January 27th - January 30th

Our outdoor education guide came to prep us for our field trip which will take place on Thursday February 6th.  Let's hope the the weather cooperates!  We learned about animal tracks, how to dress and making a fire using flint.  We are all very excited to go on our outdoor adventure to explore and do science experiments in the snow.   

Here are the items your child will need:

How to dress

- to dress in layers (no jeans)

- winter jacket

- ski pants

- wool socks

- winter boots

- toque or balaclava

- neck warmer

- warm pair of mitts

- backpack (no agendas or books please!)

Food Items

- 1/2 litre of water (put in ziplock bag if possible)

- optional hot beverage in thermos (optional: put in ziplock bag if possible)

- healthy snack

- hotdog and hotdog bun with condiments already on them (sandwiches if your child doesn't eat hotdogs)

- optional:  smore fixings (marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers)

- extra large healthy lunch

- No gum, seeds, junk food or pop

Other items

- bathroom tissue in a plastic bag

- plastic bag for garbage

On Wednesday we had art afternoon and created some pictures from the book Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. We painted and created the birds that she illustrates in her book. The pictures are all unique and everyone did a fabulous job!

In math we are working on addition and subtraction to 18. We learned a football math game that helps us with adding and subtracting. Many of the kids have asked to play this game during indoor recess too!

On Thursday we had a fundraising PJ day. It was fun to blog in our PJ's!

In language arts we reading and writing up a storm. I have met with each child to determine their reading goal. Different goals include comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary. Ask your child what they are working on! We are always talking about thinking as we read and using different strategies to help us understand the meaning of the text.

In writing we are continuing to blog and write in our writing folders. You will notice growth in their blog posts as the year progresses. Blogging and commenting on other blogs has motivated our class to write. They know that they are writing for a larger audience and they love to get comments from others.

*Please write the word SNOW in your child's agenda so that I can see how many families are reading the blog. Thank you!

Upcoming Dates:

Wednesday February 5th: Book Orders Due

Thursday February 6th: Outdoor Field Trip

Friday February 7th: K-5 Outdoor Winter Olympics Day (dress for being outside!)

January 20th - 24th

Our class loves to write! They like to share writing on our blogs and they like to write in their fancy journals. Kids have been asking to write with a buddy so I created a new cycle in Daily 5 called Buddy Writing.  Here is a snapshot of what this looks like in our classroom.  We will see what kind of pieces they come up with.  I am happy that they are all engaged in writing!

We are studying word families in our classroom and students are learning how words work.  One thing that I have students do is to "try three before they ask me".   You can use this saying at home when they are working on writing.  Many times they get the word right just by trying!

In health we are learning about healthy snacking and the importance of drinking water.  We measured out sugar amounts in different drinks.  Here is a picture of what we discovered.

Here are a few more snapshots from our classroom this week!

Our school had a Guess the Reader contest.
Students had to pick the staff member that read the book. 

We had a few indoor recesses this week.
Everyone loves writing on the whiteboard. 

Ammar made a cool board game at home. 

Here is a cupcake visual board we have
been using in class to discuss our work.  

We started using the Ipads to listen to reading. 

Upcoming Dates
January 27th-29th: Start bringing books to school for the book swap!
January 28th: Our guide for our outdoor trip will be coming to meet with us.
January 30th: Book Swap
January 31st: NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS (PD day for teachers)
February 6th: Outdoor Adventure to Boggy Creek (10:15 - 3:15)

January 13th - 17th

This week we started blogging!  At the beginning of the week we worked on our sloppy copies in our writing folders. On Thursday we learned how to blog and on Friday we spent time reading and commenting on other student blogs. You can check out our student blogs here.  Please feel free to leave comments.  All blogs and comments will get sent to my email for approval before they are published. 

We have started to research healthy snacking habits.  Students are working together to create a presentation. Students are working in groups and have called themselves Team Food, Holy Guacamole!, Snacktastic, Bird Brains, and Foodtastc.  Stay tuned for these amazing presentations!

On Friday we had a guest named Mike Brady come to the gym.  He brought along a whole bunch of wheelchairs and everyone had the chance to play Freeze Tag and have races.  Students learned the importance of wearing a seatbelt.

