February is about Kindness

Happy Friday!

Thanks for checking in! 

We’ve had a busy week in Grade 2B with our swimming on Thursday. Thanks to those parents who came out and drove our students as well as swam in the pool. It’s so nice to get out the school once and awhile and let the kids have fun! We made it back in one piece J

On Tuesday, we are having a Character Education Assembly hosted by the Grade 2s. What that means is, we’ll meet in the gym at 12:30, and sit with our MMH Family.  Then, we will go off with our families to do an activity related to Kindness, which is the theme for February.  Afterwards, we will meet back in the gym at 1:30, and the Grade 2s are going to demonstrate a way to show Kindness to the school. Our little performance will be inspired by the Johnny Reid song “Today I’m Gonna Try and Change the World”.  Click here to check out the song and lyrics on youtube. 

If you’re able to come out for our quick assembly on Tuesday, we will be in the gym for 1:30, and plan to finish up by 1:55 recess.  We’ve been listening to the Johnny Reid song and our 2s are pumped to show the school that we know all about Kindness. 

Speaking of Kindness...
Our class has participated in many health lessons with our Counselling team- Mrs. Kitagawa and Mrs. Savage.  They've been talking to the Grade 2s about friendship, and how to be a good friend.  Then, we've also been discussing what a compliment is, and when it's good to give a meaningful compliment.  We've been 'secretly' writing meaningful compliments to eachother, and will incorporate them into an art project.  If you have a compliment that you'd like to give your child, I'd LOVE to include it in the art as well. Please feel free to email me  1 quick sentence, complimenting your child!

We have started writing our Jan Brett Mitten stories!  Please take a look through the mini ‘Jan Brett’ package that will come home with your student on Monday.  Our class is pumped to write our own versions of Jan Brett’s “The Mitten”. 

One Math strategy that we’re trying to master is to memorize our “Double Facts” (2 +2= 4, 8 +8 = 16). You can help practice these at home! Once before bed, while you’re driving in the car, anytime really! 

Click here to check out the MMH Newsletter!

This is copied straight from the MMH Newsletter! Please read about our new Breakfast Program:

Mike Mountain Horse has begun its first breakfast club. This will run five days per week from 8:00 to 8:20 a.m. The intent of this program is to help out with students who have not, for whatever reason, had breakfast. Of course we are not prepared to feed 600 students, but for those who really need that energy boost to help them meet a day full of learning op-portunities in the classroom!

Can you help????

We’d appreciate any donations for this program, either in time or breakfast foods! Contact the office (403-381-2211) for more information. Some ideas:

Volunteer one or more mornings a week.

Donate items like: cereal, granola bars, juice boxes, jams, peanut butter, fruit, or any other “breakfast-type” food

Donate funds to MMH (cheques payable to “Mike Mountain Horse”

A few days added to our February Calendar:

February
Tuesday February 7^th- Character Ed. Assembly & Family time
Wednesday February 8^th- Winter Walk at 1:30

Wednesday February 8^th- School Council Meeting at 6:30pm

Thursday February 9th- Arctic Day!

Friday February 10^th- Staff Learning Day No school for students
February 13^th-17^th- Random Acts of Kindness WeekTuesday February 14^th- Spirit Assembly- Dress in Red!
Tuesday Feburary 14th- Happy Valentine’s Day & Class party!
Wednesday February 15^th- Steve Harmer’s Motivational Magic Friday February 17^th- 100^th DAY OF SCHOOL!!
February 20^th- 24^th- Family Break- No school
February 29^th- Pink Shirt Day/ Anti-Bullying day

January and February News!

Hi everyone!


Thanks for checking in!  I can't believe we're wrapping up the month of January already! It seems like we just got back into the swing of things and we're already thinking ahead on what we'd like to accomplish between now and Family Break. 

Students have been super busy with our Jan Brett author study! We've done lots of neat activities with The Mitten and The Hat, and next week students will be starting another major writing project, where we will be writing our own version of The Mitten!

