(I'm the math teacher so I'm allowed to make up words.) 😄
Saturday, 2 September 2017
Let The Preparations Begin!
(I'm the math teacher so I'm allowed to make up words.) 😄
Sunday, 12 April 2015
Why Blend in When You Were Born to Stand Out! Math ART!
As we continued to bring together all we know about geometry we were able to really showcase our learning and our hard work! Our 3D shapes inspired the foundation of an important message and a cool math bulletin board!
Our right angle math exploration in grade 3 lead to many ways of showing off our math angle tools (pieces of bristol boarded cut into small rectangles and pieces of acetate). I let the students decide how they wanted to complete their master pieces. As we manipulated our right angles new artistic ways of using them caught our attention...(so we just went with it).
Why Blend in When You Were Born (Built) to Stand Out!
Our right angle math exploration in grade 3 lead to many ways of showing off our math angle tools (pieces of bristol boarded cut into small rectangles and pieces of acetate). I let the students decide how they wanted to complete their master pieces. As we manipulated our right angles new artistic ways of using them caught our attention...(so we just went with it).
Time to search out all of those acetates you thought you would never use again when... (would you believe I can't even remember what they are called)...oh ya overheads... when overheads became obsolete!
A wonderful idea popped into my head, (at least I thought it was pretty cool), as I was exploring new ways to teach right angles and searching for ways the students could check angles to make sure they were actually right angles. I cut a piece of acetate for every student so that they had their own "right angle checker". They simple aline the acetate's inside corner to the angle's inside corner and lineup side to side to see if the other side of the angle shows that it's equal to the acetate (a right angle), smaller than a right angle or larger than a right angle. I will try to remember to post a picture on another day!
Recently we realized that our "right angle checker" would also be a handy tool for checking out congruent shapes. We simply use a washable marker to trace the shape so that we can rotate it, slide it and reflect it onto the other shapes to see if they are congruent. A clear, plastic, ziplock bag also does the tick! If you were really on your toes you may have realized a third use for the acetate as I described the previous one...Transformational Geometry! Rotations! Translations (slides)! Reflections! More on that later!
Monday, 5 January 2015
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang - "One Day"
Today I'm posting before I even show the kids! I don't want to forget this one. I hope the feeling of kindness and peace boomerangs through you! Enjoy!
Friday, 18 April 2014
1 + 1 = 5 and Other Unlikely Additions - Our Math Knowledge POPS!
Geometry and counting can be very entertaining! We designed our own creative number sentences and we were able to show off our knowledge of shapes (sides, faces, and vertices). Our math bulletin board caused many students and staff to stop, read, and think! Here are a few examples and the book that inspired our display! (Did you notice the 3D shapes turning our 2D display into a 3D surprise? Our math knowledge POPS!)
1+1=5 and Other Unlikely Additions
The Worm Lady Cometh!
Last week we had the pleasure of meeting "the Worm Lady"! She taught the whole school about the value of worms and she filled our minds with wonderful wormy facts! Then we got our own personal worm presentation where we got to see and touch the worms. We were up close and personal! The students loved finding the baby worms. I kid you not...when the students moved away from the table I looked over to see a baby worm (no longer than a 1.5cm) stand straight up! (...As if to say..."Hey where did everybody go?")
We are now very proud to have own WORM FARM! I must say I have no noise complaints! I know what you're thinking...I have no smell complaints either! We are very careful to add our 1:30 ratio of food to paper and we give them 'just enough' water and calcium each week. Here are some pictures of our new wiggly friends!
We are now very proud to have own WORM FARM! I must say I have no noise complaints! I know what you're thinking...I have no smell complaints either! We are very careful to add our 1:30 ratio of food to paper and we give them 'just enough' water and calcium each week. Here are some pictures of our new wiggly friends!
Saturday, 15 February 2014
A very busy month!
A very busy month has been made even busier.... A surprise Valentine's Day, snow day, has put us a little off course but we will celebrate on Tuesday, February 18, and we will be back on course in no time! Hopefully I will have the opportunity to add more posts and photos to highlight all of the wonderful work we have been doing.
This summer may mean a Blog reorganization! I'm hoping to make it parent, student, and teacher friendly.
I hope everyone has a FABULOUS Family Day!
This summer may mean a Blog reorganization! I'm hoping to make it parent, student, and teacher friendly.
I hope everyone has a FABULOUS Family Day!
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
A New School Year!
Here is a glimpse into our first few days of school! We ROCKED it!!! I am very proud of the work and the bravery everyone has produced each day we've been at school.
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Our Winter Writing Inspiration!
Our latest bulletin board display is showing off our writing talents!
The grade ones are working on their recount writing and they used the snow filled days as inspiration for their snowball recount! First we planned our winter recount while illustrating a winter picture. Then we made sure that we had all of our recount sentences. We put a sentence on each plate...or should I say snowball! We wrote what we did first, next, then, and finally. Now we are building on those sentences. When we write or read new recount stories we are looking for details and an opening and closing sentence. Our writing is really beginning to soar. I hope you enjoy reading and sharing the work being brought home by the students.
