Important Days in February

Monday, February 10th
100th Day of School
Early Dismissal

Friday, February 14th
Valentine's Day

Monday, February 17th
Family Day holiday
No School

Tuesday, February 18th
Family Day holiday
No School

Friday, February 21st
Telemiracle Fundraiser
Taco in a Bag, Toonie Toss, and Bake Sale

Monday, February 24th
Early Dismissal

Week of February 24th - 28th
Show and Tell

Spelling Words (Feb 3rd - 7th)

Grade One
good
went
want
have
with
like

Grade Two
those
these
made
gave
use

Bedtime Stories for Literacy Day

This morning the K-4 classes got together and read some bedtime stories to celebrate Literacy Day.  With our PJs on and our teddy bears in hand, we listened to stories about cookies.  We then got a glass of milk and homemade cookies for a snack! Yum yum!

Spelling Words ~ January 27th-30th

Spelling test will be on Thursday, as there is no school on Friday...

Grade One
find
make
here
where
down

Grade Two
been
green
read
sleep
because

Skating During Exam Week

Next week is exam week for the high school, and therefore the gym is closed for exams.  Mrs. Dyck and Miss Karpinski are going to take the students skating on the morning of Wednesday, January 29th.  Students will skate from 10am to 12.

The same rules apply ~ if your child wishes to play hockey during this time, they MUST have hockey gloves, a stick, and a helmet.  If your child wishing to only skate, a helmet is optional and up to your discretion.

Thank you!

Our Inukshuk Project

Today we completed our Inukshuk project!  We discussed what we already knew about inukshuks, viewed this Heritage video (see link below) and then we came up with a plan to build.  We used great problem solving skills and cooperation while building!

Heritage Video - Inukshuks

To Show That We Were Here...

Photoshop Blog Posts

This morning we were inspired by a Jason Lee photo.  We recreated the photo and then posted about it on our blogs!  Please have a look at our thoughts on Photoshop and Jason Lee!

http://kidblog.org/MrsEldersClass2013/

Photoshop and Perspective

We have been working on becoming critical viewers in our classroom.  The last few days we have been looking at photographs by Jason Lee, who takes great pictures of his young daughters. We were inspired by one picture, and did our best to recreate it.  Here is our result...

Our inspiration,
by Jason Lee  

Our version,
by Grade One and Two

Skating for Gym ~ Thursday afternoon

For gym class on January 23rd (in the afternoon) Miss Karpinski will be taking the Grade 1 and 2 class skating at the Sportsplex.  Students are asked to dress appropriately for both the walk, and for skating.  They will skate for the entire afternoon, around 2 hours!

If your child would like to play hockey during this time, they MUST bring the following items:
1) hockey gloves
2) hockey stick
3) hockey helmet

If your child would like to skate and play games during the afternoon, helmets are considered optional and up to your own discretion.  We encourage the use of helmets however if you have one available.

Solid, Liquid, and Gas

Today we experimented with a solid (ice cream) and a liquid (root beer), to create a gas (foam). In the name of Science we had root beer floats on a Friday afternoon! We made predictions about the amount of foam we would create, and whether we would have more foam with ice cream added before or after the root beer.  What a great Friday!

Family Literacy Day

Family Literacy Day is Monday, January 27^th.  

Our school will plan to have our literacy day on Tuesday, January 28^th because this is a Kindergarten day!  

This year we are planning a “bedtime story hour” for students from K-9 (10-12 are writing exams).  Please send your child dressed in pajamas and send their favorite bedtime item such as a teddy bear or a blanket.  Each teacher will conduct a “bedtime story time” for her students; she will read a story or stories and then the students will be given a “bedtime snack”. 

We are asking that you do a similar “bedtime story” that same evening (if you don’t already)! 

100th Day of School

We are approaching our 100th day of school for this year, and that means a celebration!  The 100th day is February 10th, and we would like to celebrate by having the students dress up as 100 year old men/women.  The students are always very excited for this day, and the costumes always provide us with laughs and topics of discussion.

I would also like you to send a snack on that day of 100 items.  Now obviously this limits what you can send, but these items have been popular in the past ~ cheerios (or other cereal), mini marshmallows, pretzels, popcorn.  Remember, the 100 snack items can be a combination of things as well ~ 50 cheerios and 50 pretzels for example.

Thank you for your participation and help with this celebration.

Studying Snowflakes

The past few days we have been studying snow and snowflakes. On Friday we went outside with magnifying glasses to look at the snow on the ground. We studied the size and shape of the snow.  We listened to a book about snow ( The Life of Snow, available on Tumblebooks) and heard that the best way to study snowflakes is while they are falling from the sky! Well this afternoon we got our wish and it started to snow!! We headed outside with magnifying glasses in hand, and what fun we had!

Our wish for it to start snowing
came true!

We had snowflakes in our hair!

We studied the snowflakes that
landed on our coats!

We looked at snowflakes
as they landed on our paper!

We studied snowflakes as they
landed on the wall!

Heard around the Classroom...

While working on compound words today, I asked students to give me examples.
"What are some compound words that start with snow?"
I received answers such as snowman, snowball, snowflake, etc.

We moved on to examples with sun (suntan, sunflower, sunscreen).
I then asked "What is a compound word that starts with lady?"

Their first answer...
Lady Gaga

Spelling Words (January 13th- 24th)

*Spelling test will be on Friday, January 24th*

Grade One
snow
snowman
snowball
snowshoe
snowstorm
snowflake

Grade Two
weekend
cupcake
earring
sunflower
afternoon
bedtime

Blog Posts

This morning we posted on our blogs about Christmas holidays.  Please have a look at what we posted, comment, and pass the link along to family and friends.

Thanks!

http://kidblog.org/MrsEldersClass2013/

Our Winter Gear

Today we tweeted about what we wear to keep our heads warm in the winter! We can't wait to see what other kids wear!

Here is what we were wearing today!

January Book Orders

I am sending home the January book orders today.  If you wish to order anything, please return the order form and cheque by Tuesday, January 14th.  Thank you in advance for your order!

Tumblebooks

Tumblebooks is a fabulous reading website that has a HUGE variety of books that kids can read and/or listen to.  There is a link available through the Regina Public Library, and you can access it using the link below OR it is a permanent link on the right side of the blog in Learning Links.  There is also an option to access a Tumblebooks Jr. Library which has chapter books, graphic novels and videos!  Enjoy!

Tumblebooks

A Few Reminders

1)  Please check with your child to see if they need any supplies.  Many of the students have very few crayons, pencils, erasers, etc left in their supply bag.

2) If you have any milk cartons that our class can use for a Science/Art project we would greatly appreciate it.

3) Home Reading is due back on Wednesday of each week.  The homework page should be completed ~ written, coloured, etc.  Thanks!

Grade One Math

In Grade One Math we have been telling the story of different numbers.  For example, the story of 5 can be told with 3+2, 1+4, 5+0, 4+1, etc.  We have been using a variety of numbers up to 20.  For additional practice we have been using the Hungry Fish App on our Ipads.  This App asks you to create numbers, and makes you combine numbers to feed the hungry fish.  It is a perfect supplement to what we are doing in the classroom right now.  The addition version is $1.99, with the option of purchasing a full version.  In my opinion, the addition and subtraction version are sufficient for Grade One, as the difficulty levels can be adjusted for each student.

Enjoy!

Hungry Fish

Spelling Words (Jan 6th - 10th)

Grade One
help
come
little
funny

Grade Two
sing
five
write
first
call
always