Yesterday, we made snow scenes using white chalk on blue paper. Here
they are
Author Archives: mcgaughey
Welcome to my Bayview Website
Hello. I’m Mr McGaughey.
This year I am teaching Grade 1 at Bayview Public School in Midland
Ontario. I taught grade 2 at Parkview school last year. I’ve had a class
blog and webpage for about 4 years. I ran into some difficulties setting
up my webpage this year. I did not have a computer in my classroom until
almost November. Then I could not find usable backups of my website from
pas t years. The most recent files I could find were from November 1,
2006 so I’ve lost most of my grade 2 pages from 2006/2007.
So, here we go. Welcome to my classroom on the web. As the days and
weeks progress I will use this space to provide classroom news and
showcase student work.
Mr. McGaughey
Letter to Russ
By Bailey, Alijah, Trevor, Kurt and Maddie
Dear Russ:
Do you want to come to our school? It would be nice. Bring your
equipment. We are excited. Are you bringing anyone? We will do it in
the gym. Please bring your guitar. Will you play, It’s Raining Again?
From,
Mr. McGaughey’s Class
Huronia Centennial Elementary School, Elmvale, Ontario.
May Newsletter
Dates to remember in our class
Monday: Poetry books back to school, Gym
Thursday: Gym. Library—Bring your library book.
Friday: Poetry books go home.
May 3: Hands on Science: Activities in the Gym. The cost for this
program is being covered by the school
May 9: Seussebration in the gym. 2pm
May 21: Victoria Day—No School.
Science
After we complete our unit on simple machines and movement, we will do a
unit on Animals. Your child will be studying the different classes of
animals, their habitats and the effect that humans have on wildlife.
Your child will also complete a brief research project about a specific
animal. We will include the information from their research project on
our class web page.
Language Arts
During the month of April, we have been doing an author study of Dr.
Seuss to prepare for a special primary literacy celebration on May 9 at
2pm in the gym. You are welcome to attend for a presentation of
readings, songs, and skits with a Dr. Seuss theme.
Math Chapter 13- Probability
Probability is the likelihood or the chance that something will happen.
In Grade 2, students predict whether things are likely or unlikely to
happen. We will be making predictions about outcomes of games or
experiments, trying them out, and then checking the results. Students
will learn to use what they have observed to help make predictions about
what might happen if they tried the same activity again. Try some of
these activities with your child:
• Look for ways to use probability language at home. Take turns
completing sentences that start with “It’s impossible that …,” “It’s
unlikely that …,” “It’s likely that …,” and “It’s absolutely certain
that ….” Other probability words are possible, chance, and probably.
• When you’re reading together, consider events in the story that are
likely and unlikely to happen and ask your child to explain why.
• Choose a number from 1 to 6, and have your child do the same. Take
turns rolling a die or pulling number cards for 1 to 6 from a bag. Keep
track of how often your number comes up. The first number to come up 10
times wins the game.
• Make predictions about what is about to happen. Predict who is more
likely to walk through the door next, or the likelihood of hearing a
certain song on the radio. Encourage your child to provide reasons for
his or her predictions.
Chapter 14- Patterning
In late May, our focus in mathematics will be on exploring patterns with
shapes and numbers. Your child will flip, turn, and slide shapes to
create visual patterns and explore skip-counting patterns (e.g.,
counting by 2s, 5s, 10s).
Try some of these activities with your child:
• Find shape patterns on curtains, wallpaper, bedspreads, floors, and so
on. Ask your child to tell you how each pattern works. If it’s a
repeating pattern, ask what part repeats. If it’s a growing pattern, ask
how many things are added each time the pattern grows.
• Look for examples of patterns where things are arranged in equal rows
(e.g., eggs in rows of 2 in an egg carton or cans in rows of 4 in a
case). Ask your child to show you how to use skip counting or adding to
figure out how many things there are in the pattern.
• Give your child some loose change to count. Show your child how to
sort the coins first, and then how to use skip counting to see how much
each set is worth.
• Do craft activities that can include patterns, such as stringing beads
or using stickers or ink stamps.
• Use building toys for patterning. Try building a series of shapes in a
pattern and asking your child to show you what comes next. Or let your
child make a pattern and cover part of it so you can guess what’s hidden.
