Bullying Awareness Week

November 17-23 marks Bullying Awareness Week in Canada.

Here is a link to the video we watched to get the conversation started in our classroom.

Below are our thoughts on what we are going to try doing in our classroom and our school.

Brianna's Visit

Today, we had a very special visitor come to our classroom! Brianna and her guide dog Snickers came to our class to talk to us. Yesterday, our class made a list of questions we wanted to ask Brianna when she came to visit.
 Here are some of the questions we prepared and asked: When did you become blind? What is it like being blind? How does your dog help you? How long do you get to keep your dog? How do you find your way around? How do you know when it's daytime or night time? How do you cook? How do you find things in your house?

Brianna came and talked about her seeing eye dog and she let us pet the dog. -Gracie
She talked about what it's like to be blind. If you go too close to the dog when it's working it might bark at you if it doesn't know you. -Lauren
I liked how we could pet the dog. -Nathaniel
I thought it was cool that we got to meet Brianna and her guide dog. -Claudia
She answered all of our questions that we had listed yesterday. I learned that if you call the dog's name when it's working it might forget that it's working and it might think that it's time to play. -Jeremy
If she wants to find somebody she usually calls them. -Hunter
At the end of Braianna's visit she gave us bookmarks. -Daniel
She told us what it was like to be blind. -Adison
I liked how we got to pet the dog. -Braxton
The dog is really special to her because it helps her a lot. -Julia
I learned about what the dog does. -Savannah
Brianna doesn't always need the dog. When they are at home the harness comes off.-Tynysha
Brianna puts a harness on the dog. When we touched the dog the harness came off. -Ethan
The dog's name was Snickers. -Kaitlyn
We asked her questions about what it was like being blind. After, we got to pet the dog. -Michael

Brianna's Visit

Today, we had a very special visitor come to our classroom! Brianna and her guide dog Snickers came to our class to talk to us. Yesterday, our class made a list of questions we wanted to ask Brianna when she came to visit.
 Here are some of the questions we prepared and asked: When did you become blind? What is it like being blind? How does your dog help you? How long do you get to keep your dog? How do you find your way around? How do you know when it's daytime or night time? How do you cook? How do you find things in your house?

Brianna came and talked about her seeing eye dog and she let us pet the dog. -Gracie
She talked about what it's like to be blind. If you go too close to the dog when it's working it might bark at you if it doesn't know you. -Lauren
I liked how we could pet the dog. -Nathaniel
I thought it was cool that we got to meet Brianna and her guide dog. -Claudia
She answered all of our questions that we had listed yesterday. I learned that if you call the dog's name when it's working it might forget that it's working and it might think that it's time to play. -Jeremy
If she wants to find somebody she usually calls them. -Hunter
At the end of Braianna's visit she gave us bookmarks. -Daniel
She told us what it was like to be blind. -Adison
I liked how we got to pet the dog. -Braxton
The dog is really special to her because it helps her a lot. -Julia
I learned about what the dog does. -Savannah
Brianna doesn't always need the dog. When they are at home the harness comes off.-Tynysha
Brianna puts a harness on the dog. When we touched the dog the harness came off. -Ethan
The dog's name was Snickers. -Kaitlyn
We asked her questions about what it was like being blind. After, we got to pet the dog. -Michael

Sweet, Salty or Sour?

We have been learning about the Five Senses and today was taste day! We read a book called Yum! A Book About Taste by Dana Meachen Rav. Did you know that people get new taste buds every week?!! We just learnt that. Mrs. Pollock told us we would be tasting foods that were sweet, salty and sour. After we tasted the food we had to decided which taste buds we were using. We also had to colour in a smiley face if we liked the taste or a sad face if we didn't. Lots of kids didn't like the lemon, but everyone liked the Smarties. It was a fun science class!

The students from Room 24

G. and H. trying Granny Smith apples.

The apples tasted sweet after the sour lemon

Math Today

In math today we worked on figuring out if numbers are odd or even. WE had to choose a card with a number on it. Then, we looked at the number in the ones place and took that many cubes. We checked if they all had a "buddy" and if they did that meant the number was even and if it didn't it meant the number was odd. -Grade 2 students

I had fun deciding if numbers were odd or even. It was the best math class so far this year. -Claudia 

After we finished our math Lauren, me and Jeremy took our flashcards out and flashed each other. We practised 10 frames and doubles. -Ethan

