Pajama Day!

It's PJ day tomorrow!  Students are welcome to wear a favorite pair of pajamas to school.  They are also welcome to bring a small stuffy.


A reminder that it's early dismissal tomorrow!

December 8, 2019

Last week we studied a famous artist named Piet Mondrian.  He is best known for his abstract art made from lines and the primary colors.  We created our own Mondrian inspired pieces using squares and rectangles.  Here are just a few!

December 2, 2019

We began our day with a discussion about our weekends.  So much to be excited for as Christmas gets closer!

In Music we are busy practicing for our concert next week.  The evening show is on December 10th at 5:00.  Parents are also welcome to attend the Dress Rehearsal in the afternoon which begins at 1:15.  More parking, less crowded!  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Our new words of the week are:  every, people, once, family, should

In Math, we have been busy learning about 3D shapes.  Tomorrow we will create a Prairie landscape using 3D shapes.  Pictures to come!  In Science we talked about our new topic, MAGNETS!  We are excited to learn and explore with magnets!

Baby Visit!

Baby Payton and her Mom braved the roads to join us for a baby visit today!  Payton has changed so much in a month!  She especially enjoyed tummy time today!  We asked Stephanie a lot of questions about crying, and what makes Payton cry.  Payton loves to be held and cuddled when she is crying.

Students made a lot of connections, and were wondering what their first words were.  Some of them were wondering what made them cry when they were a baby!  All great conversations to have at home!

Please book in for a Parent Teacher Conference if you haven't done so already.  I'm looking forward to sharing what we have been learning!

Christmas Concert!

November 14, 2019

This week we learned how to make our writing more interesting using similes!  A simile compares two similar objects using 'like' or 'as'.  After reading a book called "My Dog is as Smelly as a Dirty Socks", we had some fun writing smilies for our family members.

We also read a special book called, "If you're not from the Prairie" which will guide our writing next week.

In math we have been practicing two strategies which will help us add numbers to 18 more efficiently.  We reviewed "friendly numbers" which are the pairs of numbers that add up to 10.  (1,9. 2,8. 3,7  4,6  5,5).  We learned a game called Make 10 Go Fish that can be played at home!  We also reviewed our doubles facts to 18.

In Science we did two experiments.  We learned that only some solids dissolve completely in water.  We also learned that different types of material have different rates of absorption.  

A reminder to sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences.  

Families are required to log into My CBE/PowerSchool Account https://sis.cbe.ab.ca/public/home.html   beginning Sunday November 17th , starting at 6:00 am to book an interview time with their child's teacher.

November 4th, 2019

It sounds like everyone had a fun filled weekend!

We began our day by writing about our weekend.  Lots of students shared about Halloween, while others shared about special activities that took place.  Students were reminded to include the 5Ws when describing their weekend, and had the opportunity to edit their work afterwords for uppercase letters and periods.

The new words of the week to practice are:  back, to, two, from, your

In math we created riddles about 2 digit numbers.  Students were encouraged to use words such as; more than, less than, even, odd, tens and ones when describing their numbers.  The key was adding enough detail so the reader could guess the correct number.  Here is an example:

I am an odd 2 digit number.  
I am greater than 15 and less than 20.  
I have 7 ones.    
What number am I?

On Friday, we will be recognizing Remembrance Day with a special ceremony in the gym at 10:30.  Students will receive a poppy to wear during the ceremony and are invited to bring in change to contribute to the Poppy Fund.  Students are welcome to wear service uniforms if they have them (Beavers, Sparks etc.).

Happy Halloween!

Have a wonderful and safe evening tonight!  See you on Monday, November 4th.

Food Bank - Goal Met!

Students were excited to learn that we had met our goal of 100 items for the Food Bank!  Thank you to everyone who sent items in!  We have one more day if you'd still like to contribute!

We used these items during a math lesson today.  Students worked in teams to sort their items and then graphed their results.  Items were sorted by packaging (cans, jars, boxes, plastic etc).  Cans was the winner!

October 28th.......almost Halloween!

Excitement is in the air as Halloween quickly approaches!  It was tricky to contain our excitement as we were stuck inside with the cold weather today.  Hopefully tomorrow warms up enough to enjoy some fresh air.  Please ensure that students come dressed to play!

A reminder to pay for the Leighton Art Center field trip as soon as possible.  The fee of $13.00 can be paid through your MyCBE account.  We are still looking for one volunteer if you happen to be available!

New words to practice this week are:  use, jump, farm, because, are

We are 16 items short from our Food Bank goal of 100 items!  3 more days to collect items......let's do it Room 135!

October 25

The week we practiced using our senses to describe a season.  First we recorded our ideas on a graphic organizer, and then we combined them into a paragraph.  We also tried to add adjectives to our sentences to make them more interesting.  Our goal was to have the reader figure out the season using the descriptive writing!  Students were very proud of their writing!

In math we looked a little more closely at place value.  We practiced making 2 digit numbers using base 10 blocks (tens and ones), and practiced ordering numbers from smallest to biggest and vice versa.  Your child learned a simple war game which can be practiced at home.  (The person with the biggest two digit number gets the cards).

