will be easy to eat at the park. We will be back at the school in time for lunch.
Please send along any utensils that may be needed for lunch. This includes utensils for ordered lunches as they are not provided by the vendors.
Have a fantastic week!
Oct. 5-9
Welcome to our first official week of homework!
What does homework look like?
Nightly Reading: Each week, students will bring home their homework bag with a selection of reading materials. They are only expected to read one passage/book per night. Please have them record the name of the book they read in their homework log and the adult who listened to them can initial and leave a small comment. Homework book bags and logs should be packed in their school bags each evening and brought to school each day.
It is early in the school year and I am just getting to know your children as readers. Therefore, I am taking their grade one information and my own observations so far as I select reading material. Their homework reading may be too easy or too hard, but we will get them figured out with help from your comments and as I get a chance to read with them more. Their homework books are different from the books they will be reading in class and are intended to be read quite fluently with limited solving.
We are making the transition to using decodable books more often in grade 2. Decodable books are texts that use specific phonics skills students are learning to allow practice looking through words and blending the letter sounds and word chunks. Grade 2 currently has a limited selection of decodable books available for students to take home, so you may see books or decodable stories on paper. These will be sent home intermingled with traditional leveled texts and library books. Students will practice choosing “good fit” or “just right books”, an important skill we learn in grade 2. It can take some time to build independence in this area and they will continue to receive support as needed.
Practice trick words: Trick words are a part of our Fundations units. They are words that don't follow the spelling rules - or those words for which we have not yet learned the spelling rule. There is a spot in the homework logs for students to practice writing these words each evening. They can be practiced in other ways as well.
Math: I will share the concept or strategy we are working on in class on my site each week. Please spend some time reviewing these at home as math fact mastery provides an important foundation for later math learning. Practising math facts and strategies at home will help support your child mastering them. Home practice is intended to be fun and can be done on paper, whiteboard (My own kids loved using whiteboard markers on our patio doors.), with sidewalk chalk, chanting, singing, matching games and with quick questions in the car, while you pass in the hall or in response to a question – “Could you please pass the potatoes?” … “Sure. What is 6+6?” 🙂
*A note on homework: Homework should only take about 20 minutes. If it takes longer or becomes challenging, please let me know and we can work together to find a way to make things smoother.
Here is a look at our week:
Fundations - We will be finishing up Unit 1 and then beginning Unit 2.
Unit 1 Concepts: digraphs, consonant blends, digraph blends, spelling of the /k/ sound -c, -k, -ck, closed syllables. I have included a photo summary below for explanation. These are a review of grade one concepts.
Ex. When deciding whether to use c or k when spelling a word: If the /k/ sound is followed by a i or an e, use k.
ex. kit, kept
If the /k/ sound is followed by a, o or u, it is spelled with a c.
ex. cast, cop, cup
Use -ck when the /k/ sound is following a short vowel sound in a one syllable word.
ex. pack, deck, stick, sock, truck
Trick words: they, said, one, your, was
Next: Unit 2 concepts - Glued sounds - all, am, an ang ing ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk
Math - We are working with our hundreds charts - counting and noticing patterns in the chart. Ex. counting by 10s (moving up a column - minus 10 for each row) and down the column (add 10 for each row), and before and after numbers. We have been representing numbers with ten frames, tallies and base 10 blocks.
Notes:
October 8th - School photos for grade 2 English
Have a great week!