We wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas that is filled with family and friends. We will see you again in the new year!
Here is a little video we made using “Elf Yourself” to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Did you know François and Isabelle could dance like that?!
For the past few weeks, we have been working on our third theme/question of the year, Que se passe t-il dans la nature?
This theme/question integrates science and students have been learning through an inquiry-base approach. This approach gives students the opportunity to ask questions based on one essential question and to be in charge of their own learning through analyzing, planning and explaining strategies.
We began the unit by asking students what they thought the question (Que se passe t-il dans la nature?) meant. If they weren’t sure, we asked them to tell us what they thought nature was and questions they may have about nature:
We grouped their ideas into four different categories: oceans, forests, animals and climate. Then we asked students to think about what kinds of questions they might have for each category:
We then put students into these four groups based on their interest and had them continue to ask more questions. We also encouraged them to share what they already know about their topics.
We asked students how they could find answers to their questions. Instead of using Internet research or asking an adult, we have chosen to give them books to do their research. We discussed how even though they may not be able to understand everything they are reading, they can use the pictures in their books to help them:
Here are some videos to support some of the questions we have been working on:
Le changement climatique : comprendre ses causes et ses conséquences pour mieux réagir (vidéo par ademe)
Quel temps fait-il aujourd’hui? par Alain le Lait (vidéo par tialela99)
12 solutions des enfants pour le climat (vidéo par 1 jour, 1 question)
Science pour la classe : Les habitats (vidéo par Science North)
Forêt pluviale (vidéo par Hinterland Who’s Who)
Les écosystèmes (vidéo par Enèlym 14)
La chaîne alimentaire (vidéo par Véronique Nollet)
Sciences – Les chaînes alimentaires (les écosystèmes et les consommateurs) (vidéo par Fred_CM1 B)
These videos can also be watched on the Music & Videos page of the blog.
We are getting so excited to perform in the Christmas concert! It’s only a little over a week away!
Yesterday, 2/3 FI did their part in decorating for the Christmas concert.We spent a large part of our afternoon working on an art project that will be hung in the gym for everyone to see on Tuesday, December 10th.
The students were able to explore basic art skills and techniques using Sharpie markers and pastels to create Christmas ornaments on tree branches.
We are very proud of them! They worked hard, listened carefully as the lesson was taught and were very respectful when observing the work of their peers.
Check out their work below:
Each week, as part of our morning routine, we ask students questions to develop their oral language skills. The questions are different every week. For example, one week we ask them to share what they did the previous night, another week we asked what they didn’t like to eat and another week we had asked them what they saw in pictures on the Smart Board.
Two weeks ago we asked them what they wanted to do during recesses and on the weekend. Usually we ask whole class and choose volunteers to answer until everyone has answered the question by the end of the week. We did it differently a couple of weeks ago. We put students into groups and in their groups they created an inner and an outer circle. The inner circle of students faced the outer circle. They asked the question to the person they were facing. Once everyone had a turn, the outer circle moved clockwise and asked the same question to a new partner.
This was an activity Mlle and I had tried during our training last June. We were looking forward to trying it with our students and were ecstatic with how well we worked. We even took videos to show how it worked. Check it out!
Friday we started a texture art project.
We explained to the students that they could use any object around the room to help them create their art. They were to use pencil crayons or markers to rub over different textures. For example, they used the brick wall, many of our baskets, their chairs, Lego blocks and even the bottom of their sneakers!
Their projects are not completely finished, but below you can see them as they begin creating their art:
Today we wrapped up our first Question d’enquête (inquiry question) of the year.
We spent a lot of time discussing our visible and invisible differences, our likes and dislikes and what makes us unique.
Our final task was to write a Qui suis-je? (Who am I?) riddle in French. We modelled pieces, did shared writing pieces together as class, and wrote sentences in our notebooks. Students were to take the pieces they wrote to write a devinette (riddle) for their final writing activity.
Mlle Nicholson took each student individually to have them create a Lego person to attach to their piece.
Today, students revealed themselves! They did a great job and we are very proud of them for completing their first big writing piece of the year.
Bravo, 2/3 FI! 🙂 🙂 🙂
During art last week , students drew the trunks and branches of trees with pencils, then traced them with markers or pencil crayons. Then they used balls of aluminum foil and paint to a use tapping technique to create fall foliage!
Check out their beautiful work in the video below:
Friday we had a few Show and Tell presentations in our class:
We also graduated our words of the week, sounds and reading strategy to our word wall:
Finally, we have been working on an art project for the past two weeks. Students created pointillism pictures of fall foliage. They did a great job and worked hard to create images using points instead of lines. Bravo, 2/3 FI!
Every week we send home a sheet called What’s Happening in 2/3 FI.
These sheets can be used for homework, extra practice and reminders. We let you know what we will be doing in math and literacy and how to help your child practice the outcomes we are working on.
If there are new sounds, you can always find them on the Sound & Visual Supports page of the blog. If there are new high-frequency words, you can find those on the Reading Support page of the blog. As we are into October, you will also find the first term report card reading levels for French reading.The math questions we put on the sheet are examples of ways you can help your child practice the skills we have been working on in class. The reminders at the bottom of the sheet are all the upcoming events, special days, and when Scholastic order forms are due.
If you lose your What’s Happening in 2/3 FI sheet, no worries! You can always find them on the What’s Happening in 2/3 FI page of the blog. 🙂
Last week our morning message was a bande dessinée (comic). We worked on this message every day. This message focused on the almost always silent sounds, h and x.
We read the message for our students, have them repeat parts back to us and by Friday we had everyone read it together.
Friday, we chose a few different groups of students to present this comic to the class.
Check out the different groups as they presented to the class:
We also had our Friday Montre et raconte (Show and Tell) presentations.
Check out Jorja and Hayden as they present their objects to the class: