Important Days in September

**This post will be updated during the month as other dates are scheduled. Please check back during the month**

Tuesday, September 5th
First Day of Classes

Tuesday, September 5th
Open House
3:30 - 5:30


Monday, September 18th
Learning Improvement Team
Early Dismissal

Week of  September 25th - 29th
Missoula Theater
Auditions, Practice and Performance

Wednesday, September 27th
School Pictures

A Few of Our Classroom Routines and Reminders

Just a few reminders about our classroom:

1) We will be having "Show and Share" and "Star of the Week"  for students .  Please watch the blog for schedules and criteria regarding these activities.

2) Library day will be each Wednesday.  Library bags and book choices will be sent home, and returned for the following Wednesday.  Please watch this blog for further information about library days and the home component as well.

3) We have snack each day at 10am.  We strongly encourage you to send healthy snacks and items that are easily opened and eaten.  If numerous snacks are sent, we will encourage the students to have the healthier snack first.  We will be sorting our snacks as part of the Health curriculum, and are hoping to have snacks that fall into the Fruit and Vegetable categories.  A reminder that NO nuts are allowed within Coronach School.

4) We do acknowledge birthdays within our classroom but do not hold celebrations or parties at school. We respectfully decline any special snacks, treats or meals (although delicious and well meaning) for such occasions.  We also request that no birthday invitations be sent to school.

Welcome to Grade One!

Hello! Welcome back to the 2017 school year! I am very excited to spend the upcoming year with you and your children. 

For those of you that are unfamiliar with our room, the fact that you are reading this blog is an important first step for the upcoming year.  We do our very best to limit the amount of paper we send home, and this blog is the main way we communicate messages and information about our classroom. We do our best to update it daily, so please check back often to keep informed of what is happening within our busy classroom.

Our second way of quick and paperless communication is something called Remind, which is an app that allows us to text short messages to those that are members of our classroom group.  We promise not to spam you with numerous messages a day, and will only send reminders for those events and items that we feel are important to you and your child. For example: "Remember that tomorrow is library day, so please send back your child's reading journal and all of their library books tomorrow morning. Thanks!"

The Remind App

The above link will take you to the app, and give you instructions on how to sign up for the reminders. I strongly encourage you to do so, as it is a very efficient way to stay aware of what is happening within the class.  As you sign up, please use your name, and in the description area please briefly tell me who you are.

For example: Christa Elder (Logan's Mom)

You may also sign up more than one person to the Remind app so feel free to sign up both parents, or caregivers that may need that daily information.  

Again, welcome back to the 2017 school year! Enjoy the last few days of summer vacation and we will see you all very soon!

Report Cards

Report cards will be handed out on Friday, June 30th from 9-12 in your child's homeroom.

**If you are unable to pick up the report cards on Friday, you MUST send a self addressed, fully stamped 9x12 envelope so that the school can mail it to you.**

Summer Reading Program

Giselle Wilson was here today to speak about the Summer Reading Program from the Palliser Library.  Your child has received a Summer Reading "passport" to document their reading.  Each book, or chapter of a book, counts as 1 entry in their passport.

For every 5 entries your child documents, they receive a small prize from the library.
Once their passport book is full, they receive a larger prize!

We will be walking to the library as a class on Thursday, June 22nd to submit our first 5 entries of our passports.  Those students who have completed and documented 5 entries will get their first prize on Thursday!

Thank you for the continued support with your child's reading!

Final Blog Post this Year!

Yesterday we did our FINAL blog post of the year, and  posted about going into Grade Two or Three. Have a look here:

https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

Swimming Times

We have scheduled swimming times during our Phys. Ed classes in the upcoming days.  Please send proper swimwear, sunscreen, goggles and life jackets (if necessary for your child) and a towel. Please have all of this labelled and in a separate bag that can travel to and from the pool on that day.

The swim times are as follows:
June 20th
June 21st
June 26th

Final Book Order of the Year

Today your child is bringing home the final Scholastic catalogs for the year.  If you are interested in purchasing any books, especially for Summer reading, please return the order forms and cheques to school by Thursday, June 8th.

Thank you and happy reading!

Track and Field

We encourage all students to bring a hat, sunscreen and bug spray with them on Thursday as we travel to Bengough for Track and Field.  We will leave from the school and be home in time for dismissal.

Here is the menu for Thursdays Track and Field.  Students are encouraged to bring other snacks and water for the day as well.

