Tuesday January 31st, 2017

Reminders: Book orders are due back by Monday February 6th. 

Science: 

Big Ideas: Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Collection and Water 

Today in Science we worked on our Water Cycle wheel. 

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/water-cycle.htm

Condensation is the opposite of evaporation. It takes place when water vapor in the air condenses from a gas, back into a liquid form, and leaves the atmosphere, returning to the surface of the Earth.

Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth. Most precipitation falls as rain.

Collection: This is when water that falls from the clouds as rain, snow, hail or sleet, collects in the oceans, rivers, lakes, streams. Most will infiltrate (soak into) the ground and will collect as underground water. The water cycle is powered by the sun's energy and by gravity.

In Math we looked at math fact families. We figured out how to use three numbers from the triangle to create two addition equations and two subtraction equations. We practiced flip flopping the numbers to create fact family equations. 

See if you can do this at home:

 

See if you can do this at at home. if you figure it out you can even make up your own! 

We finished watching a video about Iqaluit, Nunavut and sketched everything that we could remember about Iqaluit's Land, Animals, People, Language, Goods, Stores, Weather. We also read some books on The People, The Land and The Jobs. Ask we about some of the information I learned. Tomorrow we will continue writing Did you know facts about Iqaluit. 

Monday January 30th, 2017

Today we have many notices coming home! We have a notice about Fundraising, Scholastic Book orders forms, some information about nutrition and sleep and the Canada Food Guide!
We had a special visit from the Public Health Nurse. We got to watch a puppet show about Nutrition and following Canada's Food Guide to stay healthy and fit. We also talked a little bit about how much sleep we should be getting for our age and why it is so important for our health.

Science:

Today we talked about Evaporation and looked at the Water Cycle. We looked at 2 different kinds of evaporation. We looked at Natural evaporation like in the water cycle and we also looked at what happens when we add heat and speed up evaporation like boiling water.

Natural Evaporation:

Man made Evaporation: 

When water reaches 100 degrees Celsius it boils and turns into Steam (water vapor).

We began working on our own mini water cycle circle to put in our lapbooks. Ask me what I drew to represent Evaporation of the Water Cycle? We also talked about water vapor and steam both being when water molecules change states into gas molecules.

We also looked at our Air Evaporation experiment and noticed that today (Day 14) the water level in the jar with no lid has gone down even further from 170 ml to 140 ml. When we started on day one both jars had 250ml. 

Math

In math we continued working on double digit subtraction using base ten to help us visualize and solve the problem. We looked at home subtraction and addition are connected and that if we have a subtraction problem such as: 66-32=34 then we also know that 32+34=66. 

This afternoon we read a Myth "The Boy who Lived with The Seals" by Rafe Martin. Even though it was not an Arctic Myth it was a First Nations Myth and we looked at some of the key ingredients that it had to help us figure out that it was a myth. 

We began making our Recipe for a Myth cards and charted out all the ingredients that we will need when we begin to write our own. 

Friday January 27th, 2017

Next Week's Alien-In-Line will be: Thursday February 2nd from 11:05-11:50
Friday February 3rd there is no school for Student's due to a Professional Development Day. 

Literacy Week was so much FUN!! Here are a few pictures of our amazing Celebration of a week full of reading. Crazy Hair ROCKED!!

Today we had so much fun reading in our jammies! We got to meet Spencer Wilson (A Stampeder's Football Player) and he read us a Robert Munsch book "More Pies" and answered some of our questions.

Social Studies
We continued looking at Inuit Artifacts and made a little flap to put on our Lapbooks with a sketch and an explanation of one artifact.

Math
In math we continued solving double digit subtraction problems using base ten materials. You can practice building numbers and subtracting with these links at home: 

http://mrcrammond.com/games/htu.swf

http://mrcrammond.com/maths_placevalue.htm


We measured our science evaporation jars again. Now the jar with the lid still has 250 ml and the jar with no lid now has 170 ml. How much water has evaporated? Ask me what Evaporation means? What is happening to the water?


Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapor or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air. ... 
Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds.

Wednesday January 25th, 2017

Reminder: Tomorrow is our first day of Alien-In-Line Skating! We are so excited!

Today we continued working on the concept of Global Warming and talking about how we can change it or make a difference. Ask me how I think I can help to make less Greenhouse gasses and make the Earth warm up a little less. We also started to watch a video about Visiting Iqaluit. We will continue to watch it tomorrow and talk about the things we see that look different from our Community here in Calgary, Alberta.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x30lPvBuFA4


Math
Today in math we used base ten materials to build numbers and then subtract small amounts from them. Our strategy for solving was using the base ten materials and a Hundreds/Tens/Ones mat to build and show our thinking. Ask me what I found tricky. Maybe I could practice a few simple subtraction problems at home using this method. We also practiced skip counting backwards by 5's on a number line. 

