Nov 16 - Nov 20

Good day parents.  I hope everyone had an amazing Remembrance Day and "long" weekend. Just a few reminders.  If you want to order Christmas cards, the green form that was sent home last week must be returned by Wednesday with payment.  Also, another form is being sent home tomorrow regarding yearbooks.  If you are interested in ordering a yearbook, please return it by the stated date letting us know if you plan on ordering a yearbook so we can get an idea of numbers. As usual, Wednesday is popcorn day, Thursday is library, and Friday is hot lunch for those who ordered.

Language Arts

Writing:

We are continuing to look at the different types of writing, narrative and expository/informative.  We are going into detail about how to write a narrative piece versus an expository/informative piece of writing.  During writing exercises, we still focus on proper conventions and sentence structure, making sure to include beginning capital letters, as well as punctuation, regardless of the type of writing we are doing.

Reading:

I just wanted to quickly touch on the home reading.  When your child has completed any number of hours of reading, send in their red duotang so I can record their reading hours.  We are now recording how many hours we can read as a class throughout the school year.  I am challenging the students to see if we can reach a specific goal of combined reading hours.  

Math

We are continuing our unit in Math, Numbers to 100.  We will continue a lesson we started last week on odd and even numbers and finish up the week talking about ordinal numbers (ex. 1st (first), 2nd (second), and so on). 

Science

We have begun our second science unit, Hot and Cold temperatures.  Some of the things we will be discovering in this unit will be; reading thermometers (measuring temperature in degrees Celsius, using terms such as hotter than, colder than), how to change temperatures in homes and buildings, insulation and insulating properties, how buildings are heated, safe practices for handling hot and cold materials, how heating and cooling materials can change them (freezing, melting, cooking, burning), and the human body and how temperature changes can affect us.

Social

In social, we will be looking at the geography of the 3 communities we are studying, Iqaluit, Meteghan, and Saskatoon.  We are looking at things like climate, land formations, and natural resources we might find.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Mr. Aasen

Week of Oct 26-30

Happy Halloween week everyone.  First off I just want to say I hope you all have a safe and fun evening trick or treating this Saturday.  This week at East, we have our picture retakes taking place on Wednesday, Oct 28th.  If you have sent in your form, make sure your child is dressed to your liking.  We will do our best to make sure your concerns for pictures are taken care of.  Also our popcorn Wednesday is beginning.  If your child brings 50 cents they can have a bag of popcorn at snack time.

We will also be doing our Halloween parade through Salem Manor on Friday afternoon.  Send your child dressed in their Halloween costume so we can show it off.  We will be having our potluck lunch as well with a wonderful Halloween dessert treat.  I will be sending out the sign up sheet shortly to sign up for either Juice Boxes, Cheese and Crackers, and a fruit/veggie platter.  Please still send a protein with your child for lunch to eat as the potluck items are considered sides for them to eat with whatever they bring.

Math

This week in math we are starting our Numbers to 100 unit.   The outcomes we will be covering in this unit are as follows;

I Can:

• Say the number sequence 0 to 100 by:
• 2s, 5s and 10s, forward and backward, using starting points that are multiples of 2, 5 and 10 respectively
• 10s, using starting points from 1 to 9 
• 2s, starting from 1.
• Demonstrate if a number (up to 100) is even or odd.
• Describe order or relative position, using ordinal numbers (up to tenth).
• Represent and describe numbers to 100, concretely, pictorially and symbolically.
• Compare and order numbers up to 100.
• Estimate quantities to 100.
• Illustrate, concretely and pictorially, the meaning of place value for numerals to 100.
• Demonstrate and explain the effect of adding zero to, or subtracting zero from, any number

Science

This week we will be finishing up our unit on magnetism and writing our unit test.

Social Studies

In social we are looking at the 3 different communities we will be studying.  So far we have introduced a prairie community (Saskatoon) and an Inuit community (Iqaluit).  The final community we will introduce is an Acadian community (Meteghan).  We have looked at the three areas of Canada that have the prairie provinces, the Inuit provinces/territories, as well as the Acadian provinces.  