Hamburger                                          $3.00

Cheeseburger                                      $4.00

Hotdog                                                $3.00

Freezies                                              $1.00

Cookies or Squares                              $1.00

Juice cans                                           $1.00

Water                                                 $1.00

Fairy Tales

Last week Miss Strutynski did a Guided Drawing activity to teach us how to draw a castle.  We will be using this to draw an Under the Sea castle after we watch "The Little Mermaid" at Globe Theater.

Grade One Math

Here a few pictures from our Math classes last week.  We have been using our knowledge of shapes AND our knowledge of structures from Science to build. Each structure had different criteria ~ tallest, longest, strongest.

Free Blog Posts

Today the students got to blog about anything they wanted! Have a look here:

https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

Important Days In May

Friday, May 5th
No classes

Friday, May 12th
No classes

Monday, May 15th
LIT Early Dismissal
2:30pm

Friday, May 19th
No classes

Monday, May 22nd
No School
Victoria Day

Friday, May 26th
No classes

Wednesday, May 31st
Globe Theater Trip

Golf Lessons

Today, Jeff Chambers from Elmwood Golf Course in Swift Current, gave our Grade 2 class some introductory golf lessons.  These kids absolutely rocked it AND I feel like we have some future golfers in our room!

Spring Painting

Last week we were very lucky to have Monique Wrolson visit us and teach us some painting techniques.  We painting the background first and then added some beautiful spring tulips.  Have a look at our great artwork!

Fairy Tales

Today our students posted about their knowledge of Fairy Tales.
See what we know by clicking here: https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

Egg Decorating

This morning Mrs. Mack and her Grade 9/10 Art class helped us decorate eggs.  The older students were such a great help and they even made us Easter baskets to carry our eggs!

Festival of the Stars

On Thursday evening we will be performing at the Festival of the Stars.  It will be held at the Alliance Church in Coronach, at 8:00pm.

Students are asked to sit with their parents and family during the performance and we will be called up to the stage when it is our turn.

Thank you in advance for your support, and see you on Thursday evening.

Blog Posts About Music Festival

Today the students blogged about our experience at Music Festival.
Have a look here: https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

If you were unable to attend our performance, we have been invited to perform at the Festival of Stars on Thursday evening (8pm at the Alliance Church).

Spring Bikes

Today Miss Strutynski taught the Grade One and Two students how to draw bikes! Perfect timing for Spring!

Music Festival

On Monday we will be attending the Borderland Music Festival in Coronach.  Our performance time is 11:00am and parents are invited to attend. Performances can't be recorded and they suggest you arrive at least half an hour before the suggested performance time.

Students are asked to wear appropriate performance clothes for that morning AND to bring a change of clothes for the remainder of the day.  They will be outside for noon, recess and have gym that afternoon.  

Coronach Library Fundraiser

Order forms for a Coronach Library Fundraiser are coming home today in your child's backpack.  Please return forms by Tuesday, April 4th.  All information is in the note, and thank you in advance for your support!

Science and Seeds

Continuing with our study of living things, we are looking at the growth cycle of plants.  We planted a variety of seeds AND are documenting their characteristics along the way.  Here is the seed progress after 1 week.

April Book Orders

Today your child is bringing home April book orders.  For books to arrive before Easter break, we ask that all orders are returned by Thursday.  If you would like to order any Easter gifts, please send a note along with the order and we will put them aside when they arrive.

Thanks in advance for your order and happy reading!

Our 3 Sisters Garden

As we study plants, we also study how some plants help one another while growing.  The First Nations story about the 3 Sisters Garden speaks to how the older sister (corn) helps the youngest sister (beans) by giving her support as she grows taller in the field.  The middle sister (squash) is a bit wild and out of control and grows all over the field BUT also shades the soil, keeping moisture in.

The story also tells us how each sister helps to feed the First Nations family over the winter.  Yesterday we created our very own 3 Sister Garden in the hallway!  Please ask you child to tell you about the 3 Sisters Garden and what they learned ~ thanks!

Bald Eagle Update

As we continue to watch our family of bald eagles for Science, we decided to post about them on our blogs.  Please have a look here to read what your child has been learning:

https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

Weekly Reading Journal

As we enter into our last term of the year the curricular expectations continue to grow.  We want to update you on what the Reading Journal expectations (which include Language Arts outcomes) are for the remainder of the school year.

Your child should now be printing all of the journal entries with proper printing and capitalization. We are asking for a minimum of 7 entries each week.  Students should also document how the book was read (by pictures, by words, shared reading with Dad, etc).

