Wednesday November 30th 2016
This morning students wrote "Advent celebration tomorrow at 2" in their agendas. There is a possibility that the grade 1 students wrote something different, due to the hectic classroom switching this morning for our five senses field trip!
There was not a single bloc of the day (except lunch) that the grade 1's and 2's were together! It was quite interesting, and fun to be able to teach 10 students at a time!!
Throughout the first 6 blocs of the day, grade 1's learned about their five senses with the hands-on sciences field trip, they participated to 5 different centres: one of sound, one of sight, one of touch, one of taste and one of smell. It seems that it was quite fun!While they were not participating to the hands-on field trip, they were in class with either Mme Pamela or Mme Ruel, doing their agenda message, morning message/calendar, social studies (Re-visiting the rights of a child), and enjoying an extra gym bloc with Mme Harding.
Grade 2's had a very learning filled day.
First thing this morning, we did our regular daily 5, and morning message. Following this, I asked the class what a liquid was, few responses were given: it's something that's wet, milk and juice are liquids. I then gave the class 6 different containers, each filled with a different liquid. They were asked to smell the liquid, watch the liquid move and just explore it in general. I then asked them to explain the differences between the 6 liquids... Some students noticed the difference in color (water is clear, ketchup is not), others noticed some smelt better than others. Finally I placed the liquids in groups: viscous (slow moving) and non-viscous (fast moving). We talked about the word viscocity... The class was then asked to predict the level of viscocity of each liquid (speed). I then placed each liquid on a sheet of aluminium, and they were asked to count how much time it took to go from point A to point B! We reviewed what we learned.
Following this, we learned a little trick for differentiating the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's (when you hear them and write them)... Check out this document for further explanation. Les soixantes-dix et quatre-vingt-dix Tomorrow I will review it.
After small recess and snack, the grade 2's discussed the preparations they had made before going to Meteghan (packing their suitcase according to the weather, figuring out how they would get there etc). I printed off a fake airplane ticket for each child, and they were all "welcomed aboard Air Canada" we watched the safety video, and watched an air view of a real flight between Edmonton and Halifax NS. We then "drove" to Meteghan using our maps. Once we arrived there, we looked for our hotel, we checked out our ocean-side view, and enjoyed our arrival. Following our adventure, using our Venn-diagram, we compared St. Albert and Meteghan (What kinds of natural resources exist in the communities ? What are the occupations in each of the communities? What kinds of goods and services are available in the communities?). Tomorrow we will begin to learn about the Early Day's in Meteghan.
Grade 2's enjoyed gym with Mme Harding.
This afternoon, the grade 2's had two blocs of gym, during which time the grade 1's did their daily 5, followed by a lesson on story writing. We talked about how great writers need to think about three parts to a story, a beginning, middle and an end. They then started to write their own stories.
Grade 1's then had a turn in music, and grade 2's learned about the Writing Diamond: Quality writing is like a fine gem....
Diamonds are valued for their quality and brilliance. They are rated on the four characteristics of color, clarity, cut, and carat weight (the 4 c’s!). Good writing is also valued for its quality! We can compare quality writing to a fine gem. u Color is added to our writing through description and elaboration. u Clarity comes through effective word choice, allowing the reader to understand what we have written. u Cut is achieved by knowing what to leave out and what to include in a story. u Carat weight—be sure to “weigh” and compare the various story elements for an effective whole. Color + Clarity + Cut + Carat weight = Brilliance! -The most wonderful writing lessons ever.
Grade 2's then began to focus more on the beginning portion of the diamond: the exciting beginning.