Ms. Midgley's Blog

Hi everyone! This  morning we had daily 5 literacy time and PE. In PE we played Not in my Yard with bowling pins. We then practiced our weekly words, and finished up the Alberta section of our maps. If students were finished these two things, they used their greater than/less than alligators with materials. We then enjoyed some free choice time with our big buddies. Mrs. Kawchuk was in our class for the last bit of the day as I was trying to help out with some technology needs in the school. We had our second snack and that was it!! Fridays are so quick! Don't forget to return library books for Monday's library time!  Next week is a 4 day week - please remember there is no school on Friday, December 7th! Clay for Kids On Wednesday, January 30th we will have Clay for Kids visiting the classroom. The program will run from 9:00-11:30am. We will need some volunteers so if you are available and have a police clearance with LBS please let me know! I figured it would be go...

Hi everyone! This morning we had an assembly put on by room 9 and 10. It was during our music time so Mrs. Kawchuk accompanied our class to the assembly. In the morning we also had Daily 5 literacy and practiced our weekly words. In PE we played 4 corners and had some fun with the parachute. In the afternoon, because students missed their music time, we joined Miss Ireland's class for some of their music time so students wouldn't miss their practice for the winter concert. The words to all the songs are posted on Mrs. Kawchuk's blog if you'd like to practice at home! We also started talking about Alberta! We brainstormed all the things we know Alberta is known for and watched a video about Alberta . They are turning out great so far and the students seem really excited about it! At the end of the day we watched a Canada Crew video about festivals in Canada which, of course, included the Calgary Stampede!  Just one example! T-Shirt Sales have been EXTE...

Hello families,  This morning we talked a little bit more about Little and Big problems. Here is a link to a new video we watched that offers some simple ways of classifying Little and Big problems and some strategies we can use. We also re-watched the "Why do we lose control of our emotions?" video.  During work period, students practiced their Weekly Words from the "-ug" family. We then made our own greater than/less than alligators. Students decorated them and I glued them with hot glue. Students were also working on finishing up the B.C. portion of the Canada Maps. For PE today we went outside. The students kept asking and I felt like everyone needed some fresh air (especially me!) In the afternoon we had Daily 5 literacy and put our greater than/less than alligators to work! Students chose a variety of materials to model numbers with a partner and decided which number was larger and showed this with their alligator. They are constantly singing a s...

Hi families! This morning we continued talking about Big and Little problems. We looked at this quote and discussed what we thought it meant: We also watched this really amazing video. I HIGHLY suggest taking a few minutes to watch and and talk to your child about it. This video discusses what happens in the brain that makes us lose control of our emotions and makes us sometimes turn little problems into big problems. Why do we lose control of our emotions? We also played the Big Deal Little Deal game! We then practiced our weekly words from the "-ug" family. We also continued talking about Canada and are starting to work on a big map project! We are taking it one province at a time! We started by watching this awesome song about the provinces and territories of Canada. Today we focused in just on BC. We watched (yet another) video about BC and talked about the things that make BC special. I find videos are the best for talking about places in Canada so the st...

Hello everyone! Today we had library in the morning and during work period we chose our weekly words. This week we are looking at the "-ug" family. At conferences, a few parents mentioned that they wanted their children to challenge themselves a little more with the weekly words. I encouraged students to choose some trickier words and we reviewed the idea that if we're choosing words we already know, our brain won't get stronger, and if we're choosing words that are too hard, are brains still won't get stronger because they will be too frustrated! In the afternoon we had our Daily 5 literacy time with Ms. Kassam in the room as well, and we had some time to finish choosing our Weekly Words. We then watched the story (I didn't have the book) "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street" by Dr. Seuss. This story talks about turning minnows into whales and we discussed how we can turn small problems into big problems based on our reactions....

Hello everyone! Today we continued working on our "Where I Live" activity and practiced our weekly words. Rather than doing centres all together, students now have the choice to use a centre or to choose a writing activity to practice their weekly words. This morning we also got to visit the Scholastic Book Fair! Students were able to write down 5 books that they wanted to add to their "Wish List." I encouraged only books rather than book fair "trinkets." In gym we played a free dance/numbers game. When the music stopped, students had to listen for the instruction and make that number in a hula hoop. For example, they may have been asked to make an even or odd number, a number greater than 10, a number fewer than 30, etc. They could use their bodies to represent one, or they could use their fingers and toes as well. In the afternoon we had a little bit more work time and literacy groups. At the very end of the day we talked about skip counting by 10s...

