Welcome to February everyone!

Let the adventures begin!

This week was Groundhog Day ! We did a prediction graph as a class the day before and then we watched Punxsutawney Phil make his decision on the big day! The majority of out class predicted yes, what do you think?

 

Good news/Bad news!
Good news-I think I have figured out the mystery of the diapering stars on Raz-kids!
Bad news-the only way I have found to fix the problem is to delete everyones account and start again with new passwords…
Your child should have come home on Thursday with a small paper with their new password on it. If that paper has wondered off, please feel free to talk to me/email me and I can give you the password or send home a new paper. I cannot believed how much trouble we have been having with Raz-kids this year. I have never had to send home so many changes before! I apologize for all of the confusion!

We had our afternoon of CORE on Friday and it was amazing, we navigated terrain like Rickety Stick bridge and Small Leap crossing! I was having so much fun I forgot to take some pictures! Fear not, I will do my best to take some next Friday when we go again!

To make up for it, here is a video of the tent village we created for literacy week! I was amazed at how focused the class was! The loved it.

 

Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. I will be sending home a list of the students’ names this week IF you are interested in bringing Valentine’s cards to share. I will also have supplies in the classroom for children to make cards at school. As always, if your child chooses to bring Valentines please make sure there is one for everyone in the class to keep this a positive experience.

Our class has reached out goal of 20 points! We got a point each time we came to the. carpet before Mrs. Finlayson finished singing the carpet song. To celebrate the class decided to have a camping themed day! On Wednesday Feb. 8th we are going to enjoy camping themed events all day! Students are invited to bring their blankets and flashlights on that day. One of the things we are going to be doing is making s’mores! Yum! If you don’t know what these are they are a graham cracker sandwich with chocolate and marshmallows in the middle. Traditionally these are roasted over the campfire but we will be making ours in the oven. If you would like to donate a bag of marshmallows, a box or graham crackers, or a bar of chocolate please email me and let me know!

Things to look forward to next week:

Monday	Gym with Mrs. Finlayson-we will be learning some new skipping games! introduce the digraph “wh” addition- introducing double digit addition!
Tuesday	Music with Mr. TDS STEM-talk about migration
Wednesday	Camping day! Gym with Mr. Lim camping literacy leaf art S’MORE writing (and eating!)
Thursday	Music with Mr. TDS Please return library books Journals-continue with “5 Star Writing”
Friday	Popcorn day! 1$ Library-new books coming home! CORE-dress for the weather! Mr. Asham is giving a virtual teaching about Indigenous. contribution to society that we will be attending “wh” extra practice sheets coming home
Upcoming events: Feb. 20th-family day, no school!-we will be recognizing family day instead of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. More information coming soon Feb.14th-Valentine’s Day Feb. 24th-pro-d-no school!

 

February is almost here!

We are down to the last few days of January and February is going to be BUSY!

We have…

• groundhog day
• black history month
• Valentine’s Day
• family day
• 100th day of school
• Tibetan new year
• CORE
• pink shirt day
• did I miss something…. lol

This Friday we will be beginning CORE with Kevin and Mr. Giroux! I am very excited about this as it will be my first time participating. We will be learning about staying safe while hiking, exploring the forest, learning about local plants and more! This will be happening each Friday for the next 3 weeks. Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather!

This week we will be talking about using “tch” vs “ch” for parents who are interested, here is the rule!

Next Week in Division 13!

Monday	-gym with Mrs. Finlayson-please wear runners -introduce the trigraph “tch” -talk about camouflage -Ms. Redmond coming to read us a story
Tuesday	-music with Mr.TDS -celebration of learning assembly at 11 -addition strategy: friends of 10
Wednesday	-gym with Mr. Lim-please wear runners -Mr. Asham coming to visit -talk about migration -first day of black history month
Thursday	-Groundhog day -journals- review when to use uppercase and punctuation -5 star writing -music with. Mr. TDS -Library tomorrow, please return books today!
Friday	-CORE-out in the forest-dress for the weather! -loose parts -Library-new books coming home!

Hello Everyone!

