Mr. McCallum | Napan Elementary

2025 Grade 2 & Grade 3

Posted: November 6, 2024

Wednesday November 6, 2024

Daily Update:
We began our day with morning announcements. Today’s spelling word was “performance.” Our Remembrance Day presentation is tomorrow at 11:00, and families are welcome to join us. Our Show Not Tell prompt was “He liked singing.” We completed our Haggerty listening exercises, sketched a Remembrance Day scene, and practiced our songs without the vocal track. I’m confident we’ll be ready for tomorrow’s event! For our Work on Writing, we used the prompt, “In Canada, Remembrance Day is…”

After Recess:
The whole school went to the gym for a full rehearsal of our Remembrance Day program. We ran through the ceremony from beginning to end, with wonderful student MCs and some beautiful songs. We reminded everyone that this is our most serious and respectful event of the year, and they did an amazing job during practice. With a few extra minutes, we returned to the classroom and discussed the Remembrance Day poster contest, looking at some winning entries from last year for inspiration. Many students have great ideas and started working on their own posters.

After Lunch:
We continued working on our poster contest entries. A permission form went home in the Home to School Books today so students can submit their artwork if they choose.

PE:
With the weather reaching a warm 19 degrees, we took PE outside for a game of soccer. Mr. Ross had a special guest join us! Do you remember who it was? Our visitor seemed to enjoy jumping in and playing along with everyone.

End of Day:
Today, instead of our Book of Gratitude, we dedicated time to our posters. We signed our Home to School Books and enjoyed a few minutes of free choice time. Don’t forget, tomorrow is skating at the LBA at 9:00! Families are welcome to join us.

Picture of the Day:
A sneak peek at tomorrow’s lineup for our Remembrance Day performance.

Posted: November 5, 2024

Tuesday November 5, 2024

Daily Update:
We began our day with morning announcements. Our spelling word was “Invictus” from yesterday’s reading. Do you remember what the Invictus Games are? For our Show Not Tell, we used “He was slow.” We completed our Haggerty listening activities, doodled a Remembrance Day scene, and watched a quick video on the significance of the poppy. During Literacy rotations, some students chose the word search and code breaker from their Legion newspaper as part of today’s Work on Writing.

After Recess:
Our K-3 students gathered in the classroom for Remembrance Day practice. We went over our song lineup and sorted our positions on the risers by height. After practicing the lyrics, everyone felt more confident for Thursday’s performance. Tomorrow, we’ll have a full dress rehearsal to make sure even the adults are ready! We watched a video about the poppy and read from The One and Only Ivan. Ivan seems to be hatching a plan to get Ruby to the zoo, inspired by a commercial he saw on TV. Let’s see if he can pull it off!

After Lunch:
We had Guidance with Mrs. Robichaud and worked on our “My First Safety Book.”

PE:
Indoor Soccer Baseball is quickly becoming a favorite activity, and today was no exception!

End of Day:
After PE, the K-1 students joined us to practice our Remembrance Day songs. Tomorrow will be a full school dress rehearsal. We wrapped up the day by filling out our Home to School books and enjoyed some free choice time. Everyone pitched in to tidy up the classroom, which was wonderful to see! Just a reminder: there is no school this Friday for teacher meetings. This week is flying by!

Picture of the Day:
I told students they could work on their Remembrance Day word search wherever they were most comfortable. Some definitely felt most comfortable taking charge of the room!

Posted: November 4, 2024

Monday November 4, 2024

Daily Update:

We started the day with morning announcements. Our bells were a bit off, which threw off our timing a few times, but we managed just fine! Our spelling word for the day was "armistice"—do you remember what that means? For our "Show, Not Tell," we had "He was dressed up" (for Remembrance Day, not Halloween!). We also completed our Haggerty listening drills, and doodled a poppy and cross. For guided reading, we used a newspaper-style article and did our Literacy rotations. The morning flew by!

After Recess:
All the classes gathered in our room for an overview of the week and a preview of the Remembrance Day program. We reminded everyone that this is one of our most serious events of the year, emphasizing that respectful behavior is expected. We practiced our songs and reviewed the program layout, and even squeezed in a bit of practice before heading to lunch.

After Lunch:
We continued reading *The One and Only Ivan*. It looks like Ivan is working on a plan to get Ruby to a zoo, thinking back on his parents’ past. It sounds like he’s also hiding a painting from Mack as part of his scheme! We also practiced our song lyrics, singing them through a few times to make sure we’re ready for Thursday's performance.

