Happy October!

Wow, October arrived so quickly! Thank you for your patience during this choppy week. I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to having a full week of school next week!!

Math Lessons

In math, we continue to play games and learn more about numbers to 10. We made number crowns and played a dice game.

We also listened to a story titled One is a Snail and Ten is a crab. 

Click on this link to watch and listen to the story with your child.

Orange Shirt Day

For Orange Shirt day, we listened to some stories written about indigenous people who attended Residential Schools and spoke about ways that we help each other feel better when they are feeling hurt.

If you would like to watch an age appropriate video about Orange Shirt Day please click this link about the student who had her orange shirt taken away when she arrived at residential school:

Phyllis Webstad

Then we created orange hearts for our classroom to remind us to be kind and helpful to others.

Today we read a story called All are Welcome and created a “welcoming” display of ourselves.

Communication Bags

Today the students will be bringing home their “communication bag”.

Grade 1s will have their planner and calendar inside. Please sign the planner and return the following day. Any papers in the bag can stay at home. The Gr. 1s will have their IXL password in the front cover of their planner. If you have not tried IXL, please log in this weekend to try out the program. It is wondeful to support our classroom math program with this practice at home.

Kindergarten students will not have planners but please check your child’s communication bag daily, take out any papers from inside the bag, and then return the bag to school every day. You will find a mask for your Kindergarten student in their bag today.

Mask Mandate

As you have probably heard, all students K-12 are now required to wear a mask at all times indoors. Of course, the students will be removing their mask to eat and drink so I encourage them to have a landyard for their mask. Otherwise, we end up with masks all over the floor and tables. A landyard helps a lot! Ms. Aujla is going to look into purchasing a landyard for primary students but I am not sure how long that could take.

Friendship List

I would like to send out a “Friendship List” to all our families so you have parent contacts (phone numbers and emails) to arrange playdates, etc.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW if you would not like to be included on the friendship list. The information will only be shared with families in our class and I will remind everyone not to share the info with other people.

I also want to mention that the MYed system does not send emails to hotmail addresses. You may miss important information sent from the Burnaby School District if you have a hotmail address. I recommend submitting an additional “non-hotmail” email address to the office to ensure you receive important info.

Have a lovely weekend! Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can enjoy some beautiful Fall weather outside!

Hello families!

We have arrived at the end of our third week of school! Our class has so much to celebrate. Our Kindergarten students have learned all the routines for playing and learning both inside our classroom and outside on the playground. The Grade One students have taken on a leadership role helping the K students and they are being more independent throughout their day.

It is my hope that this blog will serve as a communication tool between home and school. Please check it regularly for school information.

There are 2 ways to access this blog.

1) Every Friday you will receive an email with a link to the latest blog entry. By clicking on the link (it is not highlighted) you will be able to see the photos and read information.

OR

2) Bookmark the following link and click on it whenever you would like to have a look at the blog.

http://sd41blogs.ca/capitanioj/

A bit about our classroom:

We start every day with “Table Time” when students choose an activity that is prepared on a table. This is a time to reconnect with peers and begin our day in a calm and inviting way.

Throughout the day, there are many opportunities for play (or “Exploration” time) as well as some more structured lessons. I read many stories throughout the day and often use the stories as a springboard for our lessons (see our activity inspired by the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom).

In Math, we begin by doing a whole group lesson followed by some “hands on” learning on the carpet.  The Grade 1s will usually have some “seatowork” on paper to follow up with the activity.  The K students will then have the opportunity to do more hands on activities with the occassional math seat work.

Here are some photos from a math lesson this week:

We are exploring the number 10: ways to make 10, using 10 frames, making groups of 10…

The K students helped make lots and lots of groups of 10. So much counting practice!

Art activities are always available to the students during exploration time. Have a look at the beautiful “name” art created this week using dried beans and seeds! I am sure your child would love to sing the “Higgelty Piggelty” song to accompany this project.

As you know we particiapted in a Terry Fox Run at school today. I was so proud of the students for trying their best to continue to run even when they were getting tired. Have a look at these drawings of us as we run with Terry!

Important Dates to Remember:

Monday Sept. 27 – Pro D Day – No school for students

Wednesday Sept. 29 – Orange shirt day – students are invited to wear orange.  Please do not feel the need to buy orange clothing. I will have little paper shirts for them to colour and pin on if they would like.

Thursday Sept. 30 – School closed for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

Monday Oct. 11 – Thanksgiving Day – School Closed

Info for Grade 1 families:

We will begin using planners on Oct. 4. I will include their IXL passwords in the front cover of their planner.

