Thursday, June 23, 2011

I can’t believe this is the last blog post!!! 
If you haven’t peeked in your child’s backpack in the past few days...beware!! There is TON of stuff coming home from the last few months.   Our last 2 days of school will be busy ones!  Don’t forget:
Monday June 27th- Farewell Assembly starts at 9:00am.  We will be picked up by a bus at 10:30, and will make our way over to Henderson Picnic. I’m hoping to see a few parents out there to come and just relax at the beautiful lake! Students need:  a packed lunch, clothes for the weather, good walking shoes, and the usual bug spray / sun screen.  We will return to the school around 2:15.
Tuesday June 28th- Breakfast party in the morning! Thanks to those parents who have signed up to bring breakfast treats. We will be watching a classroom slideshow of the pictures throughout the year while enjoying our breakfast.  Then, students will head to the gym at 10:00 for our Year End Assembly to see the school wide slideshow.  Students are dismissed at 11:45 on Tuesday!
I really can’t thank you, the parents, for everything you’ve done this year. It’s true that students succeed in the classroom when they have parental support at home.  For the notes home, field trips, blog posts, home reading, random requests, classroom parties, keeping on top of the homework, and really just being a part of our classroom- I thank you from the bottom of my heart!  We could not have had such an amazing year without you. 
It has been wonderful being your child’s Grade 2 teacher.  It’s SO HARD to let them go L  To those of you moving away, either to different schools or cities, MMH will miss you terribly!  I hope that wherever your new destination finds you, that you bring that Mike Mountain Horse Special Spirit with you.  To those who staying with us for Grade 3- I will see you in the other hallway! Make sure you stop by for some high fives.
Have an absolutely phenomenal summer! You deserve it!!
Thanks for reading and see you in September!
-Anna Tsentouros

Friday, June 17, 2011

Last FULL Week of School!!!

Hello Parents!
            We had a super fun boat launch on Wednesday.  Thanks to Alden’s Mom who transported our boats for us, as well as to all the parents who volunteered and who came out to cheer on our launch!  The children had a blast!! 

Next week is a busy one with National Aboriginal Day and Sports Day.  Thanks go out to Virginia Sprinkle, Adrienne Toone, and Cindy Goldhawk who have agreed to be our parent volunteers for Sports Day.

Sports Day is on Tuesday June 21.  The children will be divided into teams according to color.  If possible, please send your child to school on this day wearing a t-shirt in the following color:

Red Team         Blue Team        Yellow Team          Green Team
JACE           AIDEN         ALFIE             HUNTER           
CAMRYN     QUINTEN    TRINITY       ALDEN
JAYDON    BEN               DYLAN            AVA
HANNA      GEORGIA       ELLIS             GRACE
KYRA          SHADA           CHELSEA       EMMA

            This really helps us line up quickly at each station.  Please ensure that your child has a water bottle.  They should wear a hat and have sunscreen and bugspray applied at home.  We are hoping for a nice sunny day for Sport’s Day.

On Wednesday June 22 all MMH students will leave the school and walk over to Nicholas Sheran Park for National Aboriginal Day at 8:40.  We plan to return to MMH by 11:20.  Please dress appropriately, wear sunscreen and bug spray.  Proper walking shoes are essential.  Thank you to Ava’s Dad who has volunteered to walk with us!

            The Farewell Assembly as well as our last field trip of the year takes place on Monday June 27th.  The assembly begins at 9:00, and then afterwards the grade twos will be going to Henderson Park leaving the school at 10:30 with a return time around 2:15.  As we will be booking a bus for transportation, parents will not be needed to drive, however, parents are more than welcome to come and join us at the park for a leisurely lunch and playtime. Many of you have already let me know you’ll be attending.  For this day all students will need sunscreen, a hat, an ample healthy lunch, extra beverages and water bottles.  Something to sit on like a blanket or a towel is a good idea as well! 

The Year End assembly and slide show on Tuesday June 28 begins at 10:00.  This is the last day of school and students will be dismissed at 11:45. 
Before the assembly I would like to have a ‘breakfast party’ with the students.  The following parents have volunteered to bring items for our party. 

Fruit Tray- Amber Toone
Something Breakfast themed!- Emma Zgurski
Something Breakfast themed! - Anna Barnes
Cookies, cupcakes or muffins- Leslie Wensmann
Juice Boxes- Carey Martens
Plates/ Napkins- Rhonda Steed

Friday, June 10, 2011

Busy Busy June!

It was awesome to see so many families come out for our Pancake Breakfast!  It made for an early morning, but the pancakes were delicious and it was a great way to start the morning! 

Thanks to our parent drivers who were able to help out with swimming! Thanks to Amber Toone, Virginia Sprinkle, Louise Lindley, Frere Ayres, Sonny Zgurski, and Rick Goldhawk!  The students had a blast and it’s always nice when we can get outside of the school for some fun.  Our Boat Launch is on Thursday, June 16th.  We will leave the school at 8:45, and walk over to Nicholas Sheran (return to the school around 1:30-1:45).  Thanks to Rhonda Steed who is transporting our boats for us, and Sonny Zgurski and Rickele Knox who are going to walk over with us.  I sent this information on a note home but just to remind you:

Children should be dressed for the weather (don’t forget sunscreen, hats and bug spray). As with swim day, students should come to school with their bathing suits on underneath their clothes carrying undergarments and towels in a plastic bag.  Children’s backpacks should contain a substantial snack, water and a second pair of shoes suitable for water (such as flip flops).  Because the children will be wading into the lake, water shoes are a necessity as in the past we have found broken glass or sharp objects in the lake.   For the day, students should wear good walking shoes - sandals and wearing flip flops to walk to the park is discouraged.  After the Boat Launch we will be walking over to the Spray Park for lunch and more water fun.

