Third year in my Grade 2 classroom. What a mixed feeling to let these children go, and I see the same in their faces although it’s true that we all just want to sleep late. Zzz...
“Inukshuk, Miss J.!” – their usual request during downtime.
It’s my version of the hangman game once “big” words have been introduced such
as indigenous, government, decomposers, etc. Children guess the mystery
word using sounds (“Is there a /k/?”) and a part of the image such as an
inukshuk, a snowman, a robot, etc. is deleted for every wrong guess. Kids
sometimes go wild with every right and wrong answer, so they’re asked to use
voice #1 or a whispering voice; otherwise, the plastic dollar store microphone
is passed around and nobody else is allowed to make a sound except the one with
the microphone. The student who guesses the whole word right usually gets a prize
– pretend cash money they put in their pretend wallet for the end-of-month “shopping
day,” thanks to your donations to thrift shops where I get “prizes” once a
month with my $25 budget. Please continue to donate little notebooks, stickers,
fancy pencils and pens, extra markers, etc. to thrift shops or directly to
public schools in your community.
This class not only enjoyed all the games, body breaks (exercise,
mirroring acts, dance with GoNoodle or Just Dance, Cosmic Yoga, etc.), elbow buddy
chat time, after-lunch reading time, lots of arts/crafts, singing, but also spelling quizzes and “Number of the
Day.” Towards the end of the school year, they were able to complete the Number-of-the-Day
tasks on their own, starting with representing the number in words, place
value, expanded form, cross on hundreds chart (+1, -1, +10, -10), number lines,
bills/coins combination, patterns, word problems, etc. Some even showed
readiness to do multiplication and division.
Unforgettable for them was the field trip to Fish Creek Park
where they saw a deer and anthills, growing Painted Lady butterflies and
releasing them, Christmas caroling around the school, and singing What a
Wonderful World at the Volunteer Appreciation and Grade 6 Farewell as well as
the Jubilee 2025 Hymn at the Talent Show finale. Most memorable of all must be watching
their three classmates dance to “Sunroof” to everyone’s delight. Such bravery
and confidence when some could hardly form a sentence or lead the class prayer
in September! I will surely miss everyone in this class. Really grateful for
Education Assistants’ and parents’ patience and support. We made it to the end!
I just need a massage now…
Now, who doesn’t want the last day of school? Oops! Maybe
some parents. My apologies… MLJ/25062025
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