Cameron's Scientific Investigations!

Cameron joined Mrs. Ayafor's class this afternoon for Scientists in Schools (our other 2's did this workshop last year in Ms. Morris' class). He investigated how simple machines enable us to do stuff using less effort. He came back with a bag of goodies, including a handmade car with four wheels and two axles!

Terrific Triangles

Today during Science class, we compared the strength of triangles and rectangles. Alice started us off by testing the strength of a triangle...

 

It kept its shape even when she pushed on its vertices.!

Sofia then tested the strength of a rectangle...

It did not perform so well! The square could not withstand Sofia's intense strength; it briefly became a rhombus on its way to being squished!

We then reinforced the square...

It did not change shape despite Matteo's muscular force...Matteo exclaimed, "It's because it is now made up of two triangles!"

Then we reinforced it again...

 

The square retained its shape and now contained four triangles!

We then saw a video which demonstrated this exact concept being used to strengthen the Eiffel Tower....so cool!

Next time you are out with your child, check out your surroundings....can he or she spot any triangles strengthening a structure?

Terrific Turtles!

This morning the students had to replicate a turtle made with 2D shapes. They then had to make the same turtle using the least number of 2D shapes.

The initial turtle used 27 patterning blocks:

Ms. M & Ms. Guerra at their teacher desk.

Here are a few pictures of some groups who managed to make the turtle with the least number of blocks. This activity was great for discovering that larger shapes are made up of smaller shapes! Max and Emily realized that they could whittle down their number of shapes by replacing a rhombus and a triangle with 1 trapezoid. The following groups managed to make the turtle with just 15 blocks! Impressive!

The cousins got to be a team today!

Talking Animals!

This afternoon, the students had a hoot imagining what the animals in these fun pictures could be thinking or saying. We have been learning about the importance of dialogue in stories as well as the grammatical rules for quotation marks. The students had the chance to develop these skills while using their imaginations...

"Frog-O-Phone!"

Lucas and Alice were among a few students who shared some positive news with the class using the Frog-o-phone today. It's the stick from our class frog that we use as a talking stick. Alice told us about her adventures at the Museum of Science & Technology (Brye-Anna went there too!) and Lucas is seriously pumped about his new PS4 game!

Week at a Glance

Weekly Precept: Character is doing the right thing when nobody is watching." J.C. Watts

Week at a Glance

Joshua's Send-Off!

Joshua arrived to homemade farewell cards from Brye-Anna and her sisters - complete with the Ghanaian flag!

The boys getting down at our party! The purple splotches are the disco lights!

We'll miss you, Josh!

Joshua's Last Day with the 2/3 Class!

Tomorrow will be our cherished Joshua's last day at SMY! Joshua and his family are moving back to Ghana this coming weekend.

We will miss him hugely as he has so many good friends at our school. His warm smile, kind heart and awesome sense of fun bring so much joy to our class. His future Grade 3 classmates and teachers in Ghana are so fortunate! We will have a class "party" last block tomorrow to give the kids a chance to spend their last hour with Josh socializing and having fun! We will definitely stay in touch with Josh via e-mail and the class blog!

Boomwhackin' Percussionists!

This afternoon, each musical group presented their song using their Boomwhackers for the rest of the class. They were fabulous! Here are the links to each group's songs:

Alice, Lucas, Matteo & Lilah!

Cameron, Max, Garven & Sofia!

Neela, Dontay & Braeden!

Breeona & Joelle!

Goewra, Olivia & Brye-Anna!

Hannah, Emily & Joshua!

A Boomwhackin' Good Time!

Over the past couple of weeks during music class, the students have been learning how the time value of different notes (half notes, quarter notes, eighths notes and rests) can be used to create different rhythms. Here are a few sample rhythms that the students clapped in class:

Once they mastered clapping rhythms, I introduced the Boomwhackers. Today the students were put into small groups and given music to a simple melody. Each child was assigned two notes from the scale (C,D,E,F,G,A,B) to play in their song. Tomorrow each group will present for the class.

Matteo, Lilah, Lucas and Alice serenaded the supply librarian with their version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. She was impressed!

Braeden, Dontay and Neela rocked I'm a Little Teapot!

Here is a link to a video of Olivia, Goewra and Brye-Anna performing a rousing rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!

Outdoor Gym!

We took advantage of the sunny and relatively warm winter day today to take our gym class to the hills on the Junior Yard. Check out these smiles!

Geometry Launch!

Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring 2-D Geometry in Math. To launch the unit, the students made a variety of animals, objects and landscapes using hexagons, rhombuses, triangles, squares and trapezoids!

Week at a Glance

Collaborative Cuties!

Neela and Alice collaborated beautifully together today as they problem-solved a measurement question which required them to compare the perimeters of two different shapes. They were so consumed by their work that they didn't seem to notice the paparazzi clicking away!

Bon Voyage!

 Alrizha enjoyed a quiet moment this morning before her 2/3 classmates arrived to school. She was reading The Most Magnificent Thing, a book I read aloud to the class yesterday. It is a story with a wonderful message of perseverance and creativity. We sure will miss Magnificent Alrizha during the next four weeks while she visits her extended family in the Philippines!

Popcorn Thursdays!

The "WE Team" will be selling popcorn tomorrow for $1 to raise money for global initiatives.

Area and Perimeter Creatures!

Today, the students who were all caught up with their procedural writing and 2018 goal setting, designed creatures (animals, robots, emoticons) using grid paper. Once they completed their designs, they had to calculate the perimeter and area of the head, body, legs and arms of their creation. I noticed that the students are quite proficient at calculating area but still need a bit of practice at calculating the perimeter of irregular shapes. We will project some of their creatures on the Smartboard tomorrow and work on this skill as a class. 

Hannah made a cat named Pearl.

Meet DJ Robot, Alrizha's colourful creation.

Sofia and Neela pose with Frank and Bella Bear. Brye-Anna and Cameron are holding Valentina and Kucashni!

Bella Bear up close.

Frank busting a dance move!

Catching Up...

It was so terrific to spend time with the 2/3 kids today! Their enthusiasm and excitement about the snow and warmer weather was contagious! This morning we had a Sharing Circle. Those who wished could share a few special memories from their Christmas Holiday but only when they were holding our class frog - our new talking stick!

Week at a Glance!