Morning Routine

Math – We learned one new math app today.

Lockdown Drill #1

Recess

Daily 5 – Today is International Dot Day! Dot Day is about making our own mark on the world. We listened to a reading of “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds, created some dots of our own, and wrote Dot Day poems.

Lunch

Talking Circle – Many students have been leaving their lockers open and belongings on the floor. In our talking circle, we tried to come up with solutions to help remind us to put our belongings away and close our lockers, and potential consequences for not doing so.

Social – We reviewed similarities/differences between the W. S. Hawrylak community and other communities we may belong to. We discussed how one feature of communities is that within communities, people depend on each other. We brainstormed the needs of people in our community, and then considered who we depend on for meeting these needs. (ie: We need shelter. The people we depend on to create shelter for us are architects, construction workers, carpenters, etc.)

Lockdown Drill #2

Recess

Arts Ed. – Mme. Jasper

Home Time

**Just a reminder that tomorrow is picture day!

Morning Routine

Math – We learned a new math centre called Domino Parking. While the class worked on math centres I worked with a few students on counting by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. As a class we talked about vocabulary words we need to know for working with patterns.

Recess

Daily 5 – The students completed 22 minutes of Read to Self! After Read to Self, the students chose between working on Word Work or Work on Writing.

Lunch

Phys. Ed. – Ms. Bechard

Music – Mrs. Machnaik

Recess

We discussed and practiced what to do in the unlikely event of a lockdown. Tomorrow there will be 2 lockdown drills during the school day. After many questions and student concerns about possible scenarios, the class came to the understanding that in the event of a lockdown, they would be kept safe by their teachers and principal. We do not want students to feel afraid or anxious about tomorrow’s lockdown drills. Please discuss further with your child and let me know if they are feeling this way.

PWIM

Quiet Time

Home Time

*Oops! I made a mistake in yesterday’s blog post. The date of the Welcome BBQ is Tuesday, September 27th.

**Regina Public School Board has created a specific permission form for the use of Seesaw. These forms were sent home yesterday and need to be returned. Thanks!

Morning Routine

Math – We learned 3 new math centres, Number Bonds, Movement Patterns, and a SMART board game called SMART Patterns. While the class worked on math centres, I worked on counting by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s with some students.

Recess

Daily 5 – We learned 2 new Work on Writing activities, Sentence Starters and 5-Fingers. As a class we practiced writing 6 sentences about one topic, using our 5-Finger writing models. Writing paragraphs of at least six sentences about one topic/idea is something we will be focusing on in Grade 2.

Lunch

Phys. Ed.

Author Study – The class continued to look at Mo Willems and read a few more of his books.

Recess

Choice Centres

Mail

Home Time

*During the afternoon I began reading assessments with some of the students in the class. Reading assessments for the whole class will be completed in the next couple weeks.

**The Welcome BBQ has been moved to Tuesday, September 28th. Please return BBQ forms to the school promptly.

French – Mme. Jasper

Morning Routine

Recess

Daily 5 – We learned about Read to Someone, and practiced with 2 different partners. For Word Work, we learned a new game, Bear Families (word families with the same endings) and practiced playing as a class. We read one of our new books, “Purple, Green, and Yellow” by Robert Munsch.

Lunch

Genius Hour/Talking Circle – We discussed the ideas of being mindful (engaged in what we are doing, aware of our surroundings) and unmindful (unaware/zoned out, only partially engaged in the task at hand). We considered times that we have been mindful/unmindful, and created comics in our journals showing what we might be thinking or saying when we are being mindful/unmindful. We want to work towards being mindful learners and people.

Recess

Social – We compared how the W. S. Hawrylak School community is the same and is different than other communities we belong to such as sports teams/arts groups/church groups, etc.

Quiet Time

Mail – Book orders were sent home today. Please return by September 26th.

Home Time

Morning Routine

Math – We learned one new math centre, Pattern Police, then had a practice run-through of math centre time. Afterwards, we talked about how we still need to work on the centre sign-up process, as well as compromising and working on centres that are not our first choice. All students will have a chance to try every centre at least once even if it means they need to wait a few days.

Recess

Daily 5 – We practiced using “perfect printing” to write in our weekend news duotangs. These duotangs will be sent home on Fridays for parents to read and respond to. We had our first “Flashlight Friday” and did Read to Self in the dark with flashlights.

Lunch

Social – We went on a tour/scavenger hunt around the school to find out the answers to questions we came up with about our school community.

French – Mme. Jasper

Recess

Arts Ed. – We finished our leaf projects.

Quiet Time

Home Time

*BBQ forms need to be returned as soon as possible to ensure the necessary amount of food is prepared at the Welcome BBQ.

