June 26, 2018

Happy Tuesday!

Here is a friendly reminder: Tomorrow, June 27,  is the LAST DAY of school. It is an early dismissal, which means our hours will be 8-12. 

Here are a few of the curricular concepts we have been working on for the past few days:

• We released the rest of our butterflies. We were able to examine one of the butterflies up close and were amazed by its proboscis! Ask your child to tell you why the wings are darker colours when closed and bright colours when open.

• We started a "Grade One Memory Book" that will be coming home tomorrow.

• We practiced measuring various items using non-standard units. The students had fun determining if they were shorter or longer than the tables in our classroom!

• We then reviewed the concepts of sorting and placing objects into groups of 10.

• We learned about mapping and created our own maps! The students then had to write instructions to go with their map.

• We wrote our last "Letters to Home."

June 13, 2018

Hello Parents and Guardians,

Whew! June is flying by. I can't believe that we only have two more Wednesdays of school left.

We have been really busy over the past few weeks. Here are some of the things we have been working on:

Math

• In math we have been working on comparing numbers using the terms greater than, less than or equal to. We have also been using the signs <, > or =. While learning about the mathematical signs, we talked about thinking of them as an alligators mouth.  Therefore, the sign should open towards the bigger number because it wants more food! We also did a visual enactment of this concept, as a student in our class happened to be wearing a dinosaur shirt. If you look in the picture below he is getting ready to "eat" the larger number of students.   

• We have  been exploring representing numbers using base ten materials (tens and ones).

Science/Literacy

• We discussed changes that occur on a seasonal basis and wrote about some of the changes that happen in the spring.

• We learned about food chains and discussed the following terms: predator, prey, producer and consumer. The students then worked with a partner to create a food chain in their visual journals.

• We reviewed the concept of camouflage. Can you find the animal hiding in the picture below?

• We observed the butterfly larvae in our classroom and documented some of the changes that have occurred. Ask your child what they have noticed. 

•  We continued to research painted lady butterflies and completed reports on them.

•  We watched a video about different types of butterflies and recorded what we had learned in our visual journals.

• We practiced buddy reading.

May 25

Dear Parents and Guardians,

  Wow! Ms. Moore and I are extremely impressed and proud of our students! They were amazing at our assembly today😀😍

  Below are some of the learning activities we completed this week.

• During literacy centres, we started a new and exciting research project! The students are using PebbleGo to learn about Painted Lady Butterflies. Through their research, they are learning to categorize information and create "jot notes." Ask your child to tell you why we picked Painted Lady Butterflies to study.

•  We also learned about the sound that "ai" and "ay" makes. The students were then required to apply their growing knowledge of these vowel digraphs to read words and sort them into alphabetical order.

•  Ms. Moore's class worked on illustrating their Wall Story.

•  We started a new chapter book called "Dingoes at Dinnertime."

• In science, we researched how plants adapt to get more sunlight.

MAY 22

Dear parents and guardians,

Sorry for the long delay in putting up a new post. This time of year is very busy! As always, our students have had many awesome learning experiences in the last couple of weeks.

In language arts, we...

- worked on our journals (students should be able to ... write 8-10 sentences, edit for proper use of periods and capitals, spell their sight words correctly, add description instead of just listing events, and use juicy descriptive words).

- continued our literacy centres (read with me, buddy read, phonics books, reading comprehension pages, iPads and writing). The students are always excited for literacy centres and are showing a love of reading already. A love for reading is SO important!

- wrote our letters to home. At this point in time, you should be seeing your child attempt all of the things that are listed under expectations for journal writing.

- finished our second class chapter book called "Tigers at Twilight". Ask your child about the new vocabulary that they learned in this book.

In science, we...

- continued to discuss the needs of plants an animals. We discussed and wrote about the process of pollination. Ask your child what "pollination" means, how it occurs, and why it is important.

 We also discussed various ways that seeds are spread, which include wind, water, animals, gravity and explosive force. Ask your child to explain these to you.

 Also, you can ask your child what the words "disperse" ,"transport" and "stationary" mean as we discussed these words in our science lessons. Finally, we learned about how animals adapt or change for survival purposes. We discussed in-depth how they meet their needs for water. Ask your child how plants adapt to being in dry areas (an example is cacti growing spines to provide shade from the sun).

In social studies, we...

- discussed "Ways Our Lives Have Changed." Students were expected to write about at least 5 changes that they have experienced in their lives. Some examples were: going to school, getting a new pet, eating different types of foods, the birth of a sibling, etc. Ask your child about the changes in their lives!

In math, we..

- have been using "nets" to create 3D shapes. This week we learned about a cube and a rectangular prism. Students cut out the shape from paper, and glue the tabs together to create a 3D shape. Following instructions in this task was extremely important, otherwise students would not be able to make the shape!

In art, we...made these heart trees! They should have come home with the children's passion for glass projects.

Reminders:

- The grade 1 assembly (celebration of learning) is coming up on May 25th around 8:30 am.

-  May 25th is Fun Lunch for those who purchased it.

- Popcorn days are May 22nd and May 23rd. Bags can be purchased for $2 each.

April 18, 2018

Hello Everyone!

  We have had a fun week of swimming so far! It has been fabulous watching the students become more confident in the water. Our last day of swimming is tomorrow, so please continue to send your child to school with their swimsuit and towel:)

Literacy

• We wrote in our journals on Monday. The students have been doing a great job of adding more details to their work.
• We read our first chapter book together as a class!
• We practice 200 Fry Sight words.

Social Studies

• We wrote questions we have about the past in our visual journals. Ms. Moore and I were very impressed with the thoughtful questions the students came up with. Ask your child to tell you a few of their questions.

Math

• We continued to work on subtraction and started to learn about fact families.
• The students explored the "equal" sign when solving equations, including: 3+4 = 10-3

Reminders

• No school on Friday, April 20 for students

April 12

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Sorry for the delay in posting! April has been a very busy month so far and we have had lots of great learning experiences.

In language arts, we have:
- written our weekly journal entry
- practiced our sight words and poetry (children should know about 70 words)
- participated in literacy centres focused around reading, writing, and editing  
- a new story writing centre where students fill in the blanks to create their own story
- learned about the sound igh makes

In math, we have:

- continued to work in our workbooks on addition and subtraction

- learned new strategies for solving subtraction questions

In art, we:

- completed our very first projects using watercolor pencil crayons! First, we practiced drawing a rose. Then, we drew a good copy of our roses onto watercolor paper. Next, we colored our roses and the background. Then, we outlined our flowers with black glue to contrast it with the background. Finally, we painted water over top to see the final result!

- we mixed water colour pencil crayon colors together to make new colors once we paint water over top. We now know that some colors don't mix so well together...

- ask your child the difference between "warm" and "cool" colors

  

Reminders:

- Please ensure that during home reading time, you are asking your child comprehension questions about the books they are reading. Some examples include:

1. How do you think he/she felt about that?

2. Have you ever experienced anything similar? How did that make you feel?

3. Can you please tell me, in your own words, what happened in this story?

- Swimming starts on Monday, April 16th and goes until Thursday, April 19th. Please send your child to school in their bathing suit and pack underwear in their bag along with a towel.

- With the warm weather comes a melt! We had lots of kids come in from recess today soaking wet and muddy! We talked about the idea of packing an extra change of clothes in their backpacks in case they get wet and muddy outside. This is definitely not mandatory, just a suggestion :).