December has arrived!

Mistletoe Market

We had a great time looking at all of the amazing products that some older students were selling. It was a very good activity for the students to learn about cash economy and do some math while figuring out their change when purchasing a product.

Gingerbread Bakery

We have transformed our dramatic play area into a Gingerbread Bakery for December. The kids are having fun baking and serving each other.

Nap time!

Some students were so tired from all the excitement that they decided to “nap” instead of play! haha!

Clothing for Recording

Ms. Loo has requested that our class wear black bottoms and red or white tops when they sing/record their concert song on Wednesday, Dec. 7. Instead of an “in person” Christmas Concert, Ms. Loo will record every class and combine the footage into one video. She will send the link during the last week of school.

Donations for upcoming crafts/projects

We will be creating Christmas Tree Cones so we are still in need of left over Halloween candy like smarties, skittles, or licorice. We are also in need of glass jars (600mL to 750 ml) for a special project. Thank you for the doantions that have already arrived!

Have a lovely weekend!

PS Remember to return the home reading book bag on Monday in order to receive new books.

Some happenings from the past week:

World Cup Soccer

With the start of World Cup, we practiced some soccer skills like dribbling and kicking into a net. We also had the opportunity to watch a bit of Canada’s first game on the big screen in the gym.

Jingle Bell Walk

We embarked on our annual JINGLE BELL WALK on Thursday. The students were quite excited to hand out flyers to homes along Brantford Ave. The flyers were asking neighbours to donate food or new toys for less fortunate families. Hopefully the donations will start arriving next week! Thank you Monica for walking with us!

Reader’s Theatre of Good Night Owl

Thank you to all the families that were able to attend our performance. It means so much to the students to have an audience to perform for.

Fast words and home reading bags

We have new fast words: CAN, LIKE, TO, ARE, BE.

Your child can look for these fast words in their home reading books.

Please try to read the home reading books a few times before returning the bag of books on Monday. I will send home a new book bag on Monday.

TD Bank book donation

Every year TD Bank donates a new book to every Gr. 1 student. This year your child is receiving “Fast Friends”. This is their book to keep. 

Pro-D Day on Friday

Please remember that school is closed to students on Friday.

Snow next week

Hard to believe, but snow is in the forecast for next week! Let’s pull out those winter clothing so we are prepared! Please also replenish your child’s extra clothing at school if you know they brought some home especially dry socks.

Thank you! Have a lovely weekend!

Hello families!

Just a quick reminder that you are invited to a very short “performance” in our classroom on Wednesday at 2:45. I will keep doors and windows open for fresh air and masks are welcomed for our audience.

Raingear: With the rainy forecast this week, please ensure your child is prepared for the weather.

Pro-D Day on Friday: School will be clsoed for students.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Hello families,

This week we have been fortunate, once again, to have beautiful weather. November is typically a dreary and wet month so every day of sunshine is a bonus.

Thank you very much for reading your children’s planner messages every evening.

Fast words

You will find that your child is bringing 5 new fast word cards home each week. Please take a moment to practice reading these. Feel free to keep them in a special place at home or in the planner pouch for frequent review.

Home reading

Next Monday your child will be bringing home a bag of books that are suitable for their reading level. Please take time throughout the week to read and reread these books together. Through continued practice we will see their reading fluency flourish. The book bags should be returned every Monday in order to receive new books.

Burnaby Public Librarian Visit

Alex, the children’s librarian, from Tommy Douglas library visited our classroom today. Each student is bringing home a landyard to carry their library card in. All of the library cards will arrive next week for those of you who filled out the application.

Jingle Walk

I am looking for 2 or 3 parent volunteers to accompany us on our annual Jingle Walk on Thursday Nov. 24 from 11am to 12pm. If you are able to volunteer for this time, please email me directly at jennifer.capitanio@burnabyschools.ca

We will be walking along Brantford Ave. to hand out flyers to advertise that we are collecting toys and food items for families in need.

Reminder:

Pro-D Day on Friday Nov. 25

Have a lovely weekend!

Remembrance Day

This week’s activities focused on the meaning of Remembrance Day and practicing peace in our lives.

The class recited “Little Poppy” amazingly well. I was so very proud of them as they stood before a crowd for the first time.

They were very proud to hold their poppy artwork for the school community to see while they recited the poem.

Fast words

Each week, the students will be learning 5 fast words. They will print the words and bring them home to practice reading to you. Please feel free to keep these cards in a special place to practice regularly. They have 5 new words in their planners today.

Just a reminder that school will be closed on Friday November 11 to observe Remembrance Day.

Enjoy the extra day with your family.

Halloween Fun, Planting Bulbs, and Little Poppy

This week started out with a bang! Halloween parade, spider math, and Halloween stories kept us busy on Monday. Have a look at all of the fun characters that arrived at school on Monday!

Planting Bulbs

The weather cooperated on Wednesday so that we could plant bulbs in our school garden. We cannot wait to watch them bloom in the Spring! Thank you to “Bulbs 4 Kids” for the generous bulb donation.

Remembrance Day Assembly

We will be reciting the poem “Little Poppy” at our school’s Remembrance Day assembly on Thursday. The children were introduced to the poem today but please encourage them to practice it and memorize it at home.