Below is an example of a completed Reading Journal and can be used for reference.

Bald Eagle Livestream Feed

Today we took some time to watch the Bald Eagle Livestream from Hanover, PA.  We discussed the technology used AND the characteristics of living things, and their ability to reproduce.  The estimated due date is tomorrow, so these livestreams are a great way to witness it.  The students were very excited and may ask for these links. Enjoy!

Bald Eagle Night Cam

Bald Eagle Live Cam

Scholastic Book Orders for March

Today your child is bringing home Scholastic Book Orders for March. If you are interested in ordering from any of the catalogs, please return the order form(s) and cheque by Monday, March 20th.  Thank you and happy reading!

Student Led Conferences

Tuesday and Wednesday will be our Student Led Conferences.  Times have been scheduled in 15 minute intervals, and are scheduled school wide, so please do your best to arrive on time and to stay within the 15 minutes.  If you want to discuss anything further, let us know and we will schedule another time that is more convenient.

100 Years Old

We recently celebrated our 100th day of school by dressing up as 100 year old people.  With a little help from technology, we were also able to age ourselves to see what we would look like! Have a look at our blog posts here:

https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

February Book Orders

Today your child is bringing home February book orders.  Anyone interested in ordering should return the order forms and cheque to school before Thursday, March 2nd.

Thank you in advance for you orders, and happy reading!

100th Day of School

As we approach the 100th Day of School (February 28th) we are planning our classroom activities. We ask that your child participate in 2 ways:
1) Bring 100 items for snack.
There are items such as cereal, popcorn, raisins, etc that work well for this type of activity.  You also have the option to split up the snack, such as 20 raisins, 20 cereal pieces, etc to total 100.  Please do whatever works best for your family, and remember to keep all items nut free.

2) As part of our blogging assignment for the 100th day, we are asking students to dress as 100 year old people.  This has looked differently each year, with some students wearing wigs, having grey hair and glasses, old suits and dresses.  Again, do what works best for your family but we plan to take pictures that day for our blog and your participation would be greatly appreciated.

Telemiracle Fundraisers

A reminder that Friday is our Telemiracle Pizza Lunch for those who ordered.

The SRC is also having a Toonie Toss for some great prizes at noon AND there is a donation bin available at the office for any further donations.

Thank you in advance for your support of the Telemiracle fundraisers!

Telemiracle Fundraising Goals

Good Afternoon,

The SRC have been busy planning this lunch hour.  We have some goals we want to reach for Telemiracle. 

We are hosting the Kinsmen/Kinettes Pizza Lunch on Friday, February 17^th and this same day, over lunch in the gym, we will have a Toonie Toss for some various prizes. Please send some toonies with your little ones!

We are also hosting a Bake Sale on Tuesday, February 28^th—THE 100^TH DAY OF SCHOOL—where all items will be 100 cents and all proceeds will go to Telemiracle.

There will also be a donation box at the office starting Monday, February 13^th.

If we reach certain dollar values, the staff have agreed to take part in the following activities:

$750—Mr. Sand and Mr. Berner will dye their facial hair

$1500—Mr. Sand and Mr. Berner will dye their hair to match their facial hair

$2000—Numerous staff have volunteered to get a “Pie in the Face” 

Amazing Animal Senses

To read about all the things we have learned about animals and their senses, click here:

https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

Math "Homework"

As we work at developing Math strategies for addition and subtraction, we also work at understanding how to make different combinations (how to build) numbers.

For example, ways to build 5:
0,5
1,4
2,3
3,2
4,1
5,0

The games linked below is excellent at working on the strategy of building numbers. We encourage the students to start with small numbers and lower levels of difficulty and mastering the concept BEFORE moving on to higher numbers.  Thanks for helping us with this Math "homework"

Math Lines

Hungry Fish (This game/app has a cost to it ($3.99) but it is worth it)

Pizza for Telemiracle

Today your child will bring home an order form for a Telemiracle 41 pizza lunch.

Please return forms and money BEFORE Thursday, February 9th.
Thank you in advance for your support!

Valentine's Day

As Valentine's Day approaches we want to remind you of a few items.

Our classroom, and school, is nut free and any items such as candy bags or treats attached to cards MUST be nut free.

If Valentine's Day cards are being sent (this is not required, it is your choice) you MUST send one for each student in our classroom (36).  A class list of first names will be below.

