February 27th, 2015.

It is hard to believe that we are in the final days of February.  Time is flying by!  Each day the students work on their monthly calendar where they represent a highlight of the day.  It is always interesting to see what stands out for the students.  Here are a few of the February calendars.

The students are beginning to finish up their powerpoint presentations on their Alberta winter birds.  They have been creating artwork and finding images on the internet to include in their presentations.  Next week, the students will begin sharing their presentations with the class.  They are looking forward to sharing their hard work with you during conferences.

Helping out a friend with our power points

Adding artwork to our power points

In a connection between math and science, we practiced reading thermometers as we examined temperatures around the school.  There was a wide range of temperatures measured.  The average room temperature was 19 degrees celsius, while our thermometer by the heat vent measured 50 degrees celsius and just outside our school doors was 0 degrees!

Measuring Temperature

February 20th, 2015.

We had a fantastic start to the week learning a little about chemistry and how chocolate is made as well as the different ingredients added to make various types of chocolate.  We then did some chocolate tasting comparing 70% cacao, extra creamy chocolate, aero bars and jersey milk.  The students then rated the chocolate based on a number of criteria including appearance, aroma, taste, texture and snap which is how the bar breaks.  One chocolate bar was described as having a sharp snap with a vanilla scent that melted in ones mouth.

Our Chocolate Rating Sheet

We learned all about Chinese New Year, reading a number of legends and stories about the celebration.  Did you know that children have up to a month off of school in honor of the New Year?  We also enjoyed fortune cookies that we tried eating with chopsticks.

Representing Our Learning In Visual Journals

More Work In The Visual Journal

Enjoying our Fortune Cookies

Friday was the 100th day of school.  Each child was surprised with a picture of what they might look like when they turn 100.  There was a lot of laughter at how we may all look in the years to come!  We then spent some time writing about the things we will and will not be able to do when we reach 100 years.  Please enjoy some of the ideas about life when they are 100.

"When I am 100 years old I will be able to live on a farm but won't be able to enjoy it."

"When I am 100 I will know how to braid my hair but I won't be able to because my fingers will be too wrinkly."

"When I am 100 I will be able to go to Disneyland but I won't be able to go on the rides because my dentures will fall out."

February 6th, 2015.

Our bird research moved into the presentation phase as the students began putting the information they learned into a power point presentation.  The students have been very excited with this process.  When the presentations are complete, the students will share their work with the class.

In Math, we represented our understanding of area and perimeter in a variety of ways.  The students used centimeter grid paper to calculate the area and perimeter of a self portrait.  They also found the area and perimeter of a a variety of flat surfaces in our classroom, using different units of measure including mm, cm and m.  The students then applied their understanding in a problem about the framing of the painting, The Mona Lisa.  The problem solving was a great challenge for many of the students.

Measuring the Area and Perimeter of the hallway with a trundle wheel

In Science, we worked on a cloud study, learning all about the different types of clouds and where they are located within the atmosphere.  We filled our classroom with a variety of inflatable clouds.  Ask your child if they can tell you about the differences between cirrus, stratus and cumulus clouds.

We finished our week with a fantastic pajama and stuffed animal day.  We spent some time in the afternoon playing games and working on the computers with our grade one/two buddies.

Please remember that next week is only a three day week, as the students are off on Thursday and Friday for teachers convention.