Brrrr!!
Although I hate to admit it, I think we are into the cold, winter weather! We were so thankful that the sun was shining today and the temperatures were not so bone chilling. Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to the Parent Teacher meetings held last week. I hope it provided you with a brief window into your son or daughter's learning and the path as to which we are trying to take through Grade 1. If you would like to follow up your meeting with any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time. I try to keep Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings before school available for parent meetings as well as the occasional Wednesday or Thursday immediately after school, should you wish to meet in person. Please note that this is NOT a drop in meeting time, but times that can be pre-booked to meet with me (based on availability).; If you had requested a phone meeting, I am in the process of scheduling appropriate times to conduct them. Big Ideas for this week: Math: wrapping up patterning (repeating patterns, identifying core of a pattern, extending patterns, naming patterns); 2D geometry (naming shapes, number of sides, number of vertices), number talks (addition) Language: reading sight word poem, building full and complete sentences, retell and summarizing stories, phonemic awareness (letter recognition and sounds) Science: animals in the seasons (migration, hibernation, adaptation, burrow), nocturnal & diurnal animals Health: Keeping our bodies healthy (mentally, physically, emotionally) Music: Making music with our bodies, connecting music to patterning in math Other Reminders: 1. Family Photo: Please do not forget to send a framed (small) family photo to school as a part of our social studies unit on family, community and responsibility. Students will be sharing their photo with the class as they describe their family (naming people & their position in the family i.e. My dad is Jim, my mom is Jackie etc). This is an important task for students to participate in as it is their first oral communication presentation to the larger group of students. All family photos and frames will be returned to you once we are moving on from this topic. 2. Popcorn Day: Popcorn day is every Friday (or Thursday if Friday is a holiday). Students can choose from 7 different flavours to enjoy at second snack time (afternoon snack time). Each bag sells for $1.50 and all monies raised goes back to student programming and workshops. Exact money only as we are unable track down change. 3. Extra Mittens: Please include an extra (or several extra) pairs of mittens or gloves in your child's backpack. There is no where for us to dry the wet mittens between recesses and it is imperative that each child be dressed for the elements outside. Also, please label BOTH mittens/gloves in each set as it is easier to return stay mittens than to try and find a stray mitten. 4. Holiday Celebration: The tentative date for the holiday celebration is Wednesday, December 20th at 9:30 am in the gym. Once the date and time is confirmed I will communicate that further. We are practicing another piece of sign language to perform during the celebration. 5. Extended Holidays: If you know you will be on extended holidays (or any holidays during regular school days), please let us know as soon as possible. Students missing more than 5 consecutive school days must provide WRITTEN notice to the school indicating the departure date and return date. Hard to believe that December is right at our doorstep at the end of this week! Where has time gone?! Have a great week!
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Good evening,
I hope everyone has survived the arrival of the winter weather. It is an adjustment all around from driving conditions to getting everyone dressed and out the door on time. We have had lots of practice the last few days in getting all of our outdoor gear on and I am hopeful that we will get better (and faster) at getting dressed. This week is a short week for students as teachers are hosting parent meetings on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Please check your child's communication book for a confirmation notice with the date, time and room location. All meetings will be 15 minutes in length. Please be prompt for your meeting time as the schedule is full. If you are unable to make the time indicated on your confirmation notice, please communicate with me as soon as possible. Topics by Subject: Language Arts: -at family of words; reading comprehension strategy of beginning, middle and end; writing full and complete sentences (without focusing on correct spelling of thematic or special words) Math: mental math strategies of adding to 5 and 10, adding doubles; introduction to group work; using math tools in our problem solving; patterning (identifying the core of a pattern, what makes a pattern, and naming patterns) Science: How animals deal with seasonal changes (hibernation, adaptation, migrations, gathering & borrowing) Health: how do we stay healthy (mentally, physically, emotionally) Other Important Reminders 1. Student Activity Fee: a letter outlining most of the events and activities for this year was sent home with your child's report card. An activity fee of $20 is being asked from all students in kindergarten to grade 3 to cover the costs of workshops and field trips for the students. Please submit all activity fees ASAP. Thank you to those that have already sent the money in. Without these funds, workshops and field trips will not be able to be offered. 2. Outdoor clothing: now that the winter weather is literally upon us, please make sure to dress your child appropriately to enjoy recesses outside. Extra mittens, gloves and socks are always in high demand, especially in the afternoons. Please pack an extra pair or two in your child's bag because we have no way of drying mittens/gloves throughout the day. 3. Family Photo: We will be continuing our segment on Families in social studies and would like all students to bring in a family photo in a small frame to share with the class. Students will be asked to identify their family by name and if their siblings are older or younger. We would like to display the family photos on our science/social studies table so that students have an opportunity to look at other photos and read materials related to families. A frame is requested as we do not have wall space to hang the photos, therefore a small frame would allow the photos to be displayed on the table. 