December 4-7

Hello families! Please check out a few notes before our weekly update! 

Full Class Library visit - Wednesday morning

Students are invited to exchange books at their own pace, but I'm noticing several students not exchanging books throughout the week. On Wednesday morning we are going to go to the learning commons as a full class for a book exchange. Please remember to send books back on or before Wednesday. 

Sock Exchange

During the month of December LBS is focusing on the Montessori tenet of Gratitude. The Grade 1/2 ‘s will be holding a Winter Sock Exchange to build community and gratitude within their class. The students will practice their fine motor skills to wrap, writing and artistic skills to create a card and demonstrate gratitude when receiving a ‘fun’ pair of new socks! 

 

We ask that if you are able to, to please send in a new/unworn pair of kids socks with a fun pattern for your child to give to classmate by December 18th. They can be Winter/Christmas socks but do not have to be.

 

If you have any questions or are interested in donating extra pairs of socks to please contact your classroom teacher.



Winter Solstice & Food Drive

In the spirit of building community and gratitude we are hosting a food drive at LBS. If you are able, starting Thursday, December 7th, please send in any non-perishable food items for donation to the Calgary Food Bank. We invite families to bring their donations to the Winter Solstice event next Thursday evening. LBS will be collecting donations until Friday December 15. 

 

Thank you for supporting this initiative!

https://www.calgaryfoodbank.com/wishlist/



Math


In math we've been continuing to learn about number bonds. Students practiced making number bonds when given the whole, and when given both parts! Students enjoyed using snap cubes or math racks to help them with this work! We also learned a game called "Bonds, Number Bonds" (think James Bond). I will try to put together instructions for this game! 


We did math groups a couple of times this week and enjoyed using our new dice shakers when at the teachers table! We worked on recognizing numbers at a glance (subitizing) and comparing numbers. 


Grade 1

Grade 2



Literacy 

We did some practice with our sky, grass, dirt writing! Students worked on printing the sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" as it incorporates every letter of the alphabet. We also looked at the "-ot" word family by using the sound boards. We came up with a lot of "-ot-" words but also several words that sound like "ot" but use "ought" or "aught." English is a tricky language! We read a poem together called "Dot the Tot" where all of the "ot" words were covered and students had to guess which "ot" words would make sense. Students then closed their eyes and visualized the poem and enjoyed drawing a picture to accompany the poem. This was sent home to share with families! 



We also worked on our summative assessment for our current learning in writing! We've been learning all about adjectives and synonyms, as well as neat writing and proper letter formation. Students described an ice cream sundae showing their very best writing and juiciest words! 



We also reviewed the short e sound and learned about syllables this week! Some students used the UFLI Word Work Mats during Daily LA teacher table time. Wow we were busy! 



Here are our high-frequency words for next week! 

Social Studies & Science

We've continued learning about the Seven Sacred Teachings and focused in on love this week which is represented by the eagle. Students drew pictures of them and someone they love. Grade 1 students finished the sentence "I love you because..." and grade 2s could choose what they wanted to write about love and were given the suggestions "I show love by..." or "love is important because..." 




We also enjoyed watching Wild Kratts about eagles with Ms. Gierl's class and worked on Eagle sketches with labels while we were watching! 


On Thursday we enjoyed learning about Hanukkah. Although all of the families in room 11 celebrate Christmas, we felt it was important to understand that not everyone celebrates Christmas and it's important to recognize a variety of holidays! 



Upcoming Dates

  • Friday, December 8th - PD Day - No School
  • Thursday, December 14th - Winter Event 6:30-8:00 (Room 11 meeting in the kindergarten classroom at 6:55pm - performance at 7:05pm) 
  • Thursday, December 14th - Waffles & Chix Fun Lunch
  • Friday, December 22nd - Last Day of Classes before Winter Break
  • December 25-5 Winter Break
  • Monday, January 8th - Classes Resume

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