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!