That was the best math class I might have. -Theo

It was really, really fun! -Adison

We practised our skip counting by 2's today. Mrs. Pollock gave us 20 blocks each. We had to put them in groups of 2 and then write the number underneath. When we finished that we had an apple skip counting activity. -Grade 1 students

We skip counted by 2's. It wasn't that hard. -Julia

We cut out numbers to 20 and skip counted. -Gracie

We counted by 2's and glued the numbers on the apples. -Brooklyn

We put blocks into groups of 2 so we could count by 2's to 20. -Hunter

Our Day

At recess I played with Riley. We played on the swings. I had fun! -Lennon
We played a very fun game in gym. It was called Bench Ball. -Theo
I liked playing with my friends at recess. -Braxton
This morning, we had the Terry Fox run. It was raining outside so we had to do it in the school hallway. After Social Studies, we played 10-frame flash. My partner was Tynysha. -Ethan
At lunch time, it was thundering and lightning outside so we had to stay in. When we stayed in we played games like Connects. -Michael
It was a fun day at school because we went to gym and because we made fall trees. -Julia
We talked about why people celebrate Halloween. -Hunter
When it was recess, I was playing with Theo and Jeremy. We were playing on the slide. -Nathaniel
We wrote poems about fall. -Brooklyn
We just learned about what people celebrate in other countries. -Claudia
When we went to gym class we played another game called Colour Tag, but we didn't get to finish it. Also, at 1:00 we had a fire drill. -Jeremy
We finished our fall poems today. -Lauren
I am super proud of the students in room 24 at Athlone School because we made it past 10 minutes during Read to Self! They are quickly building their reading stamina since the first day of school. They are awesome! -Mrs. Pollock

First Day Thoughts on the Second Day of School

The first day of school is always filled with anticipation, excitement and a little bit of the jitters! Here are some student thoughts from the first day of school.
I made new friends. -Theo
We had Jitter Juice to get rid of the jitters. It worked. -Ethan
We played with our new friends outside.- Braxton
The first day was great because we got to do lots of activities. My teacher is the best! -Julia
We made new friends and played with them. -Nathaniel
We played games with our new friends. I had fun in the first music class. -Jeremy
I liked the "Owl" About Me I had to do on the weekend. I love my new teacher. -Gracie
We went to music class on the very first day. -Lauren
I was excited to meet my new teacher. -Brooklyn
I was excited to come back to school. -Claudia
I was a little shy on the first day. -Tynysha
I was excited to come back to school and meet my old friends again. -Adison
We had a fun first day!. -Michael
I had fun on the first day of school. -Lennon
We made a web of how we were feeling on the first day of school. -Hunter

Last Day!!!

I can't believe that it's the last day of the school year. Time sure flies when you're having fun! We have had a great year in Room 24 this year. To my grade 2's: I'll miss you next year and I hope you have an awesome year in grade 3! To my grade one's: I can't wait to have all of you back in the fall and continue to watch you grow. Thank you to all the families for a wonderful school year. Have a safe and fun filled summer!

Mrs. Pollock

A Morning at the Children's Museum

This morning, our class went to the Children's Museum and took part in a program called H2O! We had to work with a partner and each pair of students got a bucket of clean water with an animal figurine. The lady who worked at the museum went around and put "garbage"(paper) in everyone's clean water. We had to try to get it out with a spoon! We thought it was pretty hard. Next, she came around and put dirt in the water. This was even harder! The last thing she put in the water was "air pollution" (food colouring). We couldn't get the "air pollution" out because it mixed into the water. We learned how important it is to keep our oceans clean and not to waste clean water.
After the program, we got to explore the museum and play.

We got to go to this "puff" place and put puff balls into tubes! When the puff balls come down, you have to try to catch them.  -Conner
We went to the building centre and me, Branden and Kyra got to build a huge city. -John
I liked the part when we went into the train and you got to see on a screen what it was like to ride a real train. -Michael
My favourite part was the slide. When I went up the second time I went up all the way to the top and I could see Lauren going down the slide. -Jeremy
When I went on the train, I liked going on the stairs and looking at the rest of the museum. -Tyra
My favourite part was when we were at the water part because I got a little wet. -Kaiya
My favourite part was the part where you push your hand through it and it leaves an impression. -Madison
We liked the part when we climbed to the top of the slide and went into the mirror room. We sat on a ledge and waited for other kids to come and we scarred them. -Claudia and Jersey
When I was on the train I was looking at the action screen and it showed the train tip over! -Alex
My favourite part was the Water Land because I put the ball in the water and the water pressure was keeping it up. -Joonho
My favourite part was when we went to the Lasagne Lookout. Me and Alex got the noodles and we were fighting with them. -Ethan

