This Week in Room 108

Look up - way up! The compass rose as seen from the landing at the centre staircase. This is easily one of the most beautiful features of our school.

Hello,

Thanks to all who were able to make it out to Curriculum Night. There were new faces, and familiar faces and they were all happy. If you weren't able to make it, I will post the agenda this week and recap the important information discussed. Welcome also to our latest student Lyndsay who comes from Miss Moledina's class. Aloha!

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

Language: Our Word Study block kicks off with the prefix sub-. Students will also begin developing a list of personal spelling words that fall under the category of "high frequency" words. There will not be a formal spelling dictation. Research shows that this is not the best way to help students learn words. They tend to study for the quiz and then forget the spelling by Monday. Instead, we'll be working on strategies and students will have numerous ways to practise spelling in class. Each child will be partnered with a spelling buddy who will help them check their spelling to determine which words have been mastered and which ones still need more time with.

In Reading we will continue with "pretelling" as part of our unit on retelling. As well, this week, students will be introduced to a simple graphic organizer for retelling. We will do a shared retelling of Knuffle Bunny.

In Writing, students will continue writing their book of antonyms based on the book Hot Cold Shy Bold. Our goal is for each student to write and publish a book that can be shared with the the English kindergarten class at Clairlea. So far, I've seen some great word choices and illustrations. We will also carry on with penmanship: printing legibility skills (for Grade 2s) and cursive writing for Grade 3s. Fine motor skills are still developing in Grade 2 and 3, so this is worthwhile practice on many levels.

Math: We will continue working on growing and shrinking patterns using various manipulatives and will explore patterns found in the hundreds chart.

Science: Grade 2s will learn about humidity (water in air). They will also get to do their first science experiment. The Grade 3s continue working with Miss Lowen on soil. I know Miss Lowen had the students "get their hands dirty" last week and they loved it.

Social Studies: Mapping: We'll continue working on compass directions as they relate to the Clairlea neighbourhood. We will also continue on our booklet of geographical landforms.

Homework:

1. Reading Interest Survey. Students will tell me about what they enjoy reading. Please complete Reading Log as well. The log can either be filled out on the sheet that's coming home in the Friday Folder and pasted into their Home Reading Notebook, or copied directly into the notebook. Students should be reading for approximately 15 minutes a day at home. Don't forget about books that come with CDs. These are available at your local library.

Patterning: It's in the Bag. Students will plan a growing pattern and gather objects needed to create it in class on Friday. Please make sure your child brings the objects in the brown bag provided and put the brown bag in their Friday Folder. All information will come home in the form of a handout. Please make sure your child does not do the assignment at home, but rather just bring the planning sheet and materials to school on Friday. I will provide paper and glue.

* Don't forget that Tuesday is Photo Day.

Thanks. Have a terrific week.

E. Hawkins

Here's a sub- song to get things prefixing along.

Mapping With Google

In Social Studies, we're learning about mapping. To kick the off the unit, our class used Google Maps to navigate their way around the Clairlea community. They learned how the expression Never Eat Shredded Wheat will help them remember directions on the compass. Theron suggested Never Eat Sour Watermelon. I like that too! We looked at features of the Clairlea community and talked about the words "urban," "rural," and "suburban."
It didn't take long for students to figure out the compass and head east from Clairlea P.S. to the Cineplex Odeon cinema.


This budding cartographer found Japan on the map and took the class into the streets of Tokyo. Cool!
More to come...

Cookie Has Flown the Coop

Our pet hamster Cookie escaped out of her cage yesterday and is now missing in action. We hope she'll either find her way back to the room, or be rescued somehow. Two parents have told me tales of hamsters returning after several days, so keep a good thought for our fluffy friend.

On a related note, last month I saw this bird at our backyard bird feeder.

It was a blue budgie that had escaped from someone's home. I couldn't bear the thought of it dying in the cold, Toronto winter. So I hatched a plan (no pun intended) and with a lot of patience, I captured the bird.

