October 31 - November 4

Hello families, 

We started this week with some fun Halloween activities! Students got to travel to each grade 1/2 class to participate in a different Halloween learning activity. Students did art with Ms. Greenhall, math roll a monster with Mrs. Green, Halloween dances/exercises with Ms. Midgley, Would You Rather and charades with Ms. Romanko, and guessing the spooky sounds with Ms. Gierl. We also had a parent organize an escape room for grade 1/2 students! 

Our grade 1/2 team and the St. Mary's student teachers dressed up as vowel (and vowel team) superheroes!

Speaking of which, this week we welcomed Mrs. Carreño (ka-rain-yo) who is our student teacher from U of C. She will be with us for 6 weeks and will be returning to our classroom in the early spring! 

On Tuesday we enjoyed our PJ day and watching the movie Inside Out together. We have been working with the new physical education and wellness curriculum and are excited for students to be learning about their feelings and self-regulation. 

In grade one, students are exploring personal characteristics, feelings and emotions to understand self. By the end of the year, students will: 

  • recognize how emotions (love, sadness, frustration, joy) can be expressed
  • identify and communicate feelings in a variety of contexts 
  • identify responses to emotions (focusing on breathing, taking a movement break, seeking out a supportive adult, identifying feelings)
  • reflect on feelings and emotions that result from personal experiences
In grade two, students are exploring roles, responsibilities, and self-regulation and their connections to self-understanding. By the end of the year, students will: 
  • explain the benefits of self-regulation
  • describe strategies that support self-regulation and practice a variety of self-regulation strategies (breathing techniques, physical activity, nutrition and hydration breaks, thinking before responding, recognizing challenges and obstacles)
  • explore ways communities work together to support self-regulation
  • identify signals that support self-regulation
Mrs. Carreño read us the story, "The Colour Monster" and we discussed connections to Inside Out. Students sorted the characters and grade 2 students chose one emotion to write about. Students decorated popsicle sticks that they can use to share how they are feeling each day. We will be continuing with this work next week and throughout the year! 



Students have been enjoying sharing their family artifact and information all about their families from our interview that went home! It has been interesting to make connections with each other and see what we have in common and what makes our families unique. If you have not yet sent this back, it can be returned and shared next week. We are still focusing in on the yellow section of the medicine wheel which represents the spirit as we explore the question: Who Am I? 

This week we finished reviewing all of our letters! I have completed a "words their way" assessment with each student to determine their next steps. Some students will be working on consonant sounds, short vowel sounds, digraphs, blends, or common long vowels depending on their need. We also reviewed the concept of sky, grass, dirt letters which helps our writing to be neater and easier to read. 


In math, we continued building our number sense with some math games. We did a fun graphing activity about our favourite Halloween treats and began talking about equal and unequal quantities. 





I noticed that many students were choosing to use their responsible work choice time (time left over after they have finished their classroom learning tasks) to exclusively draw and colour. Although I love to see all the art that is created and the artistic skills students are developing, I decided to introduce both an "art ticket" and "tech ticket." Each week students will receive 1 art ticket and 1 tech ticket that they can use to choose art as a responsible work choice or technology time as a responsible work choice. If they do not have a ticket, they will need to be choosing some different materials including math materials and games, reading and writing, or practical life/fine motor activities. Although students are a little disappointed about less art time, they are very excited about having a little more tech time. Please ensure your child has labelled headphones at school so that our tech time does not distract the other students. 


Colder Weather
We love get outside in all weather! Please ensure you child has appropriate clothing to spend time outdoors each day. My rule for students is that if their families have sent them with outdoor gear, it should be on their bodies during recess (unless it gets significantly warmer throughout the day!) 


Remembrance Day:  How You Can Help Make a Positive Change in the Lives of Veterans  

 

Poppy Fund Donations

 

Students will be given a poppy on November 10th while honoring Remembrance Day at school.  If you would like to send in a monetary donation to support the Poppy Fund that day, it would be greatly appreciated.  You can also show your support by donating online through following the link: https://legion.ca/donations 

 

MOMMS Pet Food Drive

 

To support Veterans and their dogs, our community pet store is collecting donations. These items will help support the pets that bring so much comfort and happiness to those who have served our country. Please send any donations to school with your child, on or before November 10th. They will be dropped off by Room 7 and 8. See the information below for donation details.

 



Card Club Days for Grade 1/2 (For students who returned signed forms)

Cards are only to be brought to school on card club days. 

Students attend card club from 11:40-12:00 instead of going outside for lunch recess. 

  • Monday, November 7th
  • Monday, November 21st 
  • Monday, December 5th 

Upcoming Dates

  • Every Tuesday afternoon - Library book exchange 
  • Monday, November 7th - Photo Re-take Day (please send me an email if you would like your child to have their photos re-taken) 
  • Friday, November 11th - Remembrance Day - No School
  • Thursday, November 17th - Booster Juice Fun Lunch
  • Thursday, November 24th (PM) & Friday, November 25th (AM) - Conferences (more info to come)
  • Thursday, December 1st - Banzai Fun Lunch
  • Thursday, December 15th - Waffles and Chix Fun Lunch

I feel like I'm forgetting something but I'll update if needed!

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