Hello families,

Once again, we have had an amazing week of warm weather. Where is this snow they keep talking about?

Home Reading:

Thank you very much for reading with your children at home using the books from the “RED folder” bag. We have almost 100% of students returning their bag for new books every Friday. I mentioned to the class that they can write the title for each book once on the reading log and then place a check mark every time they re-read the story. Something like this:

Place Value Game:

The Grade Ones learned a place value game. They have 9 popsicle sticks, each with 10 dots on one side and one dot on the other side. They drop them, sort them into 10s and 1s, then figure out the number of dots that are showing without counting each individual dot. Have fun playing this at home!

Dry hands:

We have noticed that many of the students’ hands are very dry from so much hand washing. If you would like to send a small bottle of hand lotion for your child to use at school, I am fine with them keeping it in their desk.

Valentine’s Day:

Due to the unique situation at school this year, students are not to bring any Valentine cards, goodie bags, treats, or any other item from home to distribute to their classmates. I know this does not sound like very much fun but I will make sure they all get to have the full Valentine/friendship experience at school. Thank you for your support with this.

Have a lovely weekend!

I hope you were all able to enjoy the beautiful weather today! I feel very lucky to have been able to go for a forest walk and feel the warmth of the sun!

This week we continued to explore the water cycle and learn about “water as a force”. We also learned about erosion.

Here are our water cycle paintings:

We will be learning about salmon this week.  In February, we will move onto researching animals that the students choose. They will be creating a habitat for their chosen animal.

We will be collecting shoeboxes for their habitat creations. We will begin this project in about 2 weeks.  If you have a shoebox that you can donate, I would greatly appreciate that. 

Example:

In math, the Grade Ones are working on subtraction. They will begin to learn about place value (ones and tens).

The Grade Two students have been learning about geometric solids and will be learning to add/subtract to 100.

As I am sure you have heard, there is snow in the forecast this week. I would love to be able to take the class outside to enjoy the snow if we get a good amount of it. Please send your child to school in weather appropriate clothing. I have a few pairs of snow boots and waterproof pants that I can lend to students if needed.  Learning outdoors is much more fun when we are prepared for the weather. Thank you!

Please note the following dates:

Friday February 12 – We will celebrate Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day (more info to come)

Friday February 19 – Our 100th Day of School !

Friday February 26 – Pro D Day – No School for students

Friday March 12 – Reports Go Home and last day of school before Spring Break

Monday March 29 – School Re-opens after Spring Break

Friday April 2 and Monday April 5 – School Closed for Easter weekend

Snapshots of learning from this past week:

Winter Writing

Math tub fun: sorting, stacking, building…

Learning about evaporation.  Does the steam turn into water when it cools on your hand?

We read the story “100 things that make me happy”. Then we thought about all of the little things that make us happy. From cuddles and smiles to donuts and friends…we realized that the little things in our daily lives are the things that can bring great joy! Click here for the link to the story 100 THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY

Reading books to friends!

For Black Shirt Day, we read “The Colour of Us” and had a discussion about all of the wonderful shades of skin that exist.  We were able to have a deeper discussion about how some people in the world do not treat others equally because they have different a colour of skin. We learned that this is called racism. The students were able to share their thoughts on how they can take a stand against racism. Click here for a link to THE COLOUR OF US

Have a lovely weekend!

PS Thank you to Ms. Serka for being our class’ unofficial “photographer”!

Welcome back and Happy new year 2021!

I hope you all had a peaceful break and were able to spend some quality time with your family. The students have settled back into classroom routines nicely. This second term of school is always a term full of a lot of growth and progress-I am sure you will notice this when reading and working with your child at home too!

This week we talked about resolutions (setting goals for self-improvement). Each of us decided on a resolution for home, school, and personal growth. Ask your child to share their resolutions with you.

I will not be sending home a calendar for January as there are not many important dates to add to it.

Please take note that Tuesday January 12 will be individual photo day for the students.

A reminder that dismissal is at 1:58 every Monday and at 2:58 every other day of the week.

Our classroom door opens at 8:50 and everyone should be in class by 8:55 when our outside door will close.

Library day continues to be on Wednesday so please ensure that your child returns their books by Wednesday each week.

This month we will begin learning about the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation) and the salmon life cycle. We continue to focus on stories about feelings, kindness, problem solving, and being a kind friend.

Have a lovely weekend!

Thank you for all of your holidays wishes! I truly appreciate all of your support and patience this term as we have navigated a very unique school year. The students have grown in so many ways which are especially evident in their kindness to one another and dedication to learning activities.

This week we learned about Winter Solstice (the longest night of the year) and that various cultures that celebrate this event with lantern festivals.  We created nature lanterns and enjoyed eating snack by lantern light.  We also visited Ms. Thompson and her Christmas village display at the office.

