Monday, November 5, 2012

Remembrance Day

This week we will be learning about the importance of Remembrance Day. I started by reading one of my favourite books aloud to the class. A Poppy Is to Remember calls to mind the rich symbolism of the poppy we wear so proudly on Remembrance Day... lest we forget.
 
 
Last week, we worked with our big buddies in division 2 to create a Remembrance Day wreath. We will be presenting our wreath at our school Remembrance Day assembly this Thursday afternoon. We will also be singing a song called "Peace In My Heart".
 
 
Our Remembrance Day Wreath
created by students in
Divisions 2 and 4
 

 
Remembrance Day Poppy Pictures
 by students in
 Division 4
 
 
 
Over the past few weeks, we've been learning about healthy eating practices as described in Canada’s Food Guide. We have learned to identify many different kinds of foods and classify them into the four major food groups. These food groups have included the dairy group, grain group, meat and alternatives, and fruits / vegetables. Today, we completed a balanced meal craftivity to demonstrate our learning. Students were required to create a healthy lunch that included at least one item from each of the four major food groups. After they had brainstormed their ideas, they drew and coloured their meals and then proceeded to cut them out and glue them on a paper bag to display. I quickly circulated the room to make sure their meals were balanced, and I am happy to report that everyone completed their projects perfectly.
 
 
A balance meal bulletin board display
and
a few close-ups.
 
 
 
- Mrs. Singh
 






Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween

Wasn't October just so much fun??? I love all the writing, science and art activities that this month allows to really get students super excited about learning! I mean..... who doesn't want to learn about nouns using Halloween creatures or about adjectives to describe witches and frankenstein? Did I mention experimenting with pumpkins and learning to make predictions while searching for a candy bandit?
 
We wrapped up our month of fun with a Halloween celebration. This morning we divided up into 4 groups and rotated through a variety of Halloween centres which included some Math number games, sticker patterning, Frankenstein ABC order, and a cute jack-o-lantern craftivity.
 
 
Halloween Centre Rotations
 

 
 After recess we watched a wonderful movie called "The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin". This movie is about a very unique pumpkin and delivers a special message of tolerance and self-acceptance. Next, several students chose to visit a fun and exciting haunted house put together by some wonderful parents. Finally after lunch, the entire school participated in a Halloween parade to show off our amazing costumes.
 

Little Red Riding Hood and Medusa

 
So many amazing costumes!



Such a fun day! AND...the kids couldn't have been more excited or thrilled about the whole thing! 
 
I hear few more trick-or-treaters knocking at my front door. Time for me to hand out the last of the Halloween candy. Hope you are enjoying your night of trick-or-treats!
Have fun and be safe!
 
- Mrs. Singh

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A Sneaky Visitor

Today started out just like any other day at school. We wrote our morning message in our planners, we talked a little bit about our expectations for Halloween and even completed a writing activity. This was just about the time when things got a little interesting. We decided to visit Mr. Mallinson's class to do a little Halloween poem writing but when we returned to class...

 
...the Candy Corn Bandit had been in our room and had taken all of our Halloween treats. In place of the treats was this little guy (see above), a note and some activity books with instructions for making predictions.
 
Where could he have taken our candy?
Was it in the library, the gym, in the school yard????
We quickly made our prediction and recorded them in the books the Candy Corn Bandit had left for us.
 

 
The only way to find out if our predictions were correct was to follow the clues left throughout the school by the Candy Corn Bandit himself.  The first clue had us turning our classroom upside down. We finally found the second clue taped to the bottom of a table. The second clue took us all the way to the gym, The third clue had us searching the playground and the fourth clue took us into the library. After reading the fifth and final clue, we predicted that the treats would be back in our class and when we got there.....
 
Yay! Success!
All our hard work paid off!
Our treats were safe and sound, ready for Halloween day!
 
Keep your eyes and ears opened. Halloween isn't over yet and you never know when he might come back for another visit or adventure.
 
 
 
Happy Halloween!
-Mrs. Singh


Friday, October 26, 2012

An Amazing Class

This post is purely to brag about the amazing kids I teach. First of all, we are only into the fifth week of our spelling program and already everyone is demonstrating so much improvement in their reading and writing. All your hard work definitely shows!
 
WAY-TO-GO Division 4!!!!!!!
 
Every week, the students are given several ideas for extra spelling help at home. One of the suggestions is to come up with their own creative and fun way to practise their words. Two of my lovely little leaders in grade two have surpassed my expectations the last two weeks and have come up with the coolest projects! The classroom has definitely been filled with many oooohhhhs and aaaahhhhhs! You can see their amazing work below.
 
 
Some "sweet spelling" cookies by the lovely Amy!
Amy also came up with the idea for "spicy spelling" and used white glue to write each of the spelling words on construction paper.
Then she sprinkled the glue with some delicious smelling spices. Unfortunately, my camera was not at school that day so I was unable to take a photo.
 


A spooky spelling graveyard and a spelling mobile by the sweet Alexis!
 
 
Wow! What creative ways to practise our words!
 
We wrapped-up our pumpkin study today by writing a pumpkin diamante poem. A diamante poem is a poem in the shape of a diamond. Each line uses specific types of words, like adjectives. It does not have to rhyme. After we completed our poem, we used chalk pastels to create these pumpkin patch scenes.
 
 
Can you say
AH-MAZ-ING!!!!
They are all so pretty!
 BEAUTIFUL!!!!
 
 
 

Have a great weekend everyone!
-Mrs. Singh