Happy Holidays

This Thursday Grade 2 celebrated the end of the semester and upcoming holidays with a class party.  The boys and girls enjoyed delicious homemade treats and drinks.  They also had a chance to play a balloon toss game and compete against Grade 1 in musical chairs - which we won!  The event was kindly organized by Mrs. Agarwal.  Grade 2 would like to give a big thank you to her and all the parents that joined us.  The afternoon was a lot of fun.

 

 

I wish you a happy and restful winter break.

Kind regards,

Ms. Christine Aberley

Ho Ho Ho

 

This week Grade 2 had a surprise visit from jolly old St. Nick.  Seated comfortably in the Literature Corner, he took time out of his busy schedule preparing for Christmas to read comments about each student from his famous magical book.  St. Nick knew everything!  For example, he knew who was kind on the playground and who needed to work on their times tables.  Overall, Grade 2 worked really hard this year and St. Nick only had positive things to say.  Before leaving, he also gave everyone a special bag of treats.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Ms. Christine Aberley

Happy Diwali!

This week Grade 2 celebrated the Hindu New Year, Diwali, also known as the “festival of lights”.  Mrs. Agarwal came to visit with us and she shared some of the Indian traditions associated with the annual celebration.  For example, we lit a class set of candles and then listened to a short story about an Indian Prince that rescues his Princess.  Later in the day we watched some videos on Diwali and listened to Hindu music, while decorating our own diyas or oil lamps that are lit by Indian families to symbolize the triumph of light over darkness.

Thanks again to Ms. Agarwal and Aarav for sharing about their culture with Grade 2.

 

Happy Diwali,

 

Ms. Christine Aberley

Mother's Breakfast

Dear Grade 2 Moms,

 

You’re invited to the ISW PYP Mother’s Breakfast on Tuesday November 13, 2012 at 8:45am in the cafeteria.  We look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Ms. Christine Aberley

Painting with Scissors

This week Grade 2 learned about the life of “The Beast” or Henri Matisse, an artist that pursued colour in all of his artistic endeavors.  We learned that one of the ways he used colour was by painting large sheets of paper, cutting shapes and then arranging them onto a canvas.  Later termed, “painting with scissors”, Grade 2 had the chance to try their own version of Matisse’s famous technique using colored construction paper.  We also listened to jazz music just like Matisse did when he worked.  The results were very colorful and full of imagination!

 

Purple Haze

Did you know that Jimi Hendrix took a colour perspective to his music? This week Grade 2 learned about the musician’s impoverished childhood in Seattle, WA and his dedication to learning to play electric guitar and making music.  Jimi believed you could paint colorful pictures with sound and that’s exactly what the class tried to do.  Listening to such songs as “Purple Haze” and “All Along the Watchtower” Grade 2 painted in the colours they heard and imagined in their heads.  

Technorama Field Trip

This week for our POI Grade 2 learned about how white light is actually made up of different colours and that’s why we can see rainbows on rainy days when the sun comes out.  We also learned about using acronyms (ex. ROY G. BIV) to remember the colours of the rainbow and then did a worksheet to help us remember.  On Wednesday we visited Technorama to explore the Colour and Light exhibit.  The class had a great time going from floor to floor and doing the mini-experiments.  Grade 2 was definitely impressed by the range of scientific disciplines available to them in the future!  Thanks again to Mrs. Yavarone for joining us.

Gals and Ghouls

Grade 2 had a spooky-scary-creepy Spirit Day!  In our costumes, we spent most of the day working on finishing our acrostic and alliteration poems using themed vocabulary and adjectives to describe such ghastly characters as ghosts, witches, vampires, and skeletons.  Grade 2 then took a break to do their first Science experiment in the afternoon.  We learned about the scientific method and then combined vinegar, sodium bicarbonate, food coloring and dish soap to make a chemical reaction.  The result was just like witch’s brew!  To conclude the day, Grade 2 participated in ISW’s annual Spirit Day parade and enjoyed the thrills and chills of the PA Haunted House.  A scary time was had by all!

 

 

 

 

Batty About Books

This year Grade 2 chose a literary theme for their entry into the ISW Spirit Day Door Decorating Contest.  Each student chose their favorite scary book from the library and awarded it a medal.  For example, we had the “Most Bone Chilling Book”, “Bloodiest Book”, “Spookiest Book”, etc.  The medals were then glued inside the belly of a black bat.   Thanks to our kind room parents we had glitter pens, silly eyeballs, and stickers to decorate our bats.  Please feel free to drop by our classroom and see our door, the boys and girls put a lot of effort into decorating it. 