I took a look at the weather for tomorrow and it isn’t supposed to be too bad so I think our neighbourhood walk is a go! That being said please dress for the weather because things can change quickly.

If you are interested in joining us on our walk please send me an email so I know you are coming! We plan to leave the school around 1:30!

Also tomorrow is glow in the dark day, please bring your flashlights!

Hello Everyone!

Next week is literacy week so that means it will be filled with fun literacy opportunities! Friday was crazy so the notice didn’t end up making it home but here is a digital copy and it the paper copy will be coming home on Monday!

Part of the reason this week was so crazy was because we were busy having so much fun learning!

Aneesha Kaur’s mom came to visit us and taught us more about Guru Nanak! Aneesha Kaur also sang, played, and demonstrated her martial arts skills for us.

We have been learning this week about how some animals adapt to winter hibernating. We acted out different animals getting ready to hibernate as well as taking on a STEM challenge of making a den for a bear out of toothpicks and marshmallows!

The class really enjoyed this video called Frogsicles!

We also celebrated Lunar New Years! It is the year of the rabbit!

The weather is looking decent on Wednesday so I thought it would be a nice opportunity go for a neighbourhood walk with the class. We will practice our safe street walking as well as observing our community. I alway appreciate a few extra parent volunteers, if you are interested in joining us please let me know! I hope to leave the school at about 1:30pm.

Next Week in Div. 13!

Monday	Literacy week theme of the day: read to a furry friend- students are welcome to bring a stuffed animal to read to! Gym with Mrs. Finlayson introduce “sh” (attempt #2!) SEL-review the “Yellow Zone”
Tuesday	Literacy week theme of the day: a day at the park-students are welcome to bring a blanket to sit on while reading. Music with Mr. TDS literacy centres word playground- Heggerty phonemic awareness
Wednesday	Literacy week theme of the day: glow in the dark-students are welcome to bring a flashlight to read with Neighbourhood walk-parent volunteers welcome! Gym with Mr. Lim what is camouflage?
Thursday	Literacy week theme of the day: get comfortable -students are welcome to bring a pillow to use while reading loose parts-tell me your story! math centres Music with Mr. TDS Please return library books
Friday	Literacy week theme of the day: snack attack-students are welcome to bring a snack to eat while they read! sports jury day-wear your favourite jersey or team wear! Zoom presentation with Barbra Reid! Library-new books coming home!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello Everyone!

This is just a quick reminder that tomorrow we will be celebrating Lunar New Year. Students are encouraged to wear red, yellow, or gold!

I have also been told by students and parents that the stars that children have collected in Raz-kids have suddenly disappeared! I have been in contact with the company and I hope that this will be resolved soon!

Thank you so much!

Monday will be Ms. Redmonds first day as our new principal at Second Street! Please join me in welcoming her 🙂

Do you know the “ck” rule?? This week I taught the class when we use “ck” and when we use “k”! Here is a neat poster if you would like to review it at home!

Thank you for all of the Kleenex donations that have been coming in! I think we have enough to get us through for a while 🙂 if we start running low again I will let you know!
I would still welcome donations of ziplock bags to help us organize our…everything! I was also talking with the class yesterday and we decided that it would be helpful if any families had some extra baby wipes to donate it would make it so much easier to keep our literacy centres clean. Thank you so much for your help!

We seem to have been finding it tricky to keep track of our water bottles recently. It would be a big help if parents were able to label water bottles with their child’s name to help us keep track. Also,  if at all possible, it would be a big help  to send spill proof water bottles to class. These water bottles won’t spill everywhere when not closed properly or knocked over. There are a million different brands and all different price points!

Next Week in Division 13!