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the late blog post. Tuesdays are a challenge for me as we always have meetings after school. Today we worked on an activity about where we live. Students divided their page into 4 sections and drew a picture that represented their community, city, province and country. We will continue to work on this tomorrow. Some students had a hard time coming up with something that made them think of their community. If you have time this evening, I'm sure they would appreciate some suggestions! Some students drew a lake because they live in a lake community. I drew a horse to represent my community! December Scholastic We finally got our December Scholastic Flyers. I sent them home today and the December orders will be due on Monday, November 26th, 2018.  We want to be able to get you any books in time for Christmas so we need to have a quick turn around time. Lost and Found All items are laid out on tables near the front office. I will bring students by to ta...

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had an awesome weekend! This morning we had library. Our library will be closed the rest of the week as we set up for the Scholastic Book Fair. On Wednesday morning we will have a chance to preview the book fair as a class - no students will be purchasing on this day.. just looking! This morning we chose our weekly words from the "-ag" family. We also had guest reader and watched a video about the Scholastic Book Fair to see what new books will be at the fair. In the afternoon we were joined by Ms. Kassam. She will be in our classroom every day this week after lunch. Ms. Kassam teaches kindergarten in the morning and spends her afternoons providing literacy support to other classrooms. Students chose their weekly words and we did a cubby clean out (it was a scary sight!) We also had literacy groups in the afternoon. At the end of the day we continued with our Canada Crew game - the students are obsessed! They have really enjoyed star...

Hi everyone!  We had a very hectic end to our day today. Our Colour Group assembly went right until the bell. You child likely did not bring home a communication folder or a R.E.D folder as there was just no time at the end of the day. My apologies! Here is a photo of Ms Rasmussen and Mrs Jones doing the chicken dance that was promised after our Terry Fox Run! Have a great weekend! Dear Parents, Growing Smiles is our current fundraiser and the order deadline is approaching quickly. You can order a variety of Poinsettias, Holiday Planters, a beautiful Wreath and an Outdoor Planter. To order visit:  https://lakebonavistaschool.growingsmilesfundraising.com Lake Bonavista School - Improvement Society Lake Bonavista School - Improvement Society. Welcome to our fundraising website! This Winter we are selling beautiful, locally grown Poinsettias to help raise money for Lake Bonavista School. lakebonavistaschool.growingsmilesfundraising.com or retur...

Hello everyone, Today we started our morning with Explore and Play and Daily 5 literacy. During work period we continued on with discussing the Zones of Regulation. Today we focused in on the Red Zone and did a bit of writing. Students wrote about when they are in the Red Zone and what they can do to bring themselves back to the Green Zone. We also continued on with our addition from yesterday and did our word work centres. In the afternoon we had mindful minutes and guest reader. We were joined by Ms. Kassam in the afternoon, giving me some time to work one-on-one with students. Students were continuing with their writing, playing some new addition games and decorating some new "privacy folders" for the classroom. We somehow missed getting our December Schoalstic flyers so we called to get more. They should be here soon. They will have a return date in early December to make sure the order gets here before Christmas break.

Hello everyone! Today we started some new word work centres for our "-ig"words - here are some photos. We also started learning about addition today. We started by reading a story called "The Mission of Addition" and talked about what addition means - combining numbers to get a bigger number - figuring out the number of things all together! We then pulled apart an addition statement and talked about what each part of the sentence is and how we can read it aloud. We are challenging ourselves to always use the word "sum" instead of "answer." (I'm not as concerned with the word "addend" but it's just good for them to hear!) Students in grade 1 were using materials to solve some addition questions to 10. For many students, it was their first experience with adding and they did an awesome job! The math rack was a popular choice for the grade 1s. Grade 2 students were working on adding 2-digit by 2-digit ho...

Hello families! This morning we had library - if your child forgot their book we can arrange for them to exchange books another morning this week. We chose Weekly Words from the "-ig" family. In the afternoon we chatted a little bit about why mindfulness is important and how it can help us get back to the green zone. We watched some videos from Class Dojo about mindfulness and being able to defeat our beasts (big negative or positive feelings we often experience). We also had literacy groups in the afternoon. Students were working on the appropriate use of commas, "ghost" letters and diagraphs, and vowels, depending on their group. https://ideas.classdojo.com/b/mindfulness At the end of the day we read a story called "Where Do You Live?" We talked about the different places we live starting from smallest to biggest 1. room 2. home 3. yard 4. street 5. neighbourhood/community 6. town 7. city/suburb/country 8. province 9. country 10. con...

