Guided By Our North Stars
Dear Parents,
Inspired by the story “The Egg That Didn’t Want to Be an Egg,” or as it’s known in Hebrew, “הביצה שהתחפשה,” our students embarked on a journey of creativity and imagination.
In this charming tale, the egg decides to “dress up” as a balloon, a clock, or even a ping-pong ball.
After reading the story together, each child was given the opportunity to create their own egg character. The results were nothing but magical!
On Monday we have decided that our Class Theme is Favourite Costume Day. Please let them wear the costume of their choice. A friendly reminder that they will be going outside for recess as always, so please make sure the costume is easy to wear under a coat, allows them to go to the bathroom without an assistant and is comfortable to wear in all day.
Alors les amis, we celebrated la Francophonie. There are thousands of reasons why we love the french language: it is smooth, rich, and flowing: we love speaking french because, with its nasal vowels and melodious intonation, it sounds very musical to a non-native ear. We want to learn French because it is also called the language of love, cooking, fashion, theater, visual arts, dance, and architecture.
During la francofête at our school, we had the pleasure to admire all the students from JK-grade 8 sing, dance, act, and recite poems in french!!!! All the teachers worked hard to make that happen. The students were proud of themselves, and their energy and passion were evident throughout the afternoon. During the week of the francophonie, we read books, heard stories, watched movies, played games, learned the ten magic words, and tasted french treats. Our students enjoyed singing the song “Je fais des sports” along with grade 3 and brought such a Ruach! Since the topic of this year’s francophonie was”Sports”, we did a lot of writing activities related to sports using a lot of verbs and new words.We also learnt the countries where French is spoken. We regularly practice and review the sounds but the kids need to read on a daily basis in order to increase their confidence and improve their fluency.
Salut les parents!
Our kiddos are looking forward to the break. They have every reason to be excited since they have been working hard in class. Students are trying to master the French language in every possible way.
The stories they are writing are mind-blowing. Not only do they know the vocabulary, but their confidence has increased considerably, since they have been challenging themselves (writing a story using verbs other than etre and avoir). Confidence is the number one predictor of academic achievement. We will continue with more writing and more presentations after the break on different topics. We have finished with winter vocabulary and we are currently learning the animals and the meaning of different verbs. It’s time they put all this knowledge (vocabulary and verbs like porter,manger,boire,jouer,faire,aimer etc )into practice. On the 100 Days of school, the kids came up with 100 words and 50 verbs that they like using when they write stories. As far as reading is concerned, we keep practicing the complex sounds. The kids need to practice “Je lis” regularly to remember the sounds and improve their fluency. The point is to move to a different level, but only once they have read the books correctly. That’s why you should advise them to listen to the story many times before recording especially when it comes to some tricky or new words. During the break, try to expose them to the French language as much as possible, visit museums, watch their favorite show like Minecraft, Pokémon, Barbapapa, Scooby-Doo, Ben 10 in french, listen to french songs, and use free online Apps like Duolingo, Hello- World French Children’s Activities can all make this journey for the kids educational and fun.
Our students are so excited to show you how they own their own learning. We will be posting their own blogfolios this week. We were very impressed with how they truly understood what a reflection is and how reflecting will help them develop next steps in order to move forward on their personalized learning journey. This was a strong team effort, thank-you Ms. Cleveland for making the math reflections happen and Madame Efi and Morah Dana for the French and Hebrew reflections. Please take time to share these blogs with your child. They are very proud!
Why do we reflect?
Language Arts:
Writing-Our journal entries is where we have been reflecting on Winter. For example, how we feel about winter and if we could live anywhere else during our winter months where would we choose to live and why. Their writing reflections focused on writing conventions (capitals, spacing between words and correct use of punctuation), spelling (sounding out using appropriate phonemes or applying spelling rules introduced) and most importantly, does my writing make sense (did I leave out words).
Reading-End of the term DIBELS 8 assessments were completed and as such their own personal learning journey is adjusted as they continue to work on Boost Reading. After interviews I will be sending you a detailed e-mail on how to access Amplify. This will be optional homework.
What is Amplify reading?
Amplify is the new reading platform (the umbrella company) that the OJCS purchased licences for this year to use as a pilot project to enhance our current reading programs. We bought three programs for our school through Amplify, each explained below.
Why did we choose Amplify?
It is the platform that most closely aligns with the evidence-based body of research referred to as the ‘Science of Reading’. The Science of Reading research shows the need for students to have word recognition skills (such as phonemic awareness, decoding skills through phonics, and reading fluency) and language comprehension (including knowledge of vocabulary, morphology, and syntax) to read and comprehend text.
mClass is the system that allows us to run the DIBELS 8 Assessment with all of our students in Grades K-3.
What is DIBELS?
DIBELS ® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of literacy skills. They are designed to be short (one-minute) fluency measures that can be used to regularly detect risk and monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills. Depending on the grade – the DIBELS 8 assesses different skills, such as, (decoding, reading fluency and language comprehension). These results help us identify who is below, at or above grade level in each skill and then target instruction (i.e. with small groups, resource support, homework etc..) accordingly. This is an assessment that is completed in class with the teacher.
Can my child use this program at home?
Yes please! Get your child set up to use Boost Reading at home by making sure they have a set of headphones and a quiet place to play. Boost Reading is personalized to your child’s needs, so you don’t need to and you should NOT assist them with their learning. Once they log in, they’re ready to start using the program. Some students will begin with a placement activity that helps the program match them to the best content. To ensure the most accurate placement, it’s important that students complete each activity independently. It’s always helpful to encourage your student/child to have fun and do their best!
What will I see as a parent on report cards?