We had an opportunity to share our water drop stories with our Grade 1 buddies!  They are in backpacks to be shared at home.

Food Bank update:  Our classroom goal is 100 items.  We are currently at 81 items.  We have 4 more days to reach our goal!  Please help!!

October 21

Reminders:

On Friday, students brought home a notice about the Leighton Art Center.  This is an in-school art session and we will need 4 or 5 volunteers to help us. (8:30 - 11:30 a.m.).  Fees will be posted in Powerschool in the next day or so.  Please let me know if you are available to help us.

Picture retakes are on Thursday, October 24th.  Please send back the original form with your child so that we know retakes are required.

New words to practice this week are: laugh, could, was, very, I'm

We had our very first baby visit today with Mommy Stephanie and Baby Peyton.  She is just 3 months old!  Ask your child what Baby Peyton can do already.

October 16

We began writing our own stories today about a raindrop (or snowflake) and it's journey through the Water Cycle.  Today the cloud burst, and the drop fell to the ground in the form of rain, hail or snow.  Tomorrow we will continue writing about the "collection" stage of the cycle.

We reviewed 5 new high frequency words:  know, new, play right, and were. We are practicing these and others during our daily Word Work Centers.  We also talked about using the suffix -ed when writing the past tense of a word (played).

In math, we reviewed Even and Odd numbers.  Today we defined them and sorted some even and odd numbers.  Ask your child to tell you what makes a number even or odd.

In Social Studies we have been learning about the Prairies.  Today we learned about the extreme weather that can happen on the Prairies.

To date we have 67 items for the Food Bank.  Our goal is 100 items by October 31!  Keep sending them in!

Stone Soup!

Thank you to everyone who brought in vegetables to share!  Our soup was delicious!  Everyone took a taste, even if they didn't like a certain vegetable.  Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Stone Soup

Today we read a very old story called, "Stone Soup".  It's a wonderful story, all about sharing and showing kindness to others.  Ask your child to tell you what happened in the story.

On Thursday, we will make our very own Stone Soup in class.  Each child is asked to bring in a small serving of washed and chopped vegetables to add to our soup.  Veggies might include; carrots, celery, potatoes, cabbage, etc.  Please send the veggies in a small container which can be used for soup when we are ready to eat.  The vegetables will be added to a vegetable broth.    Thanks for helping us show kindness to our classmates!

October 7, 2019

We have added 20 words to our classroom word wall.  These words make reading and writing easier for us.  Today students participated in new word work centers and practiced the words of the week.
Here is a list of the 20 words:

• with    
• day
• am
• can
• went
• good
• come
• she
• he
• of
• friend
• going
• kind
• snow
• they
• said
• cat
• little
• big
• make

During Science, we started talking about the Water Cycle!  It's one of nature's patterns!  Ask your child what he or she remembers about it.  

**Keep the Food Bank items coming in!  We are up to 30 items, 70 away from our goal.

October 3

This week we finished reading "My Father's Dragon" by Ruth Stiles Gannett.  It is such an entertaining story with lots of twists.  We have been working hard to re-tell the story using words and on paper.  We are looking forward to reading part 2, "Elmer and the Dragon".

In math we looked at simple number patterns.  Patterns that grow by 1, 2, or 5. Skip counting by 2's and 5's to 100 is a skill that should be practiced at home.  It's seems a little tricky for some of us.

We set a classroom goal of 100 Food Bank items for We Scare Hunger.  So far we have collected 10.  Keep on sending them in!

A Snowy Monday

I guess we should have said Hello Winter!  If only we had more time to play outside today as the temperature was just right to play in the snow!  For the most part, students were well prepared to play and get wet.  It's a great idea to label clothing, especially mittens!  Lots of wet feet today too, so an extra pair of socks wouldn't hurt.

Reminders:
-If you are sending an item in your child's lunch that requires a spoon, please remember to send one.
-We Scare Hunger Food Bank collection begins tomorrow (October 1)

Thanks for your help!

A Busy Week

This week our focus was on the Zones of Regulation!  We learned that our emotions can change throughout the day, and in order to do our best learning, we need to be calm and focused (green zone).

Here is a visual

Together we came up with strategies for when we are in a blue or yellow zone.  Your child's job is to explain these zones to you and a strategy that they might use.

We said goodbye to Summer and hello to Fall.  After reading a fall story, students created their own poem using a specific pattern.  Have a look at a few...

Stay warm this weekend!

We Scare Hunger!

Auburn Bay School is patterning with the Calgary Food Bank once again this October to help fight hunger in our community.

The We Scare Hunger campaign officially begins Tuesday, October 1 and will end on October 31.  We invite you to be a part of the change our students are working hard to create.  Students have been asked to bring in food bank items throughout the next month.  Last year we brought in 1720 pounds of food.  Our goal this year is 1800 pounds as a school.

https://www.calgaryfoodbank.com/wishlist/

Together we can make a difference!

Terry Fox Run (September 25)

Toonies for Terry 

Auburn Bay School will be participating in the Terry Fox Run on Wednesday, September 25th. As we lead up to our run, classes will be working towards increasing their stamina in Phys. Ed while fundraising money for cancer research. Please bring in Toonies for Terry to your classroom teacher as we spread cancer awareness.