We're still waiting for a good snow fall for the students to be able to go tobogganing! All that fuss with those purple waiver forms....hopefully we'll actually get to go!!  In Science, we've kicked off our unit on Temperature (how fitting, with yesterdays 'lovely' snow fall!). I encourage you to have conversations with your child about the weather-  we try and look at the weather network's predictions every morning and afternoon.  Students will soon start some experiments with measuring temperature in and around the school. 

A reminder that we still need MANY drivers for our swimming day on Thursday February 2nd. We will leave MMH at about 12:30, to swim from 1-2, and then be back at MMH for about 2:30.  So far, I have Terra T. and Tony D. signed up to drive students. Please email me back asap to let me know how many students you can transport!  We need about 6 more drivers!

Our class will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Tuesday February 14th. Thanks to the following parents who signed up to bring treats. They are:

Fruit Tray- Zane

Veggie Tray with Dip- Rawley

Cheese, meat and crackers- Brooke. R.

Cookies, cupcakes or muffins- Elora Green

Juice boxes- Morgan

Plates and napkins- Aaron

When we learned about the Chinese New Year, our Grade 2B students had a BLAST with a website full of Tangram puzzles. I promised to put it on the blog-  Here it is if you have some free time:

http://games.ztor.com/tang/


Thanks! Have a marvelous weekend
-Anna Tsentouros


February Thursday February 2^nd- Happy Groundhog’s Day!
Thursday February 2^nd- Grade 2B swimming from 1-2pm
Tuesday February 7^th- Character Ed. Assembly & Family time
Thursday February 9th- Arctic Day!

Friday February 10^th- Staff Learning Day No school for students
Tuesday February 14^th- Spirit Assembly- Dress in Red!
Tuesday Feburary 14th- Happy Valentine’s Day & Class party!
Friday February 17^th- 100^th DAY OF SCHOOL!!
February 20^th- 24^th- Family Break- No school

Welcome Back!

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking in on the blog! We had a great week back and by Monday’s first recess it was like we’d never left! THANK GOODNESS the students didn’t forget everything!! J  Only kidding- but it’s nice to be back in the routine of things and with a busy curriculum, we’re getting right back to business.

I apologize for the hot lunch forms coming home so late- our Photocopier was broken for a long time! Hot lunch forms went home TODAY in your child’s backpack, and we are asking that they be brought back on MONDAY! 

Thank you to those parents who volunteered for the Clay for Kids project!  I have enough volunteers now, and I think it’ll be a fun afternoon.  I’m especially excited to see the finished project, which will be hanging in the main entrance at our school.  I think it’ll really liven up the space, and how neat is it that our students will get to participate in something that will last a long time! 

I’ve received a few emails from parents who are able to drive students to Nicholas Sheran Pool on Thursday February 2^nd for swimming, but still need many more! Please email me back asap with the number of students you are able to transport. 

This weekend would be a WONDERFUL time to go over some Science terms with your student, as we are finishing up our Liquids unit with a test next week!  Some important vocabulary they need to know are:  liquid, transparent and opaque, melt, dissolve, freeze, evaporate, surface tension.

A good activity is to go through some materials in your house (such as towel, tin foil, wax paper, plastic bag, bathing suit) and discuss if it’s absorbent  or not.  You could also have a conversation about the Water Cycle. 

If you have time, have your child explore some of these websites that are related to our Liquids unit:

Click here for a website or here

That’s all for now! Thanks and have a wonderful weekend J

-Anna Tsentouros

Here are the January/ February dates for our classroom! Please update your calendar’s at home!

