The Week of March 5

NEWS

We had a super week celebrating book week with visiting author, Tad Hills,

visiting singer, Courtney Campbell, book swap and book character dress-up

day. We also had mini academy on Tuesday. Thank you to all the parents

who volunteered to make this a successful event. We are also moving through

our March Madness book bracket by reading and voting on some quality

read-aloud favorites.

As readers and writers we have been busy preparing for their student led conferences.

A lot of time was spent on reflecting on their glow (what they are good at) and grow

(what they want to better at). Students got to do some fun activities for book

week including reading BINGO, bringing in favorite books to share, nonfiction

wonderings and research about germs and some fun partner reading tasks.

As mathematicians we refreshed their memories on place values and base ten blocks.

This week, we also reviewed strategies to add two addends. Then they added 4

addends using transition words strategy such as first I added .....then I added

....after that I added....finally I got.....Students also looked at the most efficient

way to add multiple addends by making 10 and adding doubles. They then learned

to add and subtract multiples of 100.

As scientists we have just started learning about germs and the importance of good hygiene, both dental and personal. We will continue learning about different kinds of germs, and how our body protects itself and what we can do to stay healthy.

UPCOMING

Wednesday 7 and 8 March - No School-Student Led Conferences. Please bring

your child to school at the scheduled time you will have 45 minutes to conference

and the last 15 minutes to visit specialist teachers.

IMPORTANT

Some students (and Mr. Alex) have decided to take part in the Slice of Life challenge. This entails writing something every day for 31 days (basically every day in March). This is something the students are working on at home and the idea is to foster a love of writing by sharing a "slice of our life" or in other words a small personal narrative moment. This is the original site if you would like more information. This is what we have published so far in 2AL - it would be great if you could read a piece and comment (it would mean a lot to the writers and will spur them to keep going for the rest of the month). Mr. Alex's slices of life can be found here.

Dinner Questions

1 - What did you learn about dental hygiene?

2 - What was your favorite thing about book week?

3 - What did you learn from the visiting author or song writer?

The week of February 26

NEWS
This week was full on in 2AL with a beautiful Chinese New Year celebration on Friday morning.  I have uploaded some of the pictures in the shared album.  Here is a quick link to it.  I am also happy to report that the contractors fixed our A/C issues and our room is now cool and comfortable yet again!

As readers we’ve been using all our non-fiction strategies to access information on personal and dental hygiene which is our science focus.  Jotting down new information, making comparisons across texts, and growing our expert vocabulary were some of our mini-lessons this week.

As writers we have been busy editing our two informational writing pieces with a focus on accurate English language conventions, namely simple sentences and punctuation.

As mathematicians we have started our new unit 4 which is all about addition and subtraction using multiple addends and using 3 digit numbers.

As scientists we have now shifted to the third component of our healthy habits unit which is all about hygiene (both personal and dental) and what we can do to keep our bodies and our teeth healthy.

IMPORTANT

Please take note of these wonderful community events coming up in March.

March 3 - Walk for Children (event details here) 

March 15 - Run, Jump & Throw Carnival (details here)
March 23 - Terry Fox Run (details here)

UPCOMING

• February 27 - Mini Academies
• March 7 & 8 - Student Led Conferences (details below)
• March 15 - Run, Jump & Throw Carnival (details here)
• March 23 - Terry Fox Run (details here)

Also, March is very busy with two exciting events.  The first being March Book Madness challenge, which we will be kicking off as a grade level on Monday.  March is also the the start of the Slice of Life challenge which is basically a challenge to write every day for 31 days about a "slice of your life."  This is an optional event that students can choose to participate in but they will need to do the writing at home and then bring the writing to school for me to take a picture of and post (or you can also take a picture and email me a link to it;)

Finally, March 7th and 8th will be our Student Led Conferences.  We have been busily preparing for them this week and I know we will be very excited to share with you how we have grown throughout the course of this year.  Your child should have posted to Seesaw a copy of the letter with the date and time of your SLC conference, and a hard copy of this letter should have also gone home.  

DINNER QUESTIONS
* Why is it important to take care of my teeth?
* What facts have you learned about dental hygiene that surprised you?
* What is one thing this week you did that was challenging? How did you overcome the
challenge?

The Week of February 12th

NEWS
This week is going to be short and full with no school for students on Thursday and Friday.  Also, this past week we have had some technical issues with the air conditioning unit in our classroom.  We spent Thursday and Friday in the spare grade 2 classroom and had fun setting up a new environment very quickly.  The kids were very understanding and flexible.  The contractors were supposed to be coming in to fix the issue this weekend so hopefully we are back in Room 122 as of Monday.

As readers we’ve been busy becoming experts on a topic by reading across books. Students have looked at information in multiple texts and put them together to learn about big ideas authors are
trying to teach on their topic. We will continue to focus on comparing and contrasting information
that is similar and different across books on a similar topic. Also, how to ask and answer questions
and share facts with each other to show that we are experts, especially around the topic of nutrition.

