Dear Grade 2 students and parents:
October is upon us and we have had an excellent beginning to the
year in Mr. McGaughey’s Class. Over the next two weeks, every
student in class will be finishing their wonderful Me-Box
Presentations. We are putting them into a book for all the class to
share.
Important days to remember in our class.
Monday:
Poetry books back to school, Gym- (Bring gym shoes- you do not need
special clothes)
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Dragons-Social Skills
Class (1:35-2:35)
Thursday: Gym- (Bring gym shoes- you do not
need special clothes). Library—Bring your library book.
Friday:
Art Class, Poetry books go home.
Keep up the good work with reading your weekly poems and songs with
your family. Remember: Your poetry book goes home on Friday,
and returns to school on Monday, so that we can begin our new
poems.
Thanks to all students for their participation in
the school Terry Fox Run. We had fun in our classroom counting and
rolling the coins the class donated. The Terry Fox run was exciting.
Share
and Show
Starting in mid-October, each student will have
a weekly opportunity to share one story or item that begins or ends
with a certain sound. Ie: a… as in apple or ape.
On short
weeks, we will combine Monday and Tuesday groups if there is no
school on Monday and Thursday and Friday Groups if there is no
school on Friday.
Monday: Alexis, Colter, Jaden,
Tuesday: Rebecca Brendan, Colton
Wednesday:
Jared, Shaelyn, Carter, Danny
Thursday: Jordan Sam, Chevy
Friday:
Gage, Nicholas, Simon
Share and Show Schedule
October 16- 20 f… as in finger or
leaf
October 23-27 s… as in seven or bus
October
30-November 3 m… as in monster or alarm
November 6-10 b… as
in bacon or club
November 13-17 t… as in table or light
November
20-24 d… as in day or dad
November 21-Dec1 c… as in candy
or plastic
December 4-8 a… as in apple or ape
December
11-15 e… as in eat or elf
December 18-22 No Share and show
this week
Class Website:
Mr. McGaughey will be
updating our class website at
http://par.scdsb.on.ca/classes/McGaughey on a regular basis
beginning this month. Please check it to see class news and examples
of student work.
10 Week Social Skills Program
Through
the generosity of several funding sources, the Children’s Aid
Society of Simcoe County’s School Based Early Intervention Program
is being offered to our classroom. This program is offered for one
hour per week, for ten weeks and is dedicated to exploring the
topics of respect for self and other, self-esteem, identifying
feelings, anger management, listening, problem solving, bullying and
building healthy relationships with others. The program includes the
use of videos, crafts, and role playing activities. Programs such as
this one, have been linked to improved academic achievement and
overall success in school.
We invite you to attend a short
information meeting at the school after the initial session on
Wednesday October 4. The facilitator, Carol Cooper, will be
available at that time to answer any questions you may have. The
sessions will begin on Wednesdays at 1:35 pm.
As a
caregiver, your role is paramount. Therefore, you are invited and
encouraged to attend any, or all, of the classroom sessions. We ask
that you complete the attached questionnaire to help identify any
specific needs your child may have. We will send home a similar
follow-up questionnaire at the conclusion of the program to
determine if your child’s behaviour has reflected the concepts and
skills introduced during the program. Thank you for your important
participation in this way.
If you have any questions ,
comments, or would like to discuss the program further, please
contact Debbie Helinski, Program Coordinator at: 1-705-726-6587 Ext.
402
Scholastic Book orders due Wednesday October 11
Math
Nelson Unit 2 and 4-
We are just completing a unit
exploring numbers to 50 and beyond. Students will practise skip
counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. They will arrange objects in groups of
10 (e.g., 23 is 2 groups of 10 and 3 more) and print and read
2-digit numbers. They will represent greater numbers in many
different ways using concrete materials and visual math tools, such
as a number line and a 10-frame mat. They will also use coins to
practise skip counting and to act out pretend purchases.
Try
these activities with your child:
• Go on a Number Hunt. Have
your child look for and read numbers on houses, signs, and
billboards, or in store windows. Your child might want to draw
pictures or record numbers to share with the class.
