Month: February 2020

How different it feels to have a 5-day week again after two 4-day weeks! We got to our final two RBLM stations (#7 and #8), introduced typing and sight words on the iPad as two new multi-sensory stations, and talked about bullying because of Pink Shirt Day!

RBLM has 8 stations, and we added #7 – Balance Beam, and #8 – Handy Elbows. Station #7 helps to improve the child’s equilibrium, understand how his/her body moves in space and develop motor control. Station #8 also works on understanding spatial awareness, motor control, and work on their balance/equilibrium. It also strengthens their arms and back muscles. The kids focused hard on these two new stations and performed well! We continue to have the student take turns leading the stretches and it is great to see them in this role. It builds their confidence and public speaking voice, and also reinforces their own learning.

We started two new multi-sensory stations this week – typing our spelling words on keyboards and working on our sight word recognition. Having the students become familiar with the keyboard will help their computer skills, fine motor skills, and eventually enable them to login independently for their phonics programs.

We had a great discussion about what bullying is on Wednesday, Pink Shirt Day. We talked about how it feels to be hurt and to hurt someone, and did an activity with crinkling up a drawing of ourselves. When people do hurtful things, we get crinkled up, and they may say sorry, which helps us un-crinkle, but the effect cannot be completely undone. We then wrote something we can do to be positive people who do not encourage bullying. It was great to see the kids reflect about what has happened to the and how they can move forward to promote acceptance and kindness.

Important Dates!

• Goal-Setting Conferences on Wed March 4th and Thurs March 5th. Please remember to be punctual/available for your in-person or phone conference. Please remember those are early dismissal days at 2pm, so make sure there is someone to pick up your child at the bus stop.
• DR. SEUSS WEEK! Next week is Dr. Seuss Week! The kids have brought up two pieces of paper with information. There is a “peach” coloured one with a hat that lists a different theme for each day. It is optional whether your child would like to participate in the dressing up, but we will have themed activities and spelling words in class. The “red” paper is a March calendar, where if your child chooses to participate, it would be so fun! If they read 5 activities in a row like Bingo, they get a sticker. If they read every day, they get to be on the Wall of Fame in the classroom! It is great to encourage their reading, and Dr. Seuss has lots of word families to practice. *Please check the Extra Extra! page for soft copies of these two sheets.

Have a great weekend!

Take care and take it easy!

Claire 🙂

How lucky we are to get all sunny days this week! The kids had a great time during recess and lunch being out in the warmth and sunshine. It may be back to rain this weekend… but that’s how Vancouver stays so green!

We started off the week with a Magic Show! It was amazing to see the talent by these two performers. Ask your child about it and see what their favourite magical act was!

We added another station for our RBLM this week – Hole Punch! It is a “low” activity, meaning it focuses on small refined movements versus something like “Tub Train” or “Scooter Drill”. The stations alternate between high and low to give the students a chance to recharge and be ready for the next station with the appropriate energy. Station 6 – Hole Punch works on hand-eye coordination as well as fine motor skills and strength. It develops their palmar arch muscles, necessary for writing and proper grip. We have also started having student-led stretches in order to develop their independence and leadership skills with the class.

We continue to gradually add various multi-sensory stations, so the students have a chance to learn how to do them well and properly. The students really enjoy them and it is a great way to show them alternate ways of seeing proper letter formation while working on phonics. It is also beneficial for developing their fine motor skills.

• 

• 

We ended the day with working with Division 2 (another grade 2 class) to create family portraits for Family Day! It was a mixed media piece, where we painted the canvas with acrylic paint, and then built the family members using shapes cut out of painted paper. It was wonderful to see the kids’ creativity and ability to use abstract concepts to create this art piece. They will be displayed along the halls of the school. Please come take a look if you are here for goal-setting conferences!

Please note:

• Please sign up for conferences if you have not done so already. Please indicate if you would like a phone conference or in-person conference. Please click on the button below to sign up. *Tuesday and Wednesday March 4 & 5 will be early dismissal days.
• Wednesday February 26th is Pink Shirt Day! This is a day where we encourage everyone to practice kindness everyday and to not tolerate bullying. If you have a pink shirt, please consider having your child wear it to show support.
• Please continue to support your child and do the homework and read the reader with them daily. Please also sign the page so I know you’ve worked with them on the activities.

Have a great weekend! Take care and take it easy!