I hope everyone has a great week ahead and a great Halloween Weekend.

Mr. Aasen

Parent Teacher Interviews

Good evening parents.  Just a reminder that if you have not yet signed up for parent teacher interviews, to do so.  They take place next Wednesday or Thursday, Oct 21 or 22. Use the link below to sign up.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0C44A4A629A6FD0-parent

Week of Oct 5-9

Good evening parents.  A few reminders this week.  We have picture day on Tuesday, October 6th.  Also, for anyone returning book orders from Scholastic, please have them returned by Friday, Oct 9th, as I would like to make sure the order gets put in this weekend.  I want the books to arrive in time for Halloween.  Also, Thanksgiving Monday, Oct 12th is a holiday, as well as Tuesday, Oct 13th, a PD day, there is no school.

Tuesday I am also sending home reading logs for home reading.  All the info that you need will be in the duotangs.  The reading logs stay at home until 1 hour of reading has been completed. I will check it off and return it home.

When I send home the spelling test booklets, please return them as soon as possible as we need them to write the next spelling test.

Language Arts

Writing:

Our focus this week on writing is making sure we are writing a complete sentence.  Sentences must have 4 things to be considered complete. 1. An upper case letter at the beginning. 2. Punctuation (A period) at the end.  3. A subject (Who/What) 4. A predicate (doing/describing).  When I look at the students writing I am looking for punctuation and capitalization, as well. do they have a subject and a predicate.  I let the students look for those things if I ask them if they are missing something from their sentence so they can first attempt to self correct.  

Math

We are looking at increasing patterns this week in math.  An increasing pattern is a pattern that grows.  In order for it to be considered a pattern it must follow a "Pattern rule"  The rule must be followed each time you ad a new element.  2   5   8   11   14   is an increasing pattern.  The pattern rule is "add 3".     O        O        O         O           This is also an increasing pattern. The rule is to add

                                   OO      OO       OO            a row underneath the previous row that is 1 more.

                                             OOO    OOO

                                                       OOOO

Social Studies

We will be writing our mapping test this week and beginning Unit 1, Looking at places.  We will be looking at 3 different communities in Canada that are all different in their own way.  We will look at things like geography, climate/weather, natural resources, and location. 

I hope everyone has a great week and a fantastic Thanksgiving break!

Mr. Aasen

Week of Sept 21-25

A few reminders this week.  If you have not got your Terry Fox run permission forms in yet, please do so by Wednesday.  We run on Friday afternoon.  There is some information coming home today with your child.  Also, you will notice there are three tabs  above the current post.  One of them is Agenda.  You can click this link to view all of the previous agenda messages.  The other important tab is Spelling Words.  This tab takes you to the weekly spelling words.  I am going to post them there instead of on the main blog.


Language Arts

Writing:

In addition to our weekly independent journal writing, we have started our first unit in our writing program. In this unit we are introducing the difference between Expository/Informative writing and Narrative writing.  Expository/Informative writing is a form of writing where the purpose is to inform the reader, giving them some specific information about a topic.  The purpose of Narrative writing is to entertain the writer.  Typically we use non-fiction as informative, and fiction as narrative.  We will be learning how to effectively write using both types, learning strategies and techniques no make our writing original and detailed.

Math

This week our focus will be on predicting elements of a repeating patters. We will be finding missing elements as well as repeating pattern cores. These are some of the math terms your children need to know in this unit.

Pattern Core - The pattern core is the part of the pattern that repeats. ex. if the pattern is ABACABACABAC, the pattern core is ABAC.

Elements - An element is any part of the pattern.  ex. ABCABCABC has a core of 3 elements and if we extended the pattern the 10th element would be an A.

Attributes - Pattern attributes are the different ways we can describe the elements in the pattern. ex. The pattern attributes of the following pattern (↓←↓←↓←↓←↓←↓←) are colour and arrow direction. This pattern has a core of ABCD. Red arrow down, Red arrow Left, Blue arrow down, Blue arrow left.