JanuaryMonday January 16^th- HOT LUNCH FORMS DUE! 
Tuesday January 17^th- Spirit Assembly at 12:45- Sports Dress Up
Thursday January 19^th- Guest teacher Cathy Kitagawa for Health
Thursday January 19^th- Clay for Kids project at 2:05
Wednesday January 25^th- Hot Lunch Day
February
Thursday February 2^nd- Happy Groundhog’s Day!
Thursday February 2^nd- Grade 2B swimming from 1-2pm
Tuesday February 7^th- Character Ed. Assembly & Family time Friday February 10^th- Staff Learning Day No school for students
Tuesday February 14^th- Spirit Assembly- Dress in Red!
Tuesday Feburary 14th- Happy Valentine’s Day
Friday February 17^th- 100^th DAY OF SCHOOL!!
February 20^th- 24^th- Family Break- No school

Snowshoeing and Igloo Building

Hey everyone! Just a quick reminder for the upcoming events! 

If you haven't yet, please hand in your forms for our skating trip and gingerbread decorating party.  Remember, each child needs skates and a helmet for skating on December 22nd. If a student doesn't have their own, please indicate on the note.  We now have enough drivers to transport our students! Thank you to the following parents for signing up:  Brenda S., Sheila T., Christine R., Stacy D., Rob K., and Holly D.  Even if you're not driving and you are able to join us at the rink- PLEASE DO! Many hands make tying skates much easier... :) 

Also, please remember we are asking every student to bring a gingerbread house, pre built, and then icing and decorations.  We will be decorating the houses in the art room together.  Please let me know immediately if you (or another adult) is unable to attend and I can make arrangements/ buddy students up, as we don't want anyone feeling left out for this. 

Thank you to those parents/ students who have signed up to bring sweets for our Classroom Christmas party!  We will be enjoying these and playing a schoolwide Bingo game on Friday December 16th.  They are:

Rawley- fruit tray

Jordin- veggie tray with dip, and cookies, cupcakes or muffins

Sammie- cheese, meat and crackers

Cathrine- juiceboxes

Elora- plates and napkins

SIX MORE SLEEPS 'TIL CHRISTMAS CONCERT!!! I think our class is feeling pretty ready :)

Check out some pics of our classroom as we tried out some snoeshoes, as well as igloo buildling! All this snow and frost is really helping us get into the spirit as we learn about Arctic Communities in Social Studies.

Thank you, and have a FABULOUS weekend :)

 

December is HERE!!

Hi everyone!

I’ve been a bit neglectful with the blog, as there wasn’t too much to report during report card / interview time, but we’re back on track! Especially since December is going to be a bit crazy!  The two biggest events you need to remember for our Grade 2 class this month is our Gingerbread Decorating party on Wednesday December 21st from 12:30- 2:00. Every student needs a PREMADE / BUILT GINGERBREAD HOUSE, and DECORATIONS/ ICING!  Each student also needs an adult to help them decorate their house! This is just a fun few hours where we hang out in the Art Room and have a good time.  A detailed note describing exactly what you need will be sent home on Monday.  There is also a part to return back to school, confirming your attendance for that time.  If you're unable to come that afternoon, consider inviting a Grandparent or Aunt/ Uncle to come and help. Please watch for the note in your child's backpack :)

The second event is our Grade 2 Skating at Nicholas Sheran Arena, on Thursday Decmber 22nd from 1:45 to 2:45.  A note went home yesterday (Friday) describing this event.  Please fill out the sheet and return to the school as soon as possible, as every student needs skates and a helmet, and we will coordinate parent drivers. 

Thank you for donating all of your shoeboxes! We are turning these into a very special Christmas craft and will be working on these from now until Christmas. 

Here is a quick reminder of what we’re doing in Room 8:

In Social Studies, we have finished with our Lethbridge unit, and moving into learning about Arctic Communities!  We will have a presentation from a former resident of Nunavut come to all the Grade 2 classes to learn about culture and lifestyle in “the north”.  If anyone from our Grade 2B homes as any pictures/ stories to share if they’ve been to Nunavut, they’d be very appreciated!

In Science, we will continue exploring liquids as we move into absorbency and the importance of clean water.  Students have had a lot of fun playing with the medicine droppers, and doing things like layering and mixing liquids!  Some terms we’ve learned about are: mixing, absorbency, high and low viscosity, and surface tension. Ask your student if they can recall what we learned about these words!