All items will be sent home in a decorated paper bag (lunch size) so please be conscious of what is being sent, as it all needs to fit inside.

We will be doing curricular activities all day, and will designate some time to open and read any Valentine's received.

If anyone wants to donate a classroom snack for that day, please contact us first. We often have too many items sent and we don't want anything going to waste. Thank you.


Ellie
Alexis
Ella
Dylan
Gillian
Jadon
Kiptyn
Ky
Bronson
Jaycee
Declan
Ciera
Saydee
Kali
Rourke
Kaylee
Samantha
Quinn
Anthony
Kevin
Noah
Kieren
Dillyn
Cade
Demetri
Walker
Fiona
Rylan
Bryn
Mackenzie
Josie
Lexy
Brayden
Caili
Jesse
Danesha

Important Days in February

**this post will be updated as new scheduling information is received**

Friday, February 10th
No School

Monday February 13th
Early Dismissal at 2:30

February 20th - 24th
Family Day and February Break
No Classes

Tuesday, February 28th
100th Day of School

Word Rings

We are doing a final word ring "push" before March report cards.  We continue to work on word rings at school but to fully complete the expected standards for March we strongly encourage daily practice at home as well.

Remember, rings can be returned and exchanged for new ones once mastered.
Thanks in advance for you cooperation!

Skating

Students will be skating on Wednesday, January 25th for their scheduled Phys. Ed. class.  

Please send skates, proper clothing (warm enough to walk to rink AND skate in), extra mitts, and a helmet if wish for your child to wear one.

There will be no shinny allowed.

Microwaves at Lunch

Please try not to send lunch foods that need to be microwaved!


Many of our Kindergarten to Grade Four students bring items for lunch that require microwaving, so we are asking parents to try to minimize.  This request is being made for a couple of different reasons.   The students spend a tremendous amount of time either in a line-up waiting for their turn; and  many students are bringing items that end up with boiling water/liquids that are quite dangerous to carry.   Some of the foods that are being sent, such as frozen dinners or pasta cups, take more than 4 minutes to heat up.  We have enough microwaves in the school, so we don’t need more of these.  In addition, there is not enough power to have more of them running all at the same time which is between 12:15 and 12:30pm.  Thank you for your help.

Catherine Hiltz

January Book Orders

Book order catalogs for January are coming home today.  Anyone interested in ordering should return the order form and cheque to school by Tuesday, January 10th.

Thank you in advance for ordering!

Pink Day Orders

Get ready for Pink Day and order your 2017 clothing now! Follow the link on the School's Website

https://schools.prairiesouth.ca/coronach/order-your-pink-shirt-today/

Important Days in January

Tuesday, January 3rd
Classes Begin

Friday, January 13th
No School

Monday, January 16th
Early Dismissal at 2:30pm

Friday, January 27th
Family Literacy Day
PJ Day

Monday, January 30th
Teacher Prep Day
No School

Our Holiday Blog Posts

As we returned from Winter break, we wanted to share with everyone all of the adventures we had! Have a look at our blogs, read about all the fun we had, and feel free to comment!

Thanks so much!
https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

Our final Blog Posts of 2016 ~ Christmas Lists

Our final blog posts of 2016 are up!
If you need to do any last minute shopping, our Christmas lists can be found here:

https://kidblog.org/class/MrsEldersClass2016/posts

Christmas Concert

Our school Christmas concert is Monday, December 19th at 7:00pm.

We will gather in our classroom at 6:30pm to do final preparations for the concert that evening.  No specific clothing is required, but we ask that students wear nice clothes for their performance on stage.

TD Book Giveaway

Once again we have been blessed with the TD Book Giveway.  Our book this year is "Small Saul" by Ashley Spires and is about a young boy who wants to be a pirate, but doesn't quite fit in.

Each child in Grade One and Two has been given this book to keep.  Please take the time to read this book with your child this evening and enjoy the story it has to tell.

Skating

On Monday, December 12th our class will be going skating for Phys. Ed. class.  We will have the Grade 9-12 class going along with us to help tie skates and keep us on our feet while skating.

Please send skates, proper clothing (warm enough to walk to rink AND skate in), extra mitts, and a helmet if wish for your child to wear one.

There will be no shinny allowed.

December Book Orders

We are sending home December book orders today.  For them to arrive by Christmas break, we ask that you return order forms and cheques by Wednesday, December 7th.

If you would like your purchase to stay secret, please attach a note to your order.

Thank you in advance for you orders!