Orange Shirt Day!

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Math we learned to count by 5s to see how many columns we colored  when we counted by 5. We noticed that we only used 5 and 10 numbers." K.O.
2. "In Science we are going to do an experiment tomorrow. What will happen when we put water in a plastic glove and freeze it? What will happen when we light a candle? What will happen when we heat a marshmallow? What will happen when we heat an egg?" A.C.
3. "In Readers Workshop we learned a new game that uses the two blends 'wh' and 'ph'." A.D.

Today was Orange Shirt day. We started reading a book called Malak'wa Talks to the Loon. We will finish it tomorrow. Ask me what the problem in the story was.
We had a talk today about how the Aboriginal people were the first people to live in Canada. Then some explorers came and forced many people from their homes. This made them feel sad and not wanted. We wear our orange shirts to remind us that everyone is important and is okay to live where they want.

We have been counting by 2s, 5s and 10s and looking at patterns we find when we count by these numbers. What do we notice when we count by 2s? What do we notice when we count by 5s? Today we saw similarities of counting by 2s and 5s. I encourage you to ask your child how knowing the patterns (which we discovered today) will help them when problem solving. A good probing question is: How will knowing the pattern of counting by 2s, help you to know what comes next in this pattern.....62, 64, 66, 68....  Or....how will the pattern of counting by 5s help you solve: 25, 30, 35, __, 45, 50, __?

Reminders:
1. We would love one more volunteer for Thursday morning's field study to Prince's Island Park. If you can help out, please email me.
2. No school next Friday, October 11th.

It Was a Great Terry Fox Run!

We had a fantastic Terry Fox run today. Even though it was a bit rainy, everyone did a great job. We put all our laps together and now need to pose the problem of how many laps did Room 2 do in total? Check out our class Twitter page to help us figure it out!

3 New Things I learned about Terry Fox:
1. "I learned Terry Fox stopped his run on September 1st outside of Thunder Bay because the cancer spread to his lungs." K.O.
2. "I learned that Terry Fox ran for 159 days." M.L.
3."I learned that Terry Fox ran in thunder, rainstorms, snowstorms and hot weather. Even though that happened he still persevered." A.C.

Reminders:
1. Our next field study is to Prince's Island Park on Thursday, October 3rd.

Just a note regarding next Thursday. Our field study to Prince's Island Park is the same day as our Little Caesars's Fun Lunch. We will be back for the fun lunch so if you have ordered or would like to order the fun lunch, your child can still receive it.

Our First Field Study to Fish Creek Park!

We had a fantastic morning at Fish Creek Park.
Here's 3 new things I learned today:
1.'Today I learned that sticks aren't lazy pieces of nature. You can use them for tools, like if you could find a big, thick piece of tree and then sharpen it, you can use it like a weapon as the First Nations did." K.O.
2."Today we did our observation spot. We learned that when you stay still and you are near a Chickadee and it comes near you, it means it's exploring." F.O.
3. "Today I learned that if you take 100 chart and you colour every number counting by 2s, you make columns. We discovered a pattern that was 2,4,6,8 and 0." O.C.

An important message from Mr. Emery:

Dear Parents,

We wanted to give you a couple updates about the Terry Fox Run tomorrow. The current weather forecast is calling for 4°C and a light rain at the start of the run. Terry Fox ran through incredible adversity, including days upon days of adverse weather. It is our goal to continue the run unless field conditions become unsafe for our staff and students. Depending on the amount of rain falling at the time of the run we will likely consider a shorter time period outside. Please ensure students come dressed appropriately for this event. We plan to start running around 11:00 AM.

This year the Terry Fox Run takes on special importance to the Maple Ridge School Community. One of our new Kindergarten students has been through a multi-year battle with cancer. He is currently fighting one of his most difficult battles to date against a disease that does not discriminate against gender, race or age. Tomorrow, as a school, we will be running for Max. Despite the fact that most of our staff and students have never met him, I can attest to his incredible spirit, determination and courage. To our school community he exemplifies the very characteristics that made Terry Fox a hero for a nation.

To read more about Max’s story, his family has indicated you are welcome to visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/maxoneinamillion/.