Claire 🙂

What a short but busy week it has been! The kids are adjusting and getting the hang of the routine in the classroom and it is great to see them working well together in this new environment. We introduced two new RBLM stations, worked on our computer programs, started our Handwriting Practice, tried some new Multi-Sensory Stations, saw a Lion Dance, did a science experiment, had Fun Thursday, and had some Valentine’s treats! Whew! 🙂

We added Station 4 and 5 to the RBLM Stations, and it is the “Tub Train” and “Swim and Dry”! The Tub Train develops our understanding of our muscles and joints and the “heavy work” they do to support our body. The Swim and Dry is full body tactile stimulation that increases our upper arm and shoulder strength while coordinating with our legs and knees. We always start with the Superman and the Popcorn though to warm up and wake up our bodies!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The kids are great at transitioning from one activity to the next and are ready to go soon after coming in from the bus, after recess and lunch. That has helped them have more time to spend on handwriting, math, and stations such as writing in sand, or using scrabble tiles to spell our vocabulary words.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

On Wednesday, we got to see a Lion Dance in the gym! It was exciting and we all tried to see if we could get a piece of the lettuce as it is considered lucky to get some! 🙂

We ended the week with a little science experiment using candy hearts! We had three cups of different liquids and put some hearts in each to see what would happen. We had a cup of water, a cup of soda, and a cup of vinegar. The kids made predictions (a new word we learned!) and helped put in the candy hearts. Then they recorded what happened. We checked in with the hearts at the end of the day to observe any changes. There was also some taste-testing of the candy hearts! 🙂

We capped off the day with some relaxing puzzle time and a Valentine’s Day story!

UPCOMING DATES:

• No school Monday February 17th – Family Day
• Star of the Week starts next week! Please check our the schedule on the Extra Extra! page. When it is your child’s turn to be Star of the Week, she/he can bring in something for Show & Tell on Friday.

Please sign up for a goal-setting conference coming up on Wednesday March 4th and Thursday March 5th afternoon. Click on the button below to head over to the sign-up page. They are 15 minutes each, and can be an in-person or phone conference. *Please note, those are also EARLY DISMISSAL days; the day ends at 2:00pm and the buses will be dropping them off earlier than usual. Please make sure you arrange for someone to pick up your child.

Take care and take it easy!

Claire 🙂

Our first week of TEIR is complete and under our belts! It was great getting to know the kids and seeing them become friends with each other.

We did a lot of get to know each other activities, as well as working together to decorate the classroom. We reviewed our letters, numbers, reading, and also made amazing “destinations” for our board game! Each student chose one character they would like to be, and they are ready to go! In these photos, we are making a graph to learn more about our new friends!

We have also started our RBLM – Ready Bodies, Learning Minds – Stations on certain mornings as a way to get our bodies warmed up and readying for learning. We have started three stations this week and will gradually build up to eight stations. We start with warm-ups called the Superman and Popcorn, which develops our core stability and strengthens our postural muscles.

• 

• 

The first station is Scooter Drills, which helps our bodies learn to be invigorated while being controlled and calm.

The second station is called Roll & Crawl. This station helps build our hand and shoulder strength and movement through understanding how weight-bearing activities feel on our bodies.

The third station we tried this week is called the Rabbit Hop. This stations works on developing our balance, control of our eye-foot coordination, and understanding the heavy work of jumping.

We attended Assembly on Thursday so we could see the whole school together, and so the other students could meet us as well. On the days when it wasn’t too rainy, the whole school went for the after lunch run around Gaston Park. That is another great opportunity for the TEIR students to interact with and be part of the Collingwood community. 🙂

The students worked on completing the destinations on the game board and it is ready to go on Monday!

We also practiced our Homework Folders at school so we have a better understanding of how to do them at home starting next week. We will keep to the same activities next week so the students can build some familiarity. Please make sure to do them daily with your child. 🙂

We ended the week with Fun Friday – getting to play with our new friends in our new classroom. We loved the puzzles, wooden blocks, Lego, and card games!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Upcoming Important Dates!

• Pizza Thursday starts next week (Feb 13th) if you signed your child up for it!

• No school on Friday February 14th – Professional Development Day (and Valentine’s Day!)

Friendship Celebration on Valentine’s Day

Please kindly note, if your child wishes to bring in cards/treats for the class, they must bring one in for EVERY student. We are celebrating friendship and respect. While we may be better friends with some classmates than others, we are a community and we do share the space and many experiences together. We are cultivating respect for all, understanding our similarities and differences, and accepting each other. Please kindly note we are a NUT-FREE classroom for any treats you may wish to share.

Have a great weekend! Stay warm!

Take it easy & take care!
Claire 🙂