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.