Today for our Literacy Week Day 3 we went to Ms. Rutland's room and we read the Robert Munsch story ZOOM! Ask me what activity we did to go with the book.

Monday January 24th, 2017

Polar Bear Expert Dr. Ian Stirling

Dr. Ian Stirling

Grade Two classes were very fortunate today to have world-renowned polar bear expert Dr. Ian Sterling Skype in for a question and answer session with our students. Dr. Sterling has researched polar bears for over 40 years! Students asked many interesting questions about polar bear behaviour, habitat and physiology. However, many of the students were most concerned with finding out what is causing decreases in polar bear populations, decreasing sea ice and what they can do to help. 

Here is a sample of Dr. Sterlings answers.

What is the biggest threat to polar bears?

-the climate is warming a certain amount

-the earth is warming twice as fast in the Arctic as the rest of the earth

-even winter in Alberta is warmer that 40 years ago

-the sea ice is melting earlier in the winter

-there is less ice

-during the time that is best for feeding so the bears don’t have as much access to the seals.

-they need a platform to stand on, which is the sea ice.

-they have less and less time to hunt now

-we are going to end up losing more than half of our polar bears

-we need to get to the bottom of greenhouse gases (factories, cars etc) and cut down to slow down global warming.

How can we help the polar bears?

-turn off the lights at home, that takes energy which might mean less burning of energy like coal

-turn down the heat when you don’t need it to be so warm

-try to reduce the amount of coal and natural oil used to produce electricity

-try biking to school or walking

Here is a helpful video for students to begin to understand climate change, global warming, greenhouse gases and what we can do to help! 

If your child is interested in creating a Google Slide or two at home to present their thoughts, they can share it with the class in a weeks time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6zW43U7yqM

Literacy Week (Day 1)

Today our class went to Mrs. Daniel's class to be read the Robert Munsch book "I Have to Go". Ask me what the best part of the story was?

Don't forget, we are trying to 'DEAR'...Drop Everything And Read when the surprise announcement comes on. Please feel free to bring your favorite book to school and get "Caught" reading!!!

Thursday January 19th, 2017

Reminder:No School Tomorrow!
Please bring back Alien-In-Line forms and money. 
Literacy Week begins Monday. Remember to bring in a book that you can get caught reading! 

We have been learning about Arctic Animals and one of them that we have been very interested in learning more about is the Polar Bear. We are fortunate to be able to Skype with Dr. Ian Stirling. He is an expert on Polar Bear's, and has been studying and researching them for forty years. He has written a book called : Polar Bears: The Natural History of a Threatened Species. We are very excited to be able to ask him all the questions we have about Polar Bears and life in Canada's North.

GYM
Reminder: If you have not paid and sent in your forms for Alien-In-Line Skating please do so as it starts on Monday. If you have your own Rollerblading equipment/helmut and pads you are welcome to bring it in. ****Please ensure that you bring in a helmut and wear socks to school those days (rollerblades are not very comfortable without socks!). If you would like to come in and help out for that time extra hands are always appreciated! Please email me: imlagrana@cbe.ab.ca 
This is our Schedule for Alien-In-Line and we are so excited to begin! We are not bringing in our own rollerblades as they are provided and the ones provided are high quality for learning and have not been used outdoors so they are safe and clean for our gym floors. 

Jan. 26: 11:05-11:50
Feb. 2:  11:05-11:50
Feb 9: 11:05-11:50
Feb 13: 11:05-11:50
Feb 15: 11:05-11:50






Big Idea: Dissolve/Solvent/Soluble

We made a hypothesis about what would happen when we put sugar cubes into a jar of water and stirred. We noticed that the sugar seemed to vanish! We also noticed that the water seemed to get more thick and didn't look so clear. 

We also talked about Fair Tests and we started an experiment to see if the water will change if we fill two jars with the same amount of water (250ml) and then have one jar lid closed tightly and the other jar leave the lid off. We will observe if anything has happened to the water when we come back to school on Monday. Ask me what I think will happen to the water in each jar and why I think this.

Math

In math we continued practicing our doubles! We also continued practicing doubles+1. Please practice at home so that we can become masters at the doubles facts to ten. 

Today we read a myth called The Enchanted Caribou. Ask me about the characters, setting, important event and the message.