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Over the last couple of weeks Mrs. Pollock has been reading the novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to our class as a read aloud. It has been such a fun book to listen to. Next week, we are going to be watching the movie. We can't wait! -Room 24

Our favorite parts . . .
My favorite part was when Charlie found the golden ticket. -Andy and
Lauren
My favorite part was when Mrs.Salt said "shut up" to Willy Wonka. This was during the part where Veruca Salt was being attacked by squirrels. -Alex
I liked the part where Mike Teavee got sent by television. -Jeremy
I liked listening to the book because I liked how a different person disappeared every day in the factory. -Branden
I liked the part when they went into the elevator and Mike Teavee pressed the button for the T.V room. When they got to the T.V room food commercials were playing and the kids could reach into the T.V and get the food. My mom read that part to us -Madison
My favorite part was when everyone said "Bye, bye Violet". -Tyra and Adison
The best part was when the glass elevator crashed into the house and all the old people were snoring. -Conner
My favorite part was when Mr.Wonka told Charlie that he could own the chocolate factory. -Jesse
I liked when Violet was turning blue. -Michael
I liked when Charlie opened his candy wrapper and he found the golden ticket. -Jersey
My favorite part was seeing Mike Teavee all skinny after he was put through the T.V -John
I liked the part when they went into the elevator and they saw thousands of buttons. Mike Teavee asked if their was a T.V room and Mr. Willy Wonka said yes. -Ethan
My favorite part was when Mr. Willy Wonka told Charlie that he could have his chocolate factory. -Kaiya
My favorite part was the last chapter when Mr. Wonka gave the factory to Charlie. I thought it was nice that Charlie's family could live in the factory until Charlie was old enough. -Tegan

Our Field Trip

We went to the Manitoba Museum and we went on chairs that you can pull yourself up. We watched a presentation on Solids, Liquids and Gases. -Adison
I really liked going to the Manitoba Museum. I really liked when the man made the gak. -Claudia
When we were watching the presentation the man showed us that when you mix water with an alka seltzer and put it in a sealed container it blows up and makes loud "POP" sound! When the presentation was finished, my group went to the racetrack. I built a car with my dad and I came in second place. -John
Our class went to the Manitoba Museum and we listened to a man named Andrew. He poured water into a diaper and the diaper absorbed the water. The next thing he did was he called someone up to help him mix water with a powder that turned into gak. It was really neat! -Ethan

A. pulling herself up on the chair lift.

Ready. Set. Go!

Today we went to the Manitoba Museum. When we got there we went to this room and a guy named Andrew showed us experiments. After that, we went to the Science Gallery and we went into the Mirror Room and on the chair lifts. -Madison

Today we went to the Manitoba Museum. I went into the Mirror Room and it was so confusing! We had to put on slippers to go in. It was fun! -Jeremy

The Integrated Arts with Lynne Mulvihill

On Lynne's first day we made a map of Canada and we put it on a canvas. We drew a map of Canada, cut it out and labelled it. We used blue tissue to make water. First, we crumbled up the tissue paper and then we uncrumbled it carefully and glued it onto our canvas. We spread the glue out with a posicle stick. We glued our paper map on top. On her next visit, we put nature materials like sand, dirt, moss, rocks, wheat and leaves on our maps. Then, on the last visit we made things made out of plasticine and glued them onto our map. -Alex
Today Lynne showed us how to make a log truck, a polar bear, an apple, a fish and wheat out of plasticine. It was really fun! - Ethan
My favorite part of Lynne coming to visit was when we made little figures out of plasticine to put on our map. -Claudia
I liked making the clay fish. -Tyra
My favorite part of making the map was making the log truck, the forrest, the mountains and the orchard. -Jesse
I liked it when we were creating stuff out of clay. -Aidan
We made clay animals and sculptures to put on our map. My favorite one to make was the log truck. -Jersey
My favorite part was making the polar bear. -Kaiya
Today Lynne came and we made an oil can, a polar bear, an apple, a fish and a truck. Then, we glued them to our map. We our going to leave them in our classroom for a little bit. We might hang a few up. -Jeremy

C. and J. adding natural materials to their maps.

Our finished map of Canada.

Acrostic Name Poems- Check out the video!