The grade twos also got to show off their artistic talents but it wasn't just art...it was MATH art! Look carefully at the yarn illustrations on the fronts of the cards. Each design was measured and made with one meter of yarn! We didn't stop there! The inside of each card shows off the students' poetic talents! The students were asked to describe a winter item or activity. They then used their best adjectives and verbs to describe their winter things in a poem that spells out their winter item. I can't wait to take them down so that you can read the wonderful poem your child wrote! I was so pleased with the final products!
The grade ones are working on their recount writing and they used the snow filled days as inspiration for their snowball recount! First we planned our winter recount while illustrating a winter picture. Then we made sure that we had all of our recount sentences. We put a sentence on each plate...or should I say snowball! We wrote what we did first, next, then, and finally. Now we are building on those sentences. When we write or read new recount stories we are looking for details and an opening and closing sentence. Our writing is really beginning to soar. I hope you enjoy reading and sharing the work being brought home by the students.
The grade twos also got to show off their artistic talents but it wasn't just art...it was MATH art! Look carefully at the yarn illustrations on the fronts of the cards. Each design was measured and made with one meter of yarn! We didn't stop there! The inside of each card shows off the students' poetic talents! The students were asked to describe a winter item or activity. They then used their best adjectives and verbs to describe their winter things in a poem that spells out their winter item. I can't wait to take them down so that you can read the wonderful poem your child wrote! I was so pleased with the final products!
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Thursday, 17 January 2013
The Power of Poetry
We have started looking at poetry during our busy days! Poetry is a great way to show VOICE in writing and it has helped us to see the importance of using describing words (adjectives) and nouns effectively in our writing! Here is one of our favourite websites...the students have been begging me to post it on the Blog so that they can check it out at home.
http://www.poetry4kids.com/
More about poetry later...our day is about to begin!
http://www.poetry4kids.com/
More about poetry later...our day is about to begin!
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Bursting with Pride! School Spirit at its Best!
The final tally was $750.00! We came together as a school community to support L.A.W.S. and it was a roaring success! On Monday Rufus (the Saint Bernard) and David C. (the V.P. of L.A.W.S.) stopped in to thank us and to tell us a little bit about all of the wonderful work L.A.W.S. does for the community. He was overjoyed with our donations and Mrs. T. and I could not have been more proud! When the idea came to us we never guessed that it would be such a success! Congratulations to everyone and thank you once again for all your contributions!
Our Christmas Writing! Language Learning in December!
The grade ones are continuing to work on writing interesting sentences with details. They are reminded to read over their sentences to make sure they make sense. When they edit their sentences they are looking for their own mistakes to correct. They should be recognizing missing or the incorrect use of capital letters, missing punctuation, misspelled word wall words, proper letters sizes and spacing between words, etc.... This is something that can be practiced at home. Even if you encourage your son or daughter to write one sentence each night. It's a great opportunity to practise the word wall words for that week. Use flashcards with word wall words and mix up the words. Now put the words together to make a sentence! Don't forget to use flashcards for the different types of punctuation and name the words that would need a capital letter. We used our sentence writing skills to write Christmas sentences. You can see them on the red and green lights which are decorating our bulletin board.
The grade twos are learning to use the wonderful sentences they learned to write in grade one for writing powerful paragraphs! They know what a topic sentence is and why it is important in a paragraph. They are becoming more skilled when writing the detail sentences that support the topic sentence. They really do love to write and read and it warms my heart to see them eager to work and express all of their wonderful ideas! Editing is still and area that needs work but it too is coming along! Sometimes those simple mistakes are the hardest to find! All of our paragraph writing skills are also displayed on the bulletin board! The grade twos worked in groups of two or three to write their own Christmas paragraph. We brainstormed the topic sentences together and each group then chose the topic sentence they wanted to turn into a paragraph! The silver ornaments shine just as brightly as our paragraphs!
Ho Ho Ho Ho'tastic work everyone!!!
The grade twos are learning to use the wonderful sentences they learned to write in grade one for writing powerful paragraphs! They know what a topic sentence is and why it is important in a paragraph. They are becoming more skilled when writing the detail sentences that support the topic sentence. They really do love to write and read and it warms my heart to see them eager to work and express all of their wonderful ideas! Editing is still and area that needs work but it too is coming along! Sometimes those simple mistakes are the hardest to find! All of our paragraph writing skills are also displayed on the bulletin board! The grade twos worked in groups of two or three to write their own Christmas paragraph. We brainstormed the topic sentences together and each group then chose the topic sentence they wanted to turn into a paragraph! The silver ornaments shine just as brightly as our paragraphs!
Ho Ho Ho Ho'tastic work everyone!!!