PE:
We played indoor soccer baseball today, which is great for learning the game and getting comfortable with the bases and directions. It has a lot of rules, and playing indoors made it easier to follow along while learning the basics.

End of Day:
We added a new entry to our Book of Gratitude with the prompt, “I am grateful for the way I solved a problem when…” We wrapped up by filling in our Home to School books and getting organized for the evening.

Picture of the Day:
Runners in motion, and this photo is going to capture home plate action – we play soccer baseball with some serious enthusiasm!

Posted: November 1, 2024

Friday November 1, 2024

Daily Update:
We started the day with morning announcements, then got to work – but not for long! Our song played over the radio, and we paused everything to listen. (Not to brag, but we sounded fantastic!) Today’s spelling word was “remember,” and for Show Not Tell, our sentence was “She was tired.” We wrapped up our last attempt at a haunted house in Doodle and completed the Week 8 Thursday Haggerty listening games. Miss Brown supervised while I added final touches to our October recap video, and students finished their Halloween booklets from yesterday.

After Recess:
We skipped math today for our school-wide October assembly. We went over some school rules, learned that tonight’s corn maze game is canceled due to the rain, and were informed it won't be rescheduled as the field will be mowed down this weekend. We watched the October Recap Video (now posted on the Napan Facebook page) and discussed the upcoming Remembrance Day Ceremony and our next skating event. Back in class, we continued our conversation about the importance of Remembrance Day.

Lunch:
Due to the rain, we stayed inside for lunch, and everyone in class joined Lego Club. The theme of the day? Dream houses!

After Lunch:
We watched a few YouTube videos about Remembrance Day and read more of *The One and Only Ivan*. It seems Ivan is trying to hatch a plan to move Ruby from her cage to a zoo. I’m not sure how a gorilla can pull that off, but he’s certainly thinking hard!

PE:
We stayed indoors for PE and did basketball relays and drills. With red faces and sweaty hair, everyone came back to class looking like they’d had a blast – and we all know how *uncompetitive* this class is!

End of Day:
To end the day, we filled out our Home to School books and included a reminder about the canceled corn maze. We completed a Remembrance Day word search and enjoyed a solid nine minutes of free-choice time on the tablets – the perfect way to wrap up the week. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Picture of the Day:
Our song played live on the radio, and all work stopped as we listened with pride!

2024 Napan 2-3 November

Posted: November 1, 2024

Posted: October 31, 2024

Thursday October 31, 2024

Daily Update:
We kicked off our day with morning announcements and then had a final rehearsal of our Halloween song for today’s performance. Our spelling word was “Frankenstein,” and our Show Not Tell prompt was “She was scared.” For Haggerty, we finished Week 8’s Thursday listening games, and in our Doodle session, we learned to draw a haunted house (at 1.5x speed!). Our Work on Writing prompt was “In Canada, Halloween is…” and we got into the spirit with a fun Halloween activity packet.

Math:
While the K’s and 1’s enjoyed some Halloween-themed activities, the Grade 2s and 3s stayed in our classroom for a special math session. We worked on solving secret codes, color-by-equation challenges, mazes, and other fun Halloween puzzles.

Lunch:
We headed downstairs to an amazing spaghetti lunch with garlic bread and juice boxes, prepared by our Home and School. They also provided cupcakes for dessert that we got to decorate ourselves!

After Lunch:
We headed back to our classrooms to get into costume! After transforming, we gathered in the gym to carve pumpkins with the help of some amazing parents, grandparents, and other volunteers. We showed off our outfits in a costume parade, then each class had a turn on stage to perform songs and poems we’d rehearsed (and in some cases, even wrote ourselves!). If you missed us today, tune in to 95.9 Rewind FM at 8:25 AM tomorrow to catch our performance. We wrapped up with a quick dance party, went back upstairs for treats, and packed up for home. It was organized chaos and a lot of fun! Good luck trick-or-treating tonight—stay safe!

Picture of the Day:
High fives from Minnie Brown to kick off an afternoon of Halloween fun!

Posted: October 30, 2024

Wednesday October 30, 2024

Daily Update:
We began our day with the morning announcements, followed by several rehearsals of our Halloween song for tomorrow’s performance. Our song will be aired on 95.9 FM Friday morning at 8:25 AM, so you can catch it even if you miss the live show tomorrow. Today’s spelling word was “Halloween,” and our Show Not Tell prompt was “She had a belly ache.” For our Haggerty session, we completed the Week 8 Tuesday listening games, and in our Doodle activity, we practiced drawing a haunted house at 1.5x speed. Our Work on Writing prompt was, “If I could invent a toy, it would be...”

