Month: September 2016

Terry Fox Run and Corn Boil

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What a rainy day!!!

We started our day by shucking our class set of corn on the cob.  We did this in the undercover area outside.  We then finished our ‘shoes’ for Terry. These were placed around the gym with those from the other classes. We had spent lots of time yesterday learning about Terry, his life, and his Marathon of Hope.  We also discussed cancer and people we know who have had it and who may or may not have survived.

At 2:00 all classes met in the gym for the Assembly put on by Division 1 students. After the emotional video about Terry we followed Division 1’s lead for warming up our muscles before we headed out for our run.  The heavy rain had stopped before our Assembly but it came back to a lesser degree for the run.  Students did a great job showing their spirit and support for Terry who ran a marathon every day in all sorts of weather – including heavy rain.

We headed back in to our classrooms and were treated to the cooked and buttered corn, compliments of our wonderful parents who came in to cook it for us.  Lots of students even had seconds!!

I hope you have a chance to speak with your child about Terry, his legacy, and his influence on our Canadian culture. He was a truly inspirational young man, and national hero.

On a Rainy Day We Like to …

In The Cat in the Hat, Sally and Nick are stuck inside their house on a rainy day when the Cat shows up to create some havoc in their lives.  As part of our Seuss study we brainstormed a list of things that we like to do when the weather makes it not so much fun to be outside.  Students then wrote out two of their ideas on paper umbrellas and decorated them.  These are in our classroom on our back bulletin board.

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Check them out when you come by for Intake Interviews this week.

Seuss!!!

While we are awaiting the onset of our Reading groups (in a few weeks) we are going to be doing a literary study of the books by Theodore Seuss Geisel – also known as, Dr. Seuss.  We will do all sorts of activities around some of his books: writing, predictions, extensions, and artwork.  Some activities will be individual and others will be group based.

This week we have begun with the iconic classic, The Cat in the Hat.

We had an extended directed drawing lesson on facial features.  Students then created their own faces through their drawing.  Hats, in the style of The Cat in the Hat, were made and added to their portraits.  These are on our main bulletin in the hallway.

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Make sure you check them out when you come by for our Intake Interviews next week!

All About Me

We have spent time this week looking at ourselves and sharing things with our classmates.  We did a booklet called, A Book About Me.  In here we wrote about our likes / dislikes, our families, things we have recently learned, and things we want to learn next.  We also did initial drawings of our faces.  These booklets are posted on the bulletin board at the back of our classroom.

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Our Read Aloud Novel

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On Monday we began our daily read aloud: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling.  We will read a few pages each day after Planners are done.  Reading a chapter book is a great way to encourage active listening and the expansion of the children’s vocabulary through her very descriptive and rich writing.  It is a great introduction to hearing stories that are longer and more involved.  Novels provide the opportunity to learn delayed gratification (i.e. not having the whole story over in 15 minutes) as well as teaching reflection, prediction, and anticipation.  I have a recently released special hardcover edition of the novel which has been illustrated throughout.

When we have completed the novel we will take the opportunity to watch the movie. Through this we will compare the book and the movie through their similarities and differences.  Appreciating that most of the movies that we watch originally came from the written books is also a valuable lesson – and hopefully will inspire their love of literature.

Welcome back!!!

It is so nice to have the class decided and to be getting on with our school year!!

I am looking forward to a great year.  Please check back to this blog as I regularly post information regarding our class activities and upcoming events for the school.

This first few days we have begun some of our regular routines, and also had a little bit of time to get to know each other through exploration of our Math tubs.

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Students also had a bit of time to explore some of the Centre activities we have in our classroom.

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While we are awaiting the start of our Reading groups, our class will be doing a unit study on the books of Dr. Seuss. We will be doing lots of fun activities around his books.  We are also going to be getting to know each other better via a few activities around the theme of “All About Me”.

Stay tuned …