Thursday, 22 November 2012
The Grade One - Miss Spider Bulletin Board
Math and language inspired by one story! Fabulous party lists, cool doubles counting and number sentences, and great problem solving team work!
Keep practising those sound chunks!
en, en, pen!
aw, aw, paw!
ou, ou shout!
Keep going...don't stop...!
Keep practising those sound chunks!
en, en, pen!
aw, aw, paw!
ou, ou shout!
Keep going...don't stop...!
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Learning with Miss Spider - Turkey patterns and Super Sentences!
We have been very busy and I have been neglecting the Blog! I hope to make up for that with a couple of posts to catch you up!
It was great to see so many parents at the Student-Led Conferences! I know how excited the students were to show off their hard work! Don't forget you are welcome to come in any time to look at your child's progress and/or to chat with me about any questions, concerns, or curiosities you may have.
Our Grade One Miss Spider bulletin board has grown to include our math word problems, our Miss Spider party lists, and our spider doubles in math. I will take one more picture of the finished product before we start to dismantle it for our new work.
The Grade Two turkey feather patterns have already gone home along with the artful number patterns that followed shortly after. We used a T chart to display the growing or shrinking patterns of the feathers on each turkey. The number art patterns were a little more challenging but I had confidence in everyone's ability and determination. Everybody rose to the challenge and they did a wonderful job!
The last picture shows how the grade twos have been building Super Sentences with details! In our sentences we try to include the noun, a verb, adjectives, and words that tell when and where! When we mixed up our sentences and read the details we laughed at the very silly, mixed up sentences.
My next post will show our counting songs! Stay tuned!
It was great to see so many parents at the Student-Led Conferences! I know how excited the students were to show off their hard work! Don't forget you are welcome to come in any time to look at your child's progress and/or to chat with me about any questions, concerns, or curiosities you may have.
Our Grade One Miss Spider bulletin board has grown to include our math word problems, our Miss Spider party lists, and our spider doubles in math. I will take one more picture of the finished product before we start to dismantle it for our new work.
The Grade Two turkey feather patterns have already gone home along with the artful number patterns that followed shortly after. We used a T chart to display the growing or shrinking patterns of the feathers on each turkey. The number art patterns were a little more challenging but I had confidence in everyone's ability and determination. Everybody rose to the challenge and they did a wonderful job!
The last picture shows how the grade twos have been building Super Sentences with details! In our sentences we try to include the noun, a verb, adjectives, and words that tell when and where! When we mixed up our sentences and read the details we laughed at the very silly, mixed up sentences.
My next post will show our counting songs! Stay tuned!
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Making words and sentences come alive!
Starfall Reading, Games, Activities,
Learning and Fun! The grade ones have been enjoying the activities
and games on the Starfall website! There are so many excellent learning
experiences to explore! Click on the link and check it out with your
child tonight. Learning and practising but they won’t even know it’s
happening because they will be too busy having a blast!
Hey Grade 2s… check this out! This is my newest find on the Internet! Or as my son says..."the newest breakthrough in descriptive writing"! He should know... he came home all excited and he couldn't wait to show it to me. Now I'm excited about sharing it with you...here's the link… Make your own pic lit! We have been working on writing super sentences in class! We have talked about adjectives, nouns, and verbs. Most recently we have been learning how adjectives and descriptive words help the reader to visualise our writing. This website is a wonderful way to learn new and exciting words and you can create your own SUPER SENTENCE with just the click and drag of a mouse! Some of the pictures and words are above the grade two grade level but there are many great ones to pick from!
Mrs. Wolynice's PicLit...check it out!
Hey Grade 2s… check this out! This is my newest find on the Internet! Or as my son says..."the newest breakthrough in descriptive writing"! He should know... he came home all excited and he couldn't wait to show it to me. Now I'm excited about sharing it with you...here's the link… Make your own pic lit! We have been working on writing super sentences in class! We have talked about adjectives, nouns, and verbs. Most recently we have been learning how adjectives and descriptive words help the reader to visualise our writing. This website is a wonderful way to learn new and exciting words and you can create your own SUPER SENTENCE with just the click and drag of a mouse! Some of the pictures and words are above the grade two grade level but there are many great ones to pick from!
Mrs. Wolynice's PicLit...check it out!
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
New Favourite YouTube Videos!
I have posted a few new YouTube videos that we have been using in class. Most have been used for the grade ones but the twos have enjoyed reviewing their chunks of sound in the “Double Phonics Chant”. Both classes are encouraged to search for chunks of sound in the words they see every day!
You may even want to turn the reading of the sound chunks into a race! How fast can you read… an, et, and, in, it, ant? When you get really fast mix them around and try again! Grade twos should be using small chunks as well as the large chunks and spelling patterns we have learned, (i.e. ake, ent, ur, ir, ar, or, and, ite, etc…).
Don’t forget to search my old Blogger posts for more EXCELLENT videos and ideas!
Coming soon...pictures of our new language bulletin boards!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)