Pink Shirt Day, Subtraction Challenge, StoryBoard Mapping and IRIS POST!

Pink Shirt day was amazing. We had a great assembly with MC's, Constable Will, and 110 William D Pratt Students.


After the Assembly we came back to class and designed paper pink shirts to reflect a message we thought was important or wanted to share about kindness and stopping bullying! Ask me what my message was?

We watched a video of the book Howard B Wigglebottom Learns About Bullies:

https://wedolisten.org/books-and-lessons/book/Howard+B.+Wigglebottom+Learns+About+Bullies


Math

Subtraction with Regrouping/Borrowing

We have continued to practice solving double digit subtraction using t-charts to stack our numbers, draw our understanding and find a final answer. We have been working on remembering that we need to read the problems first so that when we are subtracting we take away instead of adding the numbers together.

Borrowing from the tens can be confusing if we don't clearly show our work and remember to show our thinking for all of the steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Buyaqe_L5-Y

I promised the kids I would put three math subtraction questions on the BLOG. Please let your child try to solve them using the t-chart, stacking method. See if they can explain to you why they did what they did and to show their math thinking step by step. 


SUBTRACTION CHALLENGE!

1. 33-16=

2. 57-19=

3. 44-26=


If they complete these on paper and want to share them with me, send them back tomorrow in their Home Communication folder and we will celebrate their math thinking...


STORYBOARD MAPPING

We have been working on creating a story board map using 5 minute sketches and adjectives to describe parts of our story:

Yesterday we did Characters

• myself as the main character
• 2 arctic animal characters

Today we worked on our Setting

• Where in the Arctic is our story going to take place? Sea Ice, Tundra, Mountains, Rocky Cliffs, Ice Floes?
• What season is it?
• Is it day or night

We had to think about:

-what do I see?

-what do I smell?

-what do I hear?

-how do I feel?

Tomorrow we will work on our Story Beginning and the PROBLEM. 

NEW IRIS UPLOAD!

Today in IRIS we uploaded a picture of our first prototype/design for our Thermos. We reflected on what we learned or did well and what we want to add or change for our next design that we will be building tomorrow. Check out IRIS by clicking on the permanent link above at the top of our BLOG. 

New Article for Persuasive Writing...

Reminder: Tomorrow is PINK SHIRT DAY! Our Assembly is at 9:30. Please wear PINK



New Article

Today we previewed a new article on Arctic climate change and it's impact. This article is titled:

Sea Ice Melt Leaves Polar Bears 7 Fewer Weeks for Hunting Each Year



It will be coming hope with your child in their Home Communication Folder. Please read it with them again and have them think about:

-How does the information in the article make me feel?
-Why
-What are my 2 reasons with 2 Examples from the article that made me feel this way and can back up or explain my feeling.

Your child will bring home an OREO template so that as they do this work they can fill it out. We will be sharing these in class this Friday and spending more time adding to them or improving them as we feel they need to be. Please make sure to bring them back by Friday March 2nd. 

Your support in your child's learning is greatly appreciated.

Use this Article as reading practice instead of their typical home reading books.

Google Slides:

We will continue to update and add to our Google Slides Polar Bear or Seal Research next week and to type one of our best persuasive OREO writings in Google Docs.

If you have not done so already (only 4 students have) please share your Google Slides Polar Bear/Seal Research with me at imlagrana@educbe.ca

Oreo Writing, Testing our Thermos Designs and Arctic Story Mapping!

Reminder: If you have a book order that you need to send in to me please do so by tomorrow. The deadline for ordering was today but because we had many students away last week I have extended it to tomorrow. 

Reminder: Tomorrow is International Polar Bear Day. We would like to participate by taking part in the Thermostat Challenge. Please turn your thermostat down in the morning by 2 Degrees. If we all do this for the whole day and all of the Grade 2 classes participate that will be quite a bit of energy saved! 

https://polarbearsinternational.org/get-involved/international-polar-bear-day

OREO WRITING 

Students have been reading Newspaper Articles on climate change, and how there have been changes to the ways of living for people and animals of the Arctic.

We have been discussing what it means to have an opinion, how to support it with a reason and an example. I have attached some examples of templates of OREO writing. 

Today students will bring home the article they were reading and come up with an opinion. Tomorrow they will use this same article to decide on their feeling/opinion and then follow the OREO template to come up with 2 reasons that are supported by the article. They will use examples/evidence they have highlighted from the article to help them write their persuasive piece. They practiced doing this last week during our rotations with Mrs. McDonald. 

Please read the article with them and have them explain their opinion/feeling to you about the article. If they are able to, have them discuss 2 reasons from the text that support this opinion/feeling and highlight the supporting text. 

Tomorrow we will use the  OREO template to record a feeling for example "I feel worried about the polar bear because climate change is causing the sea ice to melt earlier and this is making it hard for them to find the right food" This would fall under the O for Opinion in the graphic organizer. There is a feeling but it is explained clearly and has a because or a why with it not just the feeling. 

The next step is to find 2 reasons from the text that support your opinion. 
Your Reason needs to be back up with an example or evidence from the text. Please help your child to discuss their 2 reasons and highlight the examples/evidence so that tomorrow we can use the graphic organizers to fill in our ideas and be ready for writing. 

Testing our First Prototype! 

Today we measured the temperature of the ice before putting it in our thermos and recorded this information. Then we added our ice and waited 15 minutes to measure the temperature again. We then recorded a final temperature 2 hours later to see how our designs were keeping heat out. Ask me what I discovered. 