Students are encouraged to bring Toonies to school tomorrow in our annual efforts to support the Terry Fox Foundation and the work they do in supporting cancer research. Donations can also be made directly through the organization’s website by clicking here. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Brad Emery, Principal

Reminders:
1. Terry Fox Run tomorrow. Dress appropriately for the weather.
2. Wear our red Maple Ridge shirt for our Terry Fox run tomorrow.
2. You can still bring your 'Twoonie For Terry' tomorrow.
3. Fun snack tomorrow. It is Booster Juice.

What's the Best Number to Count by?

***Please stay tuned for news about our field trip.  If you hear no news by 9pm tonight, we are going.

3 Things We Learned At School Today:
1. "In Phys. Ed we played a new game called Hounds and Rabbits. We also played another new game called Hickory, Dickory Dock. We also played Panthers and Leopards." A.C.
2. " In Math we were counting how many objects were in each bucket. When we were counting we had our journal and we wrote down how many objects. The question we were trying to answer was 'what is the best way to count?'. Some of us chose counting by 10s, 15 or 1s or 2s." E.A.
3. "In Science we drew pictures and words on sticky notes of things that were either hot or cold. " F.O.

Reminders:
1. Please continue to bring in your Toonies for Terry.
2. We still need volunteers for our trip to Prince's Island Park next Thursday, October 3rd. This


If we go on our trip tomorrow we brainstormed some things to wear:
-sweater
-rainjacket
-rain pants
-warm pants
-umbrella
-rainboots
-extra socks
-mittens

Home Reading Begins!

Today each student went home with their Home Reading bag. We went over how home reading works as a class. Please let me know if the book I have sent home is too easy or too difficult. Please remember that books do not need to be returned everyday. Only when you feel your student is ready to read it independently with confidence.

Do you have some time during the day that you could help out? I am looking for 1-2 parents to help out with our Home Reading program. This would entail having students read their home reading books to you and then helping the student exchange their home reading for a new one. Once a week would be ideal. If you could help out regularly, please email me.

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "Math - In math we tried to solve the rest of our jelly bean problem." M.L.
2. "In Inquiry we finished building our optimal communities." K.O.
3. "In Music we played a game called Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?" A.D.

Reminders:
1. Prince's Island Park field trip forms went home yesterday. Please sign and return.
2.  You can still hand in your Chickadee/Owl/Chirp order forms even if you aren't ordering.
3. Picture orders due back no later than September 27th.

Toonies for Terry

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Math we were learning ABC patterns with shapes and colors. We also had a problem: Mikayla had a bowl of jellybeans. It had 63 jellybeans. She had friends and we could decide how many. We had to decide what was the best way to share the jellybeans." A.C.
2. "In Inquiry we built optimal communities. We had to answer 2 important questions when we were building: What was in our community and Why do we need it?" K.O.
3. "In Writer's Workshop we read a book called Superworm. We were writing stories about superheroes." A.D.


Today we talked about the word hero and who we think of when of this word. This is going to lead to a discussion around Canadian heroes-including Terry Fox. Every September schools across Canada participate in different learning activities to learn about Terry, and most importantly The Terry Fox school run.
Our run will be this Friday shortly after 11am. During this week students are encouraged to bring a 'Toonie for Terry' to help support the Terry Fox Foundation and research for cancer.

Reminders:
1. Prince's Island Park field study forms went home today. Please sign and return.
2. I am still accepting Chickadee/Owl/Chirp magazine order forms. Even if you don't subscribe you can return the form to get free stickers.
3. We need volunteers for our field study next Thursday, October 3rd to Prince's Island Park. This is an AM trip only. Please email me if you are available.
4. Pictures went home today. Please return with the order form if you want to order pictures.

Practicing Sitting in Our Observation Spots

Today we had another observation spot practice. This time we sat on the playground for 7 minutes. It was much more challenging today for us to sit quiet and focus on what we saw, heard, felt or smelled. We will try again tomorrow. We are really working on strengthening our observation skills in preparation for our trip to Fish Creek Park next week.

We had a couple of inquiries into our mystery bird from yesterday. Some believed it to be a female seagull and when we compare a picture to our discovered wings, they are pretty similar!

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Writer's Workshop we are writing climbing stories." A.B.
2. "In Reader's Workshop we got a new game. It was called 'Magic E Treasure Hunt." D.T.
3. "In Art we are learning that crayon is water resistant and when we paint over the crayon it makes a nice colour." K.O.