I am requesting that our students wear black and white for the assembly so that our red poppies stand out against our clothing when we are at the front of the gym. Please do not buy any clothing. If  your child does not have black and white clothing do not worry. Dark or light colours will also be fine.

Dates to remember:

Friday Nov. 11 – Remembrance Day – School is closed

Friday Nov. 18 – photo retakes for students that were absent or want to take a new photo

Wednesday Nov. 23 – families are invited to watch our class perform a Reader’s Theatre at 2:45

Friday Nov. 25 – Pro-D Day. No school for students.

Stream of Dreams and Halloween Fun

Our week started with a wonderful program called “Stream of Dreams”. The students particiapted in lessons about the importance of salmon in our local ecosystem and how we can help to maintain a healthy environment for the salmon. After the lesson, we all had the opportunity to paint a beautiful salmon for our school fence to serve as a reminder to treat our streams respectfully.

Pumpkin Math

We had fun estimating, sorting, and counting with pumpkin seeds from our pumpkin. We practiced counting by 10s to make groups of 100. Awesome lesson in place value!

Pumpkin Patch

Thanks to our amazing PAC, we had so much fun at the pumpkin patch today! The weather was perfect for selecting a pumpkin and having a special hot chocolate treat! Thank you to Save On for the pumpkin donations and Tim Hortons for the hot chocolate!

Your child will be bringing home their own pumpkin. If you would like to participate in the pumpkin carving contest see the poster below.

Halloween on Monday

Students are welcome to come to school wearing their costume. I recommend wearing some comfortable clothing under the costume so they can take off their costume independently later in the day. Please send an extra bag to put their costume into.

We will participate in a school parade and have a Halloween assembly in the morning.

Please do not send treats to school on Monday as I am sure they will collect lots of treats on Monday evening!

Wish me luck-wink wink!

Happy Halloween from these spooky skeletons!

Update October 20

Spiders

This week we learned some facts about spiders and learned Raffi’s song “There’s a spider on the floor.” Our big, friendly spider interacted with the kids while we sang the song!

Earthquake Drill

Today we had our first Earthquake Drill of the schoolyear. We talked about keeping our bodies and heads protected by our desks or door fames. We counted to 60 while we waited for any trembles to finish. Then we would typically leave the school to gather on the back field.

This is a good time to talk about safe places to go in your home during an earthquake and where is a good spot to meet as a family once you evacuate your home.

Carrots

We tried carrots from the “Fruit and Veggie” program today.

Gym time

In the gym we are working on ball skills like rolling, throwing, catching, and bouncing. Today we practiced throwing/catching and rolling using the volleyball nets.

Raingear

With rain in the forecast (finally!), please check that your child’s raincoats and boots fit. We will be going outside in all weather including rain so please send your child to school with appropriate raingear when it is raining. When in doubt, send them in raingear anyways!

Have a lovely weekend!

Reminder that there is no school for students on Friday Oct. 21.

Apples everywhere!

Many of our lessons and activities this week involved learning about apples!

From our weekly pocket chart song…

to art projects…

and the stories “Ten Red Apples” and “10 Apples up on top” were springboards for math (practicing ways to make 10 and arranging numbers in order) and literacy activities!

We balanced apples on our head like the characters in “10 Apples up on top”!

We went on a fall walk to find “crunchy” leaves.

Our Gr. 4/5 buddies visited us for the first time for buddy reading.

We had lots of time for more classroom fun too!

Dates to remember:

Friday Oct. 21 – Pro- D Day. School closed for students. I will be attending the B.C. Primary Teachers Conference in Ruchmond.

Friday Oct. 28 – Pumpkin Patch at our school. We will be going with our big buddies to find the perfect pumpkins in our schoolyard thanks to the PAC! Please remember to bring a shopping bag to carry the pumpkin home.

Monday Oct. 31 – Halloween – Students are welcome to wear a halloween costume to school with a comfortable change of clothes underneath to change into. We will have a Halloween parade and celebrate with other activities in class.

Have a lovely weekend!

Wow-Another gorgeous week of fall weather!

We have been fortunate to enjoy the outdoors this week. From looking for leaves changing colours to exploring our outdoor spaces at school, we have really enjoyed the warm temperatures.

Giving Thanks/Gratitude

This week many of the lessons focused on “being grateful” for the people, things, places, and nature in our lives.

We brainstormed, wrote about, and created with these ideas.

After learning Raffi’s song “Thanks A Lot”, we created this beautiful bulletin board display. The song can be found at

THANKS A LOT

Noisy play and quiet play

The children have opportunities to choose where they want to play. There are places dedicated to more peaceful, calming activities like sensory trays (as seen in the photos) and places dedicated to more active, noisy play like big blocks and marbleworks.

Songs and Poems

Your child has brought home a yellow sheet with the lyrics for 2 songs that they have learned titled “Hello Mr. Turkey” and “Thanks a lot”. I hope they are able to sing these for you.

Birthdays

I try to remember to write students’ birthdays on the calendar that I send home but this month, I forgot to add Michaela’s birthday on Oct. 12! Please add Michaela’s name to the calendar so we can all wish her a special day next week.

That being said, we celebrate birthdays in the classroom by singing Happy Birthday and the the student receives a prize. Please do not send treats and goodie bags for the birthday child to hand out at school. Thank you!

Reminder:

School is closed on Monday Oct. 10 for Thanksgiving.

I wish you a lovely long weekend full of family time and gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!