Tomorrow we will think about how we might add, change or redesign our thermos on Wednesday afternoon when we will be given time to do this. What changes or adaptations do I think I might make to my design? 


Arctic Story Mapping

Today we started planning for our Arctic Stories. We had to decide who would be our animal characters. We will be the main character in our story but we needed to add 2 Arctic animal characters. We had to orally talk about what they look like (using our describing words (adjectives) and what character traits they would have). 

We then had to write these describing words and draw our characters in a quick 5 minutes sketch inside of our storyboard. This storyboard mapping template will be used all week to organize our ideas for our story. Tomorrow we will add setting to our storyboard. 

Olympics in Gym!

Building, Pink Shirt Day and International Polar Bear Day!

Reminder: SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS ARE DUE NEXT WEEK MONDAY FEBRUARY 26th.
***If you tried to post an order on line and could not find Mrs. Lagrana please try again as there was an error in the online system but I have spoken to Scholastic and been assured that it is all fixed now.

Also please no cash. The best way to order is online as it is fast and easy. The alternative is to send me the order with a cheque made out to Scholastic Canada. 





Thermos Building!

Today we used our creative skills and our knowledge of insulation and heat transfer to build a thermos. Our challenge is to keep ice as cold as we can for as long as we can.

Monday we will take the temperature or our ice at the beginning, after 15 minutes and then again after 2 hours. We will also be making scientific observations and recordings about what we notice happening to the ice at these different time frames. 

We will post our findings on IRIS next week, so stay tuned! 



INTERNATIONAL POLAR BEAR DAY!

As we have been talking in all the classes about climate change and how it is impacting the Arctic and the World, we have also been studying the Polar Bear and how this majestic animal is being impacted. 


Tuesday February 27th is International Polar Bear Day and we are challenging ourselves and you to take the THERMOSTAT Challenge. Just turning your thermostat down by 2 degrees can have a big impact. 

https://polarbearsinternational.org/get-involved/international-polar-bear-day

PINK SHIRT DAY

Wednesday February 28th is PINK SHIRT DAY. We have an assembly at 9:30 A.M. We have been talking about Kindness and helping to prevent bullying by not being a silent bystander. We have been reading books and talking about this topic. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjmf3I1_ZhU

Grade 8 Students from William D Pratt will be joining us at Royal Oak School on Wednesday to help us celebrate this day and make paper pink shirts to decorate the gathering space with. We will have guest speakers and be inspired to "Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti"

Evergreen Theatre Production, Designing my Thermos and Rising Sea Ice...

Literacy
One of the most important Reading Strategies is CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING. As our reading accuracy improves and the books we are reading become more sophisticated it is especially importatn that we are continually checking for understanding as we read. Good readers do this in their heads but this process takes time and is learned from years of reading practice! 

Good Readers are THINKING while they read:

This is a modeled process. Student's need to be stopping as they read and thinking about these questions, talking about what they read which can be by making predictions, retelling, learning new vocabulary, summarizing, and discussing connections. If we are not THINKING about what we are reading we are NOT reading!


Evergreen Theatre Production
This morning we were so lucky to welcome Evergreen Theatre into our school and take part in an interactive theatre production about Rising Sea Levels and the changing Oceans around us. 

The Sinking Island - Touring Spring 2018

Katie Swells is one of the best young sailors on Storm Island Nova Scotia. After years of hard work and getting to know a sailboat, she’s finally ready to be a part of Storm Island’s biggest sailing race; The Big Circle. But things take a turn when Katie returns home from vacation and discovers that The Big Circle has been cancelled. Her best friend Sam the Seal tells her the water is rising off the island, making the race unsafe for young sailors. Determined to prove herself, Katie sets sail to try the race on her own, followed by a worried Sam. The Sinking Island is a funny and thoughtful nautical adventure that shows how our changing oceans affect the world around us.

Ask me what I learned and what my favorite part was. What problems were facing Katie and the Animals in the play?

Designing My Thermos:

Yesterday and today we created plans for our thermos. The challenge is to see how long it will keep an ice cube cold and in it's frozen state. We drew our designs with labels and diagrams and lists of the materials that we want to use. Today we wrote a hypothesis for the question: How can I design a device that will insulate an ice cube and prevent heat transfer from making it melt?

Tomorrow we will be building our first prototype. Mrs. Lagrana is able to provide:

-plastic cups of varying sizes

-cotton balls

-fabric

-tinfoil

-plastic

-rubber bands

-clear tape

-paper towels

Please discuss with your child their design intentions and what materials they would like to use or that they feel would make the best insulators. If your child has other ideas and your are able to send in these other materials by TOMORROW Friday February 23rd then they will be able to use these alternatives to building. 

Some other materials we brainstormed but that Mrs. Lagrana does not have access to for 25 kids are:

-duct tape

-styrofoam chips

-wood chips

-leaves

-sand

-rubber material

-larger bottles such as 2 L bottles 

-glass bottles (mini coke bottles)

-Foam material

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Thermos

We will build tomorrow and test on Monday. Then we will reflect and re-design as needed and make our 2nd insulator prototype! Please email Mrs. Lagrana at imlagrana@cbe.ab.ca if you have any questions about this process.



Today we read "My Wounded Island" by Jacques Pasquet and Marion Arbona. Ask me what this book was about? Why is her Island Wounded?