Chers familles de Division 6,
It's already our last week before Spring Break! In Language Arts, students are practicing their French oral language and public speaking skills as they present their family artifact and speech (due tomorrow which is Tuesday, March 8th). In reading, students continue daily individual reading and a weekly small group guided reading session. Students are encouraged to go to their local public library and continue to read often during the holidays. In writing and grammar, grade 2's continue to practice how to read common sight words using phonics. All students are learning how to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense that end in -ir and -re. They are regular because many -ir and -re ending verbs are conjugated with the same endings and therefore can be memorized. For example, regular -ir verbs include: choisir, finir, réussir, obéir, grossir, maigrir. Regular -re verbs include: attendre, prendre, répondre, vendre. Note that the verb avoir ends in -ir, and aller ends in -er, but are irregular verbs because they do not follow the regular -ir and -er verbs endings, therefore they have been/are being memorized separately.
It is highly recommended that by grade 4, students own their own French verb conjugation reference guide, which is called a bescherelle. It is published by Éditions Hurtubise and "L'art de conjuguer" is the one with 12,000 verb conjugations in all tenses (present, past, future, etc). Most bookstores sell them and they are an invaluable writing tool. Below is an example of a regular -ir and -re verb in the present tense.
Choisir
Je choisis
Tu choisis
Il/Elle choisit
Nous choisissons
Vous choisissons
Ils/Elles choisissent
Attendre
J'attends
Tu attends
Il/Elle attend
Nous attendons
Vous attendez
Ils/Elles attendent
In Math, grade 2's this week are learning to add large numbers to 100 using the regrouping technique (eg. 23 is 20+3 or 10+10+3). In grade 3, students are continuing to learn about basic fractions with an introduction to decimals. We are comparing decimals to money by learning to convert a fraction with 10 parts into a decimal (eg. 3/10 equals 0.3).
In English, students are completing their grammar booklet by writing sentences using various parts of speech (subject, verb, adjective, adverb, ect). This booklet will come home and can be completed and returned to school for as sticker if parents/guardians can view it to make sure it is complete before coming back to school. Students have completed their novel study of Stuart Little, yay! Now we will begin reading short stories more independently and answering comprehension questions. This week, students will be introduced to the story of Flat Stanley, a little boy who was flattened by a bulletin board, who can now visit his friends by traveling by mail in an envelope. Look out for a description of our Grade 3 Flat Stanley adventure project coming home for Spring Break.
In Science and Art, students will be continuing their wildflower pastel drawings they began last Friday. We are learning to identify many local flowers and are discussing the importance they play in our local ecosystem. When we get back from Spring Break, we will plant vegetables seeds and watch them sprout in the classroom. In Social Studies, we are continuing our Canadian province book tour and are now in the Prairies. Last week we learned all about our maritime provinces, along with Quebec and Ontario. Many personal connections were made with our family artifacts, such as a war medal and maple syrup bucket from Ontario and an old family photo from Quebec.
Friday is our last day before Spring Break and is crazy hat and hair day! Students are encouraged to wear something creative on their heads and bring an optional donation for our chosen charity, War Amps. Students will also be bringing home term 2 report cards. Parents are asked to sign and return the empty envelope to school after Spring Break, for term 3 reports.
Many thanks for all your support at home for term 2. Have a wonderful holiday, St-Patrick's Day and Easter weekend. See you back at school Tuesday, March 29th 2016!
Mme Garcin