Hello families, Just a few quick things - I will be placing the November Scholastic order on Monday instead of today so if you're interested you have the weekend to pick something! Please remember that Scholastic must be paid online or by cheque delivered to the school. Thank you for your Jacket Racket donations. Today was the last day to bring in items! We will be having library on Monday. If you are finished with your books make sure to return them! Have a great weekend! Scholastic Book Fair Dear Families, We are pleased to be hosting another Scholastic book fair this year during Parent Teacher Conferences. The book fair will be open for purchasing from 4:00 pm-7:45 pm Thursday Nov. 22  and  8:00 -12:45 Friday November 23 . Your child will have an opportunity to view the book fair on Wed. Nov. 21 and Thursday Nov.22 in the morning.    They will not be purchasing any books on the previewing days. We are looking for parent volunteers who woul...

Hi everyone! Today we had music in the morning and did our word work centres. During work period we started working on our poppies. For PE today, the gym was closed for maintenance so we did a Go Noodle exercise video in the classroom. At lunch today many students enjoyed Card Club and Cartooning Club. In the afternoon, we had guest reader. Students also continued on with their poppies as well as some math work. Grade 1s were working on representing numbers using materials and ten frames and the grade 2s were working on some math review from grade 1. Ms. Kassam supported students in the classroom while I had some time to work one-on-one with some grade 1 students on literacy. November Scholastic Orders are due tomorrow! We are having some difficulties and confusion with our Arts Commons field trip. I don't think the forms will be ready to go home tomorrow. I will keep you updated as soon as I know more! Remembrance Day Dear LBS Families, This Friday, November...

Hi everyone, This morning we had Explore and Play and Daily 5 Literacy. During work period we did our word work centres. We also read a story called "Peace is an Offering" and talked about how peace feels, looks, smells and sounds. The plan was to start this activity today but after finally cleaning off my desk I misplaced the poppy templates. Of course, 10 seconds after saying we would work on it tomorrow, I found them! So, we will continue this activity tomorrow. In the afternoon we had a crash course on the Zones of Regulation. I wanted to see what students remembered from last year. We also had literacy groups and at the end of the day watched some videos that talked more about the Zones of Regulation. A lot of students had a hard time listening on following through on tasks today so it felt like a good time to revisit the zones. Here is a graphic for those who are not familiar with the Zones of Regulation. This is a way to identify how we feeling and discuss strategi...

Hello families,  Today we had a busy day! In the morning we did our word work centres. During snack we had some song requests from students that I attempted to play on guitar for them. Maybe I will have to bring it in more! We then talked about one of our students who has some interesting medical needs. We read a book called "Rare is Everywhere." All proceeds of this book go towards the Rare Disease Foundation. We talked about how we are all unique but this student is especially rare. She wears Ankle Foot Orthodics (AFOs) on her legs. Her legs are not as strong as other students her age and wearing AFOs allows her to do all the activities she loves to do like dancing and horseback riding. She sometimes uses a walker or a wheelchair on days where she has to do a lot more walking than usual or days where her body is feeling sore. This students also has epilepsy so we discussed what a seizure is and what to do if she ever has a seizure at school. Here is the link to a video w...

Hello everyone! This morning we had an extra long explore and play time. This week I will be practicing a song with the grade 5s for Friday's Remembrance Day Assembly which, depending on behaviour in the classroom, will allow for longer or much shorter explore and play time. We did Daily 5 literacy and chose our new weekly words from the "-ot" family. In the afternoon we wrote down our weekly words. When students were finished choosing their words, they were asked to choose a math responsible work choice. We also had our literacy groups this afternoon. This week we will be talking about Remembrance Day and learning more about one of the students in room 13 that has some unique medical needs. This is the last week to send in donations for Jacket Racket! We have only had one jacket brought in from our classroom so far. We have some new fish in our classroom that we are looking to name! Feel free to send a note with some name suggestions if your child has more!

Hi Everyone! Today we continued reading the 4th Secrets of Droon book. We made some predictions about what we were reading and students did an awesome job giving lots of detail in their predictions and giving reasons for their predictions. We had a short daily 5 literacy time where students could choose read to self, buddy reading or a word work activity. In gym we played revenge tag and 4 corners. During work period students practiced their weekly "-in" words and a few more students finished up their Identity art. We also learned a new even and odd math game based off the story "Odd or Even in a Monstrous Season." Students could add their dice roll together by counting up all the dots or using their own personal addition strategies. If they needed more of a challenge, they could subtract their numbers, roll more dice, or multiply their numbers together. We then enjoyed some free choice time where several students used our Maker Space scrap materials and some othe...