January 16-20

Hello families, 

Here are a few updates from this week.

In math we learned about picto-graphs and completed a collaborative bar graph about our classroom birthdays. We've also continued to work with number bonds and did the same activity as last week, but also expressed the number bonds as addition equations. With our work with the dominos, the students have been really interested in working with them and watching domino videos! 

The grade 1 students have also started working with me on some government numeracy assessments which we will continue next week! 



In literacy, we continued learning about digraphs. We learned about the "ph" sound this week and reviewed all of the actions and characters. There was no Animated Literacy character for PH so we had Mr. Link use his art and music skills to create a character and a song for us. Ask your child about the action for "ph!"



We have also been loving reading Junie B. Jones together. She is so mischievous and hilarious! We can learn a lot from her, including proper grammar! If you're reading any of them at home, please note that I sometimes change some of her language choices when reading aloud and leave some things that may not be seen as appropriate out! 

We started each morning (almost) with a morning message this week and focused on 10 new high-frequency words. Seeing as two of the words were "he" and "his" the kids ended up hearing a lot about my cat, Eli, and how he wakes me up so early in the morning. 

Words of the Week - Do you know them all? 

  • he

  • was

  • for

  • on 

  • are 

  • as 

  • with

  • his 

  • they 

  • be


Word Work Groups

We have also been working on another Words Their Way assessment to see what students have learned from our Word Work Flex Groups. I have seen a lot of improvement which is so exciting! We are planning to bring back our afternoon word work groups after Family Day. 


Library

Students are welcome to exchange library books any afternoon now - not just on Tuesday! I've let students know that I can't send them every day because they will be missing too much class time! 


Home Reading

There are no firm expectations with our Home Reading Program. Please use it however you see fit at home. Students are independently switching out their books and I am always available to help them choose. The Reading Log is for you to record titles of books to ensure students aren't bringing the same books home all the time, and for them to see how many books they are reading to help motivate them to keep going! It's not meant to be a stressor - just a resource! Sometimes students are more willing to read at home if their teacher tells them to do it! 


In science we have been continuing to learn about snowflakes. We read a really interesting story called "The Story of Snow" and learned about the three types of snowflakes. Students viewed a variety of snowflakes and chose three to sketch into each category. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am actually hoping we will get some fresh snow so we can get outside and observe some snowflakes! 





In social studies we've continued to learn about the Seven Sacred Teachings. This week we talked about two huge concepts: wisdom and humility. We described humility in a few different ways... 

For our wisdom activity, students thought about what wisdom looks like, feels like and sounds like. When learning about humility, students could choose to do the same activity, or to write about a time they showed humility and draw a picture. 




In art we looked at some famous works of art and discussed what we notice and what they remind us of. Students really seemed to enjoy this activity! Ask them about some of the artwork we discussed! 


Holiday Challenge Update

Thank you to everyone who worked on the Holiday Challenge over the winter break! I hope it gave you some different activities to do over the break! We have decided as a grade 1/2 team that we are going to treat all of our students to a board game afternoon. This will take place on the afternoon of Thursday, January 26th. More information will be sent via School Messenger next week! 

Upcoming Dates

  • Thursday, January 26th - Fun Lunch - The Saucy Bread Company
  • Monday, January 30th - Report Cards Available Online
  • Friday, February 3rd - PD Day - No School
  • Thursday, February 9th - Opa Fun Lunch
  • February 16th-17th - Teacher's Convention (no school)
  • Monday, February 20th - Family Day - no school
  • Thursday, February 23rd - A&W Fun Lunch

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