Dear 113 families,
I hope you are all keeping healthy and well! We had a great week back after the April break. We kept busy with work, and mixed in lots of fun as well.
Thanks so much for your ongoing support with technology, materials and work, but an extra special thank you for taking an hour off last Thursday to be in the kitchen with your child for our cookie making activity. It was such fun (I hope) and I think seeing the cookie recipe and working through it, even if they couldn't read the whole thing themselves, will help us finish up the snack recipes we are writing. If you haven't heard, I've asked students to tell me a snack that they know how to make themselves. We have some sandwiches, crackers and cheese, s'mores, some smoothies, even pancakes! Please ask your chef what snack they are explaining in case they need help thinking of the steps they need to write out. I am aiming to finish up this project in the next couple days.
Each day I read a French story to our class, and I hope they are practicing their independent reading as well, through RAZ-kids. I am aiming to have individual reading meetings with students beginning later this week to make sure their assigned level is correct. I will manage individual meetings by booking a time with students during asynchronous time. They can simply come back to the meet at their time and read me whatever book from their French reading room that they choose. I will explain this on Monday and encourage them to select a book and begin practicing it!
In math, we have spent a couple weeks focusing on the Data strand, always a favourite of mine. I'd like to touch on each strand before the end of the year, which means we'll have to go quite quickly, but I'm happy that we've covered each component of this strand and students have seemed to understand and enjoy the unit. We collected data both as a class and by planning our individual survey questions and using tally charts. We learned to display this data using a bar graph (diagramme à bandes) complete with title, labels and scale. We've practiced analysing data by asking ourselves what we can learn from diagrammes and what information we would still like to know (actually, I've been very impressed here, with several students asking thoughtful questions about the data, for example, in a graph about how many girls v. boys enjoy the park, students wondered, how many boys and girls were in the class that voted, and if they don't like going to the park, what DO they like to do?). I also showed the class the bar graph on my gas bill, and another example showing gas and electricity usage. Our students were able to figure out why gas usage went up (and was expensive) during the winter months, and electricity went up during summer months. (We linked this to our recent discussions on energy and conservation.) Please ask about this, and consider showing them any graphs that you refer to. We also learned several probability terms (e.v., certain, impossible, probable, improbable) and played some fun games using these terms to predict and describe the outcomes, for example, if each of our names are in the lottery bag once, what is the likelihood that my own name will be drawn?
In Science, we've moved on to new units. Grade 2s will be investigating simple machines that help us move things, for example, the wheel & axel. Grade 1s will be investigating structures and materials. When we do bigger science experiments, we will do them together as a class regardless of grade - the units are closely connected anyway. We got started with a super fun building and material testing experiment last week, designed for the grade 1s, but fun for everyone. We first read the story of the Three Little Pigs, then, built our own versions of the three houses using the best materials we could find that were like straw, wood and bricks. We drew what we built, noted the materials, and tested their strength by rolling a ball towards each wall. I had fun doing this, and it looked like the kids did too!
I would love to see more of our students' work as they complete it. It is quite simple to turn in work using Google Classroom if it has been done using a template through Classroom (you just click "Turn In"). But, when the work has been done by hand, as ours is, we have the extra step of scanning or taking a photo before we can attach it to an assignment. I hate to bother you with this, but if we don't return to school, it may become necessary. I will start to create "assignments" for some of the work we have completed, that I would like to see. When you have a moment, perhaps you could sit with your child to find the matching work, take a quick photo and turn it in. This video gives good step-by-step instructions on how to do this. No rush!
Please be sure to check Google Classroom regularly. I have been posting an outline of our days along with materials that will be needed. I aim to get this to you at least the evening before, if not earlier - especially if it requires more prep, as with the science building and the cookies. Sometimes things change through the week, so make sure to check back for updates. Never worry if you don't have the exact materials - we have been pretty good at finding substitutions and working with what we have. Currently, students are trying to collect boxes for an upcoming 3D math project. They will need around 5 different empty boxes or other 3D items, such as paper towel rolls, cone cups or plastic easter egg cases. It will be best (for math) if each item is a slightly different shape!
On the outline, you will see that on Tuesday morning, I am planning a little time for a quick show & tell. Students may bring one item or pet that they'd like to tell us about (en français, j'espère).
Finally, please note that I will be absent Tuesday afternoon. We will have a supply teacher, and I'm sure it will all go smoothly - supply teachers all know how this works. I will be sending him/her a good plan, of course, but I am also posting the math work to print and exact science pages on Classroom JUST in case something happens. It should be fairly straight-forward.
Have a great last week of April!
Tamara