I hung the bird feeder in a scrunchy bag and then hung the scrunchy bag from the hanger. Eventually, the bird went in for food. Stealthily, I snuck up and covered the bag with mesh.

My neighbour helped me get the budgie into an empty cage and I made a perch with a paintbrush. I was so happy that I was able to help a critter out. When I told my husband that I could get a job with animal services, he said something like, "Oh yeah. I really see you climbing on roofs to get raccoons out of chimneys." Point taken.

I blogged about the experience, and a woman in Brampton asked if she could take it. She'd already rescued another budgie from a tree across the street. We drove out to Brampton to make the special delivery and here's the bird, they named Labatt Blue. Don't you love a happy ending?

Erin Hawkins

Labatt Blue tweeting in Brampton

Caleb's Nest & Curriculum Night

Hello there,

I'd like to send out a big thank you to Caleb for bringing in his tiny and perfect bird's nest yesterday. Caleb noticed that I've left out many objects from the natural world in the class for the children to look at and ask questions about. Caleb told us the story about his nest and let the class pass it around to examine how it was constructed. Fantastic! Children are encouraged to bring interesting bits and pieces from nature to class. It all connects to Science and our lives in general.

I hope the homework went well and was not too much or too little. Please let me know if your child ran into any problems and we can adjust accordingly to needs and abilities. These are still early days and I'm still getting to know the students.

I look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new families tomorrow at Curriculum Night. We begin with the first session at 6:30 and switch to the second section at 7:00 for families with more than one child at our school. I'm sure you'll be interested to see what your kids have been up to within the first week.

All the best,

Erin Hawkins

Here's the biggest nest I've ever seen. It's in Namibia. I'll let Sir David explain. Gather the kids around to watch :)

This Week in Room 108

The Rideau Canal all aglow this past August. How many patterns can you find in this picture?

Hello families,

I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the glorious weather this past weekend. We took in the Cabbagetown Festival, which was great fun. Today, I went back with my son to see a pantomime of Peter Pan held at the tiny chapel at the Necropolis Cemetery. It's not every day you get to do that. Don't forget that the Riverdale Farm is always open. It's always a pleasure hanging out with farm animals in the city. Admission is free.

Here's what's cooking in Room 108 this week:

Language: I've started a three block literacy program that involves word study, reading, and writing. Fortunately for our class, our timetable allows us to spend the entire morning on language-based learning. I will speak more about this on Curriculum Night this coming Thursday evening.

Word Study: Our exploration of antonyms continues this week as students created a poem or short story based on opposite words. I have started informally testing students on grade-appropriate high-frequency words, just to help me get a picture of where students are at with their spelling. Students will be introduced to a variety of strategies to help them learn the correct spelling of words and how to test themselves.

Reading: All Primary students at Clairlea will be working on Retelling during Term 1. This week, we will be looking at various texts and "pretelling" by making predictions based on such things as book cover and title, illustrations, previous knowledge of author, and prior knowledge of genre. I will model this and we will engage in shared "pretelling" activities this week.

Writing: We will review basic punctuation and students will use in their writing.

Math: Students really enjoyed the hands-on activities in Patterning last week. Below, you'll see students involved in a barrier game. In this activity, one student creates a pattern, which the other student cannot see (a book is propped up between them). The student who created the design must carefully describe the steps needed to create this pattern so the other student will have the same pattern. This activity strengthens oral skills and targets math vocabulary. This week, students will continue working on repeating patterns and will start looking at growing and shrinking patterns. The overall emphasis is to have students comfortable with stating the pattern rule and identifying the core of the pattern (the initial part that is repeated).

Science: Miss Lowen will be working with the Grade 3s in Science. I will be working with the 2s from our class and Miss Molidina's room. Currently we are investigating the properties of air and water. Last week we made pop bottle terrariums which will lead into our study of the water cycle.

Social Studies: We are going to begin looking at geographical landforms by creating a picture dictionary of landforms. This will lead us to mapping in weeks to come.

Homework: Students will bring home their Friday Folder. Please ensure this comes back on Friday. This week, students will be asked to draw and describe (using words), repeating patterns at home, in nature, outside on city streets, and one other of their own choice. Altogether, they are responsible for four. Students will have four days to return homework, so this should be a manageable activity if not left until Thursday evening. Students will also begin a home reading notebook. They will jot down what they're reading and approximately how many pages per day. As well, they will respond to a prompt I will give them. Students in Grade 2 are asked to write 2-3 sentences. Students in Grade 3 are asked to write 4-5 sentences. Students in both grades are asked to draw a picture that connects to the book they are reading. This week, students are only asked to make one entry in their notebook.

Have a great week!

Erin Hawkins

Antonyms & Patterning

It's all about antonyms right now. Play some antonym word games in the car or at the grocery store. Give your child a word and ask them for the opposite. Have them pick your brain too. Below are some pictures of our antonym word hunt this morning. It's so good to see how well our class works together.

*More pictures will appear as media release consent forms trickle in. Student names are never used with pictures and this blog is only linked through the Clairlea website.

In Patterning, we talked about the word "attributes" and described the attributes of various patterning tiles. New vocabulary included vertex (for corner), vertices (corners), and rhombus. At home, try to use the word "rhombus" instead of diamond when referring to the diamond shape. Math language can be fun if you make it so.

Below, check out the fantastic patterns made by your kids!

Welcome Back!

Welcome to the families of the Great 108s. Today went by in a blur, but it was a great first day. I can tell already that we have a class full of inquisitive minds, artists, athletes, and comedians. We played a getting to know each other activity, we took a tour of the interesting nooks in our room, began creating nature banners, kicked off patterning in Math with patterned picture frames and read some great books. It was a lot of fun and I can tell already that I'm going to love working with these fascinating kids.

A rather large bundle of papers came home today. Some were from the office and some were from myself. Please aim to have school forms in by Friday and I'll ensure they get to the office.

Students were asked to interview a parent/caregiver about the story behind his or her name. This sheet can come in on Friday too.

Thank you so much for finding this blog. I update it regularly with information and songs, etc. for the children to enjoy. Within the next couple of months, I hope to have the Room 108 student blog rocking and rolling as part of media literacy.

All the best,

Erin Hawkins

Here's a little song for the word girls and boys in our class. Brace yourself for Word Study. Coming soon to a classroom near you!

Just Add Kids

All that's missing are some wonderful children. See you tomorrow!

Ms. Hawkins

"Before" Pictures of Room 108

In a few days, this room will be transformed into a cozy learning space. Stay tuned...

- EH

These Kids Look Vaguely Familiar

Hello kids,

I'm not sure if anyone is actually still reading this blog, but I'm still reading your entertaining blogs. I hope everyone is having lot's of fun already. I'm busy taking a reading course at OISE/UT and we've been tootling around the province a little too. Below, you'll find some pictures from June, including your awesome "Jai Ho" dance on the last day of school.

Look after your parents and yourselves. Come down and see me in the fall. I miss you all one way or another - LOL.

Ms. Hawkins

Duncan and I at Inglis Falls, Owen Sound. We're pretending to be happy, despite the fact that 100, 000 angry mosquitos were draining our blood supply while we waited for the picture to be taken. At least we have a photograph.
A happy boy beside a humongous statue of Wiarton Willie in Wiarton, ON. This town has a spectacular beach as you may see in the background.
My husband and Duncan on a rickety bridge at Inglis Falls. Alright, it wasn't rickety.
Here's the long lost picture of my happy dad. Like many, he was filled with an unrealistic sense of hope at the beginning of the World Cup that his country might actually win. All they care about in Australia is rugby anyway. Still, Australia rules!
The circle dance part of "Jai Ho." You can tell the kids were melting in the sun. C'mon Megan, put a little energy juice into it!
Alright, Samiul's finally getting funky. I knew he had it in him. Meanwhile, Trinity and Quentin remain committed to the choreography. Bless.

Here's the whole school, minus the Grade 8 grads who'd packed off ahead of time. Go Clairlea!

Below are some random photos of mostly great kids, I mean more great kids.