Looking for us? We're Moving!

This past year my class enjoyed sharing their learning.  In just over a month those students will be beginning a new adventure in Grade 3 and I will be welcoming a new group of grade 2 students.  After some thought, I have decided to move next years class to a new blog found here:  Tales from Grade 2.

This blog will remain up so that previous years' students may return to it and remember their learning in Grade 2.

One Last Post

I am excited for summer holidays. - Josh
I am excited for grade 3 because we are having a Mexican party. - Mimi
In grade 3 we are going to learn about Mexico. - Daniel
In one of our classrooms we get to have the chicks. - Lily
On today, June 29th, we are having a pizza party. - Nick
Today is the last day of school.  We are very happy for summer holidays. - Kaydince
In Ms. Rempel's class we will get to build a mini structure. - Christian
At the end of school year I will be living with my mom. I get to go swimming at my new school.  But I hope I will be back at Harold Hatcher. - Khonnor
In Mrs. Hadath's class, in grade 3, we are going to learn about countries around the world.  The first country will be Mexico. - Maki
During summer holidays I will be staying with my turtle. - Noah
I am going to the same class that my sister was in. - Aidan
I am going to North Dakota on Sept. 2.  I am a staying at a hotel with my Mom's, friend's two daughters and her grandson.  In the other room will be my  Mom's other friend and her daughter and son. - Rory
We are going to get chicks in Mrs. Rempel's room.  We will take care of them. - Ethan
Today is June 29th, 2012, also known as a pizza party and the last day of school,  You could choose 7up, Cola, or Cream Soda. We also get to choose 2 pieces of pizza.   I don't like pizza. -Mark
I am going to have cheese pizza. Yum. - Devan
Tomorrow me and my family and my brother's friend are going to Tinker Town. - A
 On June 23rd me and my family and family's friends went to Lilac resort. - Margeaux
Summer holidays are so fun. - Abi
On summer break I am going to the zoo, to watch fire works and to see my father's brother. - Sarah
I hope you have a great summer.- Katryna
Summer holidays are going to be so fun, because I get to babysit my baby cousin, with my Nanni and Poppi, at my aunties.- Morgan

Freeing the Butterflies

Today we got to release butterflies and let them go on our fingers. - Dylan
The butterflies got to go on some people's hands. - Mimi
The butterfly fell off my finger and it flew away. - Devan
Today 12 people got to release the butterflies.  We had them for a couple weeks. - Morgan
The butterflies were Painted Lady Butterflies. - Lily
The butterflies are real. - A
One of the chrysalis fell. - Margeaux
Some people went with sticks and tried to see if a butterfly would land on them.  One of the butterflies did. - Josh
We had the butterflies for many, many weeks. - Sarah
I got to hold three butterflies today. - Noah
I am going to try and catch a butterfly at home. - Rory
Today in science we got to go outside and release the butterflies.  It was fun.  Then we got them some leaves.  When we were done a couple people put them on a leaf.  Then we went back to our classroom. - Maki
Today we freed the butterflies, and one was still a cucoon.  One had both of its wings broken. - Mark
I held a butterfly for the first time. - S
One of the butterflies that I was holding it's wings were really really bent so I had to release it.  - Kaydince.

We are curious!  Have you ever seen a butterfly?

Kid Fest

In Kid's Fest we got our face painted and some of our groups were having fun.  Then at lunch some people were done, then we got to play with some magic tricks. - Maki
We got balloons and some of us made capes. - Noah
Some of us had mini-donuts. - Daniel
Kid's fest is something outside.  There are some shows and there are some crafts, and then there is this one dinosaur petting zoo. For the crafts there was making a necklace, making stuff out of clay. 
There was a police station and there was police dog which you could pet.- Rory
There was face painting and clown stuff. - Ethan
At the end we got to eat penguin cheddar crackers. - Mark
I had a lot of fun. - Kylie
There was a big dinosaur puppet with a person in it and it was going around trying to eat people.  It's not real though, its just a costume. - Christian
At the Kid's festival some of our students had fun. My group went to the skipping rope station and my sister and I were really good at it.  Then we went to see some shows and then we went to do magic tricks. - Maki
At the kid's festival there was a little area where you got to taste test which is better, Pepsi or Coke. - Nick
There had mascots there one was a penguin, and an M & M and a polar bear and a dragon. - Daniel
Today I saw Ms. Nairn's nephew, Eric. - Dylan
I saw a T-Rex. - Devan
At the Kid's fest there were balloons and when you walk in the police station there was a police sticker and there was balloons.  There was a police sign on the balloon which said "Make the right choice". - Mimi

