Dear families,
We started last week with attendance at our LKS Remembrance Day ceremony and the children did a wonderful job of attentive listening. After the ceremony, the children discussed a time when they were brave and drew a picture (with a sentence for the SKs). They also made poppy art out of four hearts they cut out. Remembrance Day ties in well with the November TDSB character trait of Empathy.
It was a pleasure meeting with you this week to discuss your child's progress. If you were unable to schedule an interview time and would like to do so, please call the school or email me. Thank you.
The homework for the SKs this weekend was to circle the correct word to match the picture in the gingerbread man story line.
This week we started our second fairy tale - The Little Red Hen. This well-known fairy tale is about helping others, being responsible to your friends, and working hard. I read the full story out loud, the children's Reading Buddies read a simplified version to them, and the children have simplified versions in their Literature Pocket to practice at home.
We learned about the life cycle of a hen and about where flour comes from. We also talked about how water mills and wind mills used to grind grain. There is a wonderful working water wheel grain mill at Pioneer Village if you happen to go. We also talked about our local historic Old Mill and the Humber River beside it.
We also talked about and did a flow chart about friendship called "My friend is..." Next week we will write a booklet about this.
This weekend the SKs brought home Set 1 (of 8) of their Phonics Duotang. When your child has completed this set, please hand it in for a new one. The JKs work on their Phonic folders in class.
This week we will be saying so long to The Little Red Hen and hello to Little Red Riding Hood! We will also continue our numeracy lessons in patterning and measurement with cube-a-links.
Finally, thank you to Cole's mom who read a terrific book called "The Interrupting Chicken" that tied in perfectly with our unit, and thank you to Victoria's mom who was a terrific Mystery Reader as well. If you would like to be Mystery Reader please contact your Grade Parent. Children are so thrilled and proud when their parents come to class!
Thank you as well to Olivia's dad who did the white bags for the morning class.
I hope you have a wonderful week.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Week of November 11-15
Dear families,
Reading/Writing:
This past week we started our Fairy Tale unit with The Gingerbread Man. This is an excellent tale to start with for many reasons - it is fairly easy to sequence, there is a lot of repetition, and the story can be simplified into a readable version. I am making "literature folders" for each child and each fairy tale we study; the children will bring them home when they are done. In the folder will be a copy of the fairy tale and all their work. The Drama Centre is now the Dress up Centre tied to our fairy tales. I also have a lot of puppets related to the tales to encourage re-telling of the stories. We discussed the differences between the gingerbread man and the fox who tricked him. I have a class set of The Gingerbread Man as well as a tape recording, so each child could have his/her own copy and follow along. Our next story will be The Little Red Hen, a story about sharing responsibilities, working as a team and helping others. It also ties into how to make bread from flour which we can tie back to how to make gingerbread (i.e. where does flour come from?). This weekend's homework is to colour the gingerbread man page according to the rhyming colour words.
This week's poem is "Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
So far on our word wall we have the "popcorn" (high frequency/sight) words: and, am, the, I, and like. We add a new word each week and practice writing it and reading it each day. The words on the word wall can be removed and brought to the children's tables to help with their spelling. The SKs also enjoyed playing a sight word game this week in which they had to read the word (attached to a lid) and if they were correct they put the word in the can. Whoever has the most lids wins! The children are also practicing their popcorn words with our Grade 8 readers. Our morning books (books we read each morning before calendar) were the Bob books. Next week - Clifford Phonics. The JKs are working on letter sound recognition. So far we have done S,A,T,I,P,N,E and R.
We are continuing to work on the various reading strategies. I have been reviewing the students’ independent reading levels (which is lower than their instructional level so that they can be successful). Thank you so much to those parents who continue to make reading a daily activity with their child. It really makes a huge difference.
Math – We are continuing our work on patterning, and students learned that a patterns repeat.
