January 24

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week has been very exciting! On Monday, we worked on our journals. Our main areas of focus in writing right now are as follows:

- proper use of capital letters

- proper use of ending punctuation

- proper use of the digraphs "th", "sh", and "ch"

- properly spelled sight words

- and as always, finger spaces!

For the last two weeks, we have sent home a green journal titled, "Letters to Home." The idea is that your child can share with you what they have done during the week. The book also provides you with information regarding the progression of their writing. We ask that you please respond to your child in the journal and send it back each Monday.

On Tuesday, we had an in-school field trip! A mechanical engineer came in to teach us about building materials and structures. What a great way to kick off our "Building Things" unit! We made and tested Lego bridges (we EXCEEDED expectations, with the strongest bridge holding 12 weights!) as well as paper bridges. It was hard to believe that a few pieces of paper could hold much weight, but our strongest paper bridge held 6 weights before falling! Here are some pictures and videos from our day:).

               

                    

               

       

We also continued working on our MISSING posters for our lost gingerbread people. We wrote a rough copy, edited it, and then copied it over to the poster. Ask your child where they think the gingerbread people went!

I look forward to seeing you all at Student Led Conferences tonight and tomorrow :).

Reminders:

NO school for students Friday, January 26 or Monday, January 29.

January 17, 2018

Dear Parents and Guardians,

  Here are a few of the curricular concepts we will be working on this week. 😀

  Language Arts/Literacy:

• Digraphs- we are working on the sounds that ch, sh and th make. Here are some songs to help you practice at home:

• CH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWg2uzAuSe4
• SH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfMtsRVZWfE
• TH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3INXFPrfJM

• Writing- the gingerbread people we made have disappeared! We are currently working on creating "Missing" posters to help us locate them. We discussed creating a clear, attention grabbing introduction and a detailed description of our gingerbread person.

• Literacy Centres- the students have been working on Raz-Kids on the iPads. They have also been playing rhyming games, sorting words based on digraphs, practicing their poetry and exploring new guided reading books with their teacher.

Math:

• Number Lines- the students have been using number lines to help them solve addition equations. Please check your child's backpack tomorrow for the math sheet we have been working on.

• One more/Less- we learned how to play a new math game! Your child should have brought it home yesterday. Ask them to show you how to play.

Science:

• Sense of smell- we are discussing our favourite scents and are reviewing why our sense of smell is important.

Health:

• Being Helpful- we listened to a book about being responsible/helpful. We then discussed ways we can be helpful to others/ the environment. The students then worked with a partner to create a poster about being helpful.

Home Practice Opportunities:

• Sight Words- please continue to practice the Fry First 100 sight words at home. We are working towards reading at least 50 words from the list by the start of March.

• Digraphs- please review the sounds that ch, sh and th make. Have your child find words that include the digraphs while they complete their home reading.

• Math- Say a number to 20 and have your child state the number that is one more or less

Reminders:

• Popcorn day tomorrow 
• Please books a student led conference

January 11, 2018

Dear parents and guardians,

Welcome back! It is hard to believe how much we have learned already since we have been back! We are continuing to review our sight words and have been working hard to spell them correctly during writing tasks. Please review the words with your child a few at a time, mixing up the order so that they are reading the words rather than memorizing the list. 

We have been working with the consonant digraph "ch" this week. We are learning to read words with the "ch" sound at the beginning or the end of the word. Practice with this skill will help the students read words quickly and more fluently. Please have your child point out words that contain "ch" or "tch" during daily home reading. 

We began a new centre routine this week. Ask your child about the centres and what they are doing at each. 

In math, we have been working on solving addition problems quickly and efficiently, using mental math strategies. Our main focus has been having the students count on from the bigger number. Have your child explain to you the steps of solving an addition problem in their heads.

For your reference, the steps we have taught are as follows:

1. Circle the bigger number

2. Put the bigger number in your head

3.Sstart from the bigger number, and count on using the smaller number.

4. Write your answer. 

This week, we read the stories "The Gingerbread Cowboy" and "The Gingerbread Girl". We made and decorated paper gingerbread people that we will be doing more activities with in the days to come. Stay tuned for updates!

In science, we have started discussing the sense of smell. Ask your child about things that can potentially harm your sense of smell. In the coming days, we will discuss how to protect your sense of smell.

Reminders:
- Please send any empty wrapping paper tubes to school with your child as we are collecting them for a project :).

- Please send your child with appropriate gear for the cold weather, including hats, scarves, mittens, boots, a warm jacket and snow pants. If you choose, you can send an extra change of clothes in your child's backpack in case they get wet outside.