Elements of Art

This week in art we continued learning about the elements of art. On Wednesday, everyone got a circle and with that circle they had to create a picture. Here are some of our creations:

On Thursday, we started learning about colours! We learned that the three primary colours are red, yellow & blue. We also learned that primary colours make secondary colours. Red & yellow makes orange, blue & green makes purple and yellow & blue makes green! 

On Friday, we made pictures using the three primary colours! 

Animals

On Monday, we reviewed animal needs and the ways animals are alike. Then we talked about animal life cycles and compared them to our life cycle. In May, we will be doing a unit on life cycles where we will be doing an inquiry unit on frogs. 

On Tuesday, we learned how animals adapt to their environment. We learned that as winter approaches animals and people must adapt to the cold weather. People put on warmer coats and hats and animals grow warmer thicker winter fur coats. Some animals change their summer brown coats to white ones to stay safe from enemies. 

On Thursday, we discussed hibernation. Cold blooded animals take the temperature of the air around them. They get energy from food, but because their bodies aren't warm they do not need as much food or energy. In cold weather their bodies get very cold and they have a long 'sleep' called hibernation. We learned that snakes, frogs, worms, and lizards all hibernate during winter. We also learned that some warm-blooded animals hibernate. Their body temperature goes down to just above freezing, their hearts beat very very slowly and they sleep through winter. Animals eat as much as they can in the fall to gain fat and grow a warmer fur coat for hibernation.

On Friday, we discussed migration. We learned that migration is when animals go where it is warmer and where food can be found. A migrating animal needs to be able to travel long distances, find their way to where they need to go and find food.  Not all animals hibernate as most can adapt to the winter conditions. 

Brownie Points

We filled up our first brownie point pan today. We earn rewards every time we fill up a pan. Today we earned suckers! When we fill the pan up 3 times we earn a class party! 

We earn brownie points by following our five golden rules:

1. Listen when someone is talking.
2. Follow directions the first time they are given.
3. Treat everyone with kindness and respect.
4. Take care of our school and classroom.
5. Work and play safely and quietly. 

We also earn brownie points by demonstrating our school values:

Excellence in all we do. 

Mentoring and taking Pride in who we are and what we can achieve through our actions, words and ideas. 

Empathy and Kindness towards others. 

Respect for ourselves, each other, our school and community. 

Accountability for our choices and Responsibility for our actions. 

Learning in a positive, safe environment. 

Diversity of each individual in an inclusive setting. 

Good job grade 2's! I am so proud of you. 

Writers Workshop

For the past two weeks have been working hard during Writers Workshop. We do Writers Workshop every Tuesday & Thursday. We begin our Writers Workshop time by going to the writing corner for a mini lesson. This is where I teach the students new strategies/traits they can use in their writing. Throughout the year the students will be learning six traits that will help them with their writing (Voice, Organization, Ideas, Conventions, Excellent Word Choice & Sentence Fluency). Within these traits the students will be learning specific strategies. To see what traits and strategies we have learned go to the "ELA" page. After the mini lesson the students pick a spot in the classroom and begin writing...during this time I will either be helping groups of students or having individual conferences. During writing conferences I discuss with each student what their goal is for writing and how they are going to achieve that goal. They pick their goal based on the strategies we have learned. After writing time students have a chance to volunteer and share their writing.

During writing time students have a "writing tools," booklet they can use to help them if they are stuck on a word. In this booklet students have access to an alphabet  chart, a jolly phonics sound chart, weekly words, days of the week/months of the year, number words and colour words. Writing materials are also provided to help students correct/edit their writing. For example, highlighters to highlight a word they know they spelled wrong, red pens to edit their punctuation and blue pens to add detail to their work.(We are still working on how to use our writing tools/materials properly). As the students become more efficient with Writers Workshop they will learn how to use writing portfolios to organize their work. In the next few months they will also learn the six writing stages (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, teacher conferencing & publishing). If you have any questions on Writers Workshop feel free to contact me! 

We worked hard during Writers Workshop today! 

Elements of Art

In art, we are learning about the elements. During the second week of school we learned about lines. We learned that their are different types of lines. We first learned about the three different types of straight lines,..diagonal, vertical and horizontal.

The next day, we learned about curved lines (zig-zag, wavy, curly). 

Then, we made a design using curved and straight lines.

Last week, we discussed how different types of lines make shapes. There are ordinary shapes such as a circle or square and there are irregular shapes such as a hand. We went on a scavenger hunt around the room to find objects that had certain shapes. We noticed our classroom has lots of circles (clock) and squares (calendar)!