Dear Parents,
Here are some learning tasks that will take you through to April 3rd:

Staples:   

Everyday encourage students to do 1 staple every day for at least 30 minutes from the list below: 

• Reading together. Children should read to adults and adults to kids all the way from K-12. The degree of difficulty doesn’t matter. Share the words. Look at the pictures. Talk about the ideas. 
• Working around the house. Learning to cook, meal planning, home repair, yard work, managing schedules and budgets—these are all good learning. Model how to do some, explain how to do some, and also let kids figure some out on their own. 
• Physical activity. A combination of indoor and outdoor, solo and with others, game-based and not. 

Please note that you have the entire week to complete all learning tasks. You do not need to finish all tasks in one day! Some days you may do more literacy and some days you may do more numeracy. It's up to you! 

Personal Challenge: 

Learning Intention: I can find materials that will insulate myself to stay warm outside.  

At the beginning of each week, please have a conversation with your child about setting an attainable goal for the week. On top of setting the goal, please have a conversation about how you and your child will know if the goal has been achieved. During some weeks, the goal may have a specific direction while other weeks the goal may be student driven.   

This week's Grade 2 challenge is to get outside every day for at least 20 minutes in the morning and afternoon. Remember what we learned about hot and cold temperature and how animals in the arctic insulate themselves from the cold. How can you dress so that you are insulated against the cold temperatures this week? What materials will you wear and how many layers will you have? 

Sharing your learning: By Friday, make a scientific visualization/diagram of how you insulated yourself one day this week.   

A Scientific visualization/diagram should include: 

1. title 

2. labels 

3. picture should be realistic 

Literacy Focus: 

Learning Intention: I can share my ideas through writing 2-3 sentences on my own. I can make my writing easy to read. I can check my writing for capital letters, periods, and spelling (focus on sight words). 

This week’s focus is gratitude. For your gratitude journal, define the meaning of the word ‘gratitude’ and brainstorm ideas on how one can show gratitude during times like this. (You may want to create a web of ideas or a make a list of jot notes). 

Each Friday students will be asked to write a letter to their teacher about their past week of learning. Students can select how they would like to make their learning visible (ie. written on the computer or on paper) depending on the events that took place that past week. During some weeks, students will be asked to respond to specific questions while other weeks will be more open ended.   

*what have you learned about yourself this past week?  

*what have you wondered about? 

*how did you explore this week? 

*what questions do you have for myself? 

Bonus activity: Write a letter or create a card of gratitude to someone in your family or someone in your community that you are grateful for and why.   

Sharing your learning: Please share your work via picture of work on paper, or a digital copy if it is on a device.  

Numeracy Focus: 

Learning Intention: I can accurately measure different objects using non-standard units of measurement.   

This week your focus is to practice measuring different things found in your house. Some examples of non-standard units of measurements include: 

-Q-tips 

-Lego 

-popsicle sticks 

-dried pasta (macaroni noodles) 

-paper clips 

         -body parts (hands, fingers or feet) 

Task: Choose 1 non-standard unit of measure to complete the following learning tasks below: 

Here are some measuring challenges to complete this week: 

-what is the tallest "stuffie" you own? 

-which room is the longest? 

-which room is the shortest? 

-who has the longest foot in your house? 

-if you own a pet, how tall and long are they? (if you can keep them still!) 

-what is your longest piece of furniture? 

-what is your shortest piece of furniture?  

-what is your tallest piece of furniture? 

If you finish all the challenges above, choose another non-standard unit to measure with and repeat the tasks.  

If you finish all the challenges above, choose another non-standard unit to measure with and repeat the tasks.  

Reflection questions to discuss with a parent or adult: 

-What are some of the benefits and problems of measuring using non-standard units of measurement? (you may want to create a T-chart to show this) 

-What non-standard unit worked the best and why? 

-What non-standard unit worked the poorest and why? 

Listen to the story: How Tall How Short How Far Away by David Adler 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9iRBEEgFcQ 

Dear Parent(s) / Guardian(s): 

  

Thank you for your patience as we work through some necessary planning in preparation for resuming structured learning opportunities for your child. I understand there has been a lot of uncertainty about what learning is going to look like moving forward. I can assure you that we are going to work on key learning outcomes at-home within the parameters established by the province and CBE. 

  

To help me understand your family’s access to technology, can you please provide responses to the following three questions: 

§  Does your child have access to a computer, laptop, iPad/table, smart phone? 

§  Does your child have access to the Internet? 

§  Is your only option a paper-based education for your child? 

  

While the lessons I will be providing are aimed to minimize technology, there will still be times where we will need to rely on technology as a resource. It is important that your child knows their CBE ID#, email and password. The CBE ID# can be found on their digital report card through PowerSchool. When you check in and reply to this email, I will send you your child’s email and password. 

                                                                                                                                              

Starting Friday April 3, you will receive from me a weekly learning plan for the upcoming week. Each week’s plan will highlight what we are working on, various resources and an explanation of your child’s activities or tasks. 

  

I will have the Grade 2 learning plan, for this week, communicated to families via email and blog by the end of the day on Tuesday March 31. In the meantime I encourage you to go on a neighborhood walk today. Try to bring something to record with (like a notebook and pencil). While on the walk, find an observation spot. Record what you hear, see, smell and feel. Write down any wonders you may have.  

When you return home, record the time and temperature. Keep this information handy-you will need it again this week! 

  

I will primarily be communicating with you and your child via email with all learning plans also posted to the blog. As time moves on I also intend to use Google classroom and if necessary, will replicate lessons into a paper format.  

  

Students and/or parents can reach out to me for help or for clarification via e-mail at kawatts@cbe.ab.ca. If you have questions during the weekday, I expect to be able to answer most questions that same day. If specific support is needed I can also be available to call you at a time that is convenient for you. 

  

I recognize this is new for most of us and we will get through this together. I am here for your child and look forward to being in regular contact with your child and yourself. 

Dear students and parents of room 1!

I am missing you all and hope you are staying safe and healthy.

I am thinking a lot about you and our classroom feels lonely without you!

I hope you are reading books and getting outside.

I realize that this is a stressful time for many, but please know that everyone at Maple Ridge School is working hard preparing for our next steps.

I have provided a link below that provides some ideas for at home learning that you may find beneficial.

 https://cbe.ab.ca/programs/curriculum/learning-at-home/Pages/k-6.aspx 

Take care,

Ms. Watts

Dear parents,

Today we read a book called If I Built a House. We then did our own blue print for a house we would love to build. Some of our houses had a ball pit in the living room, a flying video game room, an airport, Disneyland, a spa with Bath and Body Works product and a laser door!

We also saw our buddies this morning. We played a math game and built structures with lego!

Dear parents,

This morning we were working on adding detail to our sentences in our story writing. We took a simple sentence to describe an event in our story and used our 4 senses of sight, hearing, feeling and smelling to add detail. 

This afternoon, in science, the students had to make 2 materials provided, float and sink. They were given tin foil and playdoh. It was very difficult to make the playdoh float and it was very messy!

In math we are learning about patterns. The students are working on identifying the core of a specific pattern. Ask your child what the word attribute means.