This Week in Room 108

Hello there,
Don't forget that this Wednesday is Pizza Lunch. Also, we will have a little Halloween/Dress Up party on Thursday after lunch. Your child is welcome to wear a costume, but please keep in mind that they have Gym following afternoon recess and no doubt Mr. Church will have them running around. I realize that many families celebrate Halloween and many don't. If you  don't celebrate Halloween, please note that it will still be a regular school day and your child does not have to dress up. They can still have fun and we will do a craft and eat some treats. 

If you would like to send in treats, please consider sending in wrapped candy. In the past, many students bring in big bags of chips and they can't all be eaten. Thanks in advance. 

Here's what we're working on this week:

Language: We will begin looking at homonyms/homophones. Some students are still completing their good copies of their autobiographies. I'd like to get them all finished before moving on. If possible, we will start procedural writing towards the end of the week. 

Math: We will consolidate what we have learned in Number Sense this past month by revisiting place value, addition, subtraction, problem solving strategies, and rounding for the Grade 3s. 

Science: We will begin looking at the environmental impact that salt and oil have in water and what this could mean for plants. We will also carry on reviewing the water cycle. 

Social Studies: We Google Mapped Manila during our computer lab period last week. Students made observations based on street scenes. We will continue looking at Manila and comparing it to the countryside of the Philippines (Grade 3 Urban and Rural), and for the Grade 2s, we will compare features of communities in Manila with Toronto. 

Have a great week!
E. Hawkins

Making Observations and Creating Scientific Diagrams

Below are pictures of your children sketching scientific diagrams of their pop bottle terrariums. Although they were miffed when I told them they'd never get to water their plant again, there were some knowing looks exchanged when students discovered condensation dripping down from the top of the bottle this morning. Will this plant saga have a happy ending? Stay tuned...

 We've been looking at good scientific diagrams and poor scientific diagrams in books. From this, students came up with their own success criteria for a scientific diagram to guide them before creating their own. 

 Later, students got into their groups and presented their work. 

 Finally, they assessed their own work and participation. Bravo!

Science in a Combined Grade Classroom

In Science, we've been very busy lately looking at the relationship between plants, soils, air and water. Over the past two days we've been busy building plant terrariums to better understand the needs of plants, soils and the water cycle. 

We first went out on a pebble walk. Students filled the bottom of their pop bottle with these pebbles and we discussed why plants need good drainage and how water can actually harm a plant if its roots are sitting in water. 

Students added soil to their bottles, measured out 100 ml of water, added an offset of a spider plant. I taped up the bottle and told them that we wouldn't be giving the plant any more water. Would the plant survive? What could we still do to help it? 

Rather than teach all the grade 2 science and all the grade 3 science separately, this is a good example of how teachers can cluster the big ideas of science expectations and allow both grades to learn from each other and take their understanding into new, but related areas. Below you will find the Science Curriculum expectations we're working with currently and some photos of our terrariums.

The photo at the bottom shows a plant that received too much water. We decided that this problem could be fixed if we "thickened up" the water by adding more soil. 

Understanding Earth & Space Systems

Air and water are a major part of the environment. 

Living things need air and water to survive. 

Changes to air and water affect living things and the environment.

Our actions affect the quality of air and water, and its ability to sustain life.

Soil is made up of living and non-living things.

The composition, characteristics, and condition of soil determine its capacity to sustain life. 

Soil is an essential source of life and nutrients for many living things.

Living things, including humans, interact with soils and can cause positive or negative changes. 

This Week in Room 108

Hello there,
Please scroll down the page to see photos of last week's science experiment. I do my best to take photos when possible to share what we're doing in class with families. 

Here's what we're working on this week:

Language: We are on the home stretch of our autobiographies. I hope to have published work on the bulletin board outside our class by the end of next week or early the following week. These stories will induce equal measures of laughter and tears when you have a chance to read them. 

Last week we began synonyms. We will keep working on them this week. 

As part of reading comprehension, we will be learning about settings in fiction and how there can be multiple settings in any given text. 

Math: We will continue working on double digit addition and subtraction (grade 2s), and triple digit for the grade 3s. The 3s will also be working on rounding numbers. The grade 2s will continue working on the concept of "greater than/less than" using various strategies including arrays. 

Social Studies: Mme. Demeter (your child's wonderful art teacher) has a school-wide project happening this year involving learning about the world. Our class will be looking at Southeast Asia. This week we will begin by locating the countries that are in this area. We will make predictions about the weather based on what we've already learned in mapping. 

Science: We finally have enough pop bottles to begin our pop bottle plant terrariums. Each child will make one to learn about the needs of plants and how the water cycle works. 

Have a great week!
E. Hawkins

Plants & Water

Over the past two weeks, we've been observing celery stalks. Students drew cross section diagrams of them in their natural state. Next, we soaked them in containers filled with water and red food colouring. Students predicted what would happen after a week. Last week, students cut the celery open horizontally and vertically and made their observations and also drew new diagrams of what they saw. As your child about the way in which water travels inside celery. There were some terrific responses. 

This Short Week in Room 108 & Centres

Hello there,

This is a short week. Of course, Monday was Thanksgiving and we've also discovered that almost half our class will be away to celebrate Eid. For this reason, there will not be any homework this week or spelling quiz. Students are just required to keep their book bag and reading journal going. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and if you celebrate Eid, I wish you all the best as well. 

This week will be a continuation of what we were working on last week (please see my last post). We will go deeper into double digit (grade 2) and triple digit (grade 3) problem solving using addition and subtraction. Depending on readiness, there may be a quiz to see how students are grasping the concepts we've covered. 

Talk to your child about the different problem solving strategies we're using in class. 

The only other new addition in our learning this week will be homophones/homonyms. 

Below, please see some pictures of the learning centres in our classroom including plants and water, a nature table which children keep adding items to, our morning centre that includes an interactive hundreds chart as well as a calendar and jumbo thermometer, and a geography centre which features lots of maps and atlases. 

Have a great week!

Erin Hawkins

This Week in Room 108

 Hello there, 
We had a very busy week last week, including a visit from Reptilia. We will be the first classroom hosting the geckos which will rotate throughout the school this year. We're excited about these creatures and we will be watching them closely to learn about animals, plants, air, and water. They're also way cute. 

Here's what we're working on this week:
Language: We return to our autobiographies to work on writing satisfying conclusions. We will also continue working on who, what, where, when, why as part of reading comprehension. We'll be continuing with compound words and learning about antonyms. 

Math: We are now working on double digit (grade 2) and triple digit (grade 3) addition. We will review greater than/less than. As you can see from the pictures, we're busy learning about place value.

Science: We will be looking at the ways in which plants take up and release water and how they release oxygen into the environment. 

Social Studies: We will continue looking at the types of jobs people do in different communities. 

See lot's of pictures below including one of our grade 2 students who brought in a very interesting gourd which will become a habitat for a bird. Please feel free to send in "show and tell" items that connect to our learning. 

Have a great week - I hope book bags are coming home this week (knock on wood for time).

All the best,
E. Hawkins