Web Publishing: Halton District School Board

Your child's agenda is also a great place to communicate with us, so do jot us a line (please impress on your child the importance of sharing your note with us on the day it is written!) and in this way we can keep the communication lines open. Please do check this website for updates on a regular basis :-)

Daily fitness and regular physical exercise continues to be a focus of our school, our Board, and the Provincial Government. Please ensure your child has appropriate shoes for walking and running as well as comfortable clothes in which to exercise.

Reporting Period 1 will focus on cooperative games and fitness with particular emphasis being placed on following safety rules during physical education. for both grades. Grade 2 students will develop their sense of place in the space around them while they exercise and learn to participate in and play cooperatively. Fitness, active participation, safety, and sportsmanship are also integral components in QDF (Quality Daily Fitness).

The Elements of Design - line, form, colour, space, value, and texture - will be introduced to the class and students will continue to learn about them throughout the academic year.

Students learn to and/or develop their ability to login to the computer with their own unique, HDSB-assigned ID and password. Students practise their skills in such computer fundamentals as printing and clicking with the mouse when opening and closing designated software. They learn such Computer Lab routines as turning the monitor on and off as they arrive at or depart from the Lab. Students will learn to make effective use of the text and draw tools in programs such as KidPix and Kidspiration.

Keyboarding skills will be developed with particular attention being paid to the use of upper and lower case letters and the keys for punctuation.

Students will be taught how to access designated websites, at the appropriate grade level, that will allow them to practise and enhance their reading and writing skills. RazKids and Wiggleworks are two favourites!

Spelling - Students will be assigned words to learn each week. Spelling tests and any associated grammar tests will be returned to students for corrections and to take home to share. Please initial and return after your child has made any necessary corrections. Sharing the sentences your child has written provides him/her with valuable feedback on their writing. High frequency words, also known as popcorn words, will also be sent home for additional practise on periodic basis. Additional list words, found in the classroom, that relate directly to the vocabulary being employed in other subject areas are on display as students need to be familiar with these terms and how to use them correctly.

Reading - Students should be reading independently on a regular basis. A levelled reading book for both reading and sharing is sent home every Friday. On Thursdays, your student brings a Home Reading duotang home with an activity, poem, or literary text to read. Look out too for "popcorn" word lists as noted above.

Students will complete reading responses (activities, written questions) to various pieces of writing shared in the classroom. Students will develop their comprehension skills through learning to use taught strategies and classroom resources in order torecognize the main idea in a piece of writing and to both retell, in the correct sequence of events, what they have been reading and to make conections to the text. There is a specific, school-wide literary focus each month.

The Grade 2s will be using materials from our the Literacy program called Literacy Place. This program is designed to encourage and enhance reading fluency and comprehension!

Writing - There will be opportunities everyday to practise and improve printing skills. Students will write regularly in their journals.There will be opportunities for both creative and factual writing. Throughout the year students will be taught and encouraged to apply the rules for capitalization and punctuation as well as to use a writing checklist in order to take control of their writing. Reporting Period 1 will also focus on personal narrative and writing "how-to" instructions.

Students will enjoy the opportunity to informally share and practise their presentation skills based on their reading, like making connections to what they read and writing instructions as well as to their learning from other subjects such as Social Studies, across the curriculum. This is also an ideal way to encourage students to think about their reading and simultaneously introduce unfamiiar authors and titles to their classmates and to share their learning while gaining an understanding of purpose, for example a stop sign, and audience, such as a person walking or riding a bicycle.

In this way students will also have the opportunity to develop their listening skills and develop strategies to help themselves to focus and listen attentively while demonstrating their understanding and ability to apply what they have learned in a real-world context.

The current unit is Number Sense. Grade 2s will focus on numbers to 100 and counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Word problems will give students the opportunity to apply their learning to real world examples.

Patterning - sorting by two different attributes, identifying shrinking and growing patterns; Measurement - time; and Geometry - 2D shapes round out the first reporting period.

The first unit is about Matter and Energy.The focus will be on the properties of liquids and solids. This unit is followed by Structures and Mechanisms. Students will learn about movement.

Students will learn about Canada and its diverse citizens including the traditions enjoyed by different cultures in our country and around the world.

Literacy Skills! - Look for a yellow Home Reading duotang coming home each Thursday. Help your student enjoy the text or poem that is enclosed. Have fun sounding out the words together and ask for a retelling in his/her own words and a connection to his/her own experience or another reading as well as events in the real world in which we live. * Please return it by Tuesday.

Levelled Books - sent home on Fridays. This is an opportunity to expand vocabulary, develop reading strateies, improve spelling and grammar, and learn about the world in which we live. Students are encouraged to read each book at least two times and discuss it with you - the most important person in their lives! *Please return by Thursday.

LITTERLESS LUNCH - Every Tuesday is Trashless Tuesday! I am optimistic that each Tuesday we will successfully bring our snack and lunch to school without making any litter. Any materials that do need to be recycled will come home for the blue box. The students are very keen to do their part in helping reduce the amout of waste produced here at Sheridan - help them make environmentally-friendly choices!