Special thanks to our parent volunteers Max's Mom, S's Mom, Noah's Grandma and Margeaux's Mom, and Mrs R and Mrs. M.

Field Day and Skyping

There was 29 stations for field day. - Christian
There was lots of water activities. - Rory
I had a lot of fun   - Kylie
One of the stations was a bubble station, where you could blow bubbles. - Daniel
I went to the hockey shoot out and then I went to another one. - Devan
I went to the coffee run and it is mostly water, not coffee. There was a water one too.  It was awesome today.- A
 There was face painting. - Ethan
In the face painting I got cookie monster and I was going to get Elmo. - Dylan
When I went to face painting, the person who was doing face painting made me a zombie. - Nick
At the field day, there was soccer for grade 2's at a certain time and there was bouncers at a certain time and there was Karaoke that we got to do first. - Morgan
All of us had fun and I put water on my head, I also got to 100 at skipping. - Khonnor
Field day was awesome. - Lily
I liked Skyping with the class from New Zealand. - Sarah
At field day it was fun and I got to go on the bouncer. - Mimi
Tomorrow we are going to have a field trip. - Mark
My face paint is red and black. - Aidan
At field days a lot of people got really soaked. - Kaydince
Field day was lots of fun and there was a bouncer race and there was a bed you had to climb up and slide down. - Abi
When we were Skyping with New. Zealand we played four corners with them. - Margeaux
I had a lot of fun on the bouncer. - S
In field day we had fun. - Zane
At field day we had freezies. - Noah
Skyping New Zealand was really fun. - Josef

These Are The Games We Play - Part 2

Today we finished taping the other two videos to send to Ms. Boyd's class.  We are looking forward to learning some games that students in New Zealand play, and Skyping with them next Tuesday.

Ms. Nairn

These Are the Games We Play - Part 1

Last week and this week, we have been recording ourselves demonstrating how to play some of the games we play at school.  This is part of our Flat Classroom Project and they will eventually be shared with our New Zealand buddies in Ms. Boyd's class.  We hope you enjoy watching them as much as we have enjoyed making them.

Ms. Nairn

Storybird

About a month ago I introduced the students to a program called Storybird.  It allows students to choose illustrations created by various artists and then write a story about the pictures.  This has been highly motivating for them and many have continued their stories at home.  Some have even collaborated with siblings or other family members.  Below is just one of the many stories written so far. If you would like to see others, click the Our Storybird tab at the top of the page.  Please leave a comment if you enjoy a story or have any questions, we would love to hear from you!

Ms. Nairn

Here is Mark's Story:

A fail or not on Storybird

Here a Chick, There a Chick...

We called four corners for food groups.- Dylan
We got a new class pet.  There are frog eggs. We are also getting butterflies. - Noah
We learned a new song in music. - Devan and Mrs. R
Mr. K in music, yesterday he did some movement with a drum and the blocks. - Mimi
We got to take pictures of the chicks which are next door to our classroom. - Kaydince
Today we get take pictures of the baby chicks with our DS. - Kylie
We are going Oak Hammock Marsh all day on Tuesday. - Max
On my birthday, the chicks hatched. - Nick
Today we had phys. ed.  In phys. ed. we played monster tag.  Also we danced two dances. - Maki
Today we got to take pictures on our DS and Ipod.  We also had a substitute teacher for phys. ed. and spelling. - Morgan
Mr. K is another teacher that is watching our music teacher because he wants to be a music teacher. - Aidan
We are sending a package to England.  In the package there is a moose with Canada tie, letters and pictures of the northern lights.  We are sending a book of ABC about Canada and Caramilk in the package. - Abi
Ms. Rempel and Ms. Nairn both went to the farm to get the chick eggs so we could have them in our classroom for a pet.  Ms. Rempel got to keep them in her classroom and we get to go to her class sometimes, or Ms. Nairn will take a chick.  First Ms. Nairn will tell us to go in a boy girl pattern.  Then she will bring around the chick and we will get to feel the chick and soon we will get to hold it. - Rory
In science we found out that one of the baby chicks did not come out of its egg. - Dylan

Our very, very busy week

We are learning about four food groups. - Dylan
In science we go to Ms. Rempel's room because they have baby chicks in their classroom. - Rory
We have a new note if you want to participate in running club. - Daniel (It needs to be returned by Monday).
We are going into Ms. Rempel's class because she has eggs. - Dylan
On Wednesday we had a fun in math and we played different kinds of math games. - Maki
We put the eggs in the incubator. - Aidan
Today we played math work stations. - Sarah
Some of the baby chicks eggs say blue and black. - Lily
When the baby chicks come out of the egg they still have to stay in the incubator. - Noah
They have to stay in the incubator because they are wet. - Josh
The baby chicks eggs are going to hatch on May 7 - Morgan
Starting next week the grade 2's get to go on the announcements for 8:30am. - Kaydince
In gym we played cops and robbers. - Nolan
In gym we were going to play a game that I made up called Pac Man Tag. - Abi
My birthday is on the exact same day as the baby chicks hatch. - Nick
Today we are learning about food groups. - Mimi
The eggs have to stay in the heater. - Zane
On April 18 was our day on the structure. - Mark
This week we had two gyms in a row. - Devan
In computer we are working on a book and the website is called Storybird. - Dylan
Some people didn't get to do Storybird yet, like me. - Daniel
On Storybird I made a book called A Fail or Not. - Mark
The four food groups are Vegetables and Fruit, Milk and Alternatives, Meat and Alternatives, and Grain Products. - Christian
Today we did a spelling test. - Nolan
Today it was crazy candy Friday, but we didn't get the candy. - Noah
We went to gym and played blob tag. - Daniel
At recess me and S played little beach. - A
In gym we are doing dances for the Folk Dance and today our dance was the Pata Pata. - Rory
Today at recess me and my friend S saw smoke from places. - Lily
Today in gym we played Mark's new game, Cops and Robbers. - Nick
Today we did spelling. - Noah
Me and Devan went bowling. - Ethan
Yesterday was day four and we had Library, Music and Computer. - Sarah

We learned about safety rules on the bus. - Mark
Today at gym we played soccer. - Maki
On Tuesday we had computer.  It computer we played new math games. - Mimi
On Monday we had a special activity.  The special activity was a video about respect and one was about love. - Rory
We did art today and Thursday. - Kaydince
We covered a big paper with crayons. - Devan
We had music today.  We sang camp songs. - Nolan
 We are making story about umbrellas. - Dylan
Today in math we played Drop of Doom. - Sarah
Our guest teacher read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. - Kylie
On Wednesday we had early dismissal and it was really fun. - Morgan
We started a new chapter called Ashes in our chapter book. - Daniel
Hugo was the main character of the chapter book. - Lily
When we went for safety rules on Monday in the bus.  At the end the patrols were outside and they helped us jump and we went back inside and we were going to finish our story of the Three Little Pigs. - Mimi

April Showers

Today we spent the last part of the afternoon creating art inspired by Jae Soo Liu's wordless book Yellow Umbrella.  It comes with its own sound track.  Here is a preview of the process:

Before we started we listened to a crayon inspired song Crayola Doesn't Make a Colour for Your Eyes by Kristin Andreassen.  Below is her music video.

The Very Mysterious package...

We were thrilled last Monday to receive a package from our friends in England.  We made some guesses about what might be the envelope before opening it up.

