It was a busy week finishing up projects and bringing Grade 2 to a close. Students had researched ecosystems with a group and practiced presenting last week. This week, each group presented their information to the class. They were very confident and knowledgeable speakers. At the end of each presentation, students gave compliments and suggestions for things they could try next time. To wrap up the school year and our unit six, students chose their own way to present what they had learned during this unit. There were some students who made paper books. Others created slide shows on the computer. Other students drew and labeled pictures or used the iPads to create stop motion videos. There was wonderful thinking happening all week and it was a great way to see students expressing themselves and their ideas confidently and in a way that was best for each individual. Wednesday afternoon was fun as all Grade 2 classes gathered in the MPR after lunch to celebrate our wonderful year together. Students played a group game where they needed to roll the dice in order to collect all parts for a beetle. It was an exciting and fun game! After a few rounds, students were free to snack on the food parents brought (thank you!) and then played games students brought from home. It was a fun and relaxing afternoon and a great way to celebrate the year together. Thanks to all the parents who were able to attend! On the last day of school, we enjoyed a morning assembly, with performances by the Ukulele club (well done, James!), the choice and dancers. After wishing students a happy summer birthday, we sang the school song to our classmates who were leaving. To finish the assembly, we surprised Mr. Pinchbeck with a flash mob dance the students had been practicing in music class. Back in the classroom, we finished the day with a few rounds of math Bingo and a dance using GoNoodle. It has been a fantastic year working with these kind, thoughtful, confident young thinkers. I wish everyone all the best in Grade 3 and look forward to seeing their smiling faces back in August. To Alik and James, you will be missed! Keep in touch and please come and visit. Have a fantastic, fun and relaxing summer! Ms. Luttrell
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Our last full week has been busy. Students had their last swim lessons on Monday, last Library class on Thursday and last Art lesson on Thursday. In math, we spent time consolidating our understanding of multiplication and division. Students played different math games after exploring the connection between the two concepts.
In literacy, students have been finishing up writing about ecosystems and many have continued with free writing, making books, posters, presentations and cards. We continued to explore imbalance in ecosystem and read the book, What if there were no bees? To finish the week, students worked with their research groups to practice organising their presentation. They will present about their ecosystems next week. We also had fun signing each others' year books and brought these home Friday afternoon. Events/Reminders: Swim Gala is Monday, 6 June. Please let the school know if your child will not be picked up at the pool, as it is a half day. See Mr. Pinchbeck's blog for more information. Next Tuesday is our last Music lesson and Wednesday will be the last Mandarin class. There are no more Words Their Way lists going home and we will be collecting all home readers next Monday. There will also not be any more home learning for the remainder of the school year. Wednesday at 1pm, all Grade 2 classes will celebrate their year together in the MPR. Students will participate in some organised large group games, as well as small group board games. Students may also bring additional board games to play (if it's okay with Mum and Dad). If you would like to bring a healthy snacks for students to share, please click the link for a sign-up sheet. Parents are more than welcome to join in this fun afternoon! Have a great weekend, Ms. Luttrell In math, we've been looking at the concepts form and function: What is multiplication? How does it work? We've used manipulatives such as counters and dice to help us understand the connection between multiplication and repeated addition. Most students have developed a solid understanding of how to show multiplication in different ways, including arrays, repeated addition, and 'groups of' objects. Students played dice games to created arrays. We also went on an array hunt around the room and wrote multiplication sentences. Next week, students will continue with some multiplication games, to consolidate their understanding. We also spent some time exploring division. Many students made the connection to fractions and equal grouping. We got up and moved ourselves around into different groups, exploring possible combinations. Some students noticed that certain numbers divided equally and others had some left over, which made uneven groups.
