Curious about what your children have been doing here at the OJCS? Wonder no more. Here is a snapshot of what we have been doing in every subject.
Language Arts:
Wordly Wise – The children have already completed three full lessons where they have been introduced to new vocabulary and read passages containing these words. Once they have read these passages they are onto answering text based, opinion and inferencing questions which they must answer using complete sentences.
Language Power – We have been working on understanding that a proper noun is always capitalized. Can they spot the error? Another activity that challenged their ability to apply what they know. Here they must spot the incorrect spelling, punctuation and capitalization of words in a sentence. It was extremely quiet in the classroom as they completed this activity.
Author Study-Each month we explore yet another collection of books during our author study. The students have a scheduled library period where Brigitte (our librarian) introduces a new author and reads books from their collection. We then bring them to our classroom to use during transition times and our literacy blocks.
Workshops-We participated in our first Grade 2 workshop entitled Digital Citizen. The students watched a video followed by a class discussion on how we stay safe while online.
Writing-Did your child talk about hamburger writing? What they are referring to is a graphic organizer which is helping them create journal entries with a topic sentence, 3 details and a concluding sentence. Just as they have become passionate readers, this year our goal is to create journal entries full of fabulous details that leaves the reading wanting more.
Math:
Numbers/Algebra- Skip counting, growing and shrinking patterns, place value are just some of what we have introduced or gone to the next level within our numeracy blocks. The students have to have a strong sense of place value in order to be able to add and subtract double digits. Depending where they are in their learning journey, they are working on double digits with no regrouping or regrouping. Either way they are at their Just Right level. There are those that have moved on to more. Remember the first step is demonstrating to me that they can independently complete the tasks assigned before we move on to more. A strong foundation is very important!
Data-We are continuing to expand our understanding on how to collect and create various types of graphs (bar and pictographs). As well as identify the basic parts of a graph: labels, scales, titles and data. They are completing math activities that require answering questions and using the data from a graph or table in a calculation, as well as using the information in the graph to make an inference.
Problem Solving-The focus has been 2 step problems and the emphasis has been reading for understanding and showing your work. One of our North Stars is we learn better together, so showing how we got our answer helps others see that there is more than one way to solve a problem.
Science:
Our Maker space has been an incredible addition to our school. Our focus this term has been simple machines. Our Grade 2 students have used this space to explore the concept of design thinking where they have been presented with a challenge and worked in teams to design a lever able to lift 100g. Once their levers were completed they reflected on their experience and what they might do differently next time.
Social Studies:
In Social Studies this term we have compared some significant traditions and celebrations among different cultures around the world. The students continue to discover some of the reasons for change in these traditions and celebrations, including their own. They will be interviewing their families to learn more about the why of their celebrations.
