Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Spirit Week (December 18-22)

December Spirit Week 
Monday 18--Pajama Day
Tuesday 19--Christmas Hat Day
Wednesday 20--Red and Green Day
Thursday 21--Formal Day
Friday 21--Christmas Sweater

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Our Very First Blog Posts

Yesterday we did our very first blog post of Grade One!
We posted our favourite foods as part of our 5 Senses Unit in Science.

You can have a look at our posts here:
Grade One Blogs

I encourage you to comment on blogs posts as it creates an opportunity for your child to read AND to continue the conversation. Here are a few of the ground rules to consider when commenting on our blog posts:
1) Please use first names only as this is the safest online practice.  If you are referring to your child, or leaving your name on the post it is much safer to use first names only.  Using names like Mom, Dad, Grandma etc are perfectly acceptable but please avoid names like "Grandma Jones" for example.
2) Please use proper grammar and punctuation when commenting so that children can see and read what is expected as they work towards writing goals.
3)  All posts and comments are moderated by me.  If you leave a comment, I will receive a notification and it must be approved before it is visible on the blog.  Don't panic if it doesn't show up immediately.

Thanks for your support! 

Important Days in December

Monday, December 11th
Early Dismissal
2:30 pm

December 18th-22nd

Monday--Pajama Day
Tuesday--Christmas Hat Day
Wednesday--Red and Green Day
Thursday--Formal Day
Friday--Christmas Sweater

Tuesday, December 19th
Christmas Concert
7:00pm












Friday, December 22nd
Last Day of Classes

Wednesday, January 3rd
Classes Begin

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Food Memories

As we explore our 5 senses, I have also been talking to the students about how smells and tastes can trigger memories.  Yesterday we tasted lemons, which I craved during my pregnancies.  Today I shared my most wonderful childhood food memory with them ~ Cinnamon toast.  My Grandpa allowed us to have this as a bedtime snack when we stayed at his house and even as an adult the taste and smell takes me back to my childhood.

I asked the students to talk about their favourite things to eat when visiting their Grandparents and here are their responses:

Chocolate chips cookies (this was a popular response)
Pancakes with Smarties on top!
Green ice cream for Roughrider games
Strawberries and whipped cream
Fruit Salad
Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream
Spaghetti with Cheese Whiz
Hot chocolate with marshmallows
Cheese Puffs (that were always in a bowl on the kitchen table)

Such great memories for these little people to have already! 

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Lemon Investigation

Today we did our first investigation involving the 5 senses.  We described how lemons looked, felt, sounded (haha), smelled and finally, how they tasted!  This group LOVED the lemons and most offered to take a second slice! 













Thursday, November 16, 2017

Samaritan's Purse

On Tuesday we went shopping at Poplar River Pharmacy.
On Wednesday we packed and created 10 boxes for Samaritan's Purse.
We sorted our items into school stuff (books, crayons, pencils), healthy stuff (soap, toothbrushes, hair care) and fun stuff (tennis balls, skipping ropes, marbles, and stuffed animals).

Thank you to everyone who sent a donation and a special thank you to Elaine Winter who generously donated $10 towards our purchases that day! Wishing safe travels to the Coronach group travelling to Samaritan's Purse in Calgary on November 24th.










Thursday, November 9, 2017

November Book Orders

Today your child is bringing home the November Scholastic Book Orders.
Anyone wishing to purchase book should return the order form and a cheque (or use the parent pay option online) to school by Tuesday, November 14th.

If you would like to purchase books to use as gifts this holiday season, please email me and I will set them aside for you.

Thank you in advance!

Student Led Conferences

Student Led Conferences are next week and an email has already been sent with your scheduled time.  Some of you are new to this routine so here are the basics of our SLC:

- Conferences are a chance for students to talk about school and their work. Parents and teachers can ask questions of the student.  The November SLC tends to be me, prompting the students about what they are learning and their work.  You will see in February that the students will completely lead the SLC.
- Conferences times are 15 minutes in length and are coordinated from K-12 so we ask that you arrive before your scheduled time and only use your 15 minutes.  If you feel there is a need for further discussion about your child's progress, please email me and we can schedule a separate time for a parent/teacher meeting.
- If your arrive for your conference, and one is still in progress, please knock on the classroom door. This tells us that the next conference is here and that the current conference needs to finish up.

A reminder that this report card is a measure of where your child is at this point in time in regards to the learning outcomes for Grade One.  The descriptors indicate how your child tested overall.

EU: enriched understanding of the outcomes, above grade level expectations
DE: a confident understanding of the grade level expectations
BD: partial understanding of the grade level expectations
TS: more time is needed for understanding of this outcome

Math Homework

Today your child is bring home a Math bag containing numbers and number words.  Please work on the following activities:

1) Recognizing each number from 1-20
2) Reading each word from 1-20
3) Matching the number and word
4) Choosing a number, then indicating the number that is one bigger
5) Choosing a number, then indicating the number that is one smaller

Please return the Math bag on Tuesday so we can continue to practice at school.
Thanks in advance!

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Star of the Week

We are going to start our "Star of the Week" presentations on November 20th.  This means that a few days before your child's scheduled week a bag with some cards inside will be sent home.  On the cards we ask that your child write the answers to the following categories:

1. Family
2. Pets
3. Where I was born
4. My favourite book
5. My favourite movie
6. My favourite food
7. My favourite place
8. My favourite thing to do

We have a small bulletin board as a display for your child's information, so feel free to send pictures or other items (if they can be easily hung on the display board).  Your child will present all of their information to the class during their week.

The schedule is as follows:
Nov 20 Axel
Nov 27 Karis
Dec 4 Ty
Dec 11 Alyza
Dec 18 Dane
Jan 8 Luke
Jan 15 Austyn Ma.
Jan 22 Rand
Jan 29 Austyn Mo
Feb 5 Ryden
Feb 12 Nolan
Feb 26 Brianna
Mar 5 Jimmy
Mar 12 Graycie
Mar 19 Taylem



TD Grade One Book Giveaway!

Today your child is coming home with the book "Good Morning Canada" by Andrea Beck.  This is a promotion from TD and every Grade One student gets a free book!

We read it in class once, but I encourage you to read it again at home and discuss it. 

Monday, November 6, 2017

Asking Questions

Over the last few weeks we have been working on asking good questions. We start our questions with the phrase "I wonder" and we follow it with one of these words: who, where, when, what and why.  Here are a few of the questions we had today while looking at this picture from Easter Island...


I wonder why the noses are so big?
I wonder why they aren't smiling?
I wonder where this is?
I wonder how old they are?
I wonder what the white stuff is on the rock?
I wonder why they don't have ears?
I wonder if the body of the statue is buried underground?
I wonder if these statues protect a battlefield?

Friday, November 3, 2017

Important Days in November

Friday, November 3rd
Prep Day
No classes

Monday, November 6th
Early Dismissal 2:30

Friday, November 10th
Report Cards sent home

Remembrance Day Service
1:30 (Public Invited)

Monday, November 13th
No School

Tuesday, November 14th
Wednesday, November 15th
Student Led Conferences

Friday, November 17th
No classes

Friday, November 24th
No Classes