It included a letter for each student, a book about their down, a teddy bear from the National Park their town borders...  

and Mint Cake, the official candy of Mount Everest climbers made right in their town. 

 

We all tried some and it was great!  Thank you so much to Ms. Morris' class!!!

 To finish up our unit on 2D and 3D shapes, we spent part of an afternoon creating 3D shapes by making them out of marshmallows and toothpicks, pipe cleaners, plasticine and by drawing them.

 

We started exploring the Canadian Food Guide and will be exploring healthy eating for the next few weeks.

 

Our Classroom Handshake

Our class is participating in a new flatclassroom project, that will connect us with a class in Seattle, Washington and a class in Auckland, New Zealand for the next three months.  As part of this project, we were given the task of creating a classroom handshake, or introduction to send to our new learning partners.

It was amazing to watch the students working so hard on this over the last few days.  Students were given the role of either narrator, editor, writer or photographer.  They were engaged in their job and worked independantly to create the Voicethread that is below.



Let us know what you think.  We would love to read your comments!

Upcoming Spirit Week

Next week is spirit week and the students are very excited.  Here is a list of the events that have been planned.

Monday –Wacky Day

Tuesday – Hat Day

Wednesday – White Out Wednesday

(wear as much white as you can) Think Milk!!

Thursday –Jersey/Sports Day and Staff Volleyball Game at noon

Friday – Squad Colour Day and Gym Party 

World Read Aloud Day - Our Skype with an Author!

On March 7th we Skyped with an author named Ruth Spiro.  She read us her book, Lester Fizz, Bubblegum Artist. - Morgan

The story was about a boy who had a talent to blow bubbles in the shapes of things with one piece of gum. - Nolan

We asked question to Ruth Spiro.  And she asked if her story was good. - Mimi

We had fun Skyping. - Rory

Her book came out around 2008. - Nick

As part of World Read Aloud Day, I set up a Skype session with children's author Ruth Spiro.  We were one of seven class rooms that she read her book, Lester Fizz, Bubblegum Artist, to.  She asked us some question about the weather and life in Winnipeg and some of the students asked her questions in return.  The students really enjoyed hearing an author read their own story.  Thank you so much to Ruth for visiting us. - Ms. Nairn



A short message

Today we had high school students came to our school and talked about bullying. - Morgan
We are finishing our Canada I Spy search and find. - Sarah
Soon it will spring break.- Rory
When it is St. Patrick's day I hope we find clues. - Daniel
The high school students made up four plays about bullying and asked us questions. - Mark
Mrs. Burns came to our class this week. - Devan and Kaydince
Some people came to our school and performed some Aboriginal dances. - Nick
We have another new student. - Josh
There was some fighting violents but they weren't hurting any one, they were just pretending. There was also hip hop.- A

The Field Trip AND 100 Day

It was the bumpiest bus ride - Mark
The field trip was fun and exciting.  We did a scavanger hunt. - Kylie
Today we went on a field trip and the place we went to the University of Manitoba to see our writing buddies. - Morgan
With our university buddies we did some art, and we had fun with it.  We had stickers that you could put on the paper. - Mimi
We had cake made by Mrs. Boyd.  It was delicious.  It had Alphabits on it. - Dylan
I saw a little statue of a boy with antlers. - Max
I saw the building where nurses go to school.   - Sarah
Our university buddies were with us and we went on a scavanger hunt.  We had to find words and then we had to cross them out on a paper.  - Maki
When we were going back to our school we saw two mascots. One was a crocodile and the other was a bison.  - Lily
When we were on the scavanger hunt we were trying to find three types of flags. - Morgan
We did art with some of our buddies. - Devan & Kaydince
We played a game where we had to find letters under pylons. - A
When we came outside, we lined up in a straight order and we listened to Ms. Nairn.  We walked in with our group , we stopped, and then we went to see Mrs. Boyd. - Mimi



100 Day
On 100 day we had 100 treats. It was penguins, jellybeans, gummy bears and more. - Daniel
We had 100 day and we played 100 ice cream scoops.  Then we had an activity. - Maki
100 day was fun and exciting.  We did a 100 day game and there was candy. - Kylie
We had a party. - Rory
We did 100 seconds of turtle time. - Noah
We did 100 exercises in gym. - Max
We played a game to 100, like drop of doom and race to 100 and 10 plus. - Mark
Everything we did was about 100 and it was fun. - A
We read a 100 day poem with 100 words. - Maki
Everything was fun. -Aidan

Click on the link below and then click on each photo to enlarge them.

