Social studies game for grade 3

We have been discussing the different regions within Ontario and the students played a game in class which reinforced that. Please use this game at home to strike up conversations about what types of agriculture we can find in the green belt within Ontario and why they are so important for us.

http://www.tvokids.com/games/whereontariogreenbeltenvirogirl

Success criteria for presentations

Starting at the end of this week and continuing for the next 2 periods the students will be doing a presentation about what they have learnt in social studies so far. Please refer to the success criteria to ensure that your child knows exactly what is expected of them for the presentation. I will also hand out the success criteria  to each student and I will give them the date that they will be presenting. Please do not hesitate to call me to ask me any questions regarding this. 
Mme. Sewell 


Grade 3

We are moving to one of the region in Ontario!

In social studies we have been talking about the different regions within Ontario. We have spoken about what the landforms look like and how the temperature differs. Recently, we have been discussing how the different regions affect what types of jobs you would be able to acquire depending on where you live (ex. Mining in the Canadian shield). As a mini assignment your child is asked to bring in 3 items that would be useful within a region if they were planning on moving to that region. They can choose their region (Canadian Shield= Bouclier Canadian, Hudson Bay lowlands= les basses terres de la Baie d’Hudson, the great lakes and St. Lawrence lowlands= les basses terres des grands lacs et du Saint-Laurent).  Your child will be asked to show the items one by one and then the class will guess which region they chose.

Success criteria:

• I will bring in 3 items that represent a region of Ontario.
• One the items will be related to a job that is influenced by the land in that region.
• Once the class decides which region I chose to describe, I will describe why the items are related to that area.
• In my description of that area I will include the importance of temperature.
• In my description I will include a landform (i.e. Dans le Bouclier Canadian il y a beaucoup de roches.)
• In my description I will include ONE of the municipalities and ONE city in that region.  

Grade 2

We are moving to another country!

In social studies we have been talking about the different countries around the World.  We have spoken about how the temperature differs, there are different continents and the cardinal directions. As a mini assignment your child is asked to bring in 3 items that would be useful to bring with them if they were moving to a different country (of their choice).  Your child will be asked to show the items one by one and then the class will guess which country they chose.

Success criteria:

• I will bring in 3 items that represent a country of my choice.
• One the items will be related to the temperature of the country.
• Once the class decides which country I chose to describe, I will describe why the items are related to that area.
• In my description of that country I will include which continent it is from.
• In my description I will include a cardinal direction.
• In my description I will include one city that is in that country.  

I will hand out the date that your child will present and they should bring in these items. I will place them in a bag for them to show them one at a time in order to make it a guessing game for the rest of the students.  

Grade 2

In grade 2 we have been focusing on finding out information about communities around the world. To begin with each student chose a city anywhere in the word and they did some research on it. They needed to locate it on a map, describe the types of houses there, write down it's current temperature, describe what continent it is on, say what language they speak and write down any interesting facts about it. They were really excited to research about a different city and they found out some interesting facts. We have continued this type of research by looking at 'letters' written from children from around the world. In the letters the children describe their home and what a day in their lives looks like. We have been comparing a day in their lives with a day in a life of the a child in Canada. At home you can discuss the differences between the lives of someone that lives in Canada and someone that lives in another country. Focus on housing, temperature, transportation, languages, flags and continents.

Huts in Kenya.


Homes in the rainforest.




















Sand homes in Iran





Thatched house in England





Mme. Sewell :)

Please contact me at brieanne.sewell@yrdsb.ca
Or you can telephone me at 905-585-0001 ext. 302

Grade 3

Hello,

We are currently working on how where we live within Ontario impacts what we do in our lives.  After discussing the physical regions we have been discussing how those regions would impact what types of jobs we could have and what types of activities we can do. In particular, we have been looking at jobs that are influenced by the environment.  In class, we have been working on creating an imaginary suitcase as if we were going to visit a region. Each student had to write what they would want to bring with them to that region, what they would do there and what type of job they could find.

For instance, in the Canadian Shield (le Bouclier Canadian) there is a lot of mining opportunities because of the vast amount of rocks in the area.

Mine Site aerial photo of Sudbury, Ontraio

In the Hudson Bay lowlands (les basses-terres de la baie d'Hudson) there are many wild animals which means as a job you can be a hunter.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence lowlands (les basses terres du st-laurent et des grands lacs) has fertile soil which means that you can be a farmer in this region. 

