Category: Class News

Pancake Breakfast, Santa, and Bingo

On December 18th we had a fun-filled day.  We began by joining Division 1 in the gym for a very yummy second breakfast of pancakes made by the parent group. Santa, and his elf helper, showed up and gave out goodie bags to all students.  A huge “THANK YOU” to the PAC for all their hard work and generosity!

Between Recess and Lunchtime we participated in the school-wide Bingo.  We had previously made our own personalized Bingo cards.  We were joined by three Grade 7 students who came down to help out.  Thank you to Jenae, Hasib, and Tina!!!  In between Bingo games the winning names of the raffle baskets were drawn.  We were lucky to have winners for both baskets and Bingo.

During the afternoon our class got together with the K class for some joint Centre time.  The Grade 1’s had fun re-visiting their old classroom and getting to know the K students for the first part of the afternoon.  The K’s then came to our classroom where our students introduced the K’s to our Centre activities.  The Grade 1’s seem to really enjoy being the ‘big buddies’ for the afternoon.

At the end of the day I read, “The Night Before Christmas” to my class and then we were surprised by a delivery of some very COLD LETTERS from the North Pole.  Santa answered the letters that the students had written to him.

I hope you all had a very nice break.  We are rested and ready to take on the second term!!!

Clay Snowpeople

We spent several days in December working on the students’ presents to their families.  For many of the students this was their first experience working with clay.

Students began by building the clay into three rings around a wooden doweling form. They learned how to join the clay sections and make it smooth with small bits of water. They pulled out ‘carrot’ noses and then created hats for their people.  Holes were put into the sides of the snow people and the students’ initials were carved onto the bottom of the forms.

These clay forms needed to spend a week drying in the class before they were put into the school’s kiln where they underwent their first ‘firing’.  When they came out of the kiln the students glazed them, and their hats, and then they went back into the kiln for their second (and last) firing.

Students collected twigs from the playground which were used for the snow-people’s arms.  Students made felt scarves by gluing small bits of felt onto a longer piece. They chose three pom poms for the buttons and used a black Sharpie pen to draw on the mouths.  When the pieces were all put together the snow people all looked very festive indeed!

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I hope you all enjoy having these as part of your holiday celebrations for years to come!

The Polar Express

During the last week, before the Christmas break, we read, “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg and did a buddy activity on it.  These mini-booklets are displayed on the bulletin board outside of our classroom.

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Our class watched the movie on the Thursday morning.

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All students seemed to really enjoy both the book and the movie.

Heritage Village Field Trip

A huge (belated) “THANK YOU” to all the parents who drove, and stayed to help supervise, on our field trip.  In spite of the rainy weather we had a good day.  The students reported that the highlights, for them, were: the blacksmith shop, the school house, the tram, and the carousel. It is great to see how people used to live in the 1920’s and compare it to our lives today.

Gingerbread House building

Notices went home last week about our Gingerbread House building which is scheduled for Thursday, December 17th in the afternoon. Please send in the items on the list by Tuesday, December 15th so that I can ensure that everything is ready for the 17th.  Here is a photo of the size of milk container that is needed as the base of their houses:

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The children also need a hard cardboard base, covered with tin foil.  I have purchased the Graham wafers and mini cones, and will make the green icing for the ‘cone trees’.

This is a very fun activity that the students all love to do.  Please ensure that your child has a fun day by sending in the needed items.

Thank you for your continuing support.

 

Christmas is coming …

We have been busily getting ready for the Christmas concert.  In between our regular academic subjects we have been using our ‘theme’ time to enjoy our fairy tale unit, and also to have some fun with Christmas crafts.  I won’t tell you the main one – as it is the children’s Christmas present to their families – but we have also spent some time making our class Christmas tree with some very special unique ornaments which, I hope, will become longtime family keepsakes.  You will see them at the Christmas concert.  We have also made some other fun ornaments for your Christmas trees.

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Student also had fun last week making paper chains for decorating the gym for the concert.

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We look forward to seeing you all at the concert on Wednesday, December 16th.  The children have been working very hard.  I am sure the show will be very nice.

The Three Bears … and a Few of their Friends

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We did a directed drawing lesson on ‘bears’ this week.  The next day the students did a much larger version of this bear’s portrait.  The lines were then traced over with China markers.  Students had used these markers to outline their Remembrance Day poppy art.  Today students had the opportunity of working with oil pastels.  They were given guidelines on colour choices available for the different sections.  The background needed to be one of the varieties (shades or tints) of either green or blue. They were also instructed in the ‘smudge-iness’ of working with oil pastels and were supposed to work from the inside to the outside in order to not rub the colours into each other.

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I think the students should be very proud of their hard work.  Many said that their hands were sore afterwards but they were troupers and I think that they did a great job.

Complementary Colours

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As part of our exploration of the elements of art (colour) students created complementary colour patterns.  We read the book, “Hello, Green Fox”, by Eric Carle, which shows how the colour opposites can trick our eyes.  Students learned which colours are the opposites of each other: red/green; purple/yellow; and blue/orange.  They learned that opposites, when placed next to each other, make each other seem brighter and almost appear to glow.  They also got a chance to get ready for making winter snowflakes through the cutting technique. Check them out on the bulletin board outside our classroom, if you are in the building.