November 21

In Health we are working on communicating our feelings with others. We have done quite a bit in the past month with "bucket filling" by sharing positive words and compliments with one another. Students have been practicing to do random acts of kindness for others and overall our classroom is a very positive space! However, we are also seeing that when frustrations or negative emotions do arise, students don't always use the best methods of communication to express their emotions. 

"I statements" (or "I messages" as they are also referred to) are a framework that allows someone to express how the behaviour of someone else is impacting them and changes the conflict from a blame game to allowing the opportunity for the other person to experience some empathy and hear why their behaviour is a problem for someone. For an example, we have some students who like to hum or make noises to themselves during quiet independent tasks and this often leads to others being annoyed. The first instinct of many people is to say "stop it!" or get angry at whoever is making the noises. This leads the "noisemaker" to get defensive and upset for being angrily told to stop because they often don't even realize they are singing or causing a problem for anyone else. Our goal is for students to start using "I statements" to begin to problem solve more independently and positively. For example they could say "I don't like it when you hum during task time because I can't concentrate, could you please stop". The other person is more likely to respond and understand why the humming is causing a problem for others. It works in so many situations! 

This is a two part process and this is just the first step. Students will continue to practice this and once they are more comfortable with doing this step, we will then move into what to do if someone tells you an "I statement" and wants you to stop doing something. In addition, we will explore what to do next if your "I statement" doesn't work and the person keeps the problem going. There is a really basic video that outlines the framework. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYf3H70qldI

I don't like it when _(what is the person doing)_because  (why is it a problem for you?)_can you please stop?

or 

I feel _______ when you _______ because __________. 

Upcoming Info/Events

Nov. 22- Learning Commons book exchange 

Nov. 23- Pointsetta fundraiser orders due

Nov. 24- Scholastic book orders due

                 -Early dismissal

                 -Fun Lunch

Nov. 28+29- Popcorn Fundraiser Days

Dec. 1- Movie Fundraiser Night 

November 13

There is a new face in our classroom! For the next 5 weeks we are lucky to have a student teacher Ms. Coutts join us in Grade 2. She will be with us until December 15 and will be taking on some teaching responsibilities in upcoming weeks (alongside Ms. Schrattner and I). Then at the end of February she will come back to our classroom and be with us for a much longer practicum. Students have been very welcoming and it is always great to have extra support in the classroom!

Students did an amazing job of singing their song of Peace for the Remembrance Day ceremony! They were extremely respectful when watching and listening to others as well. The grade 2’s should be especially proud of themselves. Tapiwa and Amelia did an especially incredible job of singing their solos. It takes a lot of courage to stand up in front of so many people and sing like they did.

We have spent the last few weeks discussing Peace and ways to spread kindness. After reading the book “Peace feels like”, students brainstormed what “peace” feels, tastes, smells, sounds, and looks like. Here are some examples of what the students came up with.

Upcoming Info/Events

Nov. 15- Picture retakes- please send form in if you would like your child to have pictures redone

Nov. 17- Professional Development Day- no school for students

                -Fun Lunch orders due

Nov. 18- Christmas market at school

Nov. 20- Wear a blue shirt for National Children’s Day

Nov. 23- Pointsetta fundraiser orders due

Nov. 24- Scholastic book orders due

                 -Fun Lunch

Nov. 28+29- Popcorn Fundraiser Days

November 7

It's great to be back at school with the class this week- it's tough to be away but I was glad to hear from Ms. Patkau and Mrs. Shrattner that things went really well!

Some important information that is coming up:
Learning Commons book exchange is tomorrow!!

Picture orders are due tomorrow- you can either send them in with students or order online. Retakes will be on November 15th but you need to send the original proof sheet back to school with that box checked so that I know you would like retakes. If your child was missing on the original day they can also get their pictures done Nov. 15

Remembrance Day Assembly- all the grade 2's will be singing a song about Peace for the Remembrance Day assembly this Friday, November 10th. Parents are welcome to attend. It begins at 10:30 and will go until about 11:15. If your child is in Beavers/Cubs or Brownies/Girl Guides it would be great if they could wear their uniform to school on Friday and they will have an additional role to play in our ceremony. We will be confirming names of students on Thursday who are in these clubs and who will be able to participate in the assembly on Friday so that they can practice in the dress rehearsal Thursday afternoon. Please remind your child if they will be one of these students and if you wouldn't mind sending me a note or an email so I can pass the information on to our music teacher Mrs. Buonomo.

We spent some time today discussing what Remembrance Day is and why Poppies are an important symbol. Students worked on making poppies that we will create a wreath with to show our respect and contribute to our Remembrance Day service. We will continue to discuss the importance of remembering the World War's as well as more recent battles and to ongoing Canadian contributions to ensuring the rights of others. Peace will be a central theme in our learning for the next 2 weeks. Please talk to your children about these ideas. There were many many questions today and we couldn't get to all of them.

In Math, we are looking at even and odd numbers up to 100. We read about Even Steven and Odd Todd and ways to help us know if a number is even or odd. Students practiced finding numbers that have a 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 in the ones place value to determine it is even. However, more importantly students need to understand that even numbers are numbers that can be split into 2 equal groups with no left overs. If there is an odd "extra"- then the number would be odd. If you are looking for ways to help them practice this concept, have them count a group of objects and then they can try to split the group into 2 equal piles.