Michael Many Eagles

Today Michael Many Eagles came to our school. He is a Metis Soapstone Carver. He showed us how to carve an arrowhead out of soapstone. First, we used a file to scrape off the corners to make a pointy arrow. The filing was kind of hard because you had to go back and forth with the file until both sides were pointy. It was very messy because of the dust. Next, we had to carve a groove on each side or all around. Then, we polished our arrowhead with a scrub pad. We had to make sure we did all the sides. It took about five minutes! We used our file just like a pencil to make designs in the soapstone. Last, Michael Many Eagles drilled a hole into our soapstone and we tied it onto a string. The students of Room 24.

Michael Many Eagles explaining what we were going to work on. 

Working on our soapstone.

Our necklaces. We are so proud!

Sagkeeng's Finest . . .

Today we watched a performance by the Sagkeeng’s Finest Dance Troupe at our school. They have been dancing for over seven years and in 2012 they won Canada's Got Talent. They were so good! They jigged really fast. Some kids got to jig with the dancers if they wanted to. They did different types of dances. One of the dancers spun his leg around so fast. Another dancer jumped over the other dancer. They were so good. It was an amazing show! Students of Room 24.

    

Measurement

Today we had to measure a pencil, a crayon, a cue card and an eraser with paper clips. We had to estimate first and then we measured. -Connor & John
Today for Quick Math, we had to fin three things that were ten snap cubes long. During Math, we had to guess how long a domino, crayon, pencil and index card were. Then we had to write it down on a piece of paper. Yesterday we had to find a partner and we had to measure each other with a string.
My partner was Madison. It was a lot of fun! -Kaiya
Yesterday, we had to measure things that were shorter than us and things that were taller than us. -Lauren
I love learning about measurement and I can't wait to see what we are doing next! -Claudia
Today we did measurement in math. We had to measure a pencil, crayon, eraser, domino and a piece of paper. We had to guess how long they were. I got them all right. We also did double digit subtraction. They were really big numbers. I finished all of it. It is not hard as you think. First, we need to get the hang of it, but then it was pretty easy. -Alex and Jersey
Today we did measurement and we measured objects in the classroom. We were guessing how long they were by using paper clips to measure a pencil, index card and an eraser. Then we wrote the correct measurements. It was fun!-Joonho
For Quick Math today we had to think of things that were 10 blocks high. -Jeremy
Yesterday we had a scavenger hunt around the room. We had to find objects that were taller and shorter than 7 straws. -Madison
We measured how tall we are with blocks. -Brandan
When we were measuring the different lengths on our bodies (elbow to fingers, knee to ankle) we used string to measure first. Then, we used blocks to measure the distance of the string. -Jesse
We estimated how long we thought the objects were going to be. Then, we used paper clips to see how long they really were. -Ethan

Our Author Study on Mo Willems

We are learning about the books Mo Willems has written. -Branden
Today we learned how to draw a pigeon. Then, we had to make our own paper pigeon. -Lauren
We are reading the Piggie and Elephant series and the Pigeon series. -Madison & Adison We are going to read the Knauffle Bunny books. -Kaiya
I love his books! -Claudia I'm excited to learn about all his books. -Alex
This morning we were writing about the "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the bus" book. We pretended we were pigeons and we had to write a letter to the bus driver telling him why he should let us drive the bus. -Jeremy
Yesterday at school, we went on the Pigeon (Mo Willems) website and we watched a video about the App. When I got home last night I downloaded the app called "Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App."
My favourite part of the app is that you can make your own stories. I love his books! -Jersey
Yesterday at school we made a pigeon. -Joonho
 I can't wait to learn and read all the Mo Willems books! -Jesse

 

Reasons why we're excited to start blogging . . .

I think writing on a blog will be lots of fun and I can't wait to share with my friends and family. -Claudia I'm excited because I want to use the computers more and show my family what I do in school. -Madison I'm excited because I can share with my great, great Aunt Lou. -Alex I'm so excited because we've never done a blog at school before. I can't wait to show my friends and family. -Ethan I'm excited about writing on the blog because I can write about my day and my family will be able to see it. -Jersey I'm excited to go on the blog because I can write about my day and share what I learned. -Adison We're very, very excited to start our blog. -Conner, Andy and John I'm happy to start a blog. It's going to be fun! Branden I'm excited to start a blog because I've never done one before and I can write about my day. Jesse

The beginning . . .

Welcome Room 24 families to our new blog for the rest of the 2012-2013 school year! I can't believe that it's already April (even though it doesn't look or feel like it). We are really excited to get our blog started and begin sharing our learning with all of you. For the next three months, our goal will be to post on a weekly basis. Please leave a comment about our learning as I'm sure students will be eagerly waiting to read them! Mrs. Pollock