New Motto in our room

As we have been diving into 2 digit addition problems and discovering different strategies to calculate totals, there has been a lot of discussion about communicating our understanding. We have really been stressing that while getting the correct answer is important, it is the process that we want to focus on. Being able to prove/back up our calculations and communicate our thinking process is more important than just writing down the answer. As we discussed this idea- the class came up with a motto to help remind us of the importance of documenting our steps/thinking. Corbin helped synthesize our ideas into the statement "It's not just what you know, it's what you show that counts".

One reason that showing their work is important is that it helps me to identify what strategies they are comfortable with and where any misunderstandings are so that I can help students work through it. Also, when students make errors it is easier for them to go back and identify where they may have made a mistake to fix it up if they can see how they got there. When students document their steps it gives them visual support to explain or prove their calculations.

Give your child a double digit equation in which they need to combine numbers above 10 but below 50 together and see what they are able to show and share with you.

Upcoming Events + Info

We've already received many field trip forms back for next Tuesday March 7th field trip- if you haven't already returned the permission forms them please do so right away. If you do not wish for your child to join us on this experience, we will arrange for them to work in another classroom that morning. We will likely be outside for a large amount of time on our trip so please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for outdoor walking and weather. A big thank you as well to our 3 volunteers -Mrs. Dack (Eddie's mom), Mrs. Cottam (Scotty's mom)  and Mrs. Saran (Manav's Mom) for stepping forward to help out on this trip.

March 2- Learning commons book exchange
March 7- Field Trip to Inglewood bird sanctuary
March 8- Fun Lunch (please order online this week)
March 10- Inline skating starts
March 17- Early Dismissal

Adding with Base 10 and Expanded Notation

In the past few weeks students have been working hard to apply several addition strategies when adding two digit numbers. The first strategy involves using base 10 manipulatives (rods and units) to represent the 10's and the 1's. Once students have either built the numbers with blocks or drawn the pictures of them they combine the blocks together. They can start with the ones (units) and then combine the tens (rods). The part that is most confusing for students is knowing when to regroup their blocks. Students are learning that the highest digit that you can have in any place value is 9- if they have 10 or more then they need to regroup them and move them to the next column (10 units should become a rod).

Here is another picture that represents the process that we have been practicing- it also shows our other strategy which is using expanded notation to break the numbers apart in a very similar way to base 10. When we pull a number apart or break it apart we call it expanded notation. This way requires students to have a more abstract knowledge of numbers and can lead students towards using mental math to solve equations.

This example starts by adding the 10's first but I have been encouraging the students to start with the ones because if there is more than 10 ones they will have to regroup before adding the tens. You can have your child practice adding 2 digit numbers using these strategies at home. Some students require the physical blocks of tens and ones to work with so you could use a variety of creative counter tools that would represent the numbers like legos, beans, really anything that can be separated into piles of 10 and left over ones. Many students are able to draw the pictures of the rods and units and can record the problems symbolically. It is important that students are able to document and explain their thinking so that they can identify if they have made any mistakes and can also prove/back up their answer.

Field Trip Forms and 100th Day!

We are going on another field trip!! The grade 2's will be spending the morning (not the full day) at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on March 7th. The forms went home with students today but we are asking that they be returned by Monday Feb. 27th so that we are well prepared for the trip. Students will leave first thing in the morning and will return to school for lunch that day. We are in need of volunteers once again to make sure that the appropriate supervision ratio is met. Please let me know if you have a police clearance and are interested in joining us. Once again we will need to have volunteers drive themselves and meet us at the Sanctuary as we don't have enough space on the bus to accommodate parents. 

Today was the 100th day of school for us and we had lots of fun with the number 100! We started our morning with a whooping 100 jumping jacks (I was going to let them stop after 75- we went in increments of 25 with breaks in between- but they insisted we keep going and rose to the challenge to complete 100!). We read the book 100 Hungry Ants and looked at how ants could be grouped in different ways to get to the picnic faster ie. 2 lines of 50, 4 lines of 25, 5 lines of 20, 10 lines of 10. Students did some brainstorming and free writing on "I could eat 100.... I could not eat 100...  as well as "I would like 100 ....". In the afternoon we played the game Race to 100. Students worked in partners to roll the dice and built their numbers. They had to practice adding by counting on and representing their number with base 10 blocks. It was an excellent opportunity for me to see which students are comfortable with the process of regrouping and adding numbers accurately. Thank you to Ryker, Scotty, Sara, Corbin, Fofo, Amaan for bringing in 100 little treasures from home to help us see what 100 really looks like in different items. We didn't finish doing our work with these items so I told the students that if they would still like to bring in more things (100 smaller items that could fit in a ziploc bag which I will provide) they can still bring them in tomorrow. 

