Ms. Swinton's Class

Today we had our regular Circle time, with both time for sharing and time to give one another thoughtful compliments. We also passed Goosey, as we always do on Fridays, to a student who has shown "goose-like" behaviour by supporting others and being a leader. In a fabulous show of generosity, one of the students in our class also brought in a stuffed duck, Ducky, to be passed in a similar manner to Goosey. Now we can recognize two outstanding members of our classroom community each week!! Thank-you once again to the student who gave Ducky to our class! We also continued working on our birch tree art that we began yesterday, using watercolour paint to fill in the sky and then sprinkling it with salt to create a cool effect. This continues to be an ongoing project in Art. One of the highlights of today was, of course, Deck the Halls! Students had a great time creating holiday light crafts to represent their names and supporting their grade 2 buddies in doi...

Today in Math we had a check-in about patterns, giving students a chance to demonstrate their ability to identify and extend patterns, write pattern rules, solve problems using patterns, and write an expression with a variable to represent a pattern. In French we reviewed and practiced our clothing vocabulary by playing the Matching and Gravity games on Quizlet. Playing these games at home is a great way for students to reinforce this new vocabulary too! In Language Arts, we had some DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read), added a drawing and summary of chapter two to our storyboard for The Boundless , and read with our Grade 2 Buddies. In Social Studies we continued creating our Cordillera region travel brochures. These brochures are looking great so far, and would definitely convince travelers to come visit this westernmost region of Canada! In Art we began working on birch tree art inspired by the work of Claude Monet. We got our pages set up with masking ...

Today in Science we completed our experiment with different ways to separate mixtures of solids. Students particularly enjoyed using air to separate materials with different weights and magnets to separate metals from non-metals. In Math we corrected textbook pages 11-12 and had more time to work on pages 15-16. Students are encouraged to finish these pages tonight and check over their answers using the key below. A reminder again that we will have a patterns check-in in Math tomorrow. This check-in will cover all work we've done in patterns so far, so students are encouraged to review textbook pages 8, 11-12, and 15-16. In Language Arts we continued our work with sentences, sharing how we expanded on our partners' sentence fragments to create a complete sentence with both a subject/noun and predicate/verb. Students were excited to share the often silly sentences that they had written. In Social Studies, students continued working on creating their Cordillera ...

Today in Math we reviewed writing an expression with a variable to express a pattern rule, and then corrected textbook page 8 (Number Patterns and Pattern Rules). A reminder that textbook pages 11-12 (Using Patterns to Solve Problems), questions 1-4 is due tomorrow, and we will correct it together in class. It is important for students to complete these assignments on time, in order to practice and reinforce the skills we have been working on in class, and to uncover any areas that require further support. We will also be having a check-in about patterns on Thursday, so students may want to review concepts from this unit before then. In French, we began exploring vocabulary related to clothing . In Language Arts, we continued our work with writing and identifying complete sentences by reviewing what sentence fragments are , looking at different examples, and then expanding on fragments to create a complete sentence with both a subject and a predicate/verb. We also began explor...

Today in Science, students were thrilled to begin the hands-on experiments that will comprise so much of our Classroom Chemistry unit. After exploring the definition of mixtures and solutions , students started brainstorming different ways to separate mixtures of solids including by hand, with sieves, using water, with magnets, and with wind. Then, in small groups, they were given seven different mixtures to attempt to separate. We will continue with this work on Wednesday. In Math, we explored a pattern problem related to increasing hexagons, and then continued our work with writing pattern rules with an expression using a variable. In French, we played Quizlet Live with weather and season vocabulary . Then, in Language Arts, we explored how to write a complete sentence and how to fix run-on sentences . Overdue Work: Wetland Plant and Animal Research Cultural Artifact Museum Reflection French Number Booklet October Quote Reflection "Mon Monstre...

Today in Math we continued working with relating the term number to the term value by writing a pattern rule in words. We talked about how each pattern has two different rules that can be written: one that relates each term in a pattern to the one before, and one that relates the term number to the term value. Then we practiced identifying and writing these rules and using them to solve problems. We will continue with this work in upcoming classes, as well as writing an expression with a variable to represent our rule. In Science we continued to explore the states of matter, clarifying some misunderstandings that students had and introducing vocabulary to describe changes in state: melting (solid to liquid), evaporating (liquid to gas), condensation (gas to liquid), and solidification or freezing (liquid to solid).  We also spent time preparing for student-led conferences, which are this evening and tomorrow daytime. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you!...

Today in Math we began exploring how we can represent a pattern rule with an expression using a variable, and apply that expression to find a particular term in the pattern. Many students felt overwhelmed and confused by this concept, so it's important to note that we will be continuing with this work but breaking it down into smaller and more manageable concepts. We spent time reading and catching up on unfinished work, had our book fair buying time, and used GoNoodle to get our daily physical activity. We also finished up our Cordillera jot notes in Social Studies and began exploring the concept of matter in Science, highlighting the different properties of the states of matter. Important Reminders: Early dismissal tomorrow at 1:20 No school on Friday There are still spots available on Friday if you haven't booked a student-led conference yet  Conferences are student led , so please bring your child with you for your scheduled time The book fair is open during ...

Today in Math we worked on using patterns to solve problems, and practiced creating tables to represent and extend patterns. In Science we finished up our Wetland title pages and started exploring what we already think we know about Classroom Chemistry by creating mind maps in groups. Then Mr. Risdon led a really cool elephant toothpaste demonstration and discussed how a new compound can be made through a chemical reaction. Finally, each group came up with a big question that they hope will be answered over the course of this unit. We also read more of The Boundless  today, as well as having a solid period of time to catch up on unfinished assignments or to quiet read. Overdue Work: Wetland Plant and Animal Research Cultural Artifact Museum Reflection French Number Booklet October Quote Reflection "Mon Monstre" (for French) Diversity Venn Diagram (for Social Studies) Metric Monster Aurora Borealis Art November Quote Writing Upcoming Due Da...

Today in Math we continued with our work on number patterns and pattern rules. This was our last class time for page 8 from the textbook, so students will now need to complete this work during UFW time or for homework. As always, they are welcome to sign out a textbook to bring home as long as they return it the next day. In Science students continued creating their Wetland title pages as our summative assessment for the unit, using a mixture of writing and drawing to communicate their learning and understanding from the unit. We will have one more period to complete this work. In Language Arts we finished reading the first chapter of The Boundless  and began creating storyboards to represent and briefly describe important events, settings, and characters from each chapter. As this novel took the real historical event of The Last Spike, and fictionalized it with different characters, an exciting avalanche, a fancy diamond-encrusted gold spike, and the addition of mythica...