We are preparing our hearts for the
birth of Jesus!!!

In Language, we are working on independent descriptive writing assignments on animals.

We will also continue to work on homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently). Our focus on this upcoming weeks word wall words will be two, to and too. 

Please continue to practice homophones at home. 

See the following link for online practice on IXL language.

https://ca.ixl.com/ela/grade-2/homophones-with-pictures

 

In Math, we are beginning our unit on 

Measurement.

Measuring Using Many Centimetre Units

You can measure in centimetres just like you do with non-standard units: line the units up, and see how many fit in a particular length.

This pencil is 16 cm long.

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Measuring Using a Centimetre Ruler

It is inconvenient to line up so many small units to measure in centimetres, but a ruler solves this problem. A ruler allows you to measure all the way from 1 cm to 30 cm with just one tool.

Steps to measure with a ruler:

1.	Line up the ruler against the item you want to measure.
2.	Make sure one end of the item you are measuring is at the 0 mark on the ruler.
3.	Read the number at the other end of the item. This tells you how long the item is. It also tells you how many centimetre cubes you would need to line up to make that length.

This sticky note is a little more than 7 cm long.

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Measuring Using a Metre Stick

The metre stick is also a ruler, but it is only 1 metre long. There are two ways you can measure a long length with a metre stick:

•	You can line up many metre sticks.
•	You can place a metre stick at the beginning of the length, mark the end of the metre stick, move the metre stick to start from that point, and do this repeatedly. You will need to keep track of how many times you place the metre stick to know how many metres long the length is.

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Helping Your Child

Take the opportunity to have your child watch you use rulers or metre sticks to measure. You could also encourage your child to show you how to measure with a ruler.

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Notes

It is important for young learners to use rulers with only centimetre markings, not millimetres. Students will not be introduced to millimetres in Grade 2, and they may find the additional markings confusing.

Although it is possible to measure a length by starting at a number greater than 0 on the ruler and subtracting that number from your result, it is best for students at this level to be consistent and always start at 0.

This pencil is 16 cm long.

1.

Line up the ruler against the item you want to measure.

2.

Make sure one end of the item you are measuring is at the 0 mark on the ruler.

3.

Read the number at the other end of the item. This tells you how long the item is. It also tells you how many centimetre cubes you would need to line up to make that length.

This sticky note is a little more than 7 cm long.

•

You can line up many metre sticks.

•

You can place a metre stick at the beginning of the length, mark the end of the metre stick, move the metre stick to start from that point, and do this repeatedly. You will need to keep track of how many times you place the metre stick to know how many metres long the length is.

St Rita is holding its 8th Annual White Elephant Sale on Friday December 6th. 

All money raised will be donated to CHEO and Children at Risk. 

This event has been very successful over the past 7 years. Last year

alone, St. Rita raised $1350!!! The sale has only been possible with the

help from the St. Rita community and friends. 

Listed below are examples of items that can be donated. 

Toys (all pieces should be included), stuffed animals (please ensure they

are clean),  books (children and adult books) , household items (frames,

mugs, decorative plates, tea towel, costume jewelry etc), holiday

decorations (ornaments, candles, mugs, baskets, figurines etc...).

Please NO clothing. 

All items will be sold for between 25¢ and $5.00, most will be under $1.00.

We will also have items up for raffle. Raffle tickets will be 25¢ or 50¢ each. 

This is an excellent opportunity for students to buy gifts for family and

friends and to help out 2 wonderful charities! Thank you for your generosity.

Merry Christmas, 

The Charities Committee 

MATH THIS WEEK...

Coming Up With a Question

People normally collect data about something that has made them curious.

Likewise, students should be given opportunities to collect data about things they are

 interested in knowing about.

They might want to know about other students’ favourite colours or activities. They might 

want to know how their classmates feel about some potential activities at school. They 

might want to know whether there are more people or objects that have a certain 

characteristic (e.g., brown eyes) than another (e.g., any other eye colour).

Sometimes you have to ask a question to collect data (e.g., What is your favourite song?). 

But sometimes you can just look at the people or objects to collect data and find the answer 

to your question (e.g., Count how many people are wearing white).

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Asking an Appropriate Question

When asking a question in a survey, it helps to make the question as simple and direct as 

possible. This usually makes it easier to collect a set of data that is accurate and simple to 

keep track of.

For example, to find out about favourite animals, it might be better to give people a choice

 among a few animals, rather than just asking for favourites. Otherwise, it would be hard to

 keep track of all the possible answers.

In Grade 1, students asked mostly questions that could be answered by “yes” or “no”; in 

Grade 2, they may ask questions that have a few more possible responses.

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Keeping Track of Collected Data

Students might use tally marks in different categories to keep track of possible answers, or

 they might simply put a stick in one pile or another depending on the answers they get to

 a question.

It is much easier to keep track of answers to a question such as “Would you 

like to join a soccer team?” than a question such as “How much do you like playing sports?”

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Helping Your Child

Share with your child questions that are coming up in your community or the media.

For example,

•	Do you think we need to lower the speed limit on this street?
•	Do you think that the swimming pool should be opened for more hours?
•	Should older kids be allowed on the swings or should just younger kids be allowed?

Talk with your child about how that kind of information is collected.

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Definitions

data: facts or information

survey: a record of observations gathered by asking questions or interviewing people

LANGUAGE - DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

Check out what we are working on in writing.

As a class, we read about The Inuksuk.

Then, we pulled out important facts from the text:

We took the information and used it in our 

descriptive writing.

 

Next, we read a book about chameleons. We pulled out

important facts as a class. Now, the students are working 

with partners and writing about chameleons. 

Coming up in Math this week:

What Is Sorting?

You sort when you organize things into different groups.

For example, if you are looking at clothes, you might sort 

the clothes into shirts and other kinds of clothes. You can use 

a sorting circle to show your sorting.

Items that fit the sorting rule are shown inside the sorting

 circle, and items that do not fit the rule are shown outside 

the circle.

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How Can You Use Two Sorting Rules at the Same Time?

Objects can be sorted in different ways. Sometimes, two 

sorting rules can be used at the same time.

For example, shapes can be sorted by whether they are round

 and by whether they are blue. Some shapes are round 

and blue, some are just round, some are just blue, and some 

are neither round nor blue.

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How Can You Show the Results of Your Sorting?

When you sort with two sorting rules, you can use a 

Venn diagram with two overlapping circles to help show

 what you did.

There are 4 separate sections in a Venn diagram with two 

overlapping circles:

•	Things that fit one rule but not the other go inside one  circle only.
•	Things that fit both rules go inside the overlapping  part of the circles.
•	Things that don’t fit either rule go outside the circles.

For example, in the Venn diagram below, some toys have

 been sorted by whether they are used by 

toddlers and whether they are toys you ride.

It is okay for a Venn diagram to have an empty section. 

For example, if you use a Venn diagram to sort animals 

and plants, there would be nothing in the overlapping section.

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Helping Your Child

Encourage your child to tell you different ways you 

might sort items found at home, such as clothing or food. 

You can even have your child consider more than one idea

 at a time, for example, whether the food goes into the fridge

 and also whether you bought it at the grocery store.

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Definitions

sort: to put together things that belong with one another 

for some reason

sorting rule: the rule you use to put certain items together

 when you sort them

Venn diagram: a diagram, often one or more circles, 

showing how a set of items might be sorted by different 

attributes; when circles overlap, items belong in one of 

the two circles, in the overlapping section, or outside both 

circles

CHEW GUM FOR $1 TOMORROW

Rocks and Rings

The grade 2's had a great time learning how to play 
'Rocks and Rings'.
Please ask them about it!!