Mrs. Atkinson's Class

Grade two classes are diving into the new unit of inquiry, “Interconnectedness” this week. You may wonder what this unit is all about and what it means for your child. Please check your homeroom classroom blog along with mine to find out what activities and assignments students are doing in class each week. My goal is to get more photos on my blog during our class inclusion lessons that show us in action during our inquiry unit lessons.

 An excellent way to support your child at home is to study the vocabulary words of our unit at home in your first language. Your child will not be tested on mastery of reading and spelling these words but will be encouraged to use them during class discussions and hopefully in their final class projects and assessments. If you would like a copy of the unit flashcards, please click on the blue link below that states, “Vocabulary Flashcards”. You and your child can play a variety of games if you print out two sets of the words.

Our unit of study will incorporate research skills on a particular animal species and its habitat.

Our unit of understanding questions are:

How are living things connected?

Why do living things look different?

How do we know out environment is healthy?

Our unit vocabulary words are: interconnectedness, healthy, cooperation, pollution, plants, animals, insect,  living things, environment, habitat, protect, tundra, forest, swamp, lake, river, ocean, grasslands, desert, rainforest, pond, food, shelter, air, water, snow, ice, extinct, endangered,life cycle, food chain, food web, predator, prey, consumers, producers, adapt, change, omnivore, carnivore, herbivore, evidence.

Vocabulary Flashcards

Here is a slideshow that shares students doing a variety of activities that they encountered in the ESL their first week of school. Students worked in pairs to learn about each others likes. All students discovered that they liked many of the same things but also learned about their partner’s differences. Many students loved playing classroom bingo with our wonderful teacher assistant. Also, students learned how to express themselves by learning about different  feelings we have. Students illustrated and wrote about how they were feeling as well as ask their partner how they were feeling. It gave the students the opportunity to express themselves and get to know another classmate.

We had a great week in the ESL pull-out class this week. All 12 ESL students visited the my class daily this week to get to know each other, our classroom, our routines and me!

Next week, students will be assessed with the LAS test starting on Monday and will be completed by the end of the week. Students should come well rested. Students cannot study for this yet need to stay relaxed and do their best.  Each child will have their schedule of when they will attend the ESL program by Friday, August 20th.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Monica Atkinson

Dear Parent and Students,

I would like to welcome back all returning students and all our new students this school year to ISM. It is a great pleasure to work with your students attending the ESL program. I love working at this school since I have the opportunity to learn and teach in all the grade two classrooms with each teacher on a weekly basis. This allows me to support your children in the homeroom classroom and see what I need to plan and teach during my pull-out ESL class time with your children. I also get to know all the grade two students and they get to know me. I love it!

Today, I briefly introduced myself to each class so that all second graders know who I am. Many students already know me since my son, Philip, is attending this grade in Mr. Winton’s class. I look forward to sharing a story related to our theme of Uniqueness in each class tomorrow.

It may be helpful to talk about the words that will be studied and used in our current unit at home. Please use your first language to discuss their meaning so your child will understand and be sucessful in school.

The vocabulary words are: unique, positive, learning, environment, respect, responsible, differences, similarities, alike and different

At the end our our unit, we hope all students will be able to answer (through drawing, speaking, writing) our big questions of study.

They are:

What makes me unique?

What makes a positive learning environment?

How can I be respectful of others?

Please drop by my classroom in the mornings or afterschool this week or the next, if you have any questions or concerns regarding ESL in grade two.

I look forward to meeting you all in our “mini meet and greet the teacher” next week. Notes will be coming to you through the homeroom teacher.

Best regards,

Monica Atkinson

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/4434718485/sizes/s/

Mr. Winton’s Class practiced their observation and inferencing skills this week by looking at photos pertaining to different celebrations. We talked about photographs in small groups and asked each other questions to help uncover assumptions and make educated guesses.

Please give it a try yourself and let me know what you think and what questions you have.

This is the photo I shared with the class and asked the following questions.  They were:

What do you see? What do you notice? What do you think is going on? Where is it from? What does it remind you of? What is happening?

The next layer of questions help us infer further into the photo. They were: What questions can you ask about this image? What does it make you wonder? How did you decide about your thoughts on this image? Why do you think this photo what taken? Why is it important? What does the image, and your conversation with your group, help you understand about the world?

This is a great activity to do over the summer vacation when you visit your next art gallery. Not only does it sharpen one’s obsveration and inference skills, but also enhances one’s  language and vocabulary skills.

The grade two students have decided on a Creepy Crawlers Celebration theme for their end-of-year party. Each class is planning each element of the celebration. They are: food, decorations, invitations, music/dance, games/activities and costumes.

Students are making their invitations that state the date, time and venue. Our party will take place in the grade two classrooms on May 28th at 12:45-2:15. They will wear their scary and creepy costumes for day.

I know everyone will have a thrilling time with all the games and activities each class with plan. Photos to come soon!

All the classes in grade two are now fracturing traditional fairytales. You may ask, “What is a fractured fairytale?” Students have discussed and have decided that fractured fairytales are modern fairytales that have been changed from the traditional form. They may have changed the title, setting (time and place), characters, problem, solution, or ending of the story. They could be a continuation of the traditional tale. Some characters may have changed from good to evil. An important item in the story may have change . For example: The Emperor’s Old Clothes. A tale could be written from a different point of view like in: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Please ask your child which stories they have read or heard and see which one is their favorite.

We brainstormed different ways to fracture fairytales by playing a fun oral roll-the-die activity in class. Students heard a traditional fairytale and rolled the die in small groups to see what to fracture in the tale. They worked together and shared different ideas on how to fracture or change the tale.

Our next step is to write our own version of a fractured fairy tale. Students are working individually or in small group to plan and organize their stories by using graphic organizers, story maps or their own flow charts. More to come with photos!!!!

I want to welcome our new students to ISM. We have Arthur and Tae Yeon from Korea and Dhirti from India this third quarter. I very pleased to say that all three are adjusting very smoothly to their new learning environment and acquiring English at a steady, meaningful rate. All have made friends too!

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.

We had a successful day of student-led conferences on Tuesday, March 16th. The ESL students shared what they are learning and areas they need to focus on for the remainder of the year. Each student chose 3 activities or visuals that they enjoy doing in ESL pull-out class. Students shared the computer program, “Reading for Literacy”, our listening center, our calendar, our word wall, songs and poems, books, games and samples of writing. It was wonderful to see everyone’s excitement and joy of learning during this special day.

If you have time to write a comment about how you thought this day went, please do so in the comment box on the blog.