4. Lunches: Just a reminder that students have 2 snack times and a lunch time each day. Packing a balanced lunch bag with fruit, vegetables, yogurt, crackers etc will allow students to have multiple healthy options. If you have packed yogurt, pudding, soup, rice, noodles etc., please remember to pack a fork or spoon. We have gone through over 150 plastic spoons and forks thus far and it is a cost that is not covered by the school. 5. Extra Clothing: When you come for your parent meeting at the end of this week, please take the time to check your child's ziplock bag of extra clothing to ensure that it is weather/season appropriate and that it still fits. I am attempting to find time to upload a large number of photos about our learning in the classroom over the past several weeks. Once they are posted, please ask your child what the photo is about or what we were talking about when I took the picture. They are the best source of information as to what we are learning in the classroom. Often we hear the response of "nothing" or " I don't remember", but showing them a photo may help jog their memory as to what happened throughout the day. Here is a good list of questions to ask instead of "how was your day today?" or "what did you learn today". https://www.mother.ly/child/35-engaging-questions-to-ask-instead-of-what-did-you-do-today#close I look forward to meeting everyone this week during our parent teacher meetings. As always, if you have any questions in the mean time, please do not hesitate to communicate with me. Good evening,
The week is off and running! I hope that you have had a chance to review your child's report card and talk about your child's strengths and areas of need. We are always moving forward and learning tends to change rapidly and frequently. If you have not yet already signed and returned the slip, please do so. Also, please return the green form asking for interview preference time for November 23rd and 24th. We will try our best to accommodate all requests, however it is not always possible. I thought it was important to provide you with the expectations for grade 1 students in Ontario. This is a checklist format document that is a simplified version of the official Ministry of Education documents. Please refer to this document frequently to see what students are expected to be able to do independently by the end of grade 1. https://thecanadianhomeschooler.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Ontario-Grade-1-Curriculum-Checklist.pdf Shoeboxes for the North As a school we have taken on the initiative of filling 2 shoe boxes per class for children in Canada's north. We are asking families to donate items to fill the shoe boxes. Our class will be focusing our 2 boxes, a girl and a boy between the ages of 6-8 years old. All items must be new and in original package. Think about what small items your child has fun with that would fit in the shoe box. No food is permitted. All donations will be accepted until the end of November. Please see the link below for more ideas and information about our shoebox campaign. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/cd48d6_756bccbfb30c45b088cb627238e52d1b.pdf This Week's Focus: Math: Patterns & non-patterns; how to tackle group work & problem solving; introduction to problem solving Language: Reading comprehension strategies of beginning, middle, end and retell; creating and writing complete sentences; phonetic letter sounds and letter blends Social Studies: Family Science: Seasonal changes (Summer to Fall, Fall to Winter) Art: Primary Colours Music: Introduction to different beats; sounds we can make with our body (clapping, stomping, snapping etc) Health: Germs; healthy living Other Reminders: 1. Appropriate Dress: Now that the cold weather is upon us in a bone chilling way, it is imperative that each child be dressed appropriately to play outside. Students must have hats, mitts/gloves, jacket, snow pants, and boots in order to be comfortable to play outside at each recess. Students are not kept inside during cold weather until the temperature hits -25 degrees celsius with the wind. 2. Green Communication folder: Please check and remove all papers in your child's green communication folder on a daily basis. Items in the pocket on the left hand side are items to be left at home. 3. Lunch Program: Tonight is the last night to order and pay for any of the 3 lunch program options. I sent the link over the weekend should this be of interest to you. All money raised going towards Parent School council initiatives that are all student centered. 4. Milk Program: Lunch time milk program orders are due this Thursday (November 16th). Forms (I believe they were purple) were sent home last week. 5. Photo Retake day: School photo retake day is this Thursday (November 16th). Only those students who have a note indicating that they are to have their photo redone will be taken for their photo. 6. Movie Night: Parent School Council is having their first movie night of the year this Friday (November 17th) in the school gym. The movie will be Captain Underpants. A notice was sent home last week with exact details about cost, food etc. 7. Student Activity Fee: A pink letter was included in the envelope with your child's report card outlining the events and activities we are anticipating to participate in this year. A student activity fee of $20 is being asked for each student from kindergarten to grade 3 to cover the costs for the activities that require costs. You will have noticed that there are a large number of free programs and activities that students will partake in. Should you require financial assistance, please contact Mrs. Tammy McCormack in confidence. Thank you for your continued support with classroom initiatives and student learning. |
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February 2020
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