As writers we are continuing to elaborate all we know about our topics with key words, facts and details and are organizing our chapters with good leads and wrap ups. We are excited to share these new books with you soon.

As mathematicians we have been learning about partitioning shapes equally and exploring equal shares.  We are becoming experts on fractions and how to describe them using thirds, halves and fourths.  We will be finishing up our fractions and geometry unit with our post assessment on content and vocabulary this week.

As scientists we are now learning about the importance of nutrition in forming healthy habits.  This week we explored the components of a healthy diet (proteins, grains, etc) and also did a little inquiry into the amount of sugar present in many of the drink choices that we can make everyday.  We will dive deeper into nutrition making a healthy menu and looking at what key nutrients each of the food groups provide.

IMPORTANT
Valentine's day is this coming Wednesday (Feb 14).  We will not be doing official parties on Wednesday, but will be having some fun with fractions and baking! Students are more than welcome to bring in Friendship cards to share as long as there are enough for the whole class (20).

UPCOMING
Here’s a look at our week ahead:
Monday (Day 5)
Tuesday (Day 6)
Wednesday (Day 1) LIBRARY
Thursday (NO SCHOOL)
Friday (NO SCHOOL)

DINNER QUESTIONS
* Do you have a balanced meal on your plate tonight, how do you know? What nutrients
does each food group provide?
* What is an act of kindness you have done for others this week?
* What is one thing this week you did that was challenging? How did you overcome the
challenge?

The Week of February 5th

NEWS

Thank you to all the parents who came to lead the mini academy on Monday! The hat parade on the hundredth day of school was a nice experience for second graders. Thank you for helping your child with their creative hats! 

As readers, students practiced rereading like an expert when they come across words that they are not familiar with. Rereading not only reinforces fluency but it also supports understanding. Summarizing continues with looking at the main topic, heading and key facts and details about the heading.

In writing, students have started a new book with a specific audience in mind. We are learning to use all the features of informational writing with purpose and are working towards writing an introduction to hook readers and a conclusion to wrap it all up.

As mathematicians we continued to practice noticing and describing polygon shapes and their attributes. We also explored cubes, including all of its associated vocabulary like edges, faces, and base. Finally we started exploring partitioning pans as the foundation for equal shares and fractions.

As scientists we are wrapping up our exercise part of our Healthy Choices unit and will be moving into nutrition next week, specifically the different food groups, and how we can make healthy choices regarding the food we eat.

IMPORTANT

After school activities start on Monday, February 5th. Your child should have sent you a picture of their ASA bus (as well as taken home a hard copy of the paper).

DINNER QUESTIONS

*What plane shapes do you see at the dinner table? Can you describe the shapes using their attributes?

* What is your nonfiction book about? What information do you think they want to know?

* How will you maintain a healthy exercise habit?

* Tell me about the book "Mahji Moves a Mountain." What was the author's message?

The Week of January 29

NEWS
Next week promises to be exciting with our Mini Academies and 100th Day of School celebration!

As readers we have been busy reading informational books and learning how to use different text features to locate information.  We’ll begin our week reviewing how to unlock new vocabulary by using context clues.  In addition, we’ll begin working on how to summarize our reading.  We’ll practice identifying the main idea of a chapter. Throughout the week, students will be reading informational books to learn more about the topic they are writing about in their Writer’s Workshop.

As writers we have just finished our first informational books and students are setting goals for their next piece of writing.  With the completion of this book, we now turn our focus to our next book.  Students have identified a topic of interest and selected some books from our library and from online sources to help them learn more about their topic.  We’ll start by reading for information and identifying the important vocabulary words and information from our reading.  From there students will begin planning their new book.  They’ll start by breaking their topic into subtopics, mapping out what they already know about their topic, and then drafting their book section by section.

As mathematicians we have been working with plane and solid figures this week.  We continue practicing how to use attributes to describe plane and solid figures.  Last week we introduced the vocabulary words, square corners and parallel lines.   These terms are essential in identifying and describing the plane figures we work with in class.

UPCOMING
Our Mini Academies are scheduled for Monday, January 29.  Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to lead an activity.  These are always special events and the children love learning from our very talented parent community.

Our 100th Day of School is Friday, February 2nd.  We have some exciting events planned to help us celebrate the day.  I’m looking forward to seeing the creative hats that the children make!  We’ll have our Hat Parade in the morning before recess.  Please remind your child to bring his or her hat to school on Thursday, February 1st.  Linked here is the 100th day of school letter.

IMPORTANT
Swimming will start again this Monday, Day 2 during PE.
These are other swim dates in the semester:
Monday, January 29, 2018
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Friday, March 9, 2018
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Friday, April 20, 2018
Thursday, May 3, 2018

Students will need to bring their swimsuit, towel, and long hair needs to be tied back.  Goggles and swim caps are optional. There is no "ISKL school swimsuit". Appropriate swim attire (one piece swim suit or swim bottoms and rash shirt).  If students forget their swim gear, they can borrow a swimsuit if available or they can use their PE uniform. If students cannot swim for any reason, a detailed email or note must explain why.

