Resources

I have added a section on the right hand side of the blog called 'Resources'. I will add links for websites that students can use at home to practice their school work. The first link is Skip counting. Students can set the multiple they count by (we count by 1, 2, 5 and 10 in Grade 2) and count as the computer highlights the numbers. The second link is Base 10 Blocks. We have been practicing showing numbers to 100 using base 10 blocks. This website allows students to show numbers using the virtual blocks.

A couple more things...

Just a few more things about today...

We had our evacuation drill and Terry Fox Walk this afternoon. According to my count (not including all donations made online) our class raised over $320 - WAY TO GO GRADE 2!!!
Mille mercis to the parents who came along and helped out on our walk.

We had a visitor this morning from Troupe du Jour - a French theatre school. They will be offering a session for students who are 7-9 years of age. There is a brochure going home with each student today if you are interested. I was also informed that they have a financial assistance program if you require. For more information, you can call or email (listed on the brochure). Their website is : latroupedujour.ca .

This morning our class, along with Mme de Tilly and Mme Hamilton's classes helped to make our school grounds nicer. We went out for recess a bit early armed with garbage bags and gloves and cleaned up. I am so proud of the great stewards for the earth here in Grade 2.

I will be emailing out another link to a new photobucket album with some photos of the students hard at work, so stay tuned!

Have a great weekend!

Je me presente!

All of the posters have been handed back in and we are now presenting them to the rest of the class. They are beautiful! Je suis tellement fiere du travail des deuxiemes annees! (I am so proud of the work the grade 2s have done) I hope to take pictures of all of the students with their posters and put up a photobucket album for you all to see. They will also be put up on display in the hall, so if you are in the school late next week, drop by and check them out!

Friday, September 28

I can't believe it's the end of September already! Some reminders for next week...

-I am away on October 1st.

-Please send back Home Reading Books to be exchanged

-Hot lunch forms went home yesterday and are due back on Monday, Oct. 1st. The Hot Lunch will be on Thursday, Oct. 4.

-October 4th will also be Pajama Day. Students are invited to wear their favourite PJs.

-There will be an assembly on Thursday at 9am.

-NO SCHOOL for students on Friday, October 5th.

-NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 8th. Happy Thanksgiving!

-Dictee will be on Thursday, October 4th, words are as follows:

• une maison
• un garçon
• un cochon
• les bonbons
• les pantalons

Lockdown Drill

This afternoon we had our lockdown drill. We did a great job of being quiet, sitting in the back of the classroom and waiting for Mme Denomy to unlock our door and tell us the lockdown was over.

MIMI word practice

On Friday, 2 copies of the MIMI words were sent home. I would encourage you to practice these words each night with your child. I sent home 2 copies so that you can cut them out and play Memoire or Pioche! (Go Fish!). Below are some other fun ideas for practicing MIMI words.

Busy Week Ahead!

Lots of reminders and updates for this week!

• Library on Monday, bring back your books if you wish to exchange them for new ones
• I am away Monday afternoon for a meeting
• Je me presente is due on Tuesday
• Wednesday is the second collection day for magazine orders. Please make sure that the student name is on the order forms
• Thursday afternoon we will have a lockdown drill. We will be talking about this at school each day this week to prepare
• Friday we will have our evacuation drill to Nutana Collegiate and our Terry Fox Walk. If you wish to accompany us, please let me know.
• Dictee on Friday, the words are listed below:

un
une
le
la
les
de
du
des

Meet the Staff night

Thanks to all families who came out to Meet the Staff night on Wednesday night. It was a pleasure to meet and chat with you all. I am looking forward to a great year working with you and your children!

Way to Be!

When students are seen doing good deeds, helping each other, being responsible and respectful, they may be given a Way to Be! This little pink slip may be given to a student by any staff member anywhere in the school or even at recess. The Way to Be s can be given to the students' homeroom teacher and put into the weekly draw. Each Friday, a Way to Be will be drawn in each homeroom and that student will win a small prize.

Our First MIMI poster

Here is a look at our first MIMI poster.

I will be sending home a list of the words to be practiced at home in the near future.

Home Reading Books

Starting today, you will find a ziploc bag of Home Reading Books in your childs sac bleu. These books will be sent home on Mondays and returned on Fridays to be exchanged for new ones for the following week. Please read with your child each night. That said, I understand that my students are busy with piano lessons, swimming lessons, tae kwon do, karate, soccer, hockey, ukelele lessons, dance lessons, and the list goes on. The work you do at home should reinforce the skills learned at school. There may be some books going home this first week that are too easy or too difficult. Please let me know if this seems to be the case and I will send home different books.