K-5 students:
On the report card, teachers will share how a student is performing in various strands related to reading, including decoding, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. With data from the DIBELS assessment, the report cards will indicate whether the student is performing above grade, at grade or below grade level in each specific skill assessed. They will also share the next steps to target skills that are still developing.
Library-During our library periods Ms. Brigitte has continued with our monthly novel study, this month we have started a chapter book by Daniel Pinkwater.
We also completed a workshop on how to create a really strong password. We discovered that a very long complicated password was NOT a great idea as we would never remember it.
Science:
This week we will be completing our unit on Movement and Simple Machines. We will be spending our time in the Makerspace working on a pulley challenge. This is where the magic happens: problem solving, learning to take failure in stride, persevering and being open to other peoples ideas.
Our next unit is Liquids, Solids and Gases. Our trip to the Science and Technology Museum was a blast and the workshop we participated in was an introduction to our new unit.
A boat that floats and holds a pirate and some treasure.
Math:
This month we are exploring 3D and 2D shapes as well as area and perimeter. In the photos below we are discovering how many edges, faces and vertices make up a cube, pyramid and rectangular prism.
Social Studies:
We had a lot of fun with this unit. Discovering all the unique birthday and tooth fairy traditions around the world. Did you know that according to a Turkish tradition if you plant your child’s tooth on the grounds of a hospital your child is very likely to become a doctor. Sure is much less expensive than medical school!
Watch this fun video here.
Salut les parents!
What an exciting month December has been!!! It is so interesting to observe different celebrations and spend quality time with our loved ones. In class, we worked on the theme, Hanukkah. The students got familiar with the vocabulary already taught from last year but this year they used it to describe pictures and write small texts.In addition, they read in class the Hanukkah story with great fluency and they sang beautifully in French during the school event. Apart from that,we keep working on our sounds like EU always revising the ones we have already seen. After the holidays, they will get their Je lis accounts so they can start reading simple stories which will help them improve their fluency and remember vocabulary.
Salut les parents,
Another 2 and a half exciting weeks full of learning and fun is over. The students proudly recited the poem “Braves soldats” during the Remembrance Day ceremony. Apart from that, they also made cards with beautiful wishes. We continue practicing the sounds that are already taught and write small texts combining the vocabulary and simple grammar.These kids never cease to amaze me with their motivation and drive for learning.Not only are they capable to make wonderful presentations with older grades as you can see in the videos but they are also keen writers!They described beautifully pictures about Fall using different words and simple verbs.I am so proud of my rock stars and it’s only November!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uF8igGFOFfjPCbiG3pVTzwarWmtx86WC/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uTP028xhe54Ih2JsHc4AB0YJKHwxIvyR/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tFXL8TSEx_m_VkovULGRfDNYEsg4rMX3/view?usp=sharin
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uUYwzb4cwnIQV2ZeE8l0WW8towGyjgxa/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tkUQYRED48ZCBi6bDN_TRNU6BuBmK42E/view?usp=sharin
We are SO excited about the Scholastic Book Fair! The Book Fair is running from December 5-7. Please see the poster below for information about when our class is visiting the fair!
A few other important notes…
Thank-you for your participation in our goal setting conferences. We feel our student’s first set of goals will help them be successful on their own personal learning journeys. We have been very busy this month, getting to know two new students from Israel. They are a wonderful addition to our classroom family. Below is just some of the learning taking place presently in Grade 2.
Goals:
The signed goal list is being added this week to our Go For The Goal! bulletin board. Next steps will be how to measure our success.
Language Arts:
Writing-This past month the focus of our journal entries have been reflecting on our Global Maker Day challenges, creating our goals and reaching out to the Israeli soldiers. The children were asked how we support Israel both in our Grade 2 classroom and as a school. We brainstormed ideas and then they were asked to choose from our list or come up with their own ideas and complete letters which will be brought directly to the soldiers. Below is the list and a sample of a few of the letters we are sending.
Reading-Amplify evaluations are completed and our students are now set to be on their own personal learning journey when they work on Amplify. Resource sessions are well under way with Ms. Honey and we work as a team to ensure academic growth. Reading homework is assigned by Ms. Honey each week, please remember to return your books in order to get the next one. For those students who meet or exceed the Grade 2 expectations for this point in the school year, they should be reading often just for the love of reading. Please note during our Language Arts blocks each child’s work has been personalized to ensure we have happy, engaged students. Small group time ensures time to practice our spelling, decoding skills as well as answering comprehension questions. Below is a photo of an activity we completed after reviewing and making observations of the FLoSZ rule. When /f/, /l/, /s/ and /z/ is heard after a short vowel at the end of a one-syllable word, it is doubled.
Library/Social Studies-During our library periods Ms. Brigitte has continued with our monthly novel study, this month we are listening to books written by William Steig.
We also completed a workshop on how to be a good digital citizen. We really have a better understanding of what that means. Here is the video we watched and a great discussion followed.
Science:
This month our focus continues to be on Movement and Simple Machines. The students completed an experiment where they discovered where the fulcrum is located affects the amount of effort needed to move an object. This was a simple experiment involving a marker, ruler and a ball of playdough. We also are working in pairs in the Makerspace to design a lever that is able to lift 100g safely and securely.
Math:
This month we are exploring graphs and becoming math ninja masters (becoming more fluent with the math facts to 20). We are diving deeper into the essential parts of a graph, comparing and making important observations and understanding its purpose. Lastly we are starting to work on double digit regrouping. Resource sessions are well under way with Mrs. Cleveland and we work as a team to ensure academic growth. Math homework will be only assigned to those that need the practice, I will add IXL to the homework board next week with the understanding that this is not homework but an option for those that want one.
