Mrs. Hamp’s Grade 2 class was given some Frogspawn and put it into an aquarium in our room. We have been watching them hatch into tadpoles and grow over time.

We are learning about the life cycle of a frog. The life cycle of a frog starts with an egg and goes into a tadpole, a froglet and finally turns into a frog. Frogs are from the Amphibian animal group.

Frogspawn need: water and air

Tadpoles need: food (lettuce, fish food, ball of jelly), air, shade, clean water, warmth

Froglets need: food (lettuce, fish food), air, shade, clean water, warmth

Frogs need: air, food (bugs), bigger tank, less water, lily pad or rock above water, shade, warmth

By: Mrs. Hamp’s Grade 2 class

IMB has been exploring objects and materials on planet Earth! 

Students explore building with wood!

Students explore different metal objects. 

Students build structures with plastic. 

Paper is great for stacking and making paper airplanes!

Students sort and compare glass materials. 

In addition to the exploring objects and materials within our classroom, 1MB went on an walk outdoors and captured pictures of various items around the school yard. Students realized that everything they touch and play with is made of some combination of materials. We ended up studying the other planets in our solar system through research, books and a visit from the Star Dome planetarium. We decided to sort the objects we found outside and create 5 new planets!! Introducing planet Wood, planet Plastic/Rubber, planet Glass, planet Metal and planet Paper!

In Kindergarten, we have been talking about how objects can be compared using the same attribute, such as length (height), mass (weight), and volume (capacity). We can integrate these concepts into our play by filling and pouring sand into different containers, making sand castles, building towers with various materials, comparing objects using a bucket balance scale, just to name a few.

Not too long ago we had a construction site in our dramatic play, where students were building different types of structures. Students were describing their structures as “taller”, “shorter”, and “almost the same” when they were asked to compare.

The students also worked together when building and found great accomplishment in their structures.

In grade three science students have learned about materials and structures. Their final project for this unit was to construct a Truss bridge. They build the bridges in teams or on their own, and carefully thought about the different supports that would strengthen their bridges. We also integrated math into our project by weighing the bridges and measuring their length.

In grade three students are learning about multiplication for the first time! To explain this concept the students are asked to create arrays on the learning carpet. Arrays are useful ways to represent multiplication and create a visual equation. Students can count the squares to find the answer of the equation. In this example, students also created a pattern in their multiplication array! 

This month we have been learning about lots of countries! As a class we’ve been to Japan, Brazil, Germany, and India. We had guests in to teach us about these countries. We will visit Thailand soon. We have made fake passports with flags of the places we’ve been to. In Japan we learned students call their teacher a “sensei.” In Brazil we learned that some areas only get 1 month of rain a year. In Germany we learned Grade 1 students receive a Schultuete on their first day of school. It is filled with gifts. In India we learned all kids go to university. We can’t wait to keep learning more about the world! 

-Written by 3ED Students 

-Written by 3ED students

In science, we have been learning about our five senses and exploring ways that we use them in our daily lives.  We have been focusing on our sense of sight and how it can help us learn about the world around us and how it can protect us from danger.  At our dramatic play center, students have had the opportunity to become Optometrists!  They have had so much fun role-playing as they test each other’s eyesight using reading charts with numbers, dot patterns, ten frames, rekenreks and high frequency words.  Students are talking about the different parts of the eye and their functions as they decided whether a patient needs a prescription for glasses.  Trying on the actual glasses has been a highlight for the class as they choose the type of frame they want to purchase. 

Our class has been studying fairytales this month. We learned about the common characteristics of fairy tales. We learned that they often start the same way.  They can be scary but there are good and bad characters in each story. It helps to know that the good characters always win at the end. We also learned that they have similar settings like castles, forests and farms that remind us of long-ago times from our Pioneer studies.

The students then used reader’s theatre to practice reading with expression and presenting for an audience. In groups of 4 or 5 they each prepared a story and presented it to our Kindergarten buddies.

To make it more real each student made a headband mask of their character to show which character they were presenting. They used their creative ideas to make their face as interesting as they could.

This month has been an exciting time in 4KD. One way we celebrated I love to read month as a school was by having guest readers come visit. In our classroom, we had visits by the Winkler police, parents, Mrs. Dyck, and Mrs. Vallelly. Each of the other grade 4 teachers also came by to share their favourite books. Another way we celebrated, was having a Character Dress up Day. Our class had Popeye, a ninja, Simba the lion, a few princesses, as well as Waldo! The grade 4s had some additional events this month that added to the overall excitement. We went skating at the Winkler arena, and also were able to go to the Hometown Hockey kick off event at GVC. Both were fun outings, and a great way to build community. What a great month!