Thank you once again for all your support at home!

le 17 septembre - le 21 septembre

Reminders for this week:

-Scholastic due on Tuesday
-Dictee on Friday, the words are as follows:

• je
• j’ai
• j’aime
• je suis
• quoi de neuf

-Magazine double collection day on Wednesday

Quoi de neuf? will be going home starting this week. Quoi de neuf? is the French equivalent of 'what's new' or 'what's up'. Students will take turns bringing home the 'quoi de neuf?' bag. They are to put one item in the bag and they will bring it back to school. They will then share with the rest of the class about their item.

Empathy

This month, our school is learning about empathy. We have learned that empathy is trying to understand and feel what someone else is feeling. We have also been practicing showing empathy to each other, like giving a friend a hug if they are hurt, or saying that we hope that they feel better. We will be reading some stories about empathy and discussing more examples over the next month.

QSP Magazine Fundraiser

Yesterday we kicked off our QSP magazine fundraiser. Your child should have brought home an envelope with a catalogue, some order forms and a letter to parents. If students need additional order forms, please let me know and I can send more home. Orders can also be placed online at www.qsp.ca and our group number is 15661. I have listed the collection days in the Upcoming Dates list on the blog. The first of these is the double points day on Wednesday, September 19th. **When sending in orders, please include your childs name on the order form.**

Thanks for all the work you do at home to support Ecole Victoria School!

Veronique la vache

 Some families have already met the new student in Mme Ollerhead's class, and others will have the honour in the next few weeks. Each night Veronique la vache goes home with a different student. She is accompanied by a notebook in which students are invited to write a short journal entry about what they did with Veronique that night. If Veronique is at your home for the night, please send her back the next day. Thanks for your support at home!

Je me presente

Coming home tonight is a project for students to complete as homework within the next 2 weeks. Below is a picture of my completed example. We discussed how it should be completed neatly, using neat printing, and nice colouring. I have made the due date le 25 septembre. Thanks for your support at home.

Top left: My portrait - students may glue a picture, as I have, or draw a self portrait.
Top right: Who Am I? - I am ___ years old. My birthday is ________. I live in __________. I am in grade _________. My teachers name is ____________. I get to school _a pied_ or _en autobus_ or _en auto_ or _a velo_. The people in my family are _______. When I grow up, I want to be ________.
Bottom left: My favourite things - Colour, Animal, Food, Book, Sport, At school I like to, At home I like to.
Centre (Star): I am special (unique) because ...
Centre right (heart): I show others I care about them by...
Bottom right: Three interesting and surprising things about me are...

Busy week ahead!

Just a couple of things for this week:

• Today we had our first library time. Students will be able to bring books home. Please send them back to school on Mondays to be exchanged for new ones. I will make this a homework item in the agenda on Fridays.
• We also had our first fire drill of the year this afternoon. We happened to be in the library, but students did a great job of quietly lining up, exiting the school and listening until attendance was taken. Way to go Grade 2!
• The first Scholastic order of the year is coming home today. If you wish to order anything, please send back the order form, along with a cheque made out to Scholastic Canada Ltd. by September 18th.
• Thursday is Hat Day! Students will be allowed to wear a hat for duration of the day.
• Friday morning at 11am we will be having a welcome back assembly and kick off for the magazine fundraiser.

I will be sending an email out tonight with a link and password to the first album of photos from our class. Thanks for your patience!
Have a great Monday evening!

Pete the Cat

On Friday I shared one of my favourite books - Pete the Cat. We talked about how sometimes things don't always go our way, but that it's okay, and that everything will be 'all good'. Here is the YouTube video of the author doing a reading of Pete the Cat. I apologize in advance for the song being stuck in your head for the rest of the day...

What a great start to Grade 2!

I am so excited to have such a great group of students! We are going to have a fantastic year!
We are mostly organized now and are working on learning the routines and rules that we will follow this year. As outlined in the letter I sent home on the first day of school, the two important words for this year will be RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY. We have talked about both of these words and what it means to be respectful and responsible.

I also sent home an Interest Inventory on the first day. Thank you to families who have sent those back already. I like to get to know my students and what their interests are, it helps me in planning activities and choosing topics that will engage students.

Today in the homework folders there was a school newsletter, a pack of forms that need to be reviewed, signed and returned, as well as a hot lunch order form. Hot lunch orders are due back on Monday, September 10th. A calendar was also sent home. If your family ended up with 2 calendars by mistake, kindly send one back to the school.

I hope to get some pictures up on the Photobucket site this weekend. I am currently getting my email list together, and once I have pictures on the Photobucket site I will email the password needed to view the pictures. Thanks for your patience as I get everything up and running.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school in person or by phone, or by email.