Check out this group's photobook sales commerical!

https://youtu.be/Q4VXoIBz8K0

Education week

First and foremost, a very big congratulations to the grade 2 students who received the sacrament of First Holy Communion on Sunday.  Everyone did a fantastic job and I could not be prouder of everyone!

As you know, the grade 2s were asked to take photos of their community during the March Break, choose their favourite  photograph, write a caption, then submit it through Hapara Workspace.  Our learning partners, the grade 5s at St Luke's in Barrhaven, as well as the grade 5s at Alookie Elementary School in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, also took photos of their community.  Just before the Easter weekend, Mrs. Latour and I met with Mrs. Bilder and Mrs. DiGaetano (teachers at St. Luke) to select photos and put together a photo book.  The majority of photos in the book are of the Pangnirtung community, and the rest are divided evenly betweeen St Anne grade 2s and St Luke grade 5s.  Unfortunately, we were not able to use everyone's photos in the book due to space/cost restrictions.

As you are aware, the photobook has arrived!  Starting Monday, May 1, we will be selling the photo books to help raise money to buy supplies for the Alookie students and ship them to Pangnirtung using our partnership with Patrick Watson, owner of Northern Shopper.  The books will be $15.00 each.  Please check out the front office to see both the crate as well as some additional framed prints available for purchase.  We hope you will support our fundraiser in any way you can, even if it is to donate some spare change. 

In language this week, we have put our focus on media literacy and creating different types of advertisements to help sell the photo books.  You may wish to ask your child which type of advertisement he/she is working on.  
In math we are focusing on using algorithms to solve two digit addition and subtraction problems. We are also working on time and temperature.  
In science, we continue to explore solids and liquids and are learning about buoyancy.  

I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday for the St.Anne Open House form 8:45-10:00am!!!

Photobooks for Sale!!!

Photo Task

Welcome back everyone!  From the sounds of things, students had a wonderful time with their family and friends this March Break.  I gave students the task of creating a piece of writing called "2 truths and a fib."  We have been enjoying hearing all about everyone's weeks while trying to figure out what 'fib' they added to their writing.  Students have been very creative!

Thank you to everyone who have already submitted their "what is community?" photos.  The ones that have been submitted so far are wonderful!  If your child is having difficulty submitting their photo through Hapara, feel free to have them email it to me (lisa.chow@ocsb.ca).  We are very excited to see these all put together into a photobook along with the photos taken by the Grade 5 students at St.Luke as well as the students at Alookie Elementary School in Nunavut.  This photobook will be available for purchase in the weeks to come so stay tuned!

In Math, we are looking at double digit addition and subtraction as well as money.

Classroom updates

We have been incredibly busy in our class over the past couple of weeks!!!  Here are a few images that highlight our experiences!

A very big thank you to our parent volunteers who came with us on our field trip last week.  A trip would not be possible without your involvement!

The 40 Act Challenge

Lent is a time when we think of others and try to make better choices. We do works of charity and make sacrifices to help others. During this Lenten season, we're challenging all the Lions of St. Anne to complete 40 Acts. We call it “The 40 Act Challenge”!

At the beginning of each day, we will read out a challenge act for you to complete at some point during the day. You may complete the act as often as you want. It can be for anyone: friends, classmates, someone you see on the yard, teachers, and other staff in the school. You can also continue this when you go home at the end of the day with your parents, brothers, sisters, and grandparents. This is a special way for all of us to come together and show how much we care for our St. Anne Lion Family. Remember, we're all in this together – all students and all staff. Let's make these 40 days an opportunity to make a difference.

Check out the following video...

                                                                                         The 40 Act Challenge

Spirit Week

Spirit Week March 6 - 10

We take the time of Lent to teach the children about being a light in the darkness. One of the ways children can let their light shine is by helping others. The week of March 6 is a fundraising Spirit week. Each student is encouraged to bring in a loonie, a toonie each day and participate in the fun. Funds will go to our Lenten initiatives.