On Friday, students worked independently to complete the word problem: A class of 25 students is going on a field trip to a science museum. They plan to visit the exhibits in small groups of 2, 3 or 4 students, along with a chaperone (grown up). What is the fewest (smallest) number of chaperones (grown ups) they will need? During unit of inquiry and literacy, students have been working hard to take their research notes and turn these into complete sentences. We looked at different types of informational writing, including many unit related books. Students decided it's best to start with a description of their ecosystem and then give facts, including details, about the animals, habitats and plants. Along with their informational writing, students have been creating a large picture of their ecosystem, with labels and arrows showing the interconnectedness. Next week, we will begin to look more closely at interdependence and imbalance, focusing on the concepts of change and causation. Students will also work on developing their presentation skills before presenting their findings to the class. Many students brought in books for the book swap, which is very exciting! Friday was the last day to do so, as they will be sorted on Monday. On Tuesday, students will receive tickets based on the number and types of books they brought in for the swap. After lunch, students who brought in books will head to the MPR to swap their tickets for books. Events/Reminders:
Have a wonderful and relaxed weekend, Ms. Luttrell We shared our math thinking from the previous week, regarding multiplication and division. Students also worked with partners to look up the words multiply/multiplication and divide/division. We then continued exploring these ideas in order to develop a better understanding of these concept. We looked at arrays and repeated addition this week. Students also played math games using dice to practice doubling and halving. We will continue looking at the relationship between repeated addition and multiplication next week. Some students also realised it didn't matter if we were making an array with 5 rows of 3 or 3 rows of 5. The words 'commutative property' were introduced as well. "We played some math games. It was fun. We also watched Brain Pop videos." - Odemar "This week we started looking at arrays. An Array is a group of things that are sorted. We also watched Brain Pop videos and played a game about arrays." - Marin "Today we learned math. In math, we did math games and we learn what an array is." - Alik "I like math because math is good and help." - Valencia "I liked learning about animals habitats." - Advay We continued working on independence during Daily 5. Some students had difficulty remembering what their job was during each task, so we spent a few days reviewing and practicing what each entailed. Students received a new word list, and will have this same list for next week. One more list will be sent home before the end of the school year. Some students have been working on slide shows and stories using the Chromebooks during 'Work on Writing.' A few students are putting together their own presentations to share with the class, too. We look forward to viewing this in the next few weeks. During UOI, students finished researching and met with their group to compile and organise their research data. We also watched a few Brain Pop videos about habitats and ecosystems. Next week, groups will create a drawing of their ecosystem and work on a presentation to share this information with the class. We also began talking about the balance in ecosystems and what happens to cause imbalances. Please remember that swimming is on Tuesday. Next week, students are encouraged to bring books for the book swap. There will be a box in the classroom where they can be placed. The following Tuesday, 31 June, students will visit the MPR to choose a new book. As a reminder, all Grade 2 classes will celebrate their year together in the MPR on Wednesday, June 8th at 1pm. Students will participate in some organised large group games, as well as small group board games. Students may also bring additional board games to play (if it's okay with Mum and Dad). Attached is a link for a sign-up sheet to bring healthy snacks for students. Please write in your name/child's name in the cell beside the chosen contribution. Parents are more than welcome to join in this fun afternoon! Have a great weekend, Ms Luttrell We finished up fractions this week and started exploring our ideas about multiplication and division. We will be investigating theses concepts until the end of the year. It was interesting to watch and listen to students as they worked on the following tasks: 1. Think about the words multiply and multiplication. Draw how you think this might look. 2. Think about the words division and divide. Draw how you think this might look. 3. When might we multiply and divide? Draw or write your ideas. Our warm up this morning was: Not counting today, we have 4 more weeks of school. The last day of school is a Thursday. How many school days do we have left? Almost everyone figured out we have 19 school days left, but there were many different approaches used - multiplication, repeated addition, pictures, adding to groups of ten or nearly 10 and then adding those together, etc. Students have been busy researching using Brain Pop Jr., some other websites and books checked out from the library. They are in groups of two or three, and have started recording information about certain habitats and ecosystems. We will finish up our research next week, meet with group members and compile and organise information. In the upcoming weeks, we will begin to look at decomposers, producers and consumers and the impact they have on each other. Students will be working on presentation skills throughout this unit, and be presenting their final thoughts and summative projects related to their research in a few weeks. Many students have changed their reading goals this week, and continue to identify a strategy to work on during Read to Self. Some students have chosen to work in partners to write stories, and they are developing some very creative ideas about characters and problems. We also spent some time adding pictures to our paper portfolios and reflecting on some of our unit 5 and math work recently. Upcoming Events:
Have a great weekend! Ms. Luttrell We had a somewhat short week, without school on Monday. Tuesday was a busy day with music class in the morning and swimming in the middle of the day.