Please write the word monkey in your child's agenda so that I know you have read this!

Upcoming Dates:

Monday January 20th: Please return Readathon logs
Tuesday January 28th: Our guide for our outdoor trip will be coming to meet with us!
Thursday January 30th: Bookswap
Thursday February 6th: Outdoor Fieldtrip

January 6th - January 9th, 2014

I would like to start off by thanking you for all the of the emails and welcome back notes.  Our week couldn't have gone any better!  I am missing a few email addresses so please send those to me as soon as you can.  

This week we reviewed classroom expectations and continued on with Daily 5.  Everyone has been working extremely hard and I am so impressed!  We have had a few indoor recesses this week but I have kept them busy exercising in the classroom and on the walking track.  We started to read the book Miss. Daisy is Crazy and everyone seems to be enjoying it.  We are going to be doing a lot of writing this term.  We made some writing folders and I gave everyone a special journal to write in. 

I have introduced PWIM (picture word inductive model) in our classroom.  PWIM is where we use a large picture and “shake” out words.  We practice spelling the words orally and we also sort them.  We find patterns in other words and categorize and classify them.  We make sentences about the picture and sort those into paragraphs. This week we shook out the words and have been using the Icardsort app to sort them.  

In math we have started Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction to 18.  I will be using something called Explore Plus 4 in math which is a structure like Daily 5.  Students will be working on different activities in small math groups. I will work with one group while the other groups will be working on games, MOMO (math on my own), math talk, or math with someone.  This week we learned a few math games with ten frames such as Go Fish and Face Off.   I will teach your child a few addition and subtraction card games so that you can play them at home to help them practice their facts. 

This week we talked about getting started with Genius Hour projects during Fun Friday.  Students pick something to learn, create or do.  They then research, explore, and work on their topic at this time.  I am sure you will hear your child talk about Genius Hour soon.  Some have many ideas and some need help coming up with something.  The idea needs to be one that your child is passionate and excited about!  We will start student blogs about our Genius Hour journeys soon!  We watched a video called Caine's Arcade to get us excited about our projects.

Please email me at shannon.sanchuck@rbe.sk.ca if you have any questions or concerns about what is going on in the classroom. 

Upcoming dates: 
Wednesday January 15th: Book orders due
Thursday January 30th: Book Swap (send your used books January 27th, 28th, 29th and exchange them for new books on January 30th)
Thursday February 6th: Outdoor Field Trip to Boggy Creek (note will be sent home the week of the 20th)

January 2014

 Hello Grade 2 Families,

I am so excited to be returning to Jack MacKenzie School after my education leave.  I learned a lot of new and exciting things at the U of R, but I sure missed working with kids every day!  I have been teaching with Regina Public Schools for 13 years and this is my 8th year as a grade 2 teacher.  Grade 2 has always been one of my favourite grades!

Ms.Cameron and I have been in touch over the holidays and I hope to make this transition as smooth as possible for our class.  I have read your the letters that you wrote about your child in September and I'm so excited to get to know them. (If you didn't get the chance to send a letter, you can still do so.)  I have many interesting things planned so hopefully your child will feel excited about coming to school.  I am thrilled to share the rest of the school year with your child.  I am committed to providing your child with a quality education in a safe and caring learning environment.  My wish is to make the rest of our year one for your child to remember-a time of growth, discovery, and new experiences- a time filled with questions, fun, and learning!

We are kicking the year off with a Nutrition unit in Health, an outdoor adventure on February 6th, Genius Hour on Fridays, PWIM (picture word induction model as part of our wordwork/spelling), blogging and new writing folders!  I will send home more information about each of these things soon.

I will update our classroom blog on Friday.  My blog address is http://mrssanchuck.blogspot.ca/.  Please check it out to see all of the wonderful things we are doing in grade 2!

Please send your email address to shannon.sanchuck@rbe.sk.ca by this Friday.  You can let me know if you don't have email access by writing a note in your child's agenda.  I check my email daily so please email if you have any questions or concerns.  I may not get a chance to respond during our school day but I will respond to you after school.

In case you were wondering, here is the link to Ms. Cameron's blog. 

I'm looking forward to getting to know you and your child!
Mrs. Shannon Sanchuck