Tuesday, May 31, 2016

A Grade 2 EAL Student Sharing her Story and Celebrating her Graduation from EAL

Mary, a grade 2 EAL student, sharing a story she wrote in the EAL class.  Mary's English skills are now at the point that she can graduate from the EAL program. Today she has received her graduation certificate.  We celebrated by having a graduation party for her. Congratulations Mary!


Sunday, May 29, 2016

G2 Advanced Japanese いらっしゃいませ!

Playing shop!
おみせやさんごっこをしました。


G2 Japanese class: おみせやさんごっこ 

G2 Japanese advanced class is busy preparing for playing shop!
2年生のみんなは、「おみせやさんごっこ」のじゅんびにおおいそがしです。

Friday, May 27, 2016

2B End of Year Reflections


Dear 2B Students,

It has been my absolute pleasure to teach you this year. You have all grown as learners and I am very proud of you. I will miss your funny jokes and great dance moves! Congratulations on a successful year in Grade 2!

Ms. Ciara


Please read through your classmates' reflections on a great year of learning:
Hibiki
From our How The World Works (Earth Changes) unit, what new ideas about earthquakes have you thought about?
Before we started this unit, I just thought that earthquakes and tsunami are dangerous. I thought that I could tell everyone to stop letting them happen. But during the unit, I learned that earthquakes and tsunami are physical features that you can not control over. I realized that it’s important to be prepared for them.
Ako
How have your thoughts or feelings changed since you started learning addition?
At first it was a little hard for me. But I’ve learned new addition strategies this year, so now it is easy. 

Clara
How have your thoughts or feelings changed since you started learning about our Sharing The Planet (Seas and Oceans) unit?
When we started the oceans and seas unit, I felt happy because I like sea creatures. I liked learning how to protect coral reefs.

Sara
What subject do you think you have improved the most in? 
I have gotten better at Math. I can do subtraction with regrouping and addition with many digits.

Yuri
What subject do you think you have improved the most in? 
I think I have improved in my writing. I know I have improved because I am able to write many pages and my spelling is getting better.

Mary
What new ideas has Music and Dance classes made you think about?
When I sing, I think that I can be louder. My idea is to use my voice to sing a bit louder. When I dance, I will listen and look, so I can dance better. 

Yuna
What new ideas has Art class made you think about?
When I draw, I like to think about how I can improve my drawings. I think it would be great to add more pictures. 

Olivia
How do you feel about what you learned about cave art?
I learned how to draw cave art in Art class. You draw pictures of animals then crumble your paper so it will look like art on cave walls.

Ai:
How could you improve in Math?
I think I could use Mathletics and practice lots of questions.

Kaho
How do you feel about what you have learned in our Time and Place unit?

When I was learning about the Japan’s past, I felt that a long time ago some of the things were different. I think it was so different. I think now and a long time ago toys were different because now we have toys that can move by themselves. A long time ago, people in Japan were using toys that needed to be moved by hand.

Lia
How have you thoughts or feelings changed since you started Grade 2’s Sharing The Planet (Seas & Oceans) unit?

I now think I should not eat fish and other sea creatures.

Miyu
What might you do to improve next time?

I think I should improve in writing a story. I could start by writing more interesting leads.

Emma
What is one thing you are really sure about? How do you know?

I’m really sure that I am good at art. I know this because I can teach others about art.

Lucy
What kind of thinking have you been doing to learn about Art?

I’ve been thinking about how to draw realistically.

Noushin
How do you feel about what you learned in Art?

I always feel happy about art. We made trading cards.

Alyssa
What is the one thing you are really sure about?

I am really sure about ballet, because I have been learning it for four years.

Yurina
How have your thoughts or feelings changed since you started learning fractions?

I felt excited because I didn’t know how to do fractions before. Now, I can solve many fractions questions!

Yun Hee
What new ideas has ICT made you think about?

I am learning how to type.

Ane & Seo Yoon
What might you do differently next time? How could you improve?

We thought sentence starters were hard. We can improve by using different sentence starters in our stories.

Yumi
How do you feel about fractions?

When I didn’t know about fractions, it was hard. But after I learned about the denominator and the numerator, it was easy! 

Moma
What are your next steps in your learning?

My next steps are to use my word bank while I write stories. This will help me with my spelling.




Monday, May 23, 2016

Fraction Challenges

Learning Intention: We are learning to create eye-catching fraction questions using Pic Collage.

Success Criteria: *Think of items you would like to include in your fraction question *Find images with Pic Collage *Write a fraction question that matches the picture *Design and share with your friends! 
























Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Word Work in 2B


Throughout the year, Grade 2 students have been increasing their vocabulary and spelling skills through Word Work. Based on thorough spelling assessment, students are grouped with others with the same spelling needs. The groups have changed throughout the school year as students have progressed in their spelling abilities. They work with level-appropriate word sorts and complete a variety of spelling activities with the words.


The Other Vowels group is enjoying a few rounds of Speed Sorting and Definition Hunting. 

Yun Hee finished her short o and long o sort. She found out the meanings of a few new words that she added to her word bank. After, she glued these words into her spelling notebook to keep for future reference for her writing. 

The Unaccented Final Syllables group worked cooperatively to sort their words. After finding definitions of unfamiliar words, they discussed the meanings in their own words.


Friday, May 6, 2016

Fantastic Fractions!

Learning Intention:
We are learning to partition circles and rectangles into two, three or four equal shares.

Success Criteria:
* Describe the shares using the words halves, thirds, half of and a third of.
* Describe the whole as two halves, three thirds, four fourths.
* Recognise that equal shares of identical wholes do not need to have the same shape.
Students were given examples of how to divide shapes equally to represent fractions.
The students enjoyed a variety of fraction activities like Equivalent Fractions Match, Fraction Bingo and Fraction Ordering.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Monday, May 2, 2016

Our Next Unit of Inquiry

Transdisciplinary Theme -- Where We Are in Place and Time

Central Idea: People's lives are influenced by the time and place in which they live.

Lines of Inquiry:

1. Physical and human features of the places we live
2. Lifestyles in different places (homes, schooling, entertainment, food, sport)
3. Ways in which our host country has changed over time

beautiful, japan, background, photos, travel

Hello Grade Two Parents! Are you interested in sharing your passions, interests, knowledge, or childhood stories with us? We are learning all about our host country, Japan, but we would like to learn about life in other countries as well.

Please let us know if you are interested.
宜しくお願いいたします。
Thank you!