We continued to explore poetry, and looked at Haikus. In groups, students figured out the pattern to these types of poems and began to create their own. Some found it tricky to make sense using only three lines with five, then seven and five syllables again. We will continue exploring different types of poetry next week. Students were also given a writing prompt, using a picture of three penguins. Most of these stories have been completed, and students used a writing checklist to look at the 6 traits (ideas, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions and organization) when revising and editing. We used some games online to help consolidate our understanding of fractions this week. We will have a few days of fraction work next week, which will lead into division and multiplication. Many students are already making the connection between fractions and division. As we jumped into this next unit, we explored what living things are and what all living things need. There were some interesting debates on whether or not a rock was alive. We also discussed fruit, and many students came to the conclusion that while fruit is on a tree, it is living. Once picked, it isn't alive anymore and eventually will die or rot. We also explored habitats this week and watched a Magic School Bus episode to help in our understanding. On Thursday, as we were just about to go outside for a living things scavenger hunt, it began to pour. This will take place next week when the sun is shining again. On Friday, we visited the McRitchie Reservoir and explored this ecosystem, looking at different organisms and their habitats. We saw birds, insects, butterflies, monkeys, a monitor lizard and a turtle. Students recorded their observations and at the end of the day, completed a field trip reflection on their online portfolios. What a fun way to end the week! Have a relaxing weekend. Ms. Luttrell This week, we continued with fractions in math and poems and story writing using a picture prompt in Daily 5. We also began our new unit, Sharing the Planet. Kid Quotes: "I liked when we learned the fractions like whole, half, quarter." - Lizzie " I liked Grade 6 buddies. I learned about the word 'ecosystem'." - Odemar " I liked Grade 6 buddies. I learned about the word 'habitat'." - Hakim "This week I learned about fractions. At each table there were some questions. Then we figured it out." - Marin "I learned about fractions." - Joe "I liked the fraction problems."- Jasmine "My favorite thing is I got the certificate! Today we learned about our new unit." - Alik "I liked Grade 6 buddies." - James "I like that we are learning about poems. P.S. I like that they rhyme." - Tudor "I learned about fractions. Fractions are like having two sides. For example, it's like two children share a cookie. 1 cookie. They split it in half. So it's 1/2." - Rajananta "I liked learning about the word 'balance'. It was fun about writing and drawing." - Advay "I liked learning fractions with Ms. Luttrell." - Kento "I liked to make a long story. I learned how to make the correct sound." - Valencia "I liked Grade 6 buddies. I learned lots of fractions. I also enjoyed it." - Kaya Some Reminders: Field Trip: We will be going on a field trip next week, Friday 6 May to MacRitchie Reservoir. We are inquiring into living things and their ecosystems. A letter went home via email (and paper copy with each child) on Friday, 29 April. We will be leaving between 8:15 and 8:30 after students have eaten their snack. When we arrive back at school, lunch will be eaten in the classroom. There is no cost for the trip. We look forward to a fun filled day. More information is included in the letter sent home. Swimming: As a reminder, PE is not taking place on Monday or Fridays. Instead, students will have a double block of swimming on Tuesdays after playtime. Please remember all necessary items for these lessons each Tuesday. Please remind your children to use their own towels and combs in order to stop the spread of head lice during this time. No School: Monday, 2nd May Have a great, long weekend! Ms. Luttrell What a busy week it has been! We kicked off the week with student led conferences. It was wonderful to see and listen to the students taking so much pride in their learning, explaining themselves and showing all they've learned so far this year. I am so proud of the students for their commitment shown this week. They persevered and demonstrated responsibility for organizing their unit 5 pieces into a display for the Art Gallery. They also worked hard together to create and practice their assembly presentation. A copy of the presentation can be viewed here. The pictures below are from the last few weeks. Please enjoy! Well done Grade 2.1 and thank you to everyone who came to Student Led Conferences, the art gallery and/or the assembly. Our assembly video can be viewed below. Have a very relaxing weekend! Ms Luttrell Our next unit on fractions began this week. Students started with three different tasks: 1. Think about something that is whole. Now think about part of that whole thing. Draw how you think this looks. 2. Think about the word equal. Draw how you think equal sharing looks. 