Pancake Day!

We certainly enjoyed 'Pancake Day' in Grade 2/3.  We read a wonderful book to get us started and then we followed a recipe to make pancakes right in our classroom.  Students enjoyed mixing the ingredients and watching the process from start to finish.  We even practiced our 'procedural writing' by recording the recipe and including step by step directions.  Even though we had made pancakes in our class, we hadn't had enough, so we also got to eat the pancakes that had been made by our Parents In Action.  Both batches of pancakes were delicious!  Thank you to this amazing team of adults for the yummy treat!  

Humane Society Visit

Thank you to the Stratford Perth Humane Society for visiting us today with 'Penny' - a beautiful, calm Golden Retriever.  Here are some things we did during our visit. 
*We checked out the Humane Society Adoption Center on their website to see animals that were looking for homes.  
*We learned that you can visit the Humane Society during March Break for special activities and can even hold your birthday party there if you really love animals.  
*We learned rules for pet owners (stoop and scoop, leash law).  
*We learned how to take care of pets by providing for them, protecting them and preventing unwanted 'litters'.  
*We watched Penny do some cool tricks.
*We learned how to approach a dog that we don't know and everyone got to pet Penny!   

Here are some tips:
Never approach a dog that you don't know- leave it alone. 
We learned that we should always ask an owner if we can touch their dog.
When touching a dog, curl your fingers underneath so that the animal can't bite fingers.
Stand beside the dog and let it sniff you.
Stroke the chin, chest or back.....NEVER the head.

It was a great way to end our day and our busy week!

Winter at Wildwood!

We had an absolutely beautiful day at Wildwood! Even though it looked and felt more like spring than winter, we still learned a lot about how animals and plants have adapted and changed with the changing seasons! Please ask your child to tell you more about their day! The photos below should spark some interesting conversations!

Thank you for sending your child dressed for the conditions. Everyone was warm, dry and comfortable! It was a great day to spend outdoors!

Show The Love!

 The students at Little Falls were able to fill several jars with coins for the "Me to We Show the Love" Fundraiser last week!   In exchange for raising all that money, various teachers, agreed to do some weird, crazy things in front of everyone! Ask your child about these and other crazy stunts that they saw at school today!

Here are some highlights:
Teacher taped to the wall!
Dress up the teacher
Painting a teacher
Apply makeup and give crazy hair to teachers
Eating chocolate covered crickets
Pies to the face
Shave the teacher
Kiss a chicken

Please enjoy these pictures from our assembly and thank you to everyone who donated money. 

Celebration of Learning!

Today, you will have received your child's report card and a giant baggie of work samples!  I hope you enjoy reading about and looking at all the amazing things your child has accomplished in Grade 2/3 so far!  Please celebrate this learning with your child.  Ask them to tell your more about something you see in their portfolio of work.  Remember.....this is just a snapshot of their learning.  In addition to this work, your child will have been involved in many hands-on games, activities and discussions (things that cannot fit in a baggie)!

Please sign and complete the portion of the report which asks you to think about your child's strengths and goals.  There is a place for you to sign and also a spot for your child to sign.  Return this slip and your report envelope as soon as possible.  Thanks! 

Super Structures!

In Science, we have used our knowledge of matter and materials to begin thinking about how different materials are used to create structures.  We identified natural and man-made structures and really enjoyed looking at some famous structures that were build in the past.  We discussed the importance of strength (the ability of a structure to support a load and not break).  We also discussed the importance of stability (the ability of a structure to maintain balance and not fall over).  If a structure isn't strong and stable, it won't be useful because it won't be able to perform it's function.

Students participated in a number of 'structure building challenges' which helped them investigate factors that affect a structure's strength and stability.  Along the way, they also practiced working collaboratively with others to design and co-construct their own strong and stable structures!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone!  We enjoyed some special activities in our class to help us celebrate friendship. Here is a glimpse of some of the fun things we did in Grade 2/3 on February 14th!  

*We used our ipads to locate and record some interesting facts about the history of Valentine's Day and some of the traditions that people have on this day.

*We interviewed a classmate (our Valentine for the day) to find out more about them and then recorded this information on a 'Chatterpix' that we shared with the class.

*We mailed and enjoyed looking at the Valentines we had received from our friends.

*We estimated, sorted, tallied and graphed the Smartie Box Valentine from Mrs. Stacey and then we ate our smarties!

*We played some fun Valentine games involving words (ABC order, ipad wordsearch and crossword) and a fun Valentine Math game that was similar to tic tac toe but involved even more strategic planning to win!   

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!  

Tubing Fun - February 13th!

Wow!  What an amazing day. The weather was perfect, the tubing hill was fast and the smiles were HUGE!  Special thanks to Chloe's mom and Peyton's mom for joining us for a day of fun!  We took the time after our visit to write a thoughtful review of River Valley Tube Slide.  The students had some really great things to say about this place and were very grateful for the opportunity to go on this excursion. If you have not already done so, please ask your child to tell you about their amazing day and ask them to describe River Valley Tube slide so that you can almost imagine being there!

I managed to snap a few pictures! Hopefully these will provide inspiration for a great discussion!  Enjoy!

Wellness Week February 6-10

We certainly enjoyed all the wonderful activities last week during 'Wellness Week'. Here are some of the things we did last week:
* We took the opportunity to talk in our classroom about specific things we can do to keep a healthy body and a healthy mind.
* We talked about the importance of 'water' ...not just as a healthy drink choice, but for all the other ways that water is used at home and school.
* We LOVED our floor hockey games and are very thankful to the memebers of our Lincolns Hockey Team for refereeing our games.
* We spent a lot of time talking about how participation in sports helps keep us healthy.  We talked about how to be a 'team' player and how to support members of your team regardless of the sport/activity you are playing.  Teamwork and collaboration are extrememly important in real life...not just sports!
* We enjoyed a delicious fruit smoothie! Everyone tried it and agreed that this was an easy way to make sure your body is getting the vitimins it needs from fruit.
* We finished the week with "Finding Dory"!

It was a fantastic week and a reminder to all to look after our mental and physical health EVERYDAY!