Happy family day long weekend!

Just a few reminders:

-school is closed for students on Friday Feb. 16

-no school on Family Day, Monday Feb. 19

– please complete the “family” homework that was sent home earlier this week. I would love to have them all returned on Tuesday if possible.

– our 100th day of school is on Wednesday Feb. 21. Students are invited to bring a collection of 100 small inexpensive items. I encourage the kids to count the items by groups of 10. Thank you!

Have a lovely weekend! I hope you get a chance to play a game, go for a nature walk, or enjoy an adventure as a family. 💕

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

The Kindergarten students made a pattern dragon for Lunar New Year!

We all enjoyed the glass fusing workshop where we used small pieces of glass to create our first initial. I will be picking these creations up next week after they have been heated in the glass kiln. Thank you to the PAC for funding this experience for us. Thank you to Debbie Hungle, the glass artist that facilitated this workshop.

The following information was sent home on a purple notice earlier this week:

Division 14 is getting excited about some special days that we will be celebrating in February.

On Wednesday Feb. 14, we will be celebrating Valentine’s Day.  Students may wish to distribute Valentine cards to their classmates.  If your child chooses to do so, please ensure that there is a valentine card for every class member.  Valentine cards can be homemade or store bought.  I am including a list of classmates’ names to help your child with printing their friends’ names.  We will be making mailboxes in class for the students to put cards into. **It is not necessary to include little toys are treats with the Valentine cards.

Our “100^th Day of School” will be celebrated on Wednesday, Feb. 21.  Each student is encouraged to bring 100 small items in a bag or container for various classroom activities.  Examples of 100 items are 100 pieces of pasta, cereal (cheerios), paperclips, stickers, dried beans, or any other small inexpensive item.  Please encourage your child to count 100 of these items. Counting 10 groups of 10 is a great way to count to 100.

On Wednesday Feb. 28, our school will be encouraging students to wear pink shirts for “Pink Shirt Day.” Pink shirt day is a day when we remember to be a kind friend and to stop “bullying” when we see it happening.  Your child is welcome to wear a pink shirt or other pink clothing item.  Please do not feel that you need to buy pink clothing specifically for this occasion as we will have extra items that the students can borrow to wear.

Division 14 Names for Valentine Cards

Aiden                         Amara                        Elvin                Evie

Jaydon                       Jessica                       Kaiya              Kien

Leo (Gr. 1)                  Leo G. (K)                   Lucas              Niharika

Niko                            Olivia                          Silas                 Sofia

Titus                             Vihana

Reminders:

Friday Feb. 16 is a pro d day so school is closed.

Monday Feb. 19 is Family Day so schools will be closed.

Please look for “Family Day” homework that will be sent home next week.

Gung Hay Fat Choy to everyone that will be celebrating this weekend!

What do we do in math?

All of our math lessons begin with a “hands on” activity.

Today we learned how to use Venn diagrams (2 overlapping circles) to organize information. We sorted shoes based on whether they were black, had velcro, both or none. Sorting based on attributes is an important first step in mathematical understanding.

Skating!

We had a wonderful time skating on Wednesday. I was so proud to see everyone’s determination and enthusiasm. Thank you to all of the parent helpers who came to tie skates-much appreciated!

Important dates in February:

Wednesday Feb. 7 – Glass Fusing Workshop (Thank you to the PAC for funding this activity!)

Wednesday Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day- students are welcome to bring Valentine cards for their classmates (I will send home more info about this on Monday!)

Friday Feb. 16 – School is closed for students – Professional Development Day

Monday Feb. 19 – Family Day – School closed

Wednesday Feb. 21 – 100th Day of School

Wednesday Feb. 28 – Pink Shirt Day

Thursday Feb. 29 – Fire Safety Presentation

Missing shirt:

A student in our class is missing a blue GAP sweatshirt/pullover. Please have a look at your home in case it went home with your child. Thank you.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Literacy Week!

We had a great time this week celebrating all things about books! Cozy reading, book swap, wearing words, teacher reading swap, fun activity with Mrs. Dias…lots of ways to show how words are all around us!

Click on “The Mitten” link below to watch our “high quality” production of a fun story. The ending was cut off but I think you get a good taste of the fun we had making the video. It may take a few seconds to load the video.

The Mitten Re-enactment

Homework:

Kindergarten – Students are bringing home their “Alphabet Rap” book. Please read this over and over with your child so they can review letter sounds. I highly recommend keeping it in a safe place so you can read it often.

Grade 1s– Please keep up with your home reading book bags. I’m seeing amazing progress so keep up with the home reading!

Skating on Wednesday

Our class will be skating at 11am on Wednesday. We will be leaving the school at 10:30. Please return the pink permission form on Monday if you have not already done so.  So far I have 3 volunteers and can offer them a place on the school bus. If anyone else would like to join us to help tie skates, I will need you to drive yourself to the ice rink.

Please ensure students are prepared for skating on Wednesday by brining: winter coat, snowpants, mittens, helmet (if they have one), and skates (if they own their own skates). PLEASE LABEL ALL ITEMS WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME.

The rink will provide helmets and skates for all students who are not bringing their own.