DINNER QUESTIONS
What are some nonfiction topics that interest you?  What do you know about them?
What is the topic of the book you’re writing?  What text features will you add?
What shapes do you see around our home?

The Week of January 22

NEWS

As readers we our continuing our non-fiction work paying attention to all the information available in a non-fiction text (including using text features such as maps, diagrams, labels, etc.) while also tuning-in to what information we might expect to be learning from our non-fiction texts using our reader’s notebooks to document our thinking.

As writers we started working on our first informational pieces, with the aim to teach our reader’s about our chosen topic.  We planned our stories using sub-topics that we then used as the basis for our table of contents page.  In the coming weeks we will be taking this work further by including the features we are noticing in our non-fiction reading and applying these to our writing.  

In science as part of our “Healthy Choices” unit we have started learning about the importance of exercise as part of establishing healthy routines.  We took a baseline “fitness” assessment and the students have been tasked with completing various exercises on a daily basis with the ultimate goal of gauging whether at the end of this unit exercise has helped us get healthier and in better shape.

As mathematicians we our continuing our Geometry unit learning about the attributes of 2D shapes (sides, angles), how and why some shapes are polygons and some aren’t, and using this knowledge to create our very own regular and irregular polygons with different attributes.  

Mr. Alex will be absent on Thursday (25th) and Friday (26th) of January as he will be attending an ISKL hosted workshop (so the students might see him on campus but not in class).

UPCOMING

January 29th- Mini Academies and start of Semester 2 Aquatics

January 31st- No School

IMPORTANT

• Linked here is the home learning menu for January.
• The first aquatics class for the year will take place on Monday, Day 2 January 29th.  Students will need to bring a swimsuit, towel, and long hair has to be tied back.  Goggles and swim caps are optional. There is no "ISKL school swimsuit". Appropriate swim attire (one piece swim suit or swim bottoms and rash shirt).  If students forget their swim gear, they can borrow a swimsuit if available or they can use their PE uniform. If students cannot swim for any reason, a detailed email or note must explain why.  

These are the 2AL swimming dates for 2018:

1. Monday, January 29, 2018
2. Wednesday, February 7, 2018
3. Monday, February 19, 2018
4. Tuesday, February 27, 2018
5. Friday, March 9, 2018
6. Tuesday, March 20, 2018
7. Wednesday, April 4, 2018
8. Thursday, April 12, 2018
9. Friday, April 20, 2018
10. Thursday, May 3, 2018

DINNER QUESTIONS

1 - What is a polygon and how do you know?

2 - What are some healthy choices that we can make as a family at home this year?

3 - Tell me about the informational book you are writing?

The Week of January 15th

NEWS
Welcome back everyone! It was such a joy to have our students back and to hear about all of the travels, fun times with family, and special events.  We welcomed four new students to grade 2 this week! In our classroom, we welcomed Mingyo who is coming from Korea.  This brings our total up to 20 (10 boys and 10 girls).  The students have been very welcoming and I know the rest of the ISKL community will help reach out to these new families, organize play dates and make them feel welcome as they settle into their new lives in ISKL and Kuala Lumpur.

In terms of curriculum, we had a busy week launching our new units and doing some community building activities!

As readers we dove into our nonfiction reading and unit this week. We reviewed features of nonfiction texts and discussed how authors use certain features to teach their readers. Students learned how to read diagrams, maps, charts and models by paying close attention to the details of what those features were teaching them.

As writers we started brainstorming ideas for some wonderful nonfiction books. We have started planning out topics, subtopics, creating a table of contents to guide their book, and will be busy in the coming days writing them all out. Next week we will spend a lot of time studying mentor authors and strategies that authors use to teacher their audience all that they can in an engaging way. 

In science we have been tuning into our new unit “Healthy Choices” this week and brainstorming what kinds of choices we make everyday that are helpful or harmful to our bodies. Students will learn about the importance of good hygiene, proper sleep, 3 forms of exercise, healthy eating and water consumption and even mental health. This usually has lasting effects throughout the year, so please help include your child in grocery shopping for healthy food, doing fun and active things as a family and help them track their sleeping habits.

As mathematicians we have started our Geometry unit this week and students have reviewed 2D shapes and some attributes. This unit will cover both 2D and 3D shapes and attributes as well as fractions.

UPCOMING
January 15th-ASA registration opens on Powerschool
January 29th- Mini Academies
January 31st- No School

IMPORTANT
Linked here is the home learning menu for January.

DINNER QUESTIONS
1 - What is something new you hope to learn this year?
2 - What are some healthy choices that we can make as a family at home this year?
3 - What are some ways you can show kindness at home and at school this year?