Grade 1/2 room 3: October 2014

Happy Halloween!

Dear parents and guardians,

Wow, this last week has definitely been a busy one. We have had so many events and fun-filled activities.

Before I get into the overview of our week, there are just a few things I want to inform you on.
Your children were sent home today with a permission form for our upcoming field trip to the Royal Winter Fair on November 10th. The cost of this trip is $20.00 and includes admission and transportation. We contemplated bringing the cost down by taking public transit, but we felt a little uneasy about using this means of transportation to take 70 students down to the Exhibition Grounds.

Next week I will be sending a monthly calendar home with your students so you can have an overview of our month to come. Here are some important dates to be aware of in the meantime:
November 10 - Report cards go home. Grade 2 Science projects due. Field Trip to the Fair
November 11 - Remembrance Day and assembly
November 13 - Progress Report Parent-Teacher Interviews
November 14 - PA Day - Interviews in the morning
November 21 - Pizza Lunch
November 28 - Character Traits Assembly - Empathy

Also, with the weather approaching winter, it means that our conditions outdoors are not suitable for just one pair of shoes. If you have not already (which mostly everyone has), please ensure that each student has a pair of indoor and outdoor shoes.

I forgot to mention in the previous post that we changed our table groups last week. The boys and girls were handed out post-it notes in which they specified two people that they would like to sit with. I sat down and looked at their requests and tried to accommodate them.
Almost everyone in the class got to sit with at least one person that they requested.
Table groups will change every 4-6 weeks so that everyone can get a chance to work with someone in their class. We follow tribes agreements and part of that is creating a team name.

Halloween Note: I would like to wholeheartedly thank all of the parents that sent in treats for our party this afternoon. It was a huge success - this is a result of your generosity. Thank you kindly.
I officially begin a detox tomorrow!!!!! lol

Student of the week: Alexandros. Congratulations!!!

Character Traits recipients of Responsibility: Congratulations to Dimitri, Alex, and Jonathon.

Dear Parents, I indicated in the assembly that I wish I had 21 certificates to honor each and every single student in Room 3. I do not know how I got so lucky to have this amazing group of individuals. They are the most responsible group of students I have ever seen. They seldom need reminders. After reviewing our expectations at the start of the year, I have rarely had to repeat anything. They take ownership of their belongings, they work hard at maintaining the classroom, they exemplify what teamwork is and should look like, they remind each other about chores, they fulfill their class jobs....and they even do jobs which they are not assigned to. On Wednesday afternoon my heart melted when they turned their desks around on their own (for Greek school) and put their caddies away. Once again on Thursday morning (I forgot), but they headed to the closet and brought out their group caddies. Another example was today when we invited Room 2 to come join our Halloween party - I could not help but sit back in awe and admiration watching the kids remind the others to not make a mess.
I am not just saying this.....your children are amazing!!! I absolutely adore them. They make my days at work not even seem like work. Your children are clearly a great representation of the parenting and values that you have instilled in them. :-)

Overview of our week:

Language:

In Language the boys and girls of Room 3 completed the good copies of the stories they drafted last week. We also moved from retells to procedural writing. This follows the same sentence starters of first, then, next and finally. As a class we collaboratively wrote a procedural writing anchor chart on how to do a fire drill. Ms. Ritsakis and I booked that staffroom and on Wednesday morning we all made caramel apples and then wrote about them in the afternoon. Let me tell you, the staffroom got quite warm with 42 little bodies and 2 teachers facilitating the creation of caramel apples.
We first discussed our ingredients (caramel apple powder, milk, sugar, sprinkles, chocolate, cookies, apples). After making our caramels apples, we wrote about them.
Below you will see a picture of our shared writing on the whiteboard, followed by a class picture of each student holding up their own work.
During our shared writing, one student came up and wrote one part of the procedure on the whiteboard. After all four parts of the procedure were complete, we brainstormed other words that we could use in our own work. Students were then sent off to write about the procedures using their own words. On Thursday the caramel apples came home.
Also, we have started our Guided reading groups. These are the small groups of about 3-5 students (that share the same or similar reading levels), that I meet with during independent reading. This week I got to see two groups. Each student knows their group number. I love guided reading!