At home you can discuss the importance of how the region you live in impacts what you do as a job. 

Coming up.... we will be discussing municipalities next week. 

Hello and Bonjour!

I am Mme. Sewell and I will now be teaching the grade 2s and grade 3s social studies. I am very excited to be working at RDPS and look forward to meeting all of you. I will continue Mr. Ho's Blog to ensure that you are kept up to date with what your child is learning in class.

Mr. Ho has been very helpful with me by explaining to me what the classes have already covered and what they are working on. We are hoping to see a smooth transition through this change. We will be continuing to work on living and working in Ontario in grade 3 and the world around me in grade 2.

Please do not hesitate to call if you have any questions.
Mme. Sewell

Important Notice

Dear parents,

This post is to inform you that starting next week, I will teaching another class at RDPS due to staffing changes. As a result, I will no longer be teaching Grade 2/3 Social Studies to your children.

To ensure some sort of continuity, I will be working with the new teacher to inform him/her of the learning that has taken place in the last two months. I will also pass on information about completed assessments and assignments.

Having already marked the quizzes completed by most of the classes, I will make sure that your children receive their quiz sometime next week. As for the classes who haven't written the quiz, it will ultimately be up to the new teacher to decide what he/she wants to do.

Again, I will do my best to ensure a smooth transition.

Thank you for your understanding and your continued support of your child's education.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

M. Ho

Quiz for Grade 2: World Map

For Grade 2 students, there will be a quiz on the world map.

The sheets students can review to prepare for the quiz:

• La carte du monde 
• Le rose des vents 
• Je m'oriente 
• Colorie un climat

Students can self-check their understanding by using this checklist:

I am ready for the quiz if I can...

• name and write the cardinal directions on a compass
• name examples of countries 
• name the continent we live on
• name and locate continents on a map
• name and locate the Poles on map (North and South Pole)
• name and locate the hemispheres on a map
• find the equator on a map
• describe the general climate of a country if it is close or far from the equator 

Quiz for Grade 3: Ontario's Physical Regions

For Grade 3 students, there will be a quiz on Ontario's physical regions in the upcoming weeks.

The three sheets students can review to prepare for the quiz: 

• Map of Ontario (La carte de l'Ontario)
• My Personal Dictionary (Mon dictionnaire personnel)
• How to describe the physical regions of Ontario worksheet (Comment décrire les régions physiques de l'Ontario?)

Students can self-check their understanding using this checklist. 

I am ready for the test if I can...

• name each physical region on a map of Ontario
• describe each region using words from my Personal Dictionary
• describe each region using my own words 
• identify the physical region shown in a photo (see below)

I will choose 3 photos out of the possible 6 photos shown below. Students will have to identify which region is shown in the photo. 

Assignment 5: Describing Ontario's Physical Regions

Students are learning to use the words from their Personal Dictionary to describe Ontario's physical regions. They are also to use words from their own knowledge in their descriptions. They can use their imagination to think about what they would see if they actually in each region.

For example:

Je vois que le Bouclier canadien est une région rocheuse et boisée. 
I see that the Canadien Shield is a rocky and forested region.

Students received a chart to write in their descriptions based on photos of each physical region (shown below). Please remind them to write in complete sentences.

Assignment 4 (Grade 3) My Personal Dictionary - Physical Regions

In class, students looked at pictures of different types of physical regions and learned key words to describe each region. To help them remember the definition of each word, they drew a picture to represent each type of physical region.

Key Words:

• La plaine (plains)
• Le marais (swamp/marsh)
• Les monts (mountains) 
• Les plateaux (plateaus)
• Les vallées (valleys)
• Les collines (hills)
• Les montagnes (mountains)
• Rocheux/rocheuse (rocky - adjective)
• Boisé/boisée (wooded - adjective) 

Note: Les monts and les montagnes both refer to mountains. 

You can review these words with your child at home. For example, cover each word and ask them to say the word corresponding to the picture. 

Assignment 3 (Grade 3): Map of Ontario's Physical Regions

As part of our Living and Working in Ontario unit, Gr. 3 students were introduced to Ontario's three physical regions:

• Hudson Bay Lowlands (Les basses-terres de la baie d'Hudson)
• Canadian Shield (Le Bouclier canadien)
• Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands (Les basses-terres des Grands Lacs et du Saint Laurent)

The definition of a physical region is: 

A region which has similar geographical characteristics (landscape, climate, vegetation). 

