Scholastic Book Orders

Today your child will be bringing home a scholastic book order.  If you would like to order books from this catalogue please do so ONLINE. I will not be placing the orders myself nor will I be accepting cheques and/or cash. When I send these out, the due date to place the order online will be one week from the day they go home. So please have all your orders in by next Thursday.

First great lesson

One of the great Montessori Traditions is the telling of the Great Stories.  Today we experienced part one of the First Great Lesson: The Beginning of the Universe and of the Earth.
The intention of the Great Lessons is to spark curiosity and awe in the world around them. Through images, demonstrations and scientific-based stories, the children are led through the accepted theories of how the universe was formed.  Details are kept brief, focusing on big ideas and sparking questions that will excite the children to learn about the world around them.

Understanding that there are many galaxies in the universe, containing many solar systems, we decided to create our own Room 2 Solar System with 22 planets!  We thought up a list of characteristics our planets could have:

-hot (close to our sun)/ cold (far from our sun)

-made of solid materials with rocky crust or a gas planet

-big/medium/small in size

-number of moons orbiting around it

-colour 

-surface features

The children chose a stencil circle of the size they wanted then used big brushes to do a wash.  

Kids chose to use hot colours (red, orange, yellow) or cold colours (blue, purple, green)

One their background were dry, they were challenged to use a variety of different paint tools to add texture and features to their planets.  Kids experimented adding liquid tempera paint with Q-tips, sponges, toothbrushes, string, corks, lids, and cottonballs.  It was a bit messy but we had fun.  

Support in Room 2 for Orange Shirt Day!

The children in Room 2, showed great empathy talking about human rights and the importance of treating all people with respect and compassion.  Led through the true story by Phyllis Webstad, a First Nations women whose experience in a residential school left her life forever altered, was presented in a very relatable way to our young learners.

The children enjoyed the new nature centres to explore during Montessori Work Period.  The children have five containers to explore holding items from nature.  After examining the items carefully and exploring them with magnify glasses, the children choose two objects to compare and contrast.  In their journals students, sketch their two objects and state how they are the same and different.

Orange Shirt Day Tomorrow

ORANGE SHIRT DAY - “Every Child Matters”  

  

Join us tomorrow, on Tuesday October 2nd in recognizing Orange Shirt Day by wearing an orange shirt! Orange shirt day was started by Phyllis Webstad and based on her experiences and memories of residential school in Williams Lake, BC when her new orange shirt was taken away on her first day of school at the mission.  

 The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year.  It also gives teachers time to plan events that will include children, as we want to ensure that we are passing the story and learning on to the next generations.  Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. “Every Child Matters”  

For more information on Orange Shirt Day, you can visit the following website:  http://www.orangeshirtday.org/

Autumn is awesome!

Fun Flashlight Friday everyone!!!!  The children enjoyed reading with a stuffie/favourite book and a friend with a flashlight.  It was like we were on a camping trip!  We noticed all the cool reflective materials on the children's coats.  

The seasons are a natural phenomena that children know well living in Canada.   Being at the autumnal equinox our environment is changing, and children are noticing many changes outside.  

Room 2's List
-The leaves are changing colours and falling down 

-It is colder 

-Kids are wearing warmer clothing

-Less daylight
-Different activities (splash pads are closed)

Wednesday we watched a book about a fox named Fletcher who was really worried about the leaves falling off the trees.  As scientists, we recognized these changes are part of a greater pattern of seasonal changes.  To understanding why they happen, today we watched a video of the book by Gail Gibbons:  The Reason for Seasons

The children learned that the tilt of the earth and the rotation of the earth around the sun are the factors that cause the changes in our seasons. We saw that during the Autumnal Equinox, the sun shines between the two hemisphere creating equal amounts of day and night. We did our own experiments with a light source and a globe. 



Each Wednesday our class is examining the amount of daylight and night using a visual pie graph to show the changing amounts of light.  Make observations at home about the amounts of light.  Is it darker now when you wake up.  Is it still light when you have dinner?  Discuss the changes you notice about the light you see.

These discussions got us talking about the word equals and what it means.  We experimented with our class balances and talked about the concept of equals in equations. Aha! .... another word with equ- in it.   We played with the idea that in an equation, say, 2+2=4 . The equal sign does not mean put the answer here, but that both sides of the equal sign are the same. 

So...  2+2=4    then   4=2+2  or   3+1=1+3   or   1+1+1= 4-1  Try making balanced equations at home!

Next, we set learning goals for these materials during Montessori Work Period.

We discovered that the prefix equ- is also found in equator (the line separating our globe into two equal hemispheres).

Today we celebrated our first birthday of the year.  Autumn (very aptly named), had a birthday on September one.  She shared photos and milestones from each of her years traveling around the Earth. 

To help us understand this concept, the children made models of the earth's rotation around the sun.  Look for it in their folders.  

REMEMBER TO REMOVE ALL ITEMS FROM CHILDREN'S FOLDERS EACH NIGHT!

Wanted: Room 2 Classroom Parent!

Hello Parents,

We are looking a parent volunteer in our class to be our room parent.  The room parent's job is to organize volunteers for the classroom and field trips.  The teachers will contact the room parent with our needs and the room parent will coordinate the help.  It is a great way to connect with other parents in the class and is a volunteer role that can be done outside work hours.

If you think you would like to take on this role, please contact Mrs. Halsall and/or Mrs. Wacker by e-mail.

Home Reading

Communication folders and home reading are coming home today. Please check your child's backpack for this folder. I've provided an extensive notice about how this program will work in our classroom as well as information about our reading assessments and expectations. Please contact either teacher if you have more questions and/or concerns.
Happy Reading!