Monday	-gym with Mrs. Finlayson-please wear runners -finish up our “ck” digraph work
Tuesday	-Aneesha Kaur’s mom coming in to teach us about Guru Nanak! -music with Mr.TDS -literacy centres
Wednesday	-Mr. Asham coming to visit to lead a sharing cycle and smudging -talk about how animals hibernate in winter-build dens using some fun materials -gym with Mr. Lim-please wear runners
Thursday	-introduce our new digraph-“sh” -music with. Mr. TDS -Library tomorrow, please return books today! -learning about our first famous black Canadian woman
Friday	-celebrate Lunar New Year- please wear red, yellow or gold! -Marcus turns 7! Happy birthday Marcus! -introduce new addition strategy of the week-adding zero! -Library-new books coming home! -no hike this week-if the weather cooperates, I would like to invite some parent volunteers to join us for a neighbour walk next week-more details to come!

 

Hello Everyone!

It is true, it is Mr. Hutton’s last week with us as Second Street! He will be begging his new adventure at Chaffey-Burk and we will be fortunate enough to have Ms. Redman joining us as the new principal on January 16th! This will be an exciting change for our school and we have a few surprises in store for Mr. Hutton this week 🙂

 

Friday is the beginning of Black History Month. Students are encouraged to wear a black shirt to honour the importance of this event. We will be learning about famous black Canadians and other activities throughout the month.

Did you know that classrooms run on tissues and ziplock bags?! 😉 It would be wonderful if you had an extra box of tissues or ziplock bags (big or small) to donate to the classroom. Thank you for helping us keep clean and organized!

The students have been enjoying looking at our family photos that have been sent in! They love having this piece of home at school! If you have not sent in a 4×6 family photo yet, please send one in! If getting one printed is what is slowing you down, feel free to email it to me and I will work some magic!

 Next Week in Division 13!

Monday	-gym with Mrs. Finlayson-please wear runners -practice Sun Salutations as one of our Blue Zone strategies -journals-focus on including periods or full stops
Tuesday	-music with Mr.TDS -introduce the “ck” sound -literacy centres
Wednesday	-gym with Mr. Lim-please wear runners -introduce out new science unit, animals in winter! -Happy Birthday Ashley!
Thursday	-music with. Mr. TDS -Library tomorrow, please return books today! -introduce a new addition strategy- drawing a picture!
Friday	-Popcorn day! 1$ -Black Shirt Day/Black day of excellence-Please wear a black shirt to honour the beginning of Black History Month -Library-new books coming home! -assembly in the afternoon

Have a wonderful week!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Welcome to January! I am excited to hear all about the children’s winter break. My winter break was spent at home with my family. With two small children at home, I can’t say that it was exactly relaxing but, it was nice to spend time with them!

Volunteer in the classroom!
Now that I know the class a little better, I would love to start inviting families into the classroom more!  There will be specific activities and events that I will request volunteers for, but I would also love for you to come share with us too!

In the past I have had families come into our class to share something that they are passionate about, this could be a craft, sport, something to do with your  work… the possibilities are endless! I have also had many families come in to teach us about their culture or a cultural celebration! While I always try to include as much as I can, I have so much to learn still! Students love to see some of their home life brought into school and learning more about each other really helps build a strong classroom community!  If you are interested in coming into the classroom to share something,  please send me an email or come speak to me and we can get something up!

If you are unable to make it into the classroom to teach us about important cultural celebration in your family but would still like us to know about it, please feel free to email/talk to me! Maybe you will have a book suggestion or activity that we could do.

Handle With Care
As adults, we know that our home experience can affect all aspects of our day, for children, it is no different. If you family is experiencing difficulties at home, I would like to provide additional support to your child at school. I understand that you are not always able to share details and that is okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning, or weekend, email me and type  “Handle with Care” in the email subject line. Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let me know that your child may need extra time, patience, or help during the day. Of course you can come speak to me at anytime at well.

Quick reminders:

• thank you for checking the fit of your child’s inside shoes and change of clothes over the break. Please return them as soon as possible because the weather is going to continue be very wet!
• just to review, there are no Pokemon cards allowed at school. They have become a problem for many of the classes, including ours, so all cards should left at home (not just tucked in the backpack 🙂 )
• please return communication bags each time they come home! This really cuts down on lost papers and helps students practice organization skills.

The start of this term…

I can’t wait for this term to get started! Term two is often considered the “meat and potatoes” of the year and it flys by fast!