Wednesday January 18th, 2017

MATH

Place value doubles strategy:

DOUBLE'S RAP
Today, we used logic and reasoning such as "If I know, then I know" to solve doubles + one.

"If I know 14+14= 28, then I know 14+15 must equal 29 because I see that as one more than 28."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3N1-c4q4J0

SCIENCE

All about Atoms and Molecules, and making a Water Molecule!

.youtube.com/watch?v=vlSOESXQI7o

BIG IDEA: ABSORBENCY

Today we conducted an experiment about Absorbency. Ask me what my sponge did with the water? We discussed making a hypothesis and drawing a scientific diagram with labels. Ask me how I think the sponge was able to hold all that water. Would this work with other liquids?

Preparing for Literacy Week:

Andrew's Loose Tooth:

For decorating our Robert Munsch Door we talked about a memory we had of loosing a tooth! We had to make a model of a tooth on a picture of us and then write about a funny time or interesting way that we lost a tooth!!

Today we uploaded a picture of our favorite Arctic Myth so far. Ask me why is is my favorite? Ask me if I was going to make a recipe for a myth what ingredients I would need to include?

Today we finished our Ted Harrison Art. Ask me what the most challenging part of the art was?

Monday January 16th, 2017

Important Forms: 
Alien In-Line skating!!
*blue forms are being sent home today by Ms. Hennick
*please send forms back once payment has been made, thanks!
*$15.00 cost, pay via myCBE and DUE JAN 20th



Roller Coaster Math 
(we have used roller coasters to examine subtraction on an open number-line and to visualize doubles strategies)
*ask me about this picture and how I can think about subtraction! Remember that some people won a contest and are not getting off the coaster. Their seats are not available!

There is another side to this rollercoaster. Students were asked to draw the same rollercoaster from above, like from a 'birds eye' view. Do they see doubles? How would you calculate how many people can get onto the coaster.

Beginner Doubles song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YQ4phTB0E

Friday January 13th, 2017

On Monday, January 16th, our school is having a presentation of the play, Hansel and Gretel at 1:30 P.M. Parents are welcome to attend.  During this time we are collecting non-perishable donations for our Food Drive. 

Today we read and watched a video of the Arctic Myth called The Blind Boy and the Loon. Here is a link if you want to watch it. Ask me what the message is.

http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/playstory2982-the-blind-boy-and-the-loon.html

Today we uploaded our favorite Arctic Centre work on IRIS. Ask me why I chose the page I did to photograph and comment about. Ask me about Arctic Centres.

In math we had a new challenge about our Roller Coaster. We had to imagine we were looking down at our roller coaster from above and seeing that it has another side. We had to use blocks to build a model that would help us create an equation to answer the question:

How many people can get on the roller coaster?

Ask me what my strategies are so far to solve this problem?

We had Buddies today. Ask me what books I read with my buddy!

Wednesday January 11th, 2017

Today in gym we did the bench challenge. Ask me how it worked. Ask me which team is winning right now?

Today in math we shared and practiced using the number line to take away or subtract numbers instead of adding. Ask me what is different when I am subtracting. Where do I start on the number line and how do I do my hops, skips and jumps-which direction do I travel in?

Today we finished the documentary about ice bear. Ask me what I learned and what I drew? We are wondering why the summer is lasting so long and why the ice is melting so fast?

We read a myth about Sedna. Ask me who she is. Ask me what the message of the story was?

Today was our last day of Arctic Centres. Ask me which one was my favorite and why? I will upload a picture from my favorite centre, and explain about it on Friday.

Tuesday January 10th, 2017

Today home reading was not switched because of Kindergarten Registration. Please go to Raz-Kids. We are having a challenge. For everyone who reads at least one book we will have prizes. Do Raz-kids instead of home reading.

username: ilagrana0
Password is your picture/symbol

Today we started a book about water. It is called "The Adventures of Water". Ask me what I know about water? Ask me why water is important? Ask me about the 3 states of water?

Today in gym we played the riverboat challenge. Ask me how my team did?

In math we shared our posters in front of the class and the audience also asked us questions. Ask me what questions they asked my group and what I would change if I solved the problem all over again?

In music Ms. Mann played a new instrument for us called the singing bowl. Ask me what it was like?

We watched a Inuit myth of the "Owl and the Raven". We did a Venn Diagram about what was the same and what was different from the version we listened to yesterday. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xhWWdGm8fE


We also began reading a book called I is for Inuksuk: An Arctic Celebration. Ask me what an Inuksuk is?