I am very excited about the new SmartBoard that was installed in my classroom this week! An electrician will do the final wiring and as soon as it is set up we will be ready to start using it. I am looking forward to using this wonderful tool to make our learning more interactive and fun!
Science – we welcomed two Scientists in the school this week and learned about Water (morning class) and Magnets (afternoon class). The children learned so much! Thank you to our parent volunteers to helped make each learning centre run smoothly! Thank you also to Parent Council for funding Scientists in the School. It is such a valuable experience for children of all ages. Our little science table is a magnets table during the month of November.
Our Terry Fox Celebration Assembly was on Tuesday. Since we reached the $20,000 level, there was a fun staff vs. student tricycle race.
Report cards will be sent home on Monday, November 11. The interview is meant to be a way to celebrate the child’s accomplishments, and to help them develop a plan of action for the following term. I am looking forward to meeting with you this week to discuss your child's progress and samples of his/her work. I will be seeing parents most evenings this week starting Monday evening.
Our Remembrance Day Assembly is on Monday Nov. 11 at 10:30 am. All are welcome to join us in the gym. Please remember that this is a solemn assembly and we would ask that there be no clapping at any point. Aria will be carrying our class wreath to the front of the gym. Thank you Aria.
The cold and flu season is upon us. If your child is not feeling well, please be sure to keep them at home, until they are feeling better, and symptom free, in order to stop the spread of illness. You may want to consider having your entire family vaccinated against the flu this season as a preventative measure. Visit Public Health, or your family doctor for more information, as clinics have started to open. Also, please talk to your child about proper hygiene (washing hands, using a Kleenex and not their finger, covering their mouth and nose when they cough and sneeze, sneezing into their elbow and not their hand, etc..
Please remember that the November/Holiday Scholastic book orders are due on November 30th. If you would like to order something as a surprise, for either your child(ren) or someone else, just let me know by writing "surprise" on the outside of the envelope. Books makes wonderful gifts!
Please remember to send your child to school with a coat, hat and mittens as the weather gets colder and windier; the weather is definitely changing!
Have a wonderful week!
Reading/Writing:
This past week we started our Fairy Tale unit with The Gingerbread Man. This is an excellent tale to start with for many reasons - it is fairly easy to sequence, there is a lot of repetition, and the story can be simplified into a readable version. I am making "literature folders" for each child and each fairy tale we study; the children will bring them home when they are done. In the folder will be a copy of the fairy tale and all their work. The Drama Centre is now the Dress up Centre tied to our fairy tales. I also have a lot of puppets related to the tales to encourage re-telling of the stories. We discussed the differences between the gingerbread man and the fox who tricked him. I have a class set of The Gingerbread Man as well as a tape recording, so each child could have his/her own copy and follow along. Our next story will be The Little Red Hen, a story about sharing responsibilities, working as a team and helping others. It also ties into how to make bread from flour which we can tie back to how to make gingerbread (i.e. where does flour come from?). This weekend's homework is to colour the gingerbread man page according to the rhyming colour words.
This week's poem is "Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
So far on our word wall we have the "popcorn" (high frequency/sight) words: and, am, the, I, and like. We add a new word each week and practice writing it and reading it each day. The words on the word wall can be removed and brought to the children's tables to help with their spelling. The SKs also enjoyed playing a sight word game this week in which they had to read the word (attached to a lid) and if they were correct they put the word in the can. Whoever has the most lids wins! The children are also practicing their popcorn words with our Grade 8 readers. Our morning books (books we read each morning before calendar) were the Bob books. Next week - Clifford Phonics. The JKs are working on letter sound recognition. So far we have done S,A,T,I,P,N,E and R.
We are continuing to work on the various reading strategies. I have been reviewing the students’ independent reading levels (which is lower than their instructional level so that they can be successful). Thank you so much to those parents who continue to make reading a daily activity with their child. It really makes a huge difference.
Math – We are continuing our work on patterning, and students learned that a patterns repeat.