Math:
The Grade 1s and 2s continued working on patterns, focusing on AB and AABB patterns and exploring new ones like ABB, AAB, and ABC, which we call the “core” of the pattern. The Grade 3s practiced modeling subtraction with two numbers.

After Lunch:
We headed straight to the gym for a final polish of our song with Mr. Whalen. We’re feeling ready! Just a couple of practice rounds tomorrow morning, and we’ll be set for the big performance in the afternoon!

PE:
For PE, we went outside to play some baseball. There was a bit of a debate over who made the best pitcher, but we all agreed the game ended in a shutout!

Day End:
To wrap up the day, we reflected in our Book of Gratitude with the prompt “My favorite memory of today was…” After ensuring all our work was complete in our morning books, we signed our Home to School books and added a Remembrance Day memo and an invitation to Fletcher’s Farm hide and seek event on Friday night. Most of us have siblings, so we extended the invite to everyone—the more, the merrier!

Picture of the Day:
Mr. Whalen helping us with our final rehearsal before the big performance.

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2024 Halloween Song

Posted: October 29, 2024

We dont want to ruin the surprise, but we are practicing for our big performance this week!

Posted: October 29, 2024

Tuesday October 29, 2024

Daily Update

Daily Update:

We began our day with the morning announcements and a quick review of yesterday’s work. Afterward, we rehearsed our Halloween song for Thursday’s performance. Our spelling word for the day was “Character,” and our Show Not Tell was “She was jealous.” We completed the Week 8 Tuesday Haggerty listening games, practiced drawing a haunted house in our Doodle session (at 1.25 speed), and did a quick two-minute workout to get moving. In UFLI, we reviewed the "ck" and "sh" sounds and started working on the consonant digraph “th.” For Work on Writing, students responded to the prompt, “The most fun game to play is…”

Math:

The Grade 1s and 2s continued patterning work, reviewing AB and AABB patterns and learning new ones like ABB, AAB, and ABC. Can you think of a shape pattern we tried? The Grade 3s tackled addition word problems, modeled the equations with concrete and visual representations, and recorded their process symbolically. They also practiced mental math with quotients and finished with Dreambox Math.

After Lunch:

We went straight to Mrs. Robichaud’s guidance class, where we explored emotions, empathy, and strategies for overcoming challenges.

PE:

For PE, we took advantage of the nice weather and played baseball on the field. What was your favorite position to play today? I always enjoyed hitting, even if I wasn’t the best at it!

Day End:

To close out the day, we added a reflection to our Book of Gratitude with the prompt “I felt included when…” We checked over our morning books to ensure all our work was complete, signed our Home to School books, and added a November calendar. We also had two special guests, Megan and Claire, who taught us a fun beach ball game as a final activity.

Picture of the Day:

The girls in our 2/3 class love the playground and playing with equipment! See if you can spot any familiar faces.

Posted: October 28, 2024

Monday October 28, 2024

Daily Update

Daily Update: We started on the mat watching the morning announcements. We did a quick evaluation of Friday's work. Our spelling word was "Apology." Our show-not-tell phrase was "He was embarrassed." We did our Haggerty listening games (if you’ve never seen them before, check them out here) and awarded our first Haggerty Hero. We doodled a haunted house for Halloween at its normal speed. We continued with Literacy rotations. Miss Brown joined us today for Work on Writing. The prompt “When I grow up, I want…” brought out some creative responses! We also reviewed "ck" sounds and started with the new "sh" sound in UFLI.

Math: The 1’s and 2’s worked on AB and AABB patterns. Can you think of an example pattern we used with shapes? The Grade 3’s modeled addition with concrete materials and recorded their process symbolically. They also did some mental math bridging to friendly numbers.

After Lunch: We read more of *The One and Only Ivan*. Julia was a bit too old for some finger paints her aunt gave her, so she gifted them to a friend who LOVED them. Who was that friend? We also worked on our Halloween song, excited to share it soon!

PE: We headed outside to the field for a game of soccer baseball. Mr. Ross joined us as the all-time pitcher to keep things fair. Not sure who won today, but everyone had a blast!

Day End: To wrap up the day, we wrote in our Book of Gratitude with the prompt, “The most fun activity I did today was…” We checked our morning books to ensure all work was done, signed our Home to School, and I tucked picture orders into the books for those who ordered this round.

Picture of the Day: These models are striking a pose to remind us to check our Home to School books for the school photos that went home today!