In math, we are going to be getting started on addition. It is expected in the end that grade 1s will be able to do addition to 20 and grade 2s to 100. We will be focusing on a variety of mental math strategies to support this. We want students to be able to explain their thinking not just come up with the answer. Following that we will be moving on to subtraction as well as looking at how addition and subtraction are connected. We will also continue to review previously taught math concepts.

In language arts, we will begin focusing on adding details and writing conventions to our work. Students will be encouraged to apply all of the phonics skills they have been practicing (and will continue to practice!) to their writing. We will also continue to work as a whole class as well as in small groups targeting reading skill to keep us moving froward! Don’t forget that your child has access to Raz-Kids to practice their reading at home!

In science, we will begin to look at behavioural adaptations of animals in the local environment. While the weather is still cold we will study different ways animals adapt to winter conditions. We will also explore local Indigenous People’s understanding and use of seasonal rounds at this time of the year.

In social studies, we will focus on the idea that Canada is made up of many diverse regions and communities and that healthy communities recognize and respect the diversity of individuals and care for the local environment.

Of course we will covering much more than this this term but I wanted you to have a sense of where we how we will be starting 2023 off!

Now that your brain is filled to the brim, let’s just focus on getting settled in and getting through next week!

Next Week in Div 13!

Monday	-NO SCHOOL
Tuesday	-Welcome back! -New year activity-goal setting for this term -literacy centres -music with Mr.TDS
Wednesday	-Mr. Asham coming to lead a talking circle -gym with Mr. Lim-please wear runners -introduce the “ch” digraph
Thursday	-music with. Mr. TDS -review “The Blue Zone” -Library tomorrow, please return books today! -introducing addition in math
Friday	-Library-new books coming home! -“ch” extra practice books coming home -introduce new science unit-animals in winter

As always please contact me if you have any questions!

Just a quick reminder that report cards will be posted online this year and NOT printed! They should be available on the portal as of December 14th.

Last week a cue card was sent home with your child’s login ID and password. This will be needed to access your child’s report card.

The guide to accessing the report card was emailed out by the office last week,  I have attached it bellow for you!

SD41 Getting Started with the Family Portal Brochure[44]

Below is the term overview for you to look at to get a sense of what was taught this term.

Overview-Term 1

As always, if you have any questions please let me know!

Wow!

It is hard to believe that we are down to the last week before winter break! It is going to be a fun week full of winter magic!

Please supply a reusable or plastic bag on FRIDAY for your child to bring home their inside shoes (to check for sizing) and extra clothes (adjust for the season/check sizing). Please return a full set of spare clothes in a large Ziplock bag and indoor shoes to school in January.

Friday is also pyjama and pancake day! This is a super fun day were students are invited to wear they pyjama’s and bring a stuffy to school for the day. Our wonderful parent community will also be making pancake for the WHOLE school! Our time slot is 10:45 so while you will need to still send a lunch for your child don’t be too surprised if they don’t eat it all. After lunch the entire school will be meeting in the gym and having a holiday sing-a-long. What a great way to end the week!

I am on the hunt for small animal toys to use in our story telling! If you are cleaning out your home over the break and come across any that your family isn’t using any more it would be wonderful if you are able to donate them to the class. The children would enjoy any animal, if you happen to have any Canadian animals that would be a wonderful bonus!

 Next Week in Div 13!

Monday	-Mrs. Finlayson home with sick baby-Ms. Cleary-Duli will be in for the day! -Journals-I will be asking the class a “would your rather” question! -introducing the consonant digraph “th”
Tuesday	-music with Mr.TDS -literacy centres -Gingerbread themed “Colour the Code”
Wednesday	-gym with Mr. Lim-please wear runners -loose parts-what kind of story can you create? -Christmas themed math centres
Thursday	-Pizza day for those who pre-ordered -music with. Mr. TDS -creating a class book!
Friday	-Pyjama and Pancake day! Students can wear their pyjamas and  bring a stuffy today! –Please bring bag for clothes and shoes to come home!

Have a wonderful week!