YIS 2R

Before visiting the Nogeyama Zoo, second grade spent an hour or so looking at the list of species we would encounter, and finding images of them in their natural habitats. We printed several dozen of these and made a book of them to bring with us to compare with their zoo enclosures. Shortly after arriving, […]

Images from last week’s Sports Day, originally published on Ms Buehler’s PE blog. What a great day! Elementary Sports Day: K-2 on PhotoPeach

As we start to consider ideas relating to our new unit of inquiry “Human activities can challenge plant and animal survival”, we decided to start by learning about species and habitats in our own backyard. 2R students borrowed a stack of iPads from kindergarten and headed out to the nearby park. In partners, they had […]

Throughout this unit of inquiry we’ve explored a wide range of communications. Last week, with our strong foundation established, each student chose a variety of communication that they really wanted to dig into. From sign language to ink-making to Morse code each student spent time considering what experiments and observations they could attempt, what media […]

In collaboration with our study of health and lifestyle choices, Ms Buehler has worked with 2R both during PE and in-class. She joined us to give a presentation about fitness and has worked with the class in building their strength, flexibility and planning skills by learning a wide range of gymnastics moves and planning, practicing […]

All the research tells us that learning is a reflective process. Regular, honest, reflection helps us connect new learning to older understandings. Discussing the strategies we use and how effective they are helps us decide on their value, and gives us a window into other ways of thinking. In this short video, the students of […]

Not long ago Nurse Irina came to speak with 2R about hygiene and germs. We learned that there were germs that were helpful and germs that could cause problems. We learned that it was important to get dirty sometimes and that being exposed to some germs helped strengthen our immune system. But, we really needed […]

The following post has been reposted from Ms Buehler’s PE Blog… Grade 2 students have been working on their gymnastics skills in PE. We have also been learning about how lifestyle choices that people make can affect their health. Check out the video and flickr links below to see what we have been up to […]

Just down the hill from YIS, a few blocks away is an area of a very different flavour. Economic hardships have resulted in a large amount of homelessness. One organization working to support homeless individuals in the area is Sanagitachi, a homeless services center with a long term relationship with YIS. A week ago we […]

Author and teacher Trevor Kew joins 2R to share a draft of a picture book he is writing. 2R get a chance to listen to the story, make mental images and illustrate the scenes they found they could visualize the most clearly. What a great kick off to our study of storytelling! For more on […]