• When
preparing a meal, ask your child to estimate how many beans there
are in the measuring cup or how many forks there are in the drawer.
Have your child check his or her estimate by counting. To practise
counting by 2s, 5s, or 10s, ask your child if there is a way to put
the items in groups to make counting easier.
• Give your child a
handful of coins and have him or her sort the coins by coin type or
value. Ask your child to total the value for each group of coins.
You could say, “You have 8 nickels. How many cents is that
altogether?”
Fort the rest of October, our focus in
math will be on addition and subtraction. Students will use
materials, drawings, and numbers to solve problems. Now and for the
rest of the school year, we will be completing activities that
encourage students to use mental math strategies to help them learn
and remember basic facts. For example, students will think about how
knowing the fact 9 + 9 = 18 can help them to figure out the answer
to the question 18 – 9 = ___.
Look for opportunities at
home to pose simple addition and subtraction problems for your child
to consider. For example, when setting the table, you might ask how
many plates altogether would be needed if you had 5 guests joining
your family for dinner. You might also compare a number of items,
such as the number of crayons and pencils on a desk. Write an
addition and subtraction sentence to describe the number of each,
for example, 8 crayons plus 3 pencils = 11; 8 crayons – 3 pencils
means we have 5 more crayons than pencils.
Try these
activities with your child:
• Play board games that involve
rolling 2 or more number cubes or dice and combining the numbers
rolled. Change the game so that players have to subtract the lower
number from the higher number before making their move.
• Work
with the numbers you see in your daily lives. Help children write
addition and subtraction facts using the numbers in license plates,
on street signs, or in your phone number, postal code, and birth
dates (e.g., the three numbers in our postal code are 4, 6, and 4,
and they add up to 14).
• Make game cards by writing the numerals
0 to 9 on scrap paper or index cards. Players take 2 cards and add
the numbers. The player with the highest total gets to keep all the
cards for that round. Play a subtraction game. Each player takes 2
cards, adds the numbers, and then draws a third card and subtracts
its value from the total. (If the value of the third card is greater
than the combined total of the first 2 cards, subtract the total of
the first 2 cards from the third card.) The player with the highest
total keeps all the cards.
Goldilock’s Rule for choosing
books
During our silent reading periods (SURF- Silent
Uninterrupted Reading Fun) I will be teaching the children how to
use Goldilock’s Rule to choose books that are “just right for them”.
Your child will also regularly bring books to read at home as
homework.
In the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"?
Just as Goldilocks found that some porridges were too hot or too
cold and others were just right, beginning readers often have
difficulty finding books that are "just right" and not too hard or
too easy.
When you are reading a book you can try asking
yourself these questions to help you find a book that is "just
right" for you.
Too Easy Books
A book may be
to easy for you if you’ve read it many times before, if you know and
understand almost every word, and if you can read it smoothly and
fluently without much practice or effort?
Just Right Books
As
you read ask yourself these questions. If you answer yes to most of
them then the book you are reading is probably "just right" for you.
These are the books that will help you make the most progress in
your reading. Read, enjoy and learn from the experience!
1. Is
this book new to you?
2. Do you understand most of the book?
3.
Are there a few words per page that you don’t recognize or know the
meaning to instantly? Remember to use the five finger test.
4.
Can someone help you with the book if you hit a tough spot?
Too
Hard Books
Try the 5 finger test to see if a book is too hard
for you.
1. First choose the book you think you would like to
read.
2. Find a page of text somewhere in the middle of the book
with lots of text (words) and few or no pictures.
3. Begin to
read the page. It is best to read the page aloud or in a whisper if
possible while doing the test so you can hear the places where you
have difficulty.
4. Each time you come to a word you don’t know,
hold one finger up.
5. If you have all five fingers up before you
get to the end of the page, wave the book "good-bye." It is probably
too difficult for you right now. Try it again later in the year. If
you need help finding a book, ask your teacher or librarian.
6.
If you have no fingers up when you finish the page, then the book
may be an easy read for you. Enjoy!
7. If you have less than five
fingers but more than one or two fingers up when you finish reading
the page, the book may be “just right” for what you need to grow as
a reader.