Reminders:
1. Field Trip forms due back now.
2. Parent Teacher Interviews tomorrow starting at 3:

Mystery Number Bag

Today we looked at a bird that Miss. Moore found at her parent's house on the weekend. Today we discussed what kind of bird it could be and what happened (don't worry, no one touched it!). Have a look at the picture and make a hypothesis as to what kind of bird it is.

If you think you know what kind of bird Miss. Moore found, write it down on a piece of paper and bring it to school tomorrow.

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Math we had a problem to see what number was in Miss. Moore's bag. We had more than 2 rods, less than 8 flats and more than 3 units." K.O.
2. "In Reader's Workshop we started our four centres: Teacher Time, Read to Self, Word Work and Read to Someone." A.C.
3. "In Music I learned a game that goes with a song Brown Bear." A.H.

Reminders:
1. Please return Parent Viewpoints before Thursday so I can have a chance to read them over before Parent Teacher interviews.
2. Fish Creek Park forms went home today. Please sign and return to school by Monday, September 23rd.

Happy Dot Day!

Today was International Dot Day! We began our celebration by reading the book, The Dot by Peter Reynolds. I encourage you to ask your child what the story was about that motivated our activities around a single dot.

3 Things I Learned Today:
1. "In Dot Day Activity 1 we learned to just make one line and see where it takes you." K.O.
2. "In Dot Day Activity 2 we learned how to make things out of dots." M.C.
3.  "In Dot Activity 3 we learned what colours a black dot with water and a coffee filter. The colors were red, blue, purple and orange." D.T.

Reminders:
1. Parent Teacher Conferences this Thursday.
2. Fish Creek Field Study next Thursday, September 26th.

Orientation to the iLab

Today Mrs. Ramsay gave us an orientation to the iLab. Ask me about how to sign a book out. Ask me what a browsing bin is. Ask me what my special technology number is.

Our challenge: Learn how to spell the word which means 'to feel something'. It starts with 't'. It is five letters long.

3 Things I learned today:
1. "In Science we learned temperature.  The hottest place in the school was the north stairway and the coldest place was the freezer in the staffroom." D.T.
Moms and Dads-we need to think about WHY these places were the hottest and the coldest. I encourage you to have this conversation with your child this weekend.
2. "In Art we learned that if you press really hard with a crayon and you put puck paint on top you can see the crayon through the paint. This is called resisting." J.T.
3. "In the iLab we learned how to sign out books. We can start signing out books on Monday." V.C.

Reminders:
1. Parent Teacher Interviews next Thursday.
2. No school next Friday, September 20th.

Testing the Temperature in the School

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Math we learned how to play a new game. The game is called Place Value Bingo. We would roll a dice and put one block around our game board. Our dice would move that many steps. And then it would land on a number of some base ten blocks and how many tens and ones there were, that is the space you had to fill in." A.C.
2. "In Science we learned how to put thermometers around the school to see where is the hottest place and where is the coldest place." M.L.
3. "In Art we learned how to draw all sorts of lines, like curvy, block, swirly and straight." K.O.

Reminders:
1. Book orders due back by (or ordered on line) no later than Thursday, September 19th.
2. Parent Teacher Conferences are now open for booking online. I hope to meet with each of you!

The First Book Order of the Year!

Our first Scholastic Book Order forms went home today. All orders are due back no later than Thursday, September 19th. Ordering and payment can be done online (this is preferred) at www.Scholastic.ca  You can search Maple Ridge School and Miss. Moore to find our class to order desired items and also to pay. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We are beginning to really focus on building numbers and understanding what they mean. Today we were presented with a large pile of blocks to build desired numbers. We had to represent these blocks using pictures and symbols (what the number is in written form). We will be practicing reading, writing and representing numbers into the hundreds over the next while.

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Science we learned about a hypothesis'. They use the words I think and because." O.C.
2. "In Reader's Workshop  we learned about the vowels, a,e,i,o,u and we practiced playing  Costume Craze and Word Dots and Boxes" K.O.
3. 'In Math we had to make numbers out of math materials and then you had to make the picture of what it was and draw the number." J.T.

Reminders:
1. Parent Teacher online booking is now open.

Learning to Act, Speak and Look like a Scientist!

We read a fantastic book called Charlotte the Scientist is Squished! It introduced us to the 5 steps of the Scientific Method. It helped us to see how Scientists solve problems-sometimes in very unique ways!