Reminder; If I do not have a family photo please email me one as soon as possible. I can print it at school for you. We will use these photos for a variety of activities in February. 

Looking forward to another fun week ahead!

What a week!

Thank you all so much for your flexibility as the unpredictable weather changed our plans many times.

It was wonderful to see so many kids back at school today as the clearer roads allowed for safer travel.

Fun in the snow!

Literacy Week – Jan. 22 – 26

Next week our school will be celebrating all things related to reading and books!

There will be a special focus every day of the week:

Monday – students are invited to donate books that they do not read anymore to our “Book Swap”. Once all the donated books are organized, students will get to choose new books from the donated books to take home on Tuesday.

Tuesday – Book Swap Choice and Teacher Reading Swap

Wednesday – “Wear Words Wednesday” – students are invited to wear clothing that has words on it!

Thursday – assembly (tentative)

Friday – Cozy reading – students are welcome to wear Pj’s or comfortable clothing and bring a stuffie for reading day

So please have a look for any books you can donate to the book swap so your child can choose new books and bring them on Monday.

Have a wonderful “wintery” weekend!

Hello families,

I am so sorry that I was not able to make it to school today (Friday). My daughter had a bad fall at school yesterday so I spent Thursday evening waiting for an ambulance and in emergency. Fortunately no major injuries but she will be using crutches for a while. I am home with her today.

I am so thankful that Ms. Nelson was able to teach the class today.

A few notes:

-please return your child’s white report card envelope (you can keep the papers inside-i just need the envelope if you still have it)

-We will be starting to explore family connections as part of social studies. I am requesting that every student have a family photo to share with the class. I already have family photos from the following students: Kaiya, Amara, Leo, Sofia (all from Ms. Grippo that were used last year), and Vihana, Olivia, and Jaydon. If you do not have a printed family photo, feel free to send me a digital image by email and I can print it on the colour copier. Please ensure I have a photo by Jan. 31.

-Beginning next week, the special helper will be invited to bring a book from home for me to read to the class. Please think ahead and help your child choose a book that can be read in less than 5 minutes. Gr. 1 students are welcome to read the book to the class themselves if they wish to do so. You will receive a reminder the day before your child is special helper.

-exciting news! We will be going skating on Wednesday Jan. 31. I will send more info closer to the date!

Have a wonderful “wintery” weekend! Stay warm!

Happy holidays!

Thank you for all of your holiday wishes! I truly appreciate all of your support this term.  The students have grown in so many ways which are especially evident in their kindness to one another and dedication to learning activities.

From the Penguin revolution to pancake breakfast, we enjoyed a fun filled week, but now we are all ready for some special time with our families.

Wishing you peace and joy for the holidays!

See you in the new year on Monday January 8, 2024!

PS. The Grade 1 students were gifted a book from TD that they took home on Thursday. This is a book for them to keep.

More Gingerbread Fun!

We capped off the week with a hunt through the school for our gingerbread man who jumped out of the oven!  Luckily he was enticed back to our classroom when he saw our beautiful gingerbread house.

We all had a turn rolling out the gingerbread dough!

Dates to remember:

Wednesday Dec. 20 – Penguin Revolution Day – The leadership students are organizing a fun day for our school. We are welcome to wear black/white so we can look like penguins!

Thursday Dec. 21 – our last day of school before break – Students are welcome to wear their PJ’s to school and bring a small stuffie. We will be eating pancakes in the morning. Dismissal is at 1:55.

Friday Dec. 22 – no school

Have a lovely weekend!

Gingerbread Friends

We have read three versions of “The Gingerbread Man” so far. We will continue to read more adaptations next week.  The class is able to compare the different versions very well. We are keeping track on our chart.

“Oh Where is my gingebread man?”

We have been learning this pocket chart song this week (to the tune of “Where has my little dog gone?”

Gr. 1 Math

The Grade Ones have been learning how to sort information and represent it in a graph. This is a photo of how we put these holiday shapes into a graph.

 Glass Jars

Thank you so much to Kien’s family who has donated a lot of jars. I still need about 8 to proceed with a project for next week. Please send in clean jars without a label (tomato sauce, salsa, pickles, etc.) if you are able to do so.

Have a lovely weekend!

Wow! How can it be December already? The first term of school has flown by so quickly!

This is the time of the year when we see so much growth in all areas. I am definitely seeing growth in social skills, literacy skills, and math too! Amazing progress everyone!

Gingerbread Bakery

Our house area has been converted into a Gingerbread bakery while we learn all about the gingerbread man stories.

Adventures of Gingerbread Man

Throughout the month of December, the special helper will bring home the gingerbread man bag. They are invited to draw and write about gingerbread man’s visit at your home. Be on the look out for your turn! Olivia is the first to take him home this weekend!

Jingle Bell Walk

We lucked out with beautiful weather on Thursday for our annual jingle bell walk. The kids were so excited to share who lived in all the houses that we delivered our flyers to.

Glass Jar Request

Over the next 2 weeks, I will be collecting clean, label free jars for an upcoming project. If you have any to contribute I would be very grateful. Any size from 500ml to 750 ml will be great!

Hopefully everyone received the new December calendar yesterday!

Have a lovely weekend!