Social Studies

In social this week we will be finishing up our mapping review unit. Our focus has labeling a compass rose, as well as reading a map using a legend and symbols.  The students need to be able to find places on a map using directions and the legend.

Science

In science this week, we will be experiencing and experimenting with properties of magnets.  We will be creating our own magnets and testing how strong we can make them.  Some of the types of magnets we have learned about are temporary magnets, electromagnets, natural magnets and man made magnets.  We have also learned that magnets have two "poles", a north and a south pole.  Opposite poles attract and like poles repel.  Poles, attract, and repel are terms that we will be using lots in this unit.


The students already know, but I will not be here on Wednesday this week as I am attending a PD session.  I hope everyone has a great week. Happy first day of Autumn on Wednesday, Sept 23.

Mr. Aasen

Week of Sept 14-18

Good afternoon  everyone. I hope you had a fantastic weekend.  We have another short week this week (meaning the students) as there is no school this Friday, Sept 18, for students. Also a reminder that our library day is Thursdays, so if you could make sure that if your child wants new books they must return their old books on Thursday.


Language Arts:

Spelling

Our spelling words for this week are as follows;

let   his   had   ask   old   took   also   sat   fell   get

Also as there is no school Friday, we will be writing our spelling test on Thursday.

Reading

We are going to be implementing the Daily 5 program in many of the classroom here at East Elementary.  Essentially this means that every day, students will engage in 5 different activities each day.  One of these activities is called "Read to Self".  Reading every day helps us to build reading stamina.

Math:

We just started our unit on patterns.  A note from our math program went home regarding the learning goals for this unit.  They are as follows;

• I can describe, extend, compare, and draw repeating and increasing patterns.
• I can create new patterns.
• I can sort a set of objects, using 2 attributes, and explain the sorting rule.

Science:

We have begun to look at the properties of magnets.  We started talking about how magnets have 2 poles and that when you put 2 poles together they either attract or repel, depending on which 2 poles you put together.  We have also looked into what materials magnets are attracted to.  Students will be getting some more opportunities to work with magnets and explore their properties in more detail.

Social:

We are working towards finishing up our mapping review unit.  The students have been working on directions (a compass rose) as well as symbols we may find on a map or in real life (a legend) that will give us information about a place.

I hope everyone has a great week and a wonderful "3 day" weekend.

Mr. Aasen

Week of Sept 8-11

Good day everyone.  Welcome to another school year at East Elementary. It has been an exciting time here in Classroom 2A getting pumped up for a great year of learning.  There is lots to take in for the students and these first couple of short weeks there will be lots of working on routines and getting back onto positive habits.


There have been a couple of forms to go home already.  A welcome back letter stating lots of important info regarding class 2A.  There was a package with many forms that needed to be signed regarding things like FOIP and being able to share information and post pictures of students.  This needs to be returned as soon as possible.  Also, hot lunch will begin in October every Friday.  The form informing you how to order hot lunch went home today.

Language Arts:

Spelling

 This weeks spelling words are as follows;

fox   cut   hill   wind   put   all   moon   saw   tell   new

The spelling tests will be conducted every Friday.  I encourage you to practice the spelling words with your child as often as you can.

Reading and Writing

Reading and writing are very important skills to have as you grow.  I have already began to assess where each students reading and writing abilities are.  I will be conducting some more assessment  this week and in the coming weeks to gauge what our focus needs to be on.

Math:

This week in math we will be doing addition and subtraction review.  Your child may come home with some questions that need to be completed.

Science:

We have started our first unit in Science, Magnetism.  The students got to explore the classroom, "sticking" magnets to things, to get an idea of some of the properties of magnets.  We will be getting into more details this week.

Social:

We are starting a review unit in mapping, to get the students more comfortable using maps before we delve into our first unit, Exploring Places.



I hope you have a wonderful week.  Do not hesitate to phone or email if you have any issues or need anything.

Mr. Aasen