March 6 – PJ Day

March 7 – Stuffy Day

March 8 – Jersey Day

March 9 – Lion School Spirit Day

March 10 – Tacky Tourist

Measurement Task

We have been learning all about measurement through whole group lessons, math stations and open exploration of our NPDL crate.  We are hoping to take this new understanding of linear measurement and create our own 'mini' versions of the crate.  Each student will be responsible for creating, IN CLASS, a crate of the own choice.  We are asking students to bring in materials from home to use in the creation of their crate.  As a class, we brainstormed possible materials we can use.  They include the following:

• Popiscle sticks
• pipecleaners
• lego
• straws
• paper
• tooth picks and marshmallows
• cardboard
• wood and screws ... be careful with this option
• tin foil
• paperclips
• string
• beads
• playdough/modelling clay
• books
• clothes pins

Our goal is to start building this friday February 17.  As it was expressed to students, this task should not involve having to go out and buy materials.  Be creative with what is around your home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Should students wish to hand out Valentine cards, here is a list of the students in our class.  

 Sofia

Serena

Addison

Maxime

Diego

Elijah

Jehaan

Brianna

Luca

Knox

Ethan

Lucas

Samantha

Vladimir

Jaxson

Nathan

Leah

Logan

 Cirilla

Deep Learning Update

Our Deep Learning Journey is well underway.  We had a very special visit from Patrick whose family owns an Ottawa business called "Northern Shopper".  He brought to St Anne a large wooden crate (4x4x4) and assembled it in our learning commons.  Then he spoke to all the Grade 2 students a bit about life in Nunavut and the difficulty of finding fresh produce and other supplies there, as well as the extreme cost of such items when they are available.  As part of our deep learning journey, we will be further exploring first nations peoples, but with a focus on the Inuit.  We hope to connect with a school in Nunavut and share about our communities.  We will also be fundraising to buy supplies to ship up north.  Patrick very kindly donated the crate free of charge to us.  Last week, Jay Williams (chaplain at Holy Trinity) and his 7 year old son, Charlie, came to speak to the grade 2 students about their experiences living in Igloolik, Nunavut for two years.  

As mentioned in the Powtoon video, we will be looking for volunteers who have expertise in the areas of photography, financial literacy or native art/culture.  Look for a survey and more information to come in the near future!

In language we have been reading texts about different First Nations peoples, and students are finding important facts.  They continue to develop their skills on asking questions and are now working on finding information to answer questions.

Last week in math we started linear measurement, and we have been thinking of non-standard units to measure length (cubes, straws, shoes, etc) as well as standard units (centimetres and metres).  Ask your child what they have been learning, while working through our new math stations.

PYJAMA PATROL!!!

Crate Inquiry

Students have been learning all about indigenous groups this week in anticipation for our upcoming presentation this thursday in the learning commons.  Check out our video and stay tuned to find out where our NPDL journey is going to take us.

A big thank you to everyone for returning the permission forms back to school!!!

NPDL

Today a very important letter from our principal went home about an initiative called New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL). The Grade 2s have just embarked on a journey to delve deeper into learning about community and indigenous peoples. PLEASE take a moment to watch the following video about it. Thanks for your support.

 In language, we have been reading some introductory books to start us thinking about indigenous peoples and community. Students wrote down some goals for the new year and also wrote a response to the question, "If you had a million dollars, and you could do anything you wanted with the money, what would you do?" Today we started reading a book to get us thinking about community. It is called "Look Where We Live". We will also be doing some media literacy this week, looking at advertisements and their messages.

Sacraments

We are all settling back into our routines after a busy first week back to school after the holidays. I hope you received and had a chance to look over the letter from St. Patrick's Church about First Reconciliation and First Communion Sacraments. You are invited to attend a meeting at St. Patrick's Parish Hall about preparation for these sacraments on either Tuesday, January 24th OR Thursday, January 26th at 7pm. Students and families are also invited to attend a Rite of Enrollment Mass on either February 11th (5pm) or February 12th (9am or 11 am). The scheduled date for First Reconciliation is Tuesday, February 21st at 6:30pm, and the date for First Communion will be Sunday, April 30th at 1pm or 3pm.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that everyone had a relaxing and enjoying holiday break. Students were eager to share all about the fun times they had over the two weeks. This week, students continue to challenge their understanding of Data Management. Below is a collection of student responses all about graphing. Some of these statements sparked quite the debate.

Students are starting to work on asking questions/developing wonderings while reading. We are hoping to dig deeper into student wonderings over the next few weeks.

I will be sending home assessment folders at the end of this week with some of the students work that I have assessed. Please take a look at the work, sign it and return the folder to school next week.