In Math, we will continue working with numbers and will get more comfortable adding and subtracting numbers 0-50.  A good way to help your student practice this at home, would be to hand them some change, and ask them to show you numbers in different ways.  “Can you show me .35 cents?”  “Can you show me .35 cents in a different way?” 

In Language Arts, we’re starting a mini research project to learn about reindeer!  Students will be using the computers and books in the library to learn about the lifestyle of real reindeers. 

Our December Calender is filling up!
Please update yours at home:

December 15^th- Christmas Concert! Day and evening performances
December 16^th- School Wide Bingo, and Class Christmas Party
December 19^th- 23^rdChristmas Carolling in the gym 8:30-9:00
(we carol in the gym every morning / watch various performances! Come join us for a bit if you have time!)
December 20^th- Dress like Christmas assembly at 8:30am
December 21^st- Gingerbread Decorating Party at 12:30!
December 22^nd- Grade 2s are going Skating! 1:45- 2:45
December 23^rd- Last day of class!

Thank you again for sending Oreos for our Oreo day! Below are some photos of last Monday-  It was a spectacular day!!

A very important pink handout came home last Tuesday regarding this year’s Christmas Concert!  Please see the MMH Newsletter posted HERE for more information and other things that are happening school wide. 

Ms. Nevels has been doing a fantastic job preparing our students for the Christmas Concert. She is also coordinating the Grade 2 singing performance at the grand opening of the West Side Save On Foods! Below is a message regarding that performance:

Thanks to those children who brought in their forms to sing at the new Save On Foods on Wednesday.  We now have enough children and can’t accept any more forms.  Please wear your MMH shirt to Save On Wednesday evening.  If you don’t have a shirt please let your teacher know and we may be able to borrow from the school.  Wearing blue or yellow would be appropriate too.  For those participating, we’ll see you there at 5:15.

I think that's it for now!  Have a wonderful weekend :)

-Anna Tsentouros

Just a quick reminder!

Hi folks!

2 things:

1) Your student brought home that very important yellow handout that has all the available times for Parent Teacher Interviews! If you have other students at the school, most likely THEIR interviews are on November 24th and 25th.  I know different grade levels are doing different things, but hopefully the yellow handout isn't too confusing!  Please indicate your 1st and 2nd preference, and include any helpful notes (for example "I work untill 5pm) that will help with planning.  Remember, I am very open to other dates/ times as well, if one of the provided ones do not work with your schedules. Just let me know via email, phone call, note in agenda, carrier pigeon.... I promise we'll make something work :)

2) Another reminder that we are making Stone Soup on Wednesday! Today we brainstormed a list of appropriate soup ingredients, and your child signed up to bring something in. I tried to make it very clear to the class, to bring something that they thought would already be in their fridge at home, so parents don't have to stress.  In other words, please do not run out to the grocery store in a panic for purchasing 1 carrot.  Whatever you have in your fridge is fine!! If you don't have any produce that would be soup-friendly, and your student is keen on bringing something, you could just put some dashes of salt and pepper in a zip lock bag and we'll toss that in the pot! If you're wondering how much to bring, just a small ziplock bag with your cleaned, chopped ingredient will be great! We will be enjoying our Stone Soup just before lunch on Wednesdsay, after the Remembrance Day assembly. 

Thank you!!
-Anna

November!

Hello!

Thanks for checking in! With the Fall Break and Interview Days, November is a VERY quick month with lots to do.  If you are ever confused with what needs to be brought in on what days, PLEASE email me and I will respond as quickly as possible!  I’m one of those people who needs everything to be written down which is probably why my desk is covered in sticky notes J  I think this blog post covers everything that is happening in November, so grab your calendars so you can be filled in!