I am very excited about the new SmartBoard that was installed in my classroom this week! An electrician will do the final wiring and as soon as it is set up we will be ready to start using it. I am looking forward to using this wonderful tool to make our learning more interactive and fun!
Science – we welcomed two Scientists in the school this week and learned about Water (morning class) and Magnets (afternoon class). The children learned so much! Thank you to our parent volunteers to helped make each learning centre run smoothly! Thank you also to Parent Council for funding Scientists in the School. It is such a valuable experience for children of all ages. Our little science table is a magnets table during the month of November.
Our Terry Fox Celebration Assembly was on Tuesday. Since we reached the $20,000 level, there was a fun staff vs. student tricycle race.
Report cards will be sent home on Monday, November 11. The interview is meant to be a way to celebrate the child’s accomplishments, and to help them develop a plan of action for the following term. I am looking forward to meeting with you this week to discuss your child's progress and samples of his/her work. I will be seeing parents most evenings this week starting Monday evening.
Our Remembrance Day Assembly is on Monday Nov. 11 at 10:30 am. All are welcome to join us in the gym. Please remember that this is a solemn assembly and we would ask that there be no clapping at any point. Aria will be carrying our class wreath to the front of the gym. Thank you Aria.
The cold and flu season is upon us. If your child is not feeling well, please be sure to keep them at home, until they are feeling better, and symptom free, in order to stop the spread of illness. You may want to consider having your entire family vaccinated against the flu this season as a preventative measure. Visit Public Health, or your family doctor for more information, as clinics have started to open. Also, please talk to your child about proper hygiene (washing hands, using a Kleenex and not their finger, covering their mouth and nose when they cough and sneeze, sneezing into their elbow and not their hand, etc..
Please remember that the November/Holiday Scholastic book orders are due on November 30th. If you would like to order something as a surprise, for either your child(ren) or someone else, just let me know by writing "surprise" on the outside of the envelope. Books makes wonderful gifts!
Please remember to send your child to school with a coat, hat and mittens as the weather gets colder and windier; the weather is definitely changing!
Have a wonderful week!
Sunday, November 3, 2013
This week was busy in Room 166 and the children completed several Halloween-themed activities. We read the wonderful book "Stellaluna" about a bat who grows up thinking he is a bird, and learned about the similarities and differences between them. There are a lot more differences than similarities! We talked about more than, less than, the same as in relation to bats and birds. The children also did a fantastic job drawing "Bats flying at night" on black paper.
We also compared the two pumpkins we carved. The children took turns putting the pumpkin seeds into groups of ten. The morning pumpkin had over 300 seeds and the afternoon pumpkin, which was slightly heavier, had about 50 less. The children's estimates were interesting - some guessed there would be 10, others over 200.
Thank you to the parents who helped out at our Halloween Craft Party. The children enjoyed making a cloth ghost, decorating a foam skull, making a Halloween theme pattern, making a bookmark, and making a witch and a spider.
Each morning our routine is to select and read a phonics book on the carpet before we start the day with the calendar. This week we changed the routine slightly so that the SKs are "Reading Buddies" to the JKs and read their little books to them. They really enjoyed this!
The homework this week for the SKs is to complete "A Halloween Story" by filling in the missing words. The JKs were to finish their "Halloween Word Book" by colouring and tracing the Halloween words in the booklet.
This week the SKs completed a Halloween Colours booklet in which they had to read the words and colour accordingly. The SKs also helped the JKs with a sequencing activity about the steps carving a pumpkin.
On Tuesday the morning class will be participating in the tricycle race in the gym as part of our Terry Fox fundraising efforts. We are on Team Orange so please dress your child in something orange. If your child is in the afternoon class and would like to watch the morning tricycle race they must be supervised by an adult. Thank you.
Here are some tips on How to be a Good Reader:
Touch each word.
Return to the beginning.
Look at the picture.
Stretch out the word.
