Terry Fox / Corn Roast

We began our afternoon in the classroom with a discussion of Terry Fox.  I shared information about Terry’s early life, his struggle with cancer, his journey across Eastern Canada, and his vision for raising money in order to help scientists find cures for cancer.

We then joined the rest of the school for an assembly in the gym where we saw a video of Terry’s ‘Marathon of Hope’ journey.

The official run followed the assembly.  Students had been preparing for this over the past two weeks by running each morning at the start of the school day.  I was very impressed by how well our class kept on going!  The weather was spectacular, as well.

Each student in the class had shucked one ear of corn earlier in the morning.  These cobs were then cooked by parent volunteers and given to students with the option to add butter and/or salt.  Most students enjoyed eating the corn after the run – many students went back for seconds!!

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It was a great day!!  With the Pro D day tomorrow I hope you all have a great long weekend!!

 

Seuss is Happening in our Class!!

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We have been reading and enjoying a lot of the books by Dr. Seuss this past two weeks!!  We began with “And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street” which was the first book that he wrote.  With an aim at being better at observing (and using imagination) we took a short walk down Pandora Street to see what we could see.  Back in the classroom students drew something ‘real’ that they had seen and then had to turn it into something ‘unreal’ or imaginary – similar to the way the character in the story exaggerated his observations.

With ‘The Cat in the Hat’ we had a directed drawing lesson on how to draw a human face.  Students learned about the correct placement of facial features and the proportions of these features in relation to each other.  As the first in our series of drawing lessons I think that the students did a great job!!  We added the great hats to finish off the art pieces.  Our drawing lessons will continue each week throughout the school year.  By June the students will have a fine collection in their portfolios.

We will continue with our Seuss theme throughout next week.  Many of the stories have been simply read by me during our daily Storytime after lunch – with others we have done activities.  We are currently finishing up our versions of ‘Yertle, the Turtle’.

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Intake Interviews

I really enjoyed getting to meet the parents of my students this past week during our Intake Interviews.  Thank you all for making time in your busy schedules to come into the school!

I hope you take advantage of checking out this blog regularly to keep up on what is happening in our class.  I do get busy sometimes but I try to post something each week.  You could check out the regular pages for such things as the Weekly Schedule (for example) or Upcoming Events – along with the information posts on the Home page.

Thank you to all who have returned the forms packet that I gave you at our interview.  There are only a few outstanding and I hope to receive them on Monday.

Don’t hesitate to email me, drop a note in the front plastic pocket of your child’s Planner, or speak to me after school if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you

Carnival – 90th Anniversary

It was great to see so many of the students – present and former – along with their families at our celebration last Friday afternoon / evening!  The children seemed to really enjoy the wide variety of games, the food (popcorn, cotton candy, cake, and hot dogs), the face painting, and the prizes.  We were very lucky that the weather held off for us.  I hope you all had a chance to check out the displays of the decades (in the gym) that classes had made.

Our class made the posters for the 1960’s and the 1970’s.  In the two weeks before the carnival we discussed important events from these two decades.  Students made Canadian flag-socks as they learned that our current flag became official on February 15, 1965.  We also enjoyed music from these decades during our activities those first two weeks.  Many of these songs the students actually knew as they have been re-used in more current movies.

A huge thank you to all those who helped us out by volunteering at a station for the carnival!  I think it was a great success and will be a great memory for the students as they progress through their school years.

 

 

Welcome to Grade One!!!

On Friday our classes were confirmed and we are ready to get into the business of being Grade One students!!  I am looking forward to a wonderful, fun-filled, and productive year with the students.

You should have noticed that your child brought home a shiny new Planner on Friday.  There will be a notice going home next week asking for payment for these personal planning devices.  All notices are placed into the plastic pocket inside the front cover.  Please remove them, read or respond to them, and place items to be returned to me at school in this pocket each night.

Every day students will write a message in the day’s space which is then signed by the teacher.  At the beginning of the school year most of the students cannot read these messages – and aren’t expected to do so!  It begins as learning how to copy off of the board but as time passes it becomes so much more.

Please check your child’s Planner every day.  You may initial in the space by the teacher’s initials, if you like, to indicate that you have read it.

The Planner has a lot of information about the school written in the first several pages.  The students and I went through all of this very briefly as much of it is for YOUR information more than it is for theirs.  On the front inside page – above the school contact information – I have glued a piece of paper which contains the school website along with the web address for this class blog.

I use this blog to regularly update you on the goings-on in our classroom.  You may peruse previous entries from former years, as you like.

Learning how and using a Planner is a very important part of the Ministry curriculum for Personal Planning and Social Responsibility.  Please help your child by sharing this experience with them by checking it and reading it every night.  The Planner must be returned to school each morning as this is a daily activity in our classroom.

Your continuing support and assistance in your child’s educational welfare is appreciated.