3. When and where do we share things equally? Draw or write your ideas. We then moved onto discussing the vocabulary words: whole, part and equal. Students used paper to fold, and we found ourselves noticing one whole equals two halves. As we continued folding, students noticed a pattern - each time the spaces were doubling. We've started talking about fourths, and many students noticed that four fourths make one whole. We also spent some time looking at three different ways a square could be cut into quarters. We had on quarter in the shape of a square, one in the shape of a rectangle, and one in the shape of a triangle. Students' job was to prove that these were the same size (equal), even though they were different shapes. It was wonderful to watch and hear discussions and group work as students used different strategies and shared their thinking. We will continue exploring patterns in the next few weeks. During unit of inquiry, students created a story board with a team. They then brought in props or made props with their team our of Lego and playdough. Mr. Gallagher came in to help us with our stop motion movies. Most groups had finished by Friday and these stories will be shared through our You Tube channel next week. Students have also started researching an artist of their choice. We are using the Chrome books and recording information found and sources used. Hopefully this research will be rewritten in the form of sentences by next Friday, for our Art Gallery. We spent some time reviewing the Learner Profile and working on our assembly for next Friday. Grade 2.1 is tying in the Learner Profile attributes with art, in a way where we can express ourselves and share a message with the school. A few reminders: Student Led Conferences are next Tuesday, 19 April. Sign up information has been emailed home by Mr. Pinchbeck and Mr. Gallagher. Please make sure you sign up for 1 time slot by indicating your child's name. There is room for four students in each time slot. Your child will take you on a tour of the classroom and have a few activities to do with you, including looking at portfolios. You may also visit some of the specialists. There will be a book fair in the library on Tuesday, 19 April from 8:30-4pm. Students will have brought home a leaflet on Friday, which has just a selection of what will be available on the day. However, if anyone cannot attend the fair, the books in the leaflet may be ordered from the book fair organisers as per instructions at the top of the leaflet. The closing date for orders will be Tuesday, 26 April at 3pm. Grade 2.1 will be presenting at the assembly next Friday, 22 April. Please feel free to join us at 1pm in the MPR! Each Grade 2 classroom will be having a small 'Art Gallery' on Friday, 22 April from 8:30-9:30. Parents are invited to join us to observe some of the students work related to our unit and lines of inquiry. There will be pieces of work the students have responded to, evaluated and created. Please feel free to stop by any time between 8:30 and 9:30 next Friday morning. As of the week of April 18, students will have swimming on Tuesdays. This means PE on Mondays and Fridays will not be happening. However, we will not be having swimming on April 19, because it is SLC. Therefore, students will not have any sort of PE next week. Swimming days will be: April 26, May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. The Swim Gala is on June 6. More information will be coming home soon about the Swim Gala. Have a wonderful weekend, Ms. Luttrell Welcome back from a long and hopefully restful break! Students were refreshed and eager to see their friends. We spent some time Tuesday catching up, discussing our holidays and sharing with each other. Then we jumped back into where we left off before the break. I was impressed with how focused the students were in most of the activities. In math, we continued patterns and reviewed the word 'difference'. We made the connection that skip counting by 2 meant the numbers in the sequence all had a difference of 2. Students practiced with different tasks to show their understanding. We also had some challenge problems throughout the week which stretched our thinking! During Unit of Inquiry and Daily 5, we have been making connections between an author's purpose and an artist's purpose. We looked at different books, discussed their purposes and examined various pieces of art. We spent some time evaluating different pieces of art, and writing our own thoughts about certain pieces. We explored story mountains to help us understand the necessary parts of a story. Students came to the conclusion that most fiction stories must have some sort of problem - otherwise the story wouldn't be very interesting! Keeping story mountains in mind, students created a story map, where they thought of the characters, setting, problem and solution for their own story. Then they used this information to create their own story using only pictures, such as the book, Journey. Next week, students will trade stories and then write the text to accompany them. At Friday's assembly, we had a house team event where grade levels and houses competed in different 'Minute to Win It' activities! It was an exciting afternoon full of dice balancing, ball bouncing and running. A few notes and upcoming events:
* Student led conferences are on Tuesday, 19 April. More information about signing up for times will be coming home shortly. As a reminder, there is no school this day. * Grade 2.1 will be presenting at the assembly on Friday, 22 April. Please feel free to join us at 1pm in the MPR! * Each Grade 2 classroom will be having a small 'Art Gallery' on Friday, 22 April from 8:30-9:30. Parents are invited to join us to observe some of the students work related to our unit and lines of inquiry. There will be pieces of work the students have responded to, evaluated and created. More information will be coming home shortly. * As of the week of April 18, students will have swimming on Tuesdays. This means PE on Mondays and Fridays will not be happening. However, we will not be having swimming on April 19, because it is SLC. Therefore, students will not have any sort of PE this week. Swimming days will be: April 26, May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. The Swim Gala is on June 6. Again, more information will be coming home soon. Have a great weekend, Ms. Luttrell |
AuthorWe are 7 and 8 year old students who live in Singapore. Our teacher, Ms. Luttrell, will be helping us write blog posts throughout the year! Archives
June 2016
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