Speaking of boat building....How is boat building coming along?!?!  If your Grade 2 student is stuck for ideas, water bottles, milk jugs, pop bottles, old pool noodles, and plastic piping are all great materials to start your boat.  Please email me if you have any questions.  When your student is done building their boat, please have them bring it to school ANY TIME THIS WEEK, as I would like the class to test their boats before the boat launch.    

Your students will be bringing a number of things home in the next few weeks, to lessen the load at the end of the year.  Things like: desk book work, head phones, rules, health mobiles, and work from the last month.  This past week I sent home their letters that we received from NOVA SCOTIA! Thank goodness they came, as I was a bit worried with the postal strike.  Students were SO excited to read their letters, and it was very neat to learn a bit about Digby, Nova Scotia. 

I’ve had a few students complete their first Reading At Home sheet, and are on to their second! Please continue with daily reading and get your students to bring in their sheets!  Our calendar is getting smaller and smaller L  Don’t forget about the last few big days in Grade 2!

Thanks for all you do J
Have a great weekend!
 -Anna Tsentouros

Thursday June 16th- Grade 2 Boat Launch Day! 8:45- 1:30 at Nic Sheran Lake and Spray Park
Tuesday June 21st- Sports Day!
Wednesday June 22nd- Pow Wow Celebration at Nicholas Sheran- depart at 8:40. 
Monday June 27th- Farewell Assembly 9-10, Grade 2 picnic at Henderson Lake 1030- 2:15
Tuesday June 28th- Last day of Grade 2!  Year End Assembly at 9:45, students dismissed at 11:45

Friday, June 3, 2011

June Happenings!

Friday already!? Goodness where has the week gone!
I may or may not have had more fun than the students did on our field trip to the Southern Alberta Art’s Gallery.  It was such a treat to be able to see amazing art work from all over our School District, and to learn more about an Art gallery in general. I was really impressed at how well our students behaved and how focused and on task they were throughout the morning.  Thanks to those parents who were able to come out and drive- without you these trips would not be possible!! 




While I’m thanking parents...Thank you to those volunteers who are able to come and help out for our June activities!  We have swimmers for June 9th, and walkers and a driver for our Boat Launch on June 16th! 
We are currently looking for Sports Day Volunteers- which is always SUCH a blast! This is a combined Grades 1 and 2 activity, and there are about 10 different stations set up outside for kids. Our class will be travelling to each of the stations.  We require 2 volunteers to stay at 1 station, and run that station for the morning and afternoon time slots, which are 10:00-11:30 and 1:00-2:15.  If you, or another family member are able to come and help please email me as soon as possible!  Remember, for any of our field trips: the more the merrier!! Thank you!
We played on this website today as a class, and the students really enjoyed it!
 It’s a great way to review our Geometry skills for our assessment next week- Note to parents! There are some terms on this site that they do NOT have to know in Grade 2 (such as quadrilateral, octagon, hexagon, and pentagon) but we did talk about what they mean, as it will help them advance to the next level of the game at the end.  In Grade 2, they should have a good understanding of the following 3D objects: Sphere, Cylinder, Cube, Cone, Pyramid. They should also be able to describe these objects by discussing how many ‘faces’, the shape of the face, how many points or vertices, and how many edges.  For example: A pyramid has a square face on the bottom, and 4 triangular faces on the sides. These triangles meet at the top to make a point.  A pyramid has 5 edges, and 5 vertices all together. 
I’m sure you’ve heard from your Grade 2 student about our new GIANT bundle of ‘joy’.  Trust me, I had almost given up hope on them but to everyone’s surprise, at approx. 9:10am on Thursday, June 2nd, Grade 2E became the proud parents of approx. 400 baby praying mantis! The egg broke while the students were in Music class, so I ran to get them and Ms. Nevels and Mrs. Kubik joined us to witness the miracle.  We called Mr. Bryant to tell him he’d become a Grandpa, then hosted some visiting hours to our friends in preschool and other grades.    Now, even though I am not the biggest fan of any kind of bug, and had the “heebee jeebies” all day, I’m really happy that they got to see this part of the life cycle, as it’s a great introduction to our next unit which will tie into our Language Arts and Science curriculum for the remainder of the year:  Bugs! We know that our praying mantis don’t have a very long life to live in Lethbridge.  So rather than have them pass away in our tank, we decided to give them a proper send off underneath a beautiful tree behind the playground and past the path.  Overall, it was a VERY exciting morning in room 10 J 



How they came out of the egg

A few of the 400


"Smile!  They hatched!"
 

"Now look like Miss Tsentouros did when she found them!"




Bringing them back to nature





Hope you have a great weekend- Thanks for reading!
-Anna Tsentouros
Don’t forget these important dates!
Tuesday June 7th- Parent Appreciation Pancake Breakfast! Bring the family and come enjoy some pancakes in the morning from 7:00- 8:15. 
Tuesday June 7th- Spirit Assembly at 12:45
Tuesday June 9th- Swimming at Nic Sheran! Depart at 8:40, return at 10:30. 
Thursday June 16th- Grade 2 Boat Launch Day! 8:45- 1:30 at Nic Sheran Lake and Spray Park
Tuesday June 21st- Sports Day!
Wednesday June 22nd- Pow Wow Celebration at Nicholas Sheran
Monday June 27th- Farewell Assembly 9-10, Grade 2 picnic at Henderson Lake 1030- 2:15
Tuesday June 28th- Last day of Grade 2!  Year End Assembly at 9:45, students dismissed at 11:45