An important lesson that we had was talking about the way that we earn marks in the class and how we can ensure that we earn the highest mark. We discussed that all tasks are marked using a 4 level system with 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest. This was compared to going to an ice cream store and asking for a sundae with the works on it. A level 1 answer is getting just a cup with a spoon; level 2 is getting a cup, spoon and one scoop of ice cream; level 3 is getting the cup, spoon, two scoops of ice cream and hot fudge on top; level 4 answer has everything that the level 3 has, but it also includes sprinkles and a cherry. I started this comparison but the boys and girls created all the definitions of the other levels. We even talked about getting a 4+, 4, 4-, 3+, 3, 3-. I think they got a good grasp of how the grading system that we use. We will constantly refer back to this, but this was a good starting point. Grade 2 students can see a rubric that shows the way their project will be assessed. The important thing is having students know why they get the mark they get, and it helps them work towards the mark that they want to achieve. It is an authentic form of assessment.

Math:

In Math we had a few hands on activities. We used a lot of flash cards (five and ten frame cards that have a pre selected amount of counters on them) that helped students recognize how many counters were in each frame, and how many more are needed to fill the frame. These activities really help with addition and subtraction of numbers. We also looked at dominoes, explored mental math strategies and played a game with number cards that needed to be matched with the corresponding number written out in words.

Science:

In Grade 2 Science we looked at adaptations; particularly desert adaptations. We also had the chance to visit the library and sign out books on animals for the research project.
Before heading to the library we had a lesson on how we determine if a non fiction book is suitable for us. We learned about the table of contents, the glossary and index.

Art:

In Art we completed the background (grass) of our pumpkin patch. The artwork is complete. I just need to record their mark, post them on black construction paper and then send them home. They are unbelievable and I am sure you will think so too.

Library Grand Opening and Class Pumpkin Silent Auction:

Thank you to all the parents that attended the Grand Opening of the Library and for touring around to see and bid on the class pumpkins of Presteign Heights.
The murals in the library are truly masterpieces. Every single staff member worked hard in trying to bring life to the library. For those that visited, you may have noticed that one wall was left white. This was intentional and it will soon display one canvas that each class will create.

The class pumpkin creations and silent auction was a big hit. I was so happy to bring this idea forward, as it had every class of Presteign on board to work towards the same goal and task. Everyone was excited and the result was great. All the money earned from the silent auction will go back into the library.
Room 3 Pumpkin: The idea for our class pumpkin came from our class vote. It was a tossup between another idea that the whole class saw on pinterest, however the size of our pumpkin was not suitable for that creation. Instead our class voted on the spider web. This pumpkin was very fitting for us because we really do work like a team in everything we do. Alexandros made a beautiful connection - he said Ms. Nikoletopoulos, this web is like the web activity we created at the start of the year that showed how each of us holds one important piece of the web to keep it together. From there it became clear that this really should be the design of our pumpkin. Every student created one spider and we put it on the pumpkin. There were 21 spiders on our pumpkin with one more as the teacher facilitating these wonderful little minds.
Thank you to everyone who bid on our pumpkin and to Mrs. Tzortzis for being the recipient to take it home.

Halloween Party:

Below you will see plenty of pictures highlighting several of the events that we had today. From the class parade, to our class party - this day was truly a memorable one.
Our party was well executed, organized and truly fun. Each student had a different name on their desk from, ghost, princess, witch, monster, superhero, and pumpkin. I chose one name without looking and this is how we moved around the classroom. For example, if I called pumpkin, there would be one student from each table group that would be at the back selecting their treats. We followed this rotation and it was seamless.
An additional example is that I promised each student that I would bring them a gourd (you will see them all lined up on the round table). I chose a name without looking and those students were first in selecting the gourd of their choice. They got to do whatever they wanted with their gourds - some painted them and some just left them the way they were.
Each group also had a mini pumpkin. The group was supposed to work together to come up with a way to decorate their pumpkin and to give it a name. Once they finished, they had one person introduce their pumpkin name, explain the idea behind it and tell us if they thought they worked well together as a team. After each group presented, I chose another name (in this case it was all the Princesses of the group) and they were the ones that got to take the pumpkin home.

In the afternoon we had our Halloween parade, followed by our class party. The party was a blast! We watched a movie and invited Ms. Ritsakis and her class to join us.

Also, I managed to take an individual picture of each child in their costume. Every month I take a picture of them and add it to the scrapbook they are creating. If anyone wants a picture of their child emailed to them, please let me know and I will be more than happy to forward you the picture.

At the end of the day we cleaned up, handed out our loot bags and headed home.

It was a blast!

Enjoy the pictures below and once again Happy Halloween and thank you for everything!