Look for little words inside bigger words.
Look at the first letter of the words.
This week we will be starting our unit on Fairy Tales and will continue learning about patterns. We will also be preparing for the Remembrance Day Assembly on November 11.
I hope you have a wonderful week!
We also compared the two pumpkins we carved. The children took turns putting the pumpkin seeds into groups of ten. The morning pumpkin had over 300 seeds and the afternoon pumpkin, which was slightly heavier, had about 50 less. The children's estimates were interesting - some guessed there would be 10, others over 200.
Thank you to the parents who helped out at our Halloween Craft Party. The children enjoyed making a cloth ghost, decorating a foam skull, making a Halloween theme pattern, making a bookmark, and making a witch and a spider.
Each morning our routine is to select and read a phonics book on the carpet before we start the day with the calendar. This week we changed the routine slightly so that the SKs are "Reading Buddies" to the JKs and read their little books to them. They really enjoyed this!
The homework this week for the SKs is to complete "A Halloween Story" by filling in the missing words. The JKs were to finish their "Halloween Word Book" by colouring and tracing the Halloween words in the booklet.
This week the SKs completed a Halloween Colours booklet in which they had to read the words and colour accordingly. The SKs also helped the JKs with a sequencing activity about the steps carving a pumpkin.
On Tuesday the morning class will be participating in the tricycle race in the gym as part of our Terry Fox fundraising efforts. We are on Team Orange so please dress your child in something orange. If your child is in the afternoon class and would like to watch the morning tricycle race they must be supervised by an adult. Thank you.
Here are some tips on How to be a Good Reader:
Touch each word.
Return to the beginning.
Look at the picture.
Stretch out the word.
Look for little words inside bigger words.
Look at the first letter of the words.
This week we will be starting our unit on Fairy Tales and will continue learning about patterns. We will also be preparing for the Remembrance Day Assembly on November 11.
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Week of October 28-November 1
Dear families,
The countdown to Halloween has begun! Last week the children made patterned bead countdown strings to count the sleeps until Halloween. We are learning a poem called "Witch, Witch" and painted a pumpkin with different shapes for the pumpkin patch in the gym. This week we will measure, estimate, carve and count the seeds in small pumpkins. Then we will compare our findings between the two classes. Sometimes small pumpkins have more seeds than large pumpkins!
Last week the JKs made booklets called The Pumpkin Seed in which they had to put pictures of a pumpkin from seed to jack-o-lantern in sequence. The JKs also completed a reading activity in which they matched Halloween words with pictures and cut and glued them. The SKs made two Halloween writing booklets about pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. Their homework for the weekend was to work on a Halloween writing booklet.
I am still expecting more Scholastic books to arrive this week. I have contacted Scholastic and they have assured me that they are completing our orders as quickly as possible.
I have prepared bags for each of the children to take home after the Halloween Party. If you are sending in treats for your child's classmates, please do so by Wednesday so that the children have time to sort them. If possible, your child should write the names of his/her classmates. The children can also put their Halloween party crafts in them.
With our Grade 2/3 Reading Buddies we coloured and read a booklet called Pumpkins.
The children did a wonderful job singing "Mr. Pumpkin" at the Sharing Assembly. Congratulations to Jakob, Mason, Cole and Aria for earning a certificate for Responsibilty.
This week we will make more Halloween booklets, practice our Halloween words, sing spooky songs and read spooky stories.
Have a wonderful week!
The countdown to Halloween has begun! Last week the children made patterned bead countdown strings to count the sleeps until Halloween. We are learning a poem called "Witch, Witch" and painted a pumpkin with different shapes for the pumpkin patch in the gym. This week we will measure, estimate, carve and count the seeds in small pumpkins. Then we will compare our findings between the two classes. Sometimes small pumpkins have more seeds than large pumpkins!