Have a lovely weekend!

xo Jennifer

Hello families!

I have just finished entering all of your emails so I hope you receive this message.

This is just a test to see if my blog is set up correctly.

I will ask parents at the door tomorrow if you received a notification of a blog entry via email.

Thank you!

Jennifer

Hello everyone!!!

I hope all of you have enjoyed a restful, fun summer full of lots of family time.

I am very excited to see all of my friends from Div. 14 tomorrow.

Ms. Aujla has asked our class to line up in the undercover area beside our classroom to limit the number of parents outside the primary wing. I will meet you there at 8:45 on Tuesday, Sept. 7. Dismissal will be at 9:45 in undercover area. Our class will be staying in our classroom for this week. I will introduce them to Mr. Ehl who will be their teacher for this week while I am with the new Kindergarten students.

The students will find out their new classrooms and teachers by next week.

I cannot wait to see you all!

xo Ms. C.

PS I will be bringing some sunflowers that grew from our sunflower seeds. Do any of you have sunflowers that grew from your seeds?

I hope you are finding ways to stay cool! I just wanted to note that school tomorrow is from 8:55 to 10:25.

We will be cleaning out desks, sorting work, and watching a year end assembly.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow for our final day of this memorable school year! Xo Ms. C.

Sorry that I missed posting our weekly blog update on Friday. I could not stay in that hot classroom any longer!

I hope you are all finding ways to stay cool this weekend.

Just a reminder that our last day of school is on Tuesday from 8:55 to 10:25. On Monday, we will be sorting through our work and supplies. The students should bring a bag to carry all of their things home on Monday.

Fun and learning from this past week:

Making a marble run with paper tubes

Newspaper towers Challenge

Potato Harvest: We found 40 potatoes in our tub!

And a visit from RCMP about bike safety!

We took a class photo with everyone. I will make sure everyone receives a copy as a keepsake from this school year.

See you on Monday! Please send lots of cold water, a hat, and wear appropriate clothing. It’s sure to be a hot one!

Six more full days of school until summer holidays!!!

We started the week by painting our wood salmon as a part of the “Stream of Dreams” project. We are looking forward to the Fall when all of the fish will be installed on our fence.

On Thursday, the students had a challenge: Use a ball of plasticine to make it into a shape that can float THEN test how many “fish” it can hold before it sinks! They absolutely loved this challenge. Here are some photos:

Then, today we made “thank you” cards and delivered them to all of the helpers in our school to show gratitude for all they do at Brantford.

Have a lovely weekend!

PS The last day of school is Tuesday June 29, dismissal at 10:55.

Wow-we had a blast this week! From making creations using a box to making catapults, we have enjoyed working together during many hands-on lessons!

Here are a few photos:

We read “Not a Box” and “Boxitects” for inspiration to turn a plain box into something else!

Then we read “If I Could Build a Car” and designed our dream cars. Some even had pools and grass fields!

Next, we read “21 Elephants and still standing” which a story about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. We planned and created bridges that could hold 21 elephants, but instead of testing our bridges with elephants, we used 21 dinosaurs!

And finally today we made Elephant Toothpaste and catapults!!

We will be particiapting in the STREAM of DREAMS project on Monay. Please send your child to school in old clothing as the paint we will be using does not wash out.

Have a lovely weekend!

Hello families!

I hope your child has told you that our class is traveling across Canada by reading stories that happen in different parts of Canada. This past week, we traveled to Newfoundland, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Today we read “The Gift of Inukshuk” and learned about Aurora Borealis. The students created beautiful Inukshuk art. I will send a photo next week.

With the very hot temperatures in our classroom earlier this week, we did not feel like doing very much seatwork so we had a lovely puzzle time instead.

We also prepared our daffodil bulbs for storage so we can plant them again in the fall.

I had so many helpers who wanted to clean our floor mats! They worked so hard at cleaning that I would love to take them to my home to clean it!

Have a lovely weekend!

Hello families!

While Ms. Cantafio was teaching the class, the students practiced reading and performing plays including The Little Red Hen, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and The Three Little Pigs.  They were so excited to perform their plays for me this week. They did an exceptional job reading and working as a team during their performances!

We were invited by Mr. McKay’s class to buy books that their class had published. It was a wonderful learning activity where the students were given money to use for their purchases. They needed to count and make change in order to buy their stories.  Check out the photos below from our visit to Mr. McKay’s class.

The June calendar was sent home today.

Please make a note of the early dismissal on Monday June 7 at 12:58.

Have a lovely weekend!