Collage personalized with Smilebox

Our busy week (the second)

We had music, it was fun.We played a game at the end of music. - Kylie
We Skyped with another class. - Devan
We had buddies and we read to them. - Mimi
On Wednesday we got a new student. - Morgan
In math, we played a game called race to a dollar. - Dylan
We made a game called four corners. - Daniel
We had buddies, we read to them.  We had fun in library. - Abi
We had a guest teacher come to our classroom for Daily 5 and we had to pick our choices and some people were on the computer. - Maki
I named my stuffy Black Ops. - Aidan
When we started, the people we were Skyping with started cheering for the Jets and we started to cheer for the Jets too. - Sarah
On Thursday we did art.  - Christian
We painted a winter picture. - Rory
We had a Valentines Party on Tuesday, February 14th. - Margeaux
We brought our stuffys to the party and I brought cupcakes. - Lily
The cupcakes were delicious. - Kylie
We are reading a chapter book called Henry Huggins. - Nolan
We were learning about Canada. - Dylan
We went to library. - A
When we were learning about Canada we learned about Canadian symbols. - Nick

Here are a few symbols of Canada and Manitoba that we know:
- Moose      -Beaver       - Loon      - Canada Goose    - Bison       - Polar bear      - Caribou
- Great Grey Owl   - Northern Lights    - Maple leaf    - Golden boy   - Lacrosse    - Medicine wheel
- Hockey    - University of Manitoba   - Bluenose   - Prairie Crocus    - Inukshuk    - Canoe
-  The war memorial

Help! We all turned into Stuffys!

Today something very strange happened during our story time... we all turned into stuffed animals.  Stay tuned to find out how it all happened!

Class Update

 Skype to Someone
 A few weeks ago, two of our students had the opportunity to try video chatting on their own with two students from Ms. Nelson's grade 1 class from Sun Valley School.  Each student read to the other, reading the text on each page first and then showing the pictures.  Both students from our class were thrilled to share their favorite books and we hope to do this again soon.

Baby Lauren
Baby Lauren came for another visit and she is six months old already.  We sang to her, watched her play with toys and compared here to our Roots of Empathy teaching doll.

100 is a lot

In anticipation of the 100th day of school, which we will be celebrating on Tuesday, February 21st we participated in Mrs. Soltau-Heller's class wikki called 100 is a lot.  Click here to see all of the photos.  The ones our class created have bolded titles underneath them.

Our week in review

We watched some people play the violins and we had assembly. - Maki
We had fun in gym today.  We did gymnastics and basketball. - Zane
We are going to have an art surprise today. - A
We won crazy candy Friday.  We had Twizzlers. - Dylan
We played a math game called Guess My Number. - Kylie
Today we did a spelling test. - Nick
Today we had Turtle Time.  Turtle time is a quiet time where we don't talk and it calms us down.  We turn around and we can close our eyes.  After recess we do Turtle Time.  We think about what stuff we have done in school already. - Devan, A, Abi, Noah, Zane & Josh
In gym we had all sorts of activities, we even did gymnastics. - Morgan
We watched a video about solids, liquids and gases. - Margeaux
Today we had fun. - Rory
We won licorice. - Lily
Today we started a new chapter book called Herny Huggins. - Nolan
Today we are going to have art. - Noah
Today we wrote in our blog. - Lily
Four more days until Valentines day. - Josh
We are going to Univeristy.  Becuase we are going to see our university buddies and we are going to get a treat when we are there.  They are student teachers learning how teach reading and writing.  We send them a sample of our writing and a letter.  They write back to use. - Max, Rory, Mimi, Maki