Here are some important things for THIS WEEK:

On Monday, students will be bringing home a signup sheet for Parent Teacher interviews.  .  Please fill out the bottom of that sheet with your 1^st and 2^nd option, and I will do my best to accommodate everyone.  If none of the below times and dates work with your schedule, please contact me immediately, and we will find a time that works.  Interviews are usually about 20 minutes long- it is optional whether or not you’d like to bring your student.  Feel free to add a comment about your preferred time (example: “any time after 4pm).  When every student returns the form, I will then send out a notice indicating your 20 minute interview.

On Monday, students are also asked to “Bring Something From Their Past” to share with small groups! If students don’t have anything to bring, tell them a story about when they were younger, and they can share that story with their classmates. 

In Music, Ms. Nevels has been teaching the story of Stone Soup ,and we will be reading the story in class.  It is a story of how being generous brings out the kindness in others.  Together, we are going to make Stone Soup in the classroom.  on Monday, students will sign up to bring a vegetable to school for Wednesday, November 9th 2011.  It is most appreciated if your ingredient is washed, chopped, and ready to be 'tossed' into the pot.  We will be enjoying our soup right before lunchtime on Wednesday, October 9th.  Thank you for your help with this!

Our Halloween Writing books are almost done!!!  This truly is a lot of hard work on behalf of the students, especially for the beginning of Grade 2.  When they make their way home, please take time to read your student’s story. They have a lot to be proud of with those books J

Random notes:

*Blue Hot Lunch forms are due Monday.

*Scholastic book orders are due on Monday

There is no spelling/ sight words next week due to the short week.

All Students need to have indoor shoes at school.  Please check with your child if they have dry shoes to put on during wet days.  Several of us have misplaced them or forgotten them at home. 

Grade 2s are having their first (and hopefully annual) OREO COOKIE DAY!! Why?!?! Why not!??! OREO Day is on Monday, November 21^st and will be filled with Math, Language Arts, Science, and Art activities completely centered around OREO COOKIES!  (yum!)  In preparation for this, we are asking each parent to send in a bag of OREOS with their student.  On Monday November 14^th a paper notice will go home, reminding you about this day, and we are asking that the OREO bags come in on Friday, November 18^th.  If you fear the cookies might get eaten in your home (I know this is the case at my house!) then feel free to send them earlier.  We are also asking that on Monday October 21^st, each student wear something black and white from their closet- Please don’t go and spend money at Park Place! I’m really excited for this day and I know we’ll have a lot of fun with these activities. 

Sock It To ‘Em has started! This is a charity event put on by our caretaking staff.  They will be collecting NEW socks for those in need around Christmas time.  There will be a giant stocking in the office where students can come and pin new socks for donation on in the office. 

The calendar gets bigger and bigger...here are the happenings!

Thanks and have a great weekend! Enjoy the extra hour of sleep J

November dates:
Monday November 7^th- Bring Something From Your Past!

Monday November 7^th- Scholastic and Hot Lunch orders due
Tuesday November 8^th – After School Skate at Nic Sheran

Wednesday November 9^th- Bring a vegetable for Stone Soup!
Wednesday November 9^th- Remembrance Day Assembly 10:30
Wednesday Novmeber 9^th- School Council meeting at 6pm 
Thursday November 10th Fall Break No School
 Friday November 11^th Fall Break No School 
Tuesday November 15^th- After School Skate at Nic Sheran
Wednesday November 16^th Spirit Assembly @ 830am: PJ Day
Wednesday November  16th  PT Interviews for Grade 2B
Thursday November  17th  PT Interviews for Grade 2B
Friday November  18th  PT Interviews for Grade 2B
Friday November 18^th- Bring a bag of OREOS!

Friday November 18^th Report Cards sent home 
Monday November 21^st- Oreo Cookie Day (details to follow)

Monday November 21st  PT Interviews for Grade 2B
Tuesday November 22^nd- PT Interviews for Grade 2B
Thursday November 24^th – Friday November 25^th- No School
Wednesday November 30^th- Character Education Assembly in pm