500 Book Challenge
In the last 2 months, the grade 2 students in Mr. McGaughey’s class have
read over 250 books at home. We are going to do this have a popcorn
party after the class has read 500 books (or chapters) at home. Each
child may record 1 or 2 books (or chapters) in their reading log
nightly. Everyone needs to have at least 25 books on their reading log
to participate in the popcorn party.
Current Events
Remind your child to bring their current events scrapbook home weekly to
write their article in and to reread old articles with you. Please
encourage your child to write in complete sentences. If they want to
skip the W’s and write a paragraph about their news story, that would be
even better.
Monday: Colter, Jaden,
Tuesday: Alexis, Rebecca Brendan, Colton
Wednesday: Jared, Shaelyn, Carter, Danny
Thursday: Jordan Sam, Chevy
Friday: Gage, Nicholas, Simon
The story of our names.
At the beginning of the year, each child in the class made a
self-portrait, which we turned into a flip book.
In March, each student wrote the story of how they got their name. Here
they are together.
Alexis Houthuyzen- My mom thought that I was a boy so she called me
Alexander, but I was a girl so she called me Alexis because I look like
an Alexis. My dad called me stormy because when I was born it was a
scary birth so my middle name is stormy.
Brendan Arthur Hrynczak- My parents called me Brendan because they both
like that name. My middle name is from my mom’s step dad Arthur Dey. My
last name is after my dad’s last name. My poppa called my mom Melissa
after a small town called Melissa on Highway 11 near Burk’s Falls.
Carter Aube- Carter is my mom’s great grandmother’s family name. Jared
Darryl is my brother’s name. .Darryl came from Darrlysitler. Jared was
picked because my mom and dad liked it. Brayden, my mom liked it and
Shannah got picked from a baby book. Martin, my dad , looked like a
Martian when he was born.
Chevy Vanderhaas- Vanderhaas is Dutch. It means rabbit in Dutch. Chevy is
a Dutch name picked by my parents. Both of my parents are Dutch.
Colter Bruce Rumney- My name is Colter Bruce is my dad’s name .My mom
liked the name. A Colter is a part on an old horse plow .I like the name
Colter.
Colton K. Reynolds- My mom liked the name Colton. My sister got her Name
was from an Indian tribe. My dad got his name from a famous hockey player.
His name is Lanny McDonald. And my little brother his name was from a
famous hockey player too, his name was Curtis Joseph
My name is Daniel- My mom and dad thought that I was going to be a girl
named Grace, so for two days I was Baby Reader. They had to spend a lot of
time to decide. They finally came up with Daniel from the Bible. My middle
name was Sean after dad.
Gage Lafreniere- My dad was grocery shopping in Moose Jaw, Sask., when he
noticed an adorable little boy in line in front of him. He asked the
mother what the little boys name was and she said it was Gage. My dad
thought that was really neat and original and decided he would like to one
day name his son Gage. My middle name, Palmer, is actually my mom’s last
name, which will never carry further because my mom has no brothers. We
liked the idea. My last name is Lafreniere and it is the same as my dads
last name. Lafreniere is a French Canadian name
My name is Jaden- I have a brother his name is Kalton. And this is how I
got My name in A Magazine
Jordan Todoroff- I was a name in a baby book. My brother was named after
my grandma. My dad was named after my grandma, and so was my mom.
My Name Is Nick- I have a brother and a sister and another sister. I have
blue eyes. My hair is blonde. I am 9 years old. My full name is Nicholas
Ryan Fiegehen. My mom picked my name because she liked it. I am not named
after anyone, I have my own name.
Rebecca Stewart- I was named after my Moms best friend. Billie is named
after my Nan. Jeun is named after my aunt. Stewart is named after my dad
and it’s Irish
Shaelyn Ironside- My name came in a baby book. My mom and dad pick it. My
dad liked Amber. So my middle name is Amber.
April Newsletter
Dates to remember in our class
Monday: Poetry books back to school, Gym
Thursday: Gym. Library—Bring your library book.
Friday: Poetry books go home.
April 16: Scholastic Book Orders Due
April 27: PD Day—No School
Current Events
After 3 months, the children are getting quite skilled at finding the 5
Ws—Who, What, When, Where, Why and How? Please encourage your child
to write in complete sentences. If they want to skip the W’s and write
a paragraph about their news story, that would be even better.
