Mapping Skills

We started with the world.  We looked at the globe and world map.  We learned the names of the 7 continents and 4 oceans.  We took a closer look at the continent where we live - North America.  Then, we looked more closely at the country where we live - Canada.  Students read a map to learn the names of the 10 Provinces and 3 Territories that make up Canada.  They had to label their own map of Canada by locating each Province/Territory.  After finding our way across Canada on a map, students were randomly given a province or Territory to research using their ipad and/or a book from the library.  We wanted to know key information about each area of Canada!  Later, we transferred this information into a pic collage on our ipads and took screen shots of some of the amazing things to see in each Province.  Students really enjoyed this activity and are looking forward to travelling to another Province in Canada to learn more about the great country we live in.

Symmetry

What is Symmetry?
*if a shape can be folded in half so that one half fits exactly on top of the other, then we say that shape has symmetry
*the place where you can fold the shape in half so it fits exactly on the other half is called the "line of symmetry" - it divides the shape into two equal parts
*the line of symmetry may be vertical, horizontal or diagonal
*some shapes/designs have more than one line of symmetry

Students should be able to create and describe symmetrical designs using a variety of different tools.  In class, students have had the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to do this using pattern blocks, geoboards, an iPad app, the light table with self selected objects, Miras and paper-pencil. 

Students should be able to locate the line of symmetry in 2-dimensional shapes by paper folding or using a Mira. 

According to these amazing pictures.......we got it!

My Favourite Season

As the first snowflakes fell this week,  we began to think about the amazing seasonal changes that have occured right before our eyes. We  have started to look ahead to all the fun that Winter brings with it, but were also a bit nostalgic about the other seasons (especially summer) and had quite a discussion about which season was actually the best.  After our discussion, students chose a season that they thought was best, described it and explained why it was their favourite.  We also created beautiful "Four Season Trees" which required the use of several different art materials.  Everyone enjoyed listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons while we created our masterpieces!  It has made for a stunning display outside our classroom.  

More Museum Learning!

We have learned so much at the St. Marys Museum over the last two weeks.  Please ask your child to tell you more about the things you are seeing in the photos below.  They know a lot already about what life was like in 'Old St. Marys' and have been recording their new knowledge and understanding after each Museum visit.  Thank you Amy Cubberly for inspiring such amazing learning!

Problem Solving!

Every Friday, Mrs. Cassone invites students to participate in a 'Friday Trivia' challenge.  Sometimes, the trivia question requires research and sometimes it involves finding the answer to a question or problem.  This week, Mrs. Cassone asked the students to figure out how she could share 3 whole chocolate bars equally between 4 people.  Students worked together on whiteboards to show Mrs. Cassone a solution to this problem using pictures, numbers and words.  We ended up with a few different ideas for Mrs. Cassone and we learned a lot about problem solving also.  Today, "drawing a picture" and "Guess and Check" seemed to be the strategies employed.  This one problem involved understanding of equality, fractional parts, adding and division.  It was interesting (and informative) to watch these Grade 2/3 problem solvers in action! Thank you, Mrs. Cassone, for giving us some extra practice with our problem solving.  We can't wait until next Friday to see what the next problem will be.  We will be ready!

Endangered Animal Research

After learning about some locally endangered animals in the Great Lakes, we were inspired to learn about other endangered animals.  Students randomly selected an endangered animal and used their ipad or books from the Library to discover key facts about their animal.  They were to report on its appearance, habitat, diet and any other interesting facts.  Students gathered their information and recorded 'jot notes' on a planning template.  Later, they created a short report by writing sentences about their animal.  We decided to experiment with different ways to share our research and came across a fun app called Chatterpix which we used to take pictures of our animal and record our own voice reading the research we had written.  The students had a lot of fun using the app and we all learned more about some endangered animals by watching each ChatterPix video.