Gr. 2s :

In approximately one week, our grade 2s will have a science quiz. The quiz will be done orally. Children will be asked the questions and their verbal answers will be marked. Below you will find a copy of the quiz. All of these answers are in your child’s Science duotang. Duotangs will be coming home Wednesday and Friday night this week. 

1. What is matter?

2. Name five examples of matter.

3. What is a solid?

4. Name five examples of a solid.

5. What happens when you break a solid? (check out our experimental findings)

6. What is a liquid?

7. Name five examples of a liquid.

8. Please name these four safety symbols. (You will have to name the four safety symbols from your worksheet page that I already marked.)

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Just a friendly reminder that this Friday, November 20^th is a Professional Activity Day. Some parent-teacher interviews will take place this Thursday evening and Friday morning. I have already contacted the parents that I would like to meet this time around. If you have not been contacted, a meeting is not needed at this time. If you would like to formally meet me for the first time, please send me an email.

Please note that Elementary Progress Reports will be issued for all students in grades 1 through 8 on December 10, 2015. These reports will cover the regular fall reporting period, from the first day of school through to October 30th, 2015. The reports will include information about your child’s progress, as well as teacher comments.

Do you have any paper towel tubes?

We are in need of paper towel or wrapping paper tubes (EMPTY rolls, not the ones with paper towel still around it).  We do not need toilet paper tubes. We will be using the paper towel tubes for a few activities throughout our Gr. 3 science unit on strong and stable structures. This unit will be starting at the end of the week. Collect as many tubes as you can…aunts, uncles, grandparents, even friends’ houses! (take care of the recycling for them for a while) and send them in with your child. THANKS for your help!

We are wrapping up our social studies unit about living and working in Ontario. As a culminating task, students have been working with a partner or in a group of three to create a BROCHURE on research they have conducted on one of the following communities in Ontario: Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, or Hamilton.

Tomorrow, students will continue working on their research sheet with their group and brainstorm things that they already know about their chosen community (using their notes from previous unit lessons as well as previous class discussions). Some time will also be spent on the school’s Chromebooks to research information online. We will discuss the research sheet and brainstorm ideas as a class.

The following areas MUST be covered in the brochure:

– Population 

– Type of Community – rural, urban, suburban, mining, manufacturing, tourist, etc.

– How is the land used? -farming, building, houses, recreation, nature reserves, roads, parking lots, etc.

– What kinds of job opportunities are available in the community? For example, we have talked about how in Ottawa there are many people who work in the government and in high-tech. We have also talked about how there are lots of other types of jobs like: teacher, doctor, electrician, taxi driver, nurse etc. We are also trying to make the connection that sometimes the type of land relates to the jobs in a community (Example – rocky terrain in the Canadian Shield is good for mining so lots of jobs related to mining in Sudbury).

– What natural resources are in the community? We have talked about how in Ottawa we have water (from the Ottawa River that is purified so we can drink it) and trees (for some paper and pulp products) and maybe a few quarries for gravel.

– What can people do for fun if they are visiting your community? We have talked about some of the students’ favourite tourist attractions they have visited with their families in Ontario (e.g., Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto, Niagara Falls in Niagara Falls(!), museums, art galleries, parks, etc.)

– How does the community meet the needs of its people? We talked about how people need water, so the community provides us with clean drinking water. As humans ,we need food, so the community builds grocery stores or sets up farmer’s markets so we can buy food. There are also certain services set up to take care of our garbage, recycling, and sewage. Communities make roads for us to travel on and provide other transportation services/links for us to use (e.g., subways, city busses, light rail, taxis, etc.).

–A map of Ontario with the community labeled on it.

Remember: The purpose of the brochure will be to inform readers of the chosen community but to also convince them that it would be a great place to visit!

Students will be completing their BROCHURE at school with their partner/group this week … but you are more than welcome to talk to your child and help them find any information (online, at the library, example travel brochures etc.) that they can find on their chosen community to use in their brochure. You can also print out colour pictures at home that your child can bring in and include in their brochure as well. Again, all the writing will be done in partners/groups at school! The due date will be NEXT MONDAY (Nov. 16th).

THANKS for your support!

On Friday afternoon, we welcomed a very special guest into our classroom. Catherine Roberts came to talk to the students in to vist Mr. Jackson & Ms. Lewis’ class about her grandfather who fought during the First World War. It was a very moving presentation. You could hear a pin drop in the classroom as Mrs. Roberts described how her grandfather fought in and survived the battle of Vimy Ridge. The students also learned about life in the trenches and the severe hardships that her grandfather and other soldiers had to endure day after day. Mrs. Roberts also brought various objects (for example, a gas mask, a copy of her grandfather’s medical record, a helmet and coat, the medals that he earned, etc.) that she has collected over the years that help bring her stories to life. Her grandfather did survive the war and lived to the age of 85. We thank Mrs. Roberts for helping the students better understand and appreciate what her grandfather and others like him did and are doing so that we may have the life that we have and the freedoms that we enjoy. On Monday, Captain Christopher Daniel will be coming to talk to all of the primary classes about his work in the military. And on Wednesday we will have an in school Remembrance Day Assembly. Children are encouraged to bring money to school to purchase their own poppies that are being sold on Monday and Tuesday. Please review the word bank pictured to the left with your child. Discussions like these at home with your child are life  enhancing ones.