**Seesaw Information: Seesaw is an electronic portfolio that we will be using this year. For students that have not used Seesaw in their classes in the past, an account has been created for you to access your child’s portfolio (username: your email address, password: your child’s name). For students who used Seesaw in their class last year, please log into your old account and select “Add a new class” from the options menu, then use the QR code sent home yesterday.

***If you are interested in following our class on Twitter, our Twitter handle is @msbaskysclass.

Morning Routine

Math – We learned one new math centre, Number Sandwiches.

Fire evacuation practice

Recess

Daily 5 – The students did Read to Self for 18 minutes today! We learned about Work Work and practiced one of our Word Work activities, Boggle.

Lunch

Talking Circle – The students shared about their families.

Social – The students began looking at communities, in particular the Hawrylak School community.

Fire evacuation practice #2

Arts Ed. – Mme. Jasper

*I was away for the afternoon at a workshop.

Morning Routine

Math Centres – We learned two new centres today, Dot Card Difference and a patterning centre. We practiced playing with partners that we had not worked with before.

Recess

Daily 5 – We discussed what Work on Writing looks like and the students competed a journal entry about their summer.

Lunch

Phys. Ed. – Ms. Bechard

Music – Mrs. Machnaik

Recess

P.W.I.M

Author Study – This month we will be looking at Mo Willems.

Mail

Home Time

*Please continue to send forms back to school. I sent some students home with a second set of forms in case the original forms were lost.

**I am still looking for some lost socks (for erasing student whiteboards) as well as a few old iPhones/iPod Touches that are no longer in use for the students to use for listening to audiobooks. Thanks!

I hope everyone had a relaxing long weekend! Back to the grind for another short week!

Morning Routine

Math Centres – We learned two new math centres, Roll It! and Bridging, and practiced playing them.

Recess

Daily 5 – We discussed what Read to Self looks like and practiced. We were able to Read to Self for 10 minutes today! So proud! 10 minutes is a great starting point, and we are excited to begin to build our reading stamina. The class set a goal of 30 minutes by the end of the month.

Lunch

Phys. Ed – We reviewed Phys. Ed. routines, played “Everyone’s It” Tag, and had magic carpet relays.

Special Activity – In groups the students filmed “application” videos explaining which helper job they would like. Once assigned, these jobs will be kept until Christmas. These videos will be posted onto Seesaw (e-portfolio we will be using this year). I am working on adding all parents into Seesaw so that you are able to view and comment on your child’s work.

Recess

Arts Ed. – We began a watercolour leaf project.

Mail

Home time

*Just a reminder to please return all forms sent home back to school. I missed sending home the lunchroom registration form last week (oops! my mistake), and sent it home today. These forms are due back Thursday.

This two-day week of school certainly flew by! It was great to notice such an improvement in the kids’ stamina today, and I am very confident that this will continue to improve in the next few weeks. Have a great long weekend!

French – Mme. Jasper

Morning Routine

Math Centres – We learned our first math centre today, addition war, and practiced playing with our responsibility partners.

Recess

Daily 5 – We reviewed the 3 ways to read a book and then discussed how to choose “good-fit books” based on this criteria:

I – I select a book and look it over, inside and out

P – Purpose: Why might I want to read it?

I – Interest: Does it interest me?

C – Comprehend: Do I understand what I am reading?

K – Know: Do I know most of the words?

*This criteria can also be used at home/at the library when selecting books to read.

Lunch

Genius Hour – Before beginning actual genius hour, we will be taking the time learn about our brains and how they work. We discussed how understanding how our brains work can help us be better thinkers, researchers, and learners.

Recess

Choice Centres

Mail

Home time

Thank you for checking in today! This blog will be used as my daily communication with families, and will inform you about daily happenings in the classroom, homework, upcoming events, and important reminders.

All I can say is “Wow!”, we have had an absolutely amazing first day in grade two! I can already tell that we have such a responsible, mature, and caring group of grade two’s this year. Our day included lots of laughs and stories, some curious questions, and even a lost tooth.

Our schedule for today:

Greeting assembly

Table activity – library cards

Introduction – Ms. Basky

Classroom understandings – students decided that instead of rules, we should call our class guidelines “understandings” as we need to all understand and agree with them, and helped establish them.

Classroom tour

Morning routine – helper: Madison

Recess

Daily 5 – the 3 ways to read a book. Students practiced with their responsibility partners.

Table activity – decorating book boxes

Lunch – **just a reminder: please do not send products with nuts to school for lunches or snacks due to allergies

Talking circle

Introductions – students got to know and introduced their responsibility partners to the class.

French – Mme. Jasper

Recess

Unpacking supplies

Quiet Time

Twitter

Mail

Home time