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Reader's Workshop we learned about our thinking voices and our speaking voices. A thinking voice is when you read in a book in your head. A speaking voice is when you read out loud to your sister or brother or anyone." K.O.
2. "In Math Workshop we learned about the hundreds house, tens and ones. Our problem was trying to make numbers with a 7 in the tens house." D.T.
3. "In Inquiry we learned what we can take for our camping trip. We only got to choose 4 things." D.L.

Reminders:
1. Tomorrow morning (sorry, wrong information yesterday) sign up begins for Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, September 19th.
2. We would still appreciate some volunteers for our field study to Fish Creek Park on Thursday, September 26th, 2019.

What's Eating Miss. Moore's Garden?

Lots of students like to bring things to school to share. You are welcome to bring sharing to school as long as it is connected to what we are learning about at school. When sharing we will always answer these four questions:

1.What is it?

2. When did you get it?

3. Where did you get it?

4.Why is it important to you?

3 Things we learned today:

1. "In Reader's Workshop we learned how to play two name games. One was called Costume Craze  and the other one was Word Boxes and Dots." A.D. 

2. "In Science we were talking about what was eating Miss. Moore's garden and we observed slugs because she found lots of them in her garden." A.C.

3. "In Music I learned that we can play on rhythms on little cups." M.L.

Reminders:

1. Our first field study will be on Thursday, September 26th in the morning. We need some more volunteers to help us out! If you can help, please email me. 

2. Parent-Teacher conferences are next Thursday, September 19th. Sign up begins tomorrow morning online. 

3. We are still missing back to school forms and Parent Viewpoints. Please return with your child.

An Important Question for Us

What is Important To You as a Learner?

Today during our Welcome Back to School Assembly Mr. Emery talked to us about values. I encourage you to ask your child what the word 'value' means. We also were given the challenge to think about and answer the question of "what's important to you as a learner?" After the sharing of some ideas we wrote down our individual answers on a sticky note. This weekend, I would encourage you to talk to you child about their answer and why.

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Math I learned about Power of Ten cards. I played a new game called Make Magic 10." A.C.
2. " In our Assembly today I learned the Pillars of Care." D.T.
3. "In Writer's Workshop we learned about climbing stories. I wrote about the story." H.B.

Reminders:
1. Picture Day is on Monday!
2. First field trip is on Thursday, September 26th in the a.m. We are going to Fish Creek Park. If you would like to volunteer and have completed your Annual Volunteer form and have a valid Police Clearance, please email me at: klmoore@cbe.ab.ca

Open House Tonight!

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Reader's Workshop we learned that we use a lot of different parts of our body when we read like our hands, our mouth, our eyes, our brain, our tongue and our ears." A.C.
2. "In Writer's Workshop I learned about a memory pocket, a fact pocket and an imagination pocket." R.L.
3. "In Math I learned that addition can mean other words too like plus." M.L.

Reminders:
1. Picture Day is on Monday, September 9th
2. Important papers sent home. Please check backpack!
3. Our class has a Twitter account! You can find it at: MRSMooreCBE

Day 2 of Grade 2!

3 Things We Learned Today:
1. "In Math I learned that 10 is magic number." F.O.
2. "In Writer's Workshop we made invitations for a thinking party." A.D.
3.  "In Music I learned 2 new games. They were called All Around the Buttercup and Guess What?" S. O.

Reminders:
1. Open House/Meet the Teacher Night tomorrow from 5-7pm
2. A whole bunch of forms went home yesterday. Please read, sign and return.
3. Picture day is on Monday, September 9th. This is a great time to get a haircut and remember your smile!

Welcome to Grade 2!

The First Day of School!
We had a fantastic first day in Room 2. We have some new friends in our classroom and are excited to get to know one another better.
We would like to share with you what our favourite part of the day was:
1. "My favourite part of the day was when we made play dough things." A.D.
2. "My favourite part of the day was writing about what I made with playdough." K.O.
3. "My favourite part of the day was explore time." F.O.

Reminders:
1. Thursday, September 5th we are having an open house to meet my new teacher and see my new classroom. Shhh...we heard there might be ice cream!!! The open house is from 5-7pm and no booking is required.
2. Picture day is Monday, September 9th.
3. Important forms went home today in a white envelope. Please read, sign and return.