mrsbarker.ca - Millgrove 2B

Magnetism

9/14/2019

A big highlight so far this month in 2B has been the start of our unit on magnetism in Science. We've been exploring what materials are attracted to magnets and which are not, and observing the effects of magnets on a variety of items. In this unit, we will be learning:

What objects are attracted to magnets (steel and iron) and which ones are not attracted to magnets.
How to draw the lines of force around a magnet and show you where the two poles are located.
How one magnet will affect another using the words attract and repel.
How to compare and measure the strengths of magnets and how that will affect the materials around them.
Where magnets are used in our world and why they are used.
How to identify the North and South poles of a magnet.
That most materials allow a magnetic field to pass through them.

Later in the unit, students will be asked to construct a toy or game that uses a magnet at home. Stay tuned for more details about that project, and for our further learning about magnets!

Dot Day

9/13/2019

Today we celebrated Dot Day in 2B! Dot Day is based on the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds about a girl named Vashti who initially believes she can't draw, but later discovers that everyone can make a mark in the world. 15 million people in 181 countries are celebrating Dot Day this year, and we marked the occasion in 2B by dressing up in dots, collaborating on a group dot art project, and reflecting on how we can all make a mark in the world after reading the book. You can see the students' ideas and the book "The Dot" below!

Reading and Writing Workshop

9/12/2019

We've been working hard in 2B over the last couple of weeks on our reading and writing! Grade two is a big year of growth for students as readers and writers, and we've been practicing building our stamina in both of those areas.

In Reading Workshop, we've been talking about how grade two readers take charge of their readers by choosing how to read, taking a sneak peak of their book, reading a lot, reading in longer phrases, and keeping tabs on their comprehension. Students have especially enjoyed practicing their partner reading skills and keeping track of how much they're reading in their reading log.

Our Writing Workshop this year is starting with a focus on narrative writing. Our class has been hard at work discovering small moments to write about, writing with detail, crafting powerful endings, and rereading our writing like detectives. It's a big job getting back into the swing of writing after the summer, but students are starting to get into more of a groove getting their ideas onto paper and having stamina during writing time. The students love getting to hear their peers' writing during our sharing time! You can see photos below of how we closely examined the details in seashells to inspire use to include details in our own writing topics.

Patterns in Math

9/11/2019

We have been patterning up a storm here in 2B! Patterning is one of our first units in math, along with skip counting and word problems. This past week we worked hard on repeating patterns, and will soon learn about increasing patterns.

The Learning Goals for this unit are to:

Describe, extend, compare, and draw repeating patterns and increasing patterns.
Create new patterns.
Talk about a pattern rule.
Use 2 attributes to make a pattern.

You can help your child achieve these goals by using some of the following activities at home

With your child, look around your home for patterns. Ask your child to draw a picture to represent each pattern.
Have your child use spoons (large and small) to make a pattern 2 different ways. Ask: “How are the patterns the same? How are they different?”
Make a pattern (plate, spoon, mug, spoon) and repeat the core 3 times. Remove some items and ask your child, “What’s missing?” Then ask, “Where does the next spoon go?"
Look around your home with your child for patterns. Ask your child, “Is this an increasing pattern? Why (or why not)?”
Ask your child, "How many socks would we need for everyone in our family?" Then collect a pair of socks for everyone, and count the socks.
With your child, make an increasing pattern using crayons, markers, stickers, pencils, or other favourite items. Change the order of objects and make another pattern.

Canadian Communities

9/9/2019

We have begun a new unit in Social Studies in 2B about life in three communities in Canada. One purpose of this unit is to help your child appreciate the diversity and vastness of Canada’s land and peoples. The specific communities we will study are:

Iqaluit, Nunavut—an Inuit community in the North
Meteghan, Nova Scotia—an Acadian community on the East Coast
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan—a Ukrainian community on the Prairies

Students will learn about the weather, geography, language, history, daily life, and economy of these three Canadian communities. There will also be opportunities to make connections to Alberta and Spruce Grove.

You are invited to be part of our unit in a variety of ways, for example:

Lending us resources such as books, magazines, or photos you may have on the three communities listed
Coming to class to share personal stories or artifacts from any of the three communities
Helping your child gather information from the library, newspaper, radio, TV, or the Internet
Viewing related displays at museums and art galleries

The students already have a sense of the geographic and weather differences between the communities, and are becoming experts at the communities where Zenia (Saskatoon), Kenojouak (Iqaluit), and Jean-Louis (Meteghan) hail from. We’re looking forward to an exciting unit!

Matisse Self-Portraits

9/6/2019

Today we learned about the art of Henri Matisse, a painter who was very important in the style of fauve art where artists painted with wild colours. We read a book and watched the video below about Matisse’s art, and used his style to make our own self-portraits. The students did a wonderful job of imitating Matisse’s style, and their choices of pastel colours were lovely; you can see your child's portrait on Seesaw! We now have a very colourful set of class portraits outside our classroom.

One Day Done, 183 to Go!

9/3/2019

What a great first day! It was a pleasure to meet all the lovely new students of 2B, and to get to know them today. I can tell it's going to be a great year with this group of children (in my very favourite grade, grade two)! We have a few students to Millgrove in our room so we got to show them around our school, and the students were very gracious in getting to know each other and our new classroom. I can't wait to see what Day 2 of our school year has in store!

The Countdown is On!

8/29/2019

I have been looking forward to meeting our class all summer, and can't believe that we get to meet each other in just a few days now. Back to school is upon us! Some of my favourite activities in the classroom include reading books, engaging in hands-on activities, using technology to create, and most importantly developing relationships with my students. Grade two is my very favourite grade because we get to employ so much newfound independence and learn about all sort of interesting content such as diversity in Canada, bugs, and adding and subtracting up to 100, not to mention grow so much as readers and writers!

My kids Jack and Ellie have been coming with me during the summer to set up our classroom, and we've had a nice relaxed summer together with Mr. Barker (you can see the video below of some summer moments). I can't wait to hear about all of your summers soon!

Our Classroom

8/28/2019

Here's a sneak peak at our classroom! I can't wait until the students arrive next week to complete the space.

Happy Summer!

6/27/2019

What a great year we’ve had in 2B! It’s been a privilege to teach this group of caring, bright, and creative students! The arrival of summer break is certainly exciting, but I will miss this group very much. I hope you have a restful, fun, and memorable summer