Une région dont les caractéristiques géographiques (les formes de la surface, le climat, la végétation) sont généralement similaires.

Students looked at pictures from the different regions: 

Students were then given a map to colour to show Ontario's three physical regions. Below is a map with labels showing the location of each region. The students' completed maps do not require the labels, but their legend should be coloured correctly.

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Assignment 2: Our Communities Big and Small

In class, we used Google Maps to look at the different communities we belong to. We started out small by looking at our school, Romeo Dallaire Public School, and the surrounding neighbourhood of Maple. Then, we gradually zoomed out to look at our city/municipality (Vaughan), our region (York Region), our province (Ontario), our country (Canada), our continent (North America), and finally our planet Earth.

Students then cut out strips, each listing out a different community, and then reordered the communities from largest to smallest:

• La Terre (Planete) 
• L'Amérique du Nord (Continent)
• Le Canada (Pays)
• L'Ontario (Province)
• Région de York (Région)
• Vaughan (Ville et Municipalité)
• Maple (Quartier)
• École Publique Roméo Dallaire 
• Notre classe 

You can support your child's learning by asking them to give examples of different types of communities (e.g. Can you name some of the cities/provinces/countries you know?) 

You can also ask them to compare different communities and to state which is larger or smaller. (e.g. Is Vaughan larger or smaller than York Region? Is North America larger or smaller than Canada?)  

Grade 2 Resource: Interactive World Map

In class, we took a look at continents and oceans and identifying them on a map. Here is a great website to practice finding continents and oceans at home: http://www.jeux-geographie.fr/ (Click on Continents and Océans. If you're up for a challenge, try Pays/Countries!)

Resource: Google Maps

In class, we used Google Maps to identify the different communities we belonged to: our school, neighbourhood, city/municipality, region, province, country, continent, and planet. Students learned to order the communities from largest to smallest.

Students were also able to classify communities based on the way the name was written on the map. For example, the word "Vaughan" appeared larger than the word "Maple", allowing students to deduce that the city of Vaughan was bigger than the neighbourhood of Maple.

At home, you can use Google Maps (http://maps.google.ca/) with your child to improve their spatial awareness.

Suggestions for activities:

• Identify what different colours represent on the map (green for parkland, blue for bodies of water, yellow for highways, etc.)
• Using Street View (Drag the yellow person on the bottom right hand corner and drop into desired location) to take a closer look at places in your neighbourhood/around the world 
• Classifying places as neighbourhoods, cities/municipalities, regions, provinces, countries or continents
• Create a personalized map of your own neighbourhood, highlighting local attractions and landmarks (https://www.google.com/maps/d/ - Google Account required)
• Create a map showing the route taken on a family vacation (https://www.google.com/maps/d/ - Google Account required)

Assignment 1: Social Studies Cover Page

Students were introduced to the following definition in class:

Social Studies: The study of people and their relationships with others and the environment. 

After doing a brainstorm on the idea of "Social Studies", students were then asked to create a cover page for their Social Studies duotang. The cover page is a way for students to show what Social Studies means to them.

---

Success Criteria (used to evaluate the assignment)

On my cover page...

• ·        I have written “Études Sociales”, “Les communautés du monde” and “Les traditions familiales et communautaires” (for Grade 2) 
• I have written “Études Sociales”, “Vivre et travailler en Ontario” and “Les communautés du Canada au début des années 1800” (for Grade 3) 
• I have written 3 other words related to Social Studies.
• ·    I have drawings that are clear and colourful.
• ·    I have made sure that all of my words and drawings relate to Social Studies. 
• ·    I have shown my best effort. 

Bienvenue!

Welcome to Monsieur Ho's blog!

It is my pleasure to teach Grade 2 and 3 Social Studies this year. This blog will provide information on upcoming due dates and homework, as well as highlights of your children's learning throughout the year.

In Grade 2, your children will be learning about:
Global Communities (September-January)
Changing Family and Community Traditions (February-June)

In Grade 3, your children will be learning about:
Living and Working in Ontario (September-January)
Communities in Canada, 1780-1850 (February-June)

If you wish to contact me, please do not hesitate to email me at terence.ho@yrdsb.ca.

As always, thank you for your continued support of your child's education.

M. Ho