You will notice that your child has brought home their inside shoes and extra clothing bag.  Please ensure that their shoes and clothing still fit them! You can return inside shoes and extra clothing (shirt, pants, socks, and underwear) on Monday January 4.

School reopens on Monday January 4.

I wish you all a peaceful and wonderful break together! See you in 2021!

We had so much fun today in our PJ’s (maybe too much fun-LOL!).

Please look for your child’s “Informal Report” for Term 1 in their planner bag.  This report will give you a quick snapshot of your child’s learning this term.  If you would like to discuss your child’s progress further, I am available to meet via zoom.  Please contact me by email if you would like to schedule a meeting.

This week we did a Candy Cane experiment. We put candy canes into 3 different liquids: warm water, cool water, and vinegar. We learned how to make predictions and record our observations.

The Grade 7s have organized “Spirit Week” for next week at school.  Students are welcome to dress in the following ways to celebrate our last week of school before our winter break (this is completely optional):

Monday – dress like a character from a book or movie (I know this is a challenging way to dress so no pressure at all). The class and I discussed that maybe even a Santa hat would be great option.

Tuesday – Look alike day – Our class decided to dress in red, green, white or black clothing so we can all look alike.

Wednesday – Wear Words day – wear any clothing that has letters or words on it.

Thursday – wear your favourite colour day

Friday – PJ day (again!)

…and I have let the class know that my daughter is getting braces on Monday so I will not be at school, but I have made sure that the class will have a wonderful TOC!

Have a lovely weekend!

Hello Parents,

Just a quick message to let you know that students in our class are welcome to wear their PJ’s to school on BOTH Friday Dec. 11 and 18. We have a few students who will not be here next Friday so we wanted to make sure they can participate this week!

Also, your child will be bringing home a folder with some of their work from TERM 1 today. Please make time to go through their work with them so they can tell you all about their learning.

Please RETURN the folder by next week. You can keep all the papers from inside the folder but I would appreciate to have the folders returned.

PLEASE KEEP THE WORK AT HOME AND RETURN THE FOLDER BY NEXT WEEEK.

Thank you to the families that have returned their “Special Family Celebration” homework. I am sending home extra copies today for those students who think they lost their paper. If you have time to complete this with your child, it would be very special for them to have the chance to share with our class.

Thank you for your support at home!

I hope you have all had a wonderful week! Your children have been busy. Have a look at some activities from this week:

Our class created beautiful cards for seniors in care homes. The kids were so proud that they would give some cheer to people that may not get to see their families this holiday season.

We had a special lesson with Mrs. Dias (our school’s teacher librarian). We learned about “event writing” where we focused on the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

Finally, have a look at our big I SPY CHRISTMAS board. We had fun today writing clues to go with the pictures.

Have a lovely weekend!

I hope you all enjoyed an extra day together on Friday!

A few classroom updates:

-Over the next few weeks, we will be learning about Winter celebrations and traditions from around the world. Your child will have some homework relating to this next weekend.  They will be encouraged to outline the details of a special holiday that your family celebrates. I will be sending home a form for your child to complete with your help next Friday.

-I will be adding books to EPIC about various holidays that are celebrated around the world. Please encourage your child to read/listen to these stories.

-This week our class will be completing very special Christmas cards for seniors in care homes.  We have spoken about “filling each others’ buckets” by doing kind things.  We agreed that creating special cards would be a kind way to bring joy to seniors who will not be able to see family members this holiday season.  These cards will be delivered to care homes through an initiative called “Cards for Seniors.”

-Puzzles!!!  Our class has really enjoyed doing puzzles lately. Puzzles are an amazing way to spend time together as a family, work with others towards a common goal, problem solve and develop spatial awareness (and they are lots of fun too!)

If you would like to borrow a puzzle or two from our classroom for the holidays, just let me know.

Reminder that the last day of school before the Winter Break is Friday December 18.

Hello families,

A few reminders:

-please check your “School Cash online” account to pay for your child’s planner, mathletics, and RAZ kids.

-Friday, Nov. 27 is a Pro-D Day. No school for students. I will be attending a math workshop in the morning and a “Social Story” workshop in the afternoon.

The students are really excited about the Solar System! Have a look at their amazing art work.

We have started classroom jobs this week. Every student has a certain responsibility for one week then they will be rotated through other jobs. They are showing such care and interest in keeping our classroom organized and tidy.

Here is our song that we learned this week. Sung to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”.

Your child brought home some “bat” homework. This is completely optional for families that have time to work on it.

Grade 1 students should be able to write at least 3 sentences using the following sentence frameworks: Bats can…, Bats have…, and Bats are… Grade 2 students should be able to write 6 sentences using those frameworks.

Have a wonderful weekend!