Thank you,

Mrs. S. Temple

Fire Hall Trip / Dairy Queen

We had a great trip to the fire hall today!  Students were reminded of what to do in case of a fire in their homes.  Then we learned all about the special equipment that the fire fighters wear to keep themselves safe while they are rescuing people.

All students – plus Ms. Caldwell and myself – had the opportunity to use the fire hose to try to knock over a traffic cone.  It was a lot of fun for all of us!!  Colton and Richard gave the firefighters the card that they had made (and had gotten all the class to sign).

When we left the fire hall we took a short detour to the local Dairy Queen which is practically next door.  Students all enjoyed a cold treat before we returned to our class.  It was really nice for us that Ateeq’s mom was working there today.  She and her co-worker made us our treats!!

It was a very fun end to a busy school year.  I hope you all enjoy a very safe and happy summer vacation!  Students – don’t forget to visit me in my classroom next year!

 

 

Nearing the end of the year . . .

We have one full day left (tomorrow) and then a short hour on Thursday morning.  Tomorrow between Recess and Lunchtime is the Grade 7 school leaving ceremony.  Our class will then be walking to the fire hall for our tour right after lunchtime.  Please ensure that your child is dressed for the weather!

Students brought home most of their term work, their school supplies, and their math geometric shape mobiles today.  Tomorrow they will bring home their Art Portfolios which have the majority of this year’s artwork.

On Thursday morning we are having an assembly from 9:00 – 9:30 a.m.  Mrs. Iverson and Mr. Phelps have collected photos from the different classroom teachers and will be showing a power point presentation of our year-long educational journey.  Please feel free to drop by and watch it with us.

At 10:00 a.m. students will be dismissed with their report cards.  I hope you all have a wonderful, happy, and safe summer!

 

Cinemazoo Animals!

We had a very enjoyable morning today with our visit from Cinemazoo.  Students had the great opportunity to see many insects, reptiles, and mammals.  Here are some of the highlights:

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Each of the classes got to have one student wear the ‘snake scarf’ – a boa constrictor.

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Mrs. Wall decided to add some decoration to her plain, white t-shirt!!

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A tortoise was just hanging around . . .

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and then she decided to take a walk!!

There were a variety of snakes, and then the ‘furry’ friends came out.  We saw a very cute rabbit, a very active and friendly ferret, and a sugar glider.

I think this was a great opportunity for the students to get a chance to see so many interesting and exotic animals.

We Released the Butterflies!!

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Students were very excited when they heard that we were releasing the butterflies this morning!!  Shortly before Recess we went out to our little garden and put our container onto the bench.  All students (who wanted to) got a chance to have a butterfly on their finger.

Most of our larvae had developed into chrysalids and most of those became butterflies.  Students put the butterflies onto plants in the garden.

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When we had released all the adult butterflies it was time for Recess.  We placed the container back in the classroom.  We have a few chrysalids which have not changed yet.  We are going to give them a few days to see if they will.

Many of the butterflies remained on the flowers in the garden for a while. A few of the students reported seeing other ones flying away to new locations.

There were some that didn’t make it and remained dead on the bottom of the container.  We discussed the Circle of Life and why the adult butterfly lays over 100 eggs at a time – not all eggs become caterpillars, not all caterpillars develop chrysalids, not all chrysalids survive to adult butterfly status.

All in all, raising these butterflies has been a great learning experience for the students.  I hope they have all enjoyed it.

 

 

Our Trip to Safeway

We had a fun and enjoyable trip to our local Safeway this morning.  Luckily the weather held off for our walk there and back.

We met Pat, the community liaison, who took us on our tour.  We began with a walk around the main part of the store through the deli and bakery departments.  Pat pointed out several different sections to the students.  Once we got to the Dairy section we turned and went ‘behind the scenes’ into the Employee area.  We had a cool visit in the back of the Dairy and saw how these products are stored.

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We then moved further into the Employee area and saw how they crush cardboard boxes for recycling and where the big trucks join up with the loading dock to offload their deliveries.

If we thought that the Dairy section was cool we were in for a surprise when we went into the freezer section.  Even huddled together it was very brisk!!

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We made further stops (in the Employee section) to watch the butcher use his machine to wrap and label meat and to see where the produce is washed.  We then left the back to go out into the store.  We went through the Produce section, the Floral department, and through a grocery aisle to once again go back into the Employee section.  Here we went in behind to the Bakery area where the baker showed us how they turn a large slab of bread dough into several perfectly formed and uniformly sized dinner rolls.  A very neat machine!!

When we completed our tour Pat, very nicely, gave us a bag of some groceries: a brick of cheddar cheese, a box of crackers, some grapes, an apple, an orange, and a banana.  While the students were in Music this afternoon I prepared a cheese plate, a fruit plate, and a bowl of apple quarters by adding in the leftover ones from our weekly Fruit and Vegie programme.  Students enjoyed a snack while they wrote their Journal entries before going home.

It was a fun day.  I hope that all students enjoyed their walking field trip today.