Update and Weekly Word

Good evening parents,

Hopefully you see this message this evening, as I am sure you have been looking for an update.

Yesterday students shared what they wanted to know about trees. Some very interesting inquiries were contrived like, "Can trees be polka dotted?" and "How old is the oldest tree?"

Your child took home his or her question to investigate. This morning we received answers from five students. Hurray for those five students who turned in their homework on time! I'm looking forward to answers from the rest of the team. Rafaela found out that there ARE polka-dotted trees. We also found out from Isabel that the oldest tree known is found in Switzerland. It is said to be 9,550 years old! Wow! I wonder who is counting those years.

In the Grade Two class, students are excited about trees. We are observing, discovering, writing, and singing about trees. We are also following other course curricula. For example, tonight your child brought home a double sided page of instructions with a filmstrip to accompany it. Today we read about how to prevent the spread of germs and also about safety and prevention of injury. Everyone agreed that it would fun to share a comic strip of injury and injury prevention. The instructions are on the paper. Have fun!

Spelling

Students are editing and revising pieces of writing that they wrote as early as the Bowen Road Walk. It is quite nostalgic! They are delving into their Language Arts notebooks to master some spelling vocabulary that they had misspelled/misused earlier in the year. Students are also in the process of writing expository and non-fiction pieces. These pieces will be consolidated into a wonderful Tu B'Shvat presentation.

In relation to Tu B'Shvat, we are investigating ways to be contributing members to the health of our world. We are not only looking at our own health, but we are also finding out ways that we can help the environment. So far, we have been exposed to ways to save trees, water, and electric energy. We are looking at ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Speaking of helping the environment, we planted a bean plant behind the school. Every week, we would go check on its progress. When we returned from Winter Break, we found that the plant was gone. Well, it wasn't really gone, it appeared to have been eaten by some small creature. As a result, I explained the chain of life and how the plant was sacrificed for the animal to be able to survive in its habitat. Our bean plant was very healthy and good, so good that an animal found it amongst all the weeds in the area. It must have been like finding gold at the end of the rainbow for our little friend.

Also this week, we shared our ideas about what it means to sacrifice using Shel Silverstein's book, The Giving Tree. Just as the tree sacrificed itself for the boy, your children had ideas about the meaning and effects of self-sacrifice. This year's Grade Two class is a very keen and cognizant group. We have a lot of fun learning each day.

Notes:

-Thank you for taking heed and dressing your child in the proper uniform clothing.

-Please check your child's temperature each morning before entering the school and record the temperature in the Communication book.

-Leeor's Communication book was left in the class. I will be in touch with her mother.

-ASA classes will resume next week.

-Please bring recyclable paper items into the class for reuse: toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes, and cereal boxes that have all English writing.

-Each student needs to bring in a non-plastic grocery bag that the family uses when grocery shopping. If you do not have one in the house, then this will be a perfect opportunity for your child to write a letter to the family requesting the practice and conveying to you the benefits of using reusable items.