Learning adventures in a Grade 2 French Immersion classroom
We wrap up our measurement unit this month. This week, we practiced measuring length (la longueur) with non-standard units of our own choosing.
Students learned that they need to use multiple copies of the units for the measurement to be accurate. For example, if choosing markers as a non-standard measurement unit, they needed to use the same markers.
Students were asked to first estimate the length of a given object and then measure it out. It’s been a fun math activity!
Division 10 students worked well as a group in completing this door decoration.
They designed it themselves and completed parts individually. It all came together in only two days!
We’re participating in a school-wide door decorating contest this week – as part of Literacy Week.
Division 10 has been practicing to read well with a partner. After the holiday break, we’ve needed to review basic rules such as sitting next each other or choosing one book to read together.
During these sessions, students practice important life skills like turn-taking, listening, making compromises, encouraging others, and even teaching.
In Term 2, we continue to develop our number sense with a strong focus on addition up to 100.
What is number sense? You can think of it as “a person’s ability to understand, relate, and connect numbers.”
Our math learning takes form in different ways – worksheets, open-ended morning questions, picture books, games, drills (Chrono Maths), and number routines.
One such number routine is the ‘problem of the day’. This week, students have been reflecting on their addition strategies.
We’ve been using Carole Fullerton’s Good Questions: A Year of Open-Ended Math Problems for Grades 2-4 for daily discussion.
Open-ended questions are low-risk and inclusive to all learners. They invite multiple solutions and rich discussion. The class understands that so long as the answer ‘makes sense’ (ie. is logical), it is up for group consideration.
Students practice both creative and critical thinking skills during this activity, helping make math more dynamic. They also develop their communication skills as they might be asked to share their math thinking in different ways – symbolically, concretely, and/or verbally.
Open-ended questions include more students in the act of problem-solving. The more often we expose students to these key math ideas the more fluent they become; the more we recognize and celebrate different problem-solving approaches, the smarter the collective becomes. (Fullerton)
As the school year progresses, we’ll continue to build on this and other number routines.
Students practiced some metacognition today. We discussed the various core competencies that we use at school every day: communication, thinking (creative and critical), personal and social responsibility.
From the Ministry of Education website:
The Core Competencies are sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning.
Students worked in groups, studying photos taken since September. In making our learning visible, we realized just how much we do at school!
We started playing a new game in PE this week. Students aim to win the biggest number of points by throwing beanbags into the hoop.
Yellow beanbags are worth 1 point each. Red beanbags are worth 10 points each.
This simple game has students practice a number of skills.
Students practice spatial reasoning in assessing how hard or soft to throw a bean bag for it to land on target.
They practice personal and social responsibility in participating in the game and encouraging their classmates.
Finally, they practice creative and critical thinking in counting beanbags to figure out final scores.
One of the Christmas dinosaurs we learned to draw this week courtesy of Art for Kids Hub. Bravo to Carter S for this ferocious red and green T-Rex!
Last week, students were asked to reflect on what gives them peace.
Here are their answers:
We’ve been learning Halloween vocabulary this month, whether it be in conversation activities or writing. We’ve also been listening to the classic Matt Maxwell “C’est l’Halloween!” song.
Term 1 is focused on personal writing. This week, students have been sharing whether they like Halloween and why (or why not).
Students are learning to identify parts of flowers. We’ve been searching for spring flowers that grow in our local environment. We’ve been learning new words and how to draw ‘like a scientist’.
Knowing the parts of a flower helped us draw abstract flowers in art recently. Enjoy the beautiful blooms!
