Brains and Birthdays!

This week Grade 2 attended an assembly hosted by Grade 4 all about brains!  They learned all about the different parts of the brain, the journey a memory takes, and about the different “smarts”.  Did you know teachers are people -smart?  The event was a great opportunity for Grade 2 to practice their listening skills and interpret visual cues, as the presentation was full of posters, signs, and props.   I recommend taking the time to ask your child what they learned about the human brain.

Happy Birthday!  Grade 2 celebrated two birthdays this month.  Both the birthday boy and girl were kind enough to bring in cake and we ended both school days with a classroom picnic.  There was singing, cards, photos and lots of smiles.  Ms. Mott-Hill also came round with the “Birthday Box”, from which each student was able to select a small present. 

Winter PYP Event

I’m happy to hear from many parents that Grade 2 is busy practicing their Winter Event song at home.  With some extra practice, I’m sure the show is going to be a great success.  Ms. Taylor, the PYP music teacher has provided the following link to the song on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Y-eDM-3Cw&feature=related

Kind regards,

Ms. Christine Aberley

Candle Dipping

This Thursday Grade 2 went to a nearby workshop to do some candle dipping - an annual winter event at ISW.  Guided by experts they took turns dipping wicks into hot wax to create a candle of their own design.  This activity was particularly exciting because of our current P.O.I. “A Colour Perspective” and Grade 2 put a lot of thought into their colour choices.  After finishing their candle, they also had the opportunity to add different wax shapes, flowers, and even glitter.  The finished products are currently drying and will be delivered to the school soon. 

Speaking of the holidays, the ISW PYP Winter Show is fast approaching.  Grade 2 will be performing the classic “O Tannenbaum” (O Christmas Tree) with Grade 1.  It’s really important that you practice the song at home and start spreading the holiday cheer. 

Happy weekend,

Ms. Christine Aberley

Meet Your Tutor

This week Grade 2 began work with their tutors from the MYP.  Every Tuesday and Friday afternoon until the Winter Break, the older students will come to our classroom to do short reading comprehension and fluency activities.  They are all volunteering part of their lunch time and keen to help out in a primary classroom.  As this was the first week, the emphasis was on getting to know each other and building a comfortable working relationship.  To help break the ice, the Grade 2 students completed a short interview and afterwards drew a small portrait of their tutor.  The results were very impressive!  Not only will Grade 2 work on improving their reading skills in the upcoming weeks but also have an older role model to look up to in the ISW community.

Science and P.O.I

On another note, our science experiment this week was a success.  Grade 2 used water and absorbent paper to separate different inks.  This really challenged our perception of colour!  Again, the students have asked me to post the instructions so that they can try it at home.  Here they are:

Colour Ink Test

1.  Lay a mug on a coffee filter paper and draw around it with a pencil.  Then hold both layers of the filter paper together, cut out the circle.

2.  Using two different felt-tip pens draw a large spot in the middle of each circle of paper.  Then, lay each one on top of a narrow glass.

3.  Using your finger, drip a drop of water onto each ink spot.  Then, drip a few more drops onto each one and leave the paper circles to dry. 

Mental Math

At the Parent Teacher Conferences, there were some requests for fun ways to practice mental math at home.  The following link is to a website that has lots of free quality math games.  I recommend starting with “Fruit Shoot Addition”.

 http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm

Kind regards,

Ms. Christine Aberley