up a math unit on geometry, and we will begin our last unit on data management next week. The grade three students are currently working on multiplication with Mr. Woods-Fehr. We have finally finished our poetry anthologies and they are awesome! The students were so creative in writing their poems and putting together their anthologies. We are starting a

novel study called Sarah, Plain and Tall, which should take us until the end of the school year. Please continue with home reading and practicing spelling words a little longer; we will wrap both programs up near the beginning of June. We will have one or two field trips coming up in June, so please start thinking about whether you would like to chaperone. More information will follow soon with specific dates. 

Wow, only two months of school left! Time has sure been flying by! In ELA, we will soon be wrapping up our poetry unit. The students have done a wonderful job with their writing! So far, we have written and published haiku, triplet, diamante, alphabet, and acrostic poems. We will be learning about one or two more poems, and then constructing our poetry anthology. As mentioned in last month’s letter, if there are any pictures to decorate the student’s acrostic poem about themselves, please send them in the next week. Just remember to send something that can be cut out and glued onto their poem.

We are also starting guided reading centers in ELA that we will continue to work on until the end of the year. In math, the grade two’s are just beginning a unit on geometry, while the grade three students are learning about data management with Mr. Woods-Fehr. In science, we will soon finish our habitat research project. The students have researched their individual habitats and are now writing their reports which they will share with the class in the next couple of weeks. We also talked about creating a small representation of their habitat to share with the class as well. Please help your child create this at home and send it to school for May 6, when we will start presenting our projects. A small box, such as a shoebox would work for creating this representation. I also have a few cheesecake boxes if you do not have something at home that would work. Students can paint, build their habitat out of clay, or use toy models as some examples for their project. Please don’t spend a lot of money, but be creative with what you have at home if possible. Please include what the habitat looks like, as well as maybe some animals and plants that you may find there. Thank you for your help with this fun project!

February brings yet another change for the Grade 2/3 class. My last day will be February 15, then Mrs. Romanchuk returns after the break. In the last few days before the break, we’ll be wrapping up our Owls in the Family novel study, working on our measurement units in Math and continuing our Health classes along with Mr. Cory. I’ve had a wonderful time teaching the 2/3s. I’ve been so impressed by their growth and creativity. I’m making sure to fit some cool Art and Language Arts projects into our last couple of weeks to tap into that creative spirit. There are a few other fun events happening this month too. Keagan & Brody earned Saber awards for their great attitudes, bright outlooks and hard work! We also had our Bunch of Munsch puppet show day with the Dundurn students, and of course Valentine’s Day brings celebration and sweet treats to our room! I will miss this class and being part of the Hanley staff. I hope I’ll be able to stop in to see how everyone is doing throughout the rest of the year. Good Luck 2/3! Miss Stefanson

We’re off to a great start to 2013 in the Grade 2/3 room! Everyone came back full of energy and new ideas. We’ve started working on our student blogs we are really enjoying writing posts, as well as reading and commenting on each other’s blogs. This month in ELA we will do a novel study on Farley Mowat’s Owls in the Family, which takes place in and around Saskatoon and Dundurn. In Math, the Grade 2s are learning about measurement while the Grade 3s just wrapped up their unit on adding and subtracting three-digit numbers. Both grades are continuing to learn about pioneers in Social Studies, water in Science and the human body in Health. We’ve been working on some neat art projects, too, which you can see on our class blog!

Grade 2/3 room is very busy this month! We’ve been working through our Reader’s and Writer’s Workshops in ELA. By the end of December, we’ll have learned lots of skills to make the most of our reading and writing time. The Grade 2s are also wrapping up their Unit on Adding and Subtracting numbers up to 18, while the 3s are adding 2 digit numbers. It’s not all work and no play. With the Christmas Family Fun Festival and our Western Development Museum 1910 Christmas field trip, we’re taking time to enjoy the holiday season. We hope you are, too!

We are learning about all kinds of things already! Here’s just some of the things we have been learning about: fairy tales, the human body, communities, plants, and patterns. We are having a great September!