On the day of the run, it is important that students wear appropriate outside shoes for walking/running along with dressing appropriately for the weather that day. Parents are welcome to join us for this event out on the soccer field at 1:45 PM on Wednesday, September 25th. The Terry Fox Run will last approximately 15 minutes and students will line up with their homeroom teacher to go back inside for the remainder of the afternoon when we have finished. We kindly ask parents to wait outside while this is happening and to pick up your child from their normal dismissal spot.

Each student will wear a sticker which says "I am running for....".  Your child could simply run for Terry Fox, or for someone important to your family.  Please help your child decide who to write on the name tag.  Thanks for your help!

Reminders

If you haven't already sent back the school forms, please do so as soon as possible.  It's important that we have up-to-date contact information for all of our students.

On Thursday and Friday, we will have an opportunity to meet during Parent Teacher Conferences.  This is an opportunity for you to share information about your child.  In preparation for our interview, please think about specific learning goals for your child, as well as any friendship, social or behavioral goals that might apply.

Today we reviewed some simple sight words that need to be spelled correctly in our daily work.  For some of us these words were easy, while for others they were hard.  We really worked hard to print these letters using proper letter formation and sizing.  Here are this week's words:  with, day, am, can, went.

The Golden Rule

On Friday we read a special book called "The Golden Rule". Ask your child about the discussion we had afterwards....

Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up this week on Thursday and Friday.  Please log in through your MyCBE account to book a conference.  A reminder that students will be dismissed at noon on Thursday. If you experience difficulties with booking a conference, please call the office for assistance.  This is an opportunity for you to share strategies and goals with me to best support your child in Grade 2.  

As we begin using technology more frequently within the classroom, students are encouraged to bring in a pair of inexpensive earphones or earbuds to use in class.  Please send them in a labeled bag.

As always, I can be reached at mmramsden@cbe.ab.ca with any questions or concerns.

September 11

We are working on building our writing "muscles"!  Students created a heart map with the things that are most important to them.  From this, they were asked to pick a topic of choice to write about.

Our stamina is improving as the expectation is to write at least 3 sentences within the time given.  Students are being encouraged to use their personal word list to assist them in spelling certain words, and to sound out new words as they write.  Today we worked on printing the letter Cc correctly.  Students are being encouraged to apply what they practice during printing times to their daily work.  Ask your child what he or she wrote about today.

A Rainy Monday

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Students were given a math problem today to begin thinking about patterns.  During the month of September, we will be creating, extending and looking at patterns within our environment.  Here is the problem that was given....

There are 25 students in Mrs. R-W's class.  She asked them to line up Boy, Girl, Girl.  Would the last student be a boy or a girl?  Show how you know!

No tricking these students!  More work with patterns to come!

Marshmallow Challenge

Students were given a STEM challenge to complete this morning!  In small groups, they were asked to build the tallest tower using spaghetti, tape and one marshmallow.  The twist was that the marshmallow had to be on the top!  This was a challenging task to be sure!  Afterwards we reflected...

"The first time it fell and we rebuilt it so it was more stable"

 "Ours kept breaking so we made it smaller"

"We weren't so gentle so the spaghetti broke, so we got more gentle"

"The key in one word - BASE"

Open House 5:00 - 6:00

It's been a super busy and fun filled couple of days in Grade 2!  We are learning more about each other, and the routines in our Grade 2 classroom.  It's been especially fun to go to our first gym and music classes!  We have gym everyday for 30 mins, and we have music twice a week for 30 mins.

Today we did some writing.  Students were asked to write a letter to me with at least 5 facts about themselves.  Lots of information was shared including teams, hobbies, pets and strengths at school!  In Math, we grouped ourselves according to the month that we were born, and graphed the results.  We determined that March has the MOST birthdays, and April has the LEAST.

Tonight is our Open House from 5:00 - 6:00.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again!  It took a few tries, but here is our first class photo!

First Day of Grade 2!

Thank you for checking our Classroom Blog!  Please check back often to see what we are doing in Grade 2!

Students handled new routines well today, including a change to their lunchroom routine from last year.  This year, students will be playing first and then eating their lunch.  I did provide some extra time after lunch for those who needed more time to eat.  We do have a peanut allergy in our classroom, so we ask that you do your best to refrain from sending food items that contain peanuts. 

Many students arrived with indoor shoes to leave in the classroom.  Before it gets wet and muddy, all students will need a pair to keep at school.  Please make sure that your child knows how to tie their shoes if the shoes have laces.  Thanks for your help with this.

On Thursday, your child will have the opportunity to show you our classroom.  We have an Open House scheduled from 5:00 - 6:00.  During Parent Teacher Conferences later in the month, we will have the opportunity to discuss learning goals for your child this year.

I look forward to a wonderful year together.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at mmramsden@cbe.ab.ca.

Back to School!

Welcome to Grade 2 in Room 135!

School begins on Tuesday, September 3 at 8:00am. Please look for a sign that says Grade 2 on the compound!

I look forward to meeting you and look forward to our year together!

Mrs. Ramsden-Wood