 

 

 

In the end we were awarded “The Most Terrifying Batty Story Door” by Ms. Mott and Mr. Cardona.  Good job Grade 2!

 

 

Mystery Colour Poem

In Language, we are currently learning about poetry and working on descriptive writing - which links perfectly with our current POI.  After talking about the conventions of a basic poem, the class wrote their own Mystery Colour Poem using rhyming words, which required them to evoke images of their chosen colour for the reader.  This was not easy and pushed the class to think about how their colour is represented in the world around them.  To make the task easier, they were introduced to the basic steps of the writing process including idea collecting, draft, corrections, good copy and illustrating. The finished poems were accompanied by a quick painting activity and presented to the Grade 1 class.

A Colour Perspective

To begin our new POI, titled A Colour Perspective, Grade 2 began by brainstorming the different colours that they know.  As a result of being a very multicultural class, the boys and girls wrote in English as well as their mother tongues.  This yielded a great deal of enjoyment as they were keen to share and compare the names of colours in German, Dutch, and Spanish.  The finished list was both extensive and colourful!

 

 

 

 

Next Grade 2 had the unique opportunity to look at their classroom, literally through ‘a colour perspective’ by participating in a colour scavenger hunt.  Each student was asked to search for objects of a specific colour (red, orange, yellow, blue, green and purple).  We then discussed if the activity changed their view of the classroom and the overwhelming answer was "yes".

 

 

Playground Detectives

To conclude our first POI, Grade 2 had used their knowledge of anti-bullying and conflict resolution strategies by acting as playground detectives for the day.  At both recess and lunch, the class noted down any problems they saw and after considering the context, wrote a sensible solution.  This was later presented as two interlocking puzzle pieces - emphasizing graphically that every problem has a solution.  The boys and girls then wrote a set of rules for a peaceful playground which can be found on our class door and will serve as a reminder of the topics discussed in this POI for the rest of the school year.

 

 

Book Nooks

This week during our Monday visit to the library Grade 2 learned about how to take proper care of their books at home.  They watched an excellent video that modeled both good and bad choices by other children.  Below is a link to the video. 

How to Take Care of Library Books

In order to promote good choices and proper care of library books at home, each student has made their very own Book Nook that will go home on Friday September 28, 2012.  Please have your child choose an appropriate place to put their Book Nook.  It should mark a spot where they can leave their library books for the rest of the year - well out of the way of curious siblings, food and pets.   In Grade 2 we are also working on becoming responsible for ourselves and so the Book Nook has our library days and times.  

 

 

 

 

Ms. Wocke (School Librarian) and I thought it would be fun for each student to take a picture of themselves and their Book Nook.  This will no doubt inspire discussion and application of what was learned about proper care of library books at home.  Please forward any pictures to christine.aberley@iswinterthur.ch and I will print them out.  Thanks again for your support and cooperation!

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Ms. Christine Aberley

Twice as Nice

This week as part of our Project of Inquiry (POI), titled Working It Out Together, each student in Grade 2 began writing about the nicest person they know.  Key to this activity was the use of describing words, more specifically positive personality adjectives.  In order to make their final piece of writing more meaningful, students have been asked to bring in a photograph of the person they wrote about by the end of the week.  Your help is much appreciated!

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Ms. Christine Aberley

Field Trip to Stein am Rhein

On Friday September 7^th, Grade 2 had the opportunity to venture outside of the classroom and visit Stein am Rhein, a picturesque Swiss historical town.  After talking about the rules in place for a safe train journey, we rode the SBB to Stein am Rhein.  Once there, Grade 2 took a walk through the town center and it was like going back in time!  We were even lucky enough to meet some of the local residents - some loveable Swiss cows.  The rest of the day was spent at an adventure park right on the Rhein and good fun was had by all.  

 

A big thank you to Frau Baumgartner for coming along on our field trip!  Grade 2 especially enjoyed learning about the different guild signs and their meaning in the town center.  

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Ms. Christine Aberley

Welcome!

Welcome to the Grade 2 class blog!  This blog will be used to highlight school work and events on a weekly basis, as well as act as means of communication throughout the year.  Please take a minute or two to read about our class…