Monday: Colter, Jaden,
Tuesday: Alexis, Rebecca Brendan, Colton
Wednesday: Jared, Shaelyn, Carter, Danny
Thursday: Jordan Sam, Chevy
Friday: Gage, Nicholas, Simon
Science
In science for the next several weeks, your child will be studying
simple machines and movement. At the end of the unit, your child will
construct a child’s toy from recycled containers, boxes and found
objects which contains at least 2 simple machines. Please help us add
to our collection of shapes by sending in empty boxes, jars, cans, and
bottles. We will also use these containers during our Math unit on 3D
geometry.
Social Studies
Over the next few weeks your child will be completing a family tree of
his or her immediate family. You can help him or her at home by:
• Discussing family relationships and history with your child.
• Telling family stories
• Sharing special items and photo albums.
Your child will be bringing home a family tree worksheet. He or she
will likely need assistance with completing some of the family tree.
Help your child complete as much of the sheet as you believe applies to
your family. I would like your child to do the actual note-taking.
The Family Tree worksheet will need to be completed by Thursday April
19, so that your child can complete a work of art using this information.
Language Arts
During the month of April, the entire primary division will be doing an
author study of Dr. Suess to prepare for a special primary literacy
celebration in May.
Math Chapter 7&11 2-D and 3-D Geometry
For the next while, our focus in math will be exploring 2-dimensional
shapes. Your child will be flipping, turning, and sliding shapes to
different positions. As part of this unit of study, we will also be
measuring the area of shapes using materials such as pattern blocks and
tiles as measuring units. Your child will sort and describe 3-D shapes
using different properties, including capacity and mass.
Your child will also be creating 3-D shapes with paper and making
skeletons of 3-D shapes using items like straws and modeling clay.
Try these activities with your child:
• Encourage your child to use position words (e.g., to the left, beside,
between, in front of ) to give directions.
• Encourage your child to complete jigsaw puzzles to practise turning,
flipping, and sliding shapes (puzzle pieces).
• Have your child create flip, turn, and slide patterns with objects,
such as cutlery, while waiting at the table.
• Fold paper shapes to show symmetry.
• Check the area of floors or ceilings in rooms by counting floor tiles
or ceiling tiles.
• Encourage your child to use math words to describe
3-D shapes. Some examples of words they will learn are:
face: one of the flat surfaces of a solid
edge: a line at which 2 faces meet
vertex (plural: vertices): a corner; the point where
edges of a 3-D shape meet
• When you are in the supermarket with your child, point out the mass
(similar to weight) and capacity (similar to volume) measurements marked
on the items. Use the store’s scales with your child.
• Fold paper to create 3-D shapes. Build shapes with balls of modelling
clay for corners and straws or toothpicks for edges.
• Play an I Spy game where you look for, and point out, 2-D and 3-D
shapes. Or think of a shape and give clues until your child guesses it.
Then reverse roles.
500 Book Challenge
In less than a month, the grade 2 students successfully met Mr.
McGaughey’s challenge to have a popcorn party after they had read 150
books at home. We are going to do this again after the class has read
500 books (or chapters) at home. Each child may record 1 or 2 books (or
chapters) in their reading log nightly. Everyone needs to have at least
25 books on their reading log to participate in the popcorn party.
Tribal Thunder was Great!
By the whole class. Typed by Mr. McGaughey
On March 7 and 8, Tribal Thunder came to our school to teach us about
drumming and lead us in a drum circle. Tribal Thunder are Oz, Joan and
Marcie. We got to play the drums. The air bazooka almost blew everybody
over. We liked the presentation. They showed us drums from all over the
world. Mr. McGaughey liked the water drum the best.
You can find out more about Tribal Thunder on their website at http://www.tribalthunder.com
Grandma’s Big Old Purse
On April 15, Russ Clayton gave a concert at our school. One of our
favorite songs on Russ’ CD, A Whale of a Time, is Grandma’s
Big Old Purse.
You can listen to the song:
Grandma’s Big Old Purse :grandma.wma (1.25mb) Music by Russ Clayton,
Words by Allison McWood and Russ ©2002 Sons of Clay Music
Each child in our class wrote and illustrated their own story about
what you can find in Grandma’s purse.
February 23 Assembly
On February 23, 2007, our class prepared the school assembly on Caring.
Here is a recording of each student reading their thoughts about caring
and respect.
Walking to the North Pole
Starting March 3, 2007, Rosie Stancer is making a solo walking trip to
the North Pole, from the Canadian Arctic. She hopes to arrive there in
60 days. We are going to follow her progress on her webpage at http://www.rosiestancermarsnorthpolesolo.co.uk/index.htm.