Monday January 9th, 2017

Today we summarized a story about the North and animals that migrate to the North. Ask me what migrate means and what is means to summarize a story.

Today in gym we played survivor. We got teams and will be doing challenges all week to see who ends up winning. Ask me what my team name is? Ask me how I can get bonus points? Ask me what our challenge was today?

We continued watching the video about the polar bear. We used our writing books to add important information. Ask me to show you the video at home:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ITc3Uclb40&t=1101s

In math we had a gallery walk and used stickies to write notes to other groups about their poster. Ask me what I wrote to one of the groups about their math work.

We listened to a new myth today. It was called "The Owl and the Raven". Ask me about the characters, the setting, and the message of the myth.

Today we did day 3 of our Arctic Centres. Ask me which centre I was at and what information I recorded in my sketch book.

Friday January 6th, 2017

Today we uploaded a picture from our Visual Sketchbooks. Ask me what my picture was about why I drew and included the things that I did?

Today we did another Arctic Centre. Ask me which centre I was at and what my job was.

We talked about Inuit Myths today. We are going to be reading/listening to many over the next week or two and are starting to make a list of the things we think we need to write a myth. Today we talked about needing characters and that often these characters are animals. We also talked about myths having a message or a lesson that we learn by reading/listening to them. Today we listened to an Arctic myth about the Northern Lights. Ask me what the message of the myth was. We also drew the important parts in our sketch books. We also learned how to draw a polar bear. We talked about Characters, Setting, Problems and Main events. Ask me what I think I know so far about Myths and why we are looking at specifically Inuit Myths.

We also watched a bit more of the documentary bout Polar Bears. We will put the link on the blog next week if we want to watch more of it at home. Ask me what the Polar Bears problem is?

Thursday January 5th, 2017

**Reminder that tomorrow is Friday and school ends at 12:48 pm. 
**Reminder to bring snow pants and appropriate clothing for the outdoors everyday to school as often it is a blue day in the morning but by recess or by lunch we end up going out. We love to play in the new snow and build structures and we are not able to play as freely if we don't have snow pants!

Today we started our Social Studies inquiry centres about the Arctic. Ask me which centre I was at today and what I learned. The polar bear centre got to go to a website and watch a live webcam of an arctic polar bear! We will all get a turn to this but we loved it so much that Mrs. Lagrana said she would put it on the blog right away!! Here it is: 

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/polar-bear-cam

It is fun to watch at different times of the day and see if we see any difference in the activities or behaviours the polar bear is displaying. 

Today we read another story about the Arctic. It is called Arctic Son by Jean Craighead George. Ask me something I drew in my writing book about it and what questions I had after listening to the book. 

Today in math we used our group poster and the class rubric to solve the roller coaster problem independently. We picked our favorite strategy or the one that we found most successful and answered the problem. Ask me what my math work had to include?

Today we filled our Marble Jar!! We will get to pick a fun activity as a class to celebrate and begin filling it up again! 

Wednesday January 4th, 2017

Today in gym we used the parachute and learned to make a mushroom and then sit under it to make a smurf house. It was so much fun. We also swayed from right to left in a circle to make the parachute sway.

Today we were imagining what the Arctic might look like. We drew a picture in our visual sketchbook including details we thought might be in the Arctic. We thought about the land, the water, the people, the homes, the animals and symbols we might see. Ask me what I drew?

Today we did guided reading. Today was day 2 or our new guided reading groups. Ask me what my favorite part was?

In math we named our Rollercoaster and we continued worked in groups to solve our roller coaster math problem.

We read the book SkySisters. Mrs. Lagrana read the book and Mrs. McDonald drew the picture to go with it. Ask me what it was about? Ask me where the setting was and who the characters were? After we read the book we also did a drawing in our writing book and wrote down any questions that we had about the story or what the story made us wonder about? Ask me if I had any questions and what they are?

Tuesday January 3rd, 2017

Welcome back to school!

Today in music we learned a new note. It is called Tika Tika. Ask me what I learned about it?

Today in gym we started using the Parachute. Ask me what game we played!

In writing we wrote about the most exciting, special parts of winter break. Can you guess what I wrote about?

In math we continued working on our Rollercoaster math. We had to try and figure out how many people can fit in the roller coaster. Ask me what my group did to solve the problem?

We looked at a picture today and did I see, I think, I wonder about the picture. Ask me what the picture was of and what I wrote about it?

We read a twisted fairytale today called "little Red Writing" by Joan Holub. Ask me if I liked it? How was it different from the traditional version of Little Red Riding Hood? How was it the same?