Perseverance in Grade 2S

Perseverance is definitely one of my favourite themes! After listening to some great advice from +Tristan Walker and Justin Snith, my students were ready to take on the challenge of learning a new task. The children were to choose a task which they wanted to learn, but which would be difficult for them. They then had to practise this for twenty-one days. Some were able to achieve their goal, while others are still striving to achieve it. Following this, the children wrote about their experiences. Some of the children are eager to share their thoughts and experiences with you in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPHymiWIi5M

The children also played perseverance Bingo, which was a great way to learn some great perseverance vocabulary. After reading several mentor texts and watching other Classroom Champions mentor videos, the children made perseverance posters depicting the saying that they will continue to use for "self talk" when the going gets tough!

 I really hope that the children have learned some tools and skills to last a lifetime! We all know that perseverance is one of the keys to success!

Community Summary

"Community" is such a rewarding theme! Children in Grade 2S had so much fun performing good deeds and acts of kindness for others! Here are some of the highlights:
1. Before the snow hit the ground, we did one last schoolyard cleanup. The children were proud of their efforts.

2. The students wrote letters and coloured pictures for war veterans in Edmonton, as we no longer have any local war veterans.

3. The children loved making cookies for the R.C.M.P. to show their appreciation for feeling safe and cared for in our community.

4. Tray cards for patient trays at our local hospital were next up for students in Grade 2S. 

5. Christmas shopping for children in need within our local municipality was rewarding indeed. The boys got to choose items for an 8 year old boy, while the girls shopped for a 3 year old girl. 

6. The children performed carols and their rendition of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" for their friends at Hillcrest Lodge. They also got to visit with them as they played a few games of Bingo. On the last day of school, the students enjoyed performing the poem for the grade one students. 

7. Quilting with ladies from our community, as well as other Classroom Champions from our school was extremely rewarding for the children. Reading the mentor text "The Quiltmaker's Gift" by Jeff Brumbeau reinforced the idea that it is much better to give than receive. 

 Some great mentor texts for Community!

8. Caroling up and down main street with the Grade 3 Classroom Champions on the last day of school before Christmas was so much fun!

Community is such a rewarding theme. I really hope that my students have learned that giving is indeed wonderful, and that they will continue to practise this for the rest of their lives.

Fair Play in Grade 2S at PPS

Fair Play is such an important part of life, whether it's at home, in the classroom, or on the playground, After watching +Justin Snith and +Tristan Walker's video, the children realized that respect is a huge part of  fair play. The children used their background knowledge to brainstorm examples and non-examples of fair play.

We read mentor texts Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Sportsmanship by Howard Binkow and I've Won, No I've Won, No I've Won by Lauren Child. The students really enjoyed these books and were able to relate situations in the text to examples in their own life. I then read several stories from Brad Herzog's Inspiring Stories of Sportsmanship. One that really impacted my students was the story of  Sara Tucholsky, the softball player that hit the only home run of her career, but was unable to run the bases after hurting herself at first base. The opposition then carried her around the bases, knowing that this meant a loss for them. We then watched the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttkBP2XDZvE, What an amazing display of sportsmanship!

Keeping with my baseball theme, the children wrote what fair play meant to them, as well as an example of a time that they showed fair play.

The children are now working on skits about fair play as a culminating activity. The children are acting out different scenarios, with the children first showing how children might react when they aren't showing fair play, followed by how the scenario might play out when fair play is demonstrated. These skits will be posted soon!

Goal-Setting in Grade 2 at PPS

What a challenging, yet fun month! We began discussing what a mentor is and the importance of mentors in our lives. We then watched Justin and Tristan's goal-setting video. They stressed the importance of setting goals in order to achieve success in our lives.

Following the sharing of the book "The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes", the children worked in groups to attempt to build their marshmallow and spaghetti tower. I was proud of the perseverance they displayed as the towers continued to fall due to the softness of the marshmallows. It turned out that this activity tied in so well with the main idea of the mentor text. They realized that it's okay to make mistakes and fail as long as you try again!

After again discussing Justin and Tristan's video, as well as watching two other mentor videos, we brainstormed possible goals that the students might choose. I did impress upon them the importance of choosing a goal that they indeed wanted to attain, rather than one that they just thought might be easy, or one that they chose because they couldn't think of anything better. I was so pleased that the students all chose something that they wanted to improve upon in school. There were several reading goals, as well as math and the desire to improve their work attention and focus during instruction.

Because of my passion for baseball, the children wrote their goals on large baseballs. They shared them with their classmates, as well as their parents. Now the work begins! I hope that the children work hard to achieve their goals. I know that they will be so proud when they attain them!

Goal-Setting in Grade 2 at PPS

What a challenging, yet fun month! We began discussing what a mentor is and the importance of mentors in our lives. We then watched Justin and Tristan's goal-setting video. They stressed the importance of setting goals in order to achieve success in our lives.

Following the sharing of the book "The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes", the children worked in groups to attempt to build their marshmallow and spaghetti tower. I was proud of the perseverance they displayed as the towers continued to fall due to the softness of the marshmallows. It turned out that this activity tied in so well with the main idea of the mentor text. They realized that it's okay to make mistakes and fail as long as you try again!

After again discussing Justin and Tristan's video, as well as watching two other mentor videos, we brainstormed possible goals that the students might choose. I did impress upon them the importance of choosing a goal that they indeed wanted to attain, rather than one that they just thought might be easy, or one that they chose because they couldn't think of anything better. I was so pleased that the students all chose something that they wanted to improve upon in school. There were several reading goals, as well as math and the desire to improve their work attention and focus during instruction.

Because of my passion for baseball, the children wrote their goals on large baseballs. They shared them with their classmates, as well as their parents. Now the work begins! I hope that the children work hard to achieve their goals. I know that they will be so proud when they attain them!

Grade 2 at PPS Welcome Justin and Tristan

Grade 2 students at Provost Public are so excited to have Justin Snith and Tristan Walker as their mentors! The students chose aspects of their classroom which they thought were important to their learning.

Writing My First Blog Entry

Welcome to the 2016 - 2017 CC Community  

Over the next year, we will be using the CC Community to share updates, monthly lessons, pictures/videos and much more, with everyone who has been invited to participate in this Community.

In this lesson, we are looking at how to write a blog post, tagging with "labels", sharing the post link on the CC Community and share with your school community.