Last week the JKs made booklets called The Pumpkin Seed in which they had to put pictures of a pumpkin from seed to jack-o-lantern in sequence. The JKs also completed a reading activity in which they matched Halloween words with pictures and cut and glued them. The SKs made two Halloween writing booklets about pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. Their homework for the weekend was to work on a Halloween writing booklet.
I am still expecting more Scholastic books to arrive this week. I have contacted Scholastic and they have assured me that they are completing our orders as quickly as possible.
I have prepared bags for each of the children to take home after the Halloween Party. If you are sending in treats for your child's classmates, please do so by Wednesday so that the children have time to sort them. If possible, your child should write the names of his/her classmates. The children can also put their Halloween party crafts in them.
With our Grade 2/3 Reading Buddies we coloured and read a booklet called Pumpkins.
The children did a wonderful job singing "Mr. Pumpkin" at the Sharing Assembly. Congratulations to Jakob, Mason, Cole and Aria for earning a certificate for Responsibilty.
This week we will make more Halloween booklets, practice our Halloween words, sing spooky songs and read spooky stories.
Have a wonderful week!
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Now that Fall is really showing its colours we are taking advantage of the many learning opportunities this beautiful season has to provide; this week we talked and wrote about our Thanksgiving weekend, started the Jolly Phonics letters Cc/Kk, started our Popcorn (Sight) Word board with "and," talked and wrote booklets about natural occurrences in the Fall, made fall art (on display on the hallway bulletin board), and learned about how pumpkins and oak trees grow. We have also been singing four Fall Songs with the piano. We have completed our October calendar and will be completing "This is me in October" pictures (with writing for the SKs).
I am happy to see that most of the JK children can independently print their name. Practicing this at home is very helpful and children love to talk and write about their families and lives. Words like "mom," "dad" and sibling and pet names are often what children learn to write next. Some of the JKs are still learning how to use scissors - please provide them with child's safety scissors at home as well.
The children enjoyed going to the Book Fair. They will exchange their library books for new ones this week. Also this week will be our second Sharing assembly on Friday. We have been discussing the TDSB Character Trait of Responsibility for this assembly and will be singing a song about Halloween. Parents whose children will be recieving certificates this month have been informed by letter in their child's white TDSB bag.
This upcoming week the children will find the classroom decorated for Halloween! We will be weighing and measuring a pumpkin and will estimate and count its seeds. Our Halloween Parade and Party is on October 31st. An ideal costume for a small child is one in which they can move around easily, one with makeup as opposed to a mask, and no weapons please. Thank you.
If your child will be bringing in Halloween treats for his/her classmates, please ensure that they are nut and sesame-free. A great writing opportunity for your child at home is to write his/her classmates' names on each treat/treat bag as well as their own name ("To______ From_______").
I hope you have a wonderful week!
I am happy to see that most of the JK children can independently print their name. Practicing this at home is very helpful and children love to talk and write about their families and lives. Words like "mom," "dad" and sibling and pet names are often what children learn to write next. Some of the JKs are still learning how to use scissors - please provide them with child's safety scissors at home as well.
The children enjoyed going to the Book Fair. They will exchange their library books for new ones this week. Also this week will be our second Sharing assembly on Friday. We have been discussing the TDSB Character Trait of Responsibility for this assembly and will be singing a song about Halloween. Parents whose children will be recieving certificates this month have been informed by letter in their child's white TDSB bag.
This upcoming week the children will find the classroom decorated for Halloween! We will be weighing and measuring a pumpkin and will estimate and count its seeds. Our Halloween Parade and Party is on October 31st. An ideal costume for a small child is one in which they can move around easily, one with makeup as opposed to a mask, and no weapons please. Thank you.
If your child will be bringing in Halloween treats for his/her classmates, please ensure that they are nut and sesame-free. A great writing opportunity for your child at home is to write his/her classmates' names on each treat/treat bag as well as their own name ("To______ From_______").
I hope you have a wonderful week!
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