The 100th day of school

Hopefully you are all having an excellent long weekend! Tuesday is the 100th day of school for us and we will be celebrating with different lessons around the number 100. It would be awesome if students could bring in a collection of 100 items that we can put into ziploc bags and display to compare what 100 looks like with different things. The students brainstormed a list on Wednesday of items that they could collect from around their house to bring in that weren't too big. They don't need to go buy anything and they were told that they need to ask permission first- items will be returned after a few weeks. They can bring them in whatever container or bag they can and I will transfer them into clear ziploc bags at school. Here are a few ideas they could bring- 100:  paperclips, chocolate chips, rubber bands, pennies, popcorn kernals, pieces of dog food or cereal, mini marshmellows, beads etc. Students are encouraged to count and recount to ensure they are accurate with their 100 items. If they are not able to bring anything that is ok- I will be bringing in quite a few items as well.

Valentines

List for valentines- You don't have to bring them if you don't want to but if you choose to participate in exchanging valentines, here is the official list (all students included!)

Aikam       Amaan     Arash     Ava
Corbin       Eddie       Ethan     Fofo
Hannah     Hayden    Malalai   Manav
Morgan     Mushfik   Peyton    Priscilla
Ryker        Sambit     Sara        Scotty
Sisi            Zahra


Box of Cards Fundraiser
Parent Council is just wrapping up the Big box of Cards fundraiser. Our class has already raised a great amount towards this fundraiser. A special thanks to Ryker and his family for selling a whopping 21 boxes of cards! Please return order forms and money by Wednesday, Feb. 15th and if you do not want to purchase the sample box your child brought home, please return the box to the school with all 33 cards included inside. Thanks so much for your support!!

Eek! Error

 I realized in my reformatting 3 names got cut off from our class list for valentines. My deepest apologies! Please also include:

Peyton, Priscilla, and Ryker

Valentines

Wow!!! What an amazing performance the students had on Friday! I am so proud of them. The celebration was quite long for them but they were troopers through the adult speeches. It was exciting for the students to be a part of it but it will be nice to get back to our regular scheduling. We do have 2 short weeks coming up though. Just a reminder there is no school on Thursday (Feb. 16) and Friday (Feb. 17) due to Teachers Convention and Monday (Feb. 18) because of Family Day.

If anyone would like to exchange valentines, we will have a time on Tuesday (Feb. 14th) to pass them out. It is completely optional, however, if students choose to deliver valentines please ensure that they give one to every student in the class. Here is a list of the names of students in our class:

Aikam                      Malalai
Amaan                     Manav
Arash                       Morgan
Ava                          Mushfik
Corbin                     Sambit
Eddie                       Sara
Ethan                       Scotty
Fofo                         Sisi
Hannah                    Zahra
Hayden

Amazing Performance and Practices!

Today was a super long day for the kids- we had many different rehearsals to ensure we all know our places and our jobs for tomorrow's big day! I was so impressed with the patience and effort that the class put forward today! Their dance was amazing!!! I think tomorrow will be even more exciting and fun filled and we will have many special guests attending the afternoon performance. Students will be wearing their special Ken Taylor t-shirts over their regular clothes but if they have long white t-shirts or white pants that they could also wear it will look really cool with the special effects!

Students were also very happy to be able to go outside again! They burned some energy in the snow at both recess and lunch. We managed to squeeze our book exchange into our morning as well so students have some new books to enjoy at home.

Grand Opening!!!

What a day!! We did some pretty exciting things today to prepare for our Grand Opening ceremony on Friday. The students got to have some fun as we created a whole school video and we had extra practice for our special performance. I spoke with many of you at conferences but just in case I didn't, we want to make sure that you know that our class will be performing a dance at the ceremony. Each student can have 2 tickets for their family members for the Friday 1:00 pm performance or parents are also welcome to come to Thursday afternoon's dress rehearsal. We just ask that if you are planning to attend that you reserve your 2 tickets through the link that was emailed out last week. There will be some special guests and dignitaries attending the event as well. It is a very exciting time for our school and a unique experience for the students and staff to participate in! We will spend a good chunk of this week exploring what our school acronym H.E.A.R.T really means.