Ms. Midgley's Blog

Hello everyone, This morning we had Explore and Play and music. During work period, we were working on our weekly words, patterns and dream books. We also had guest reader and PE. In the afternoon we had our literacy groups where we continued working on Voice in our writing. We also enjoyed a little bit of free choice time since we haven't had time the last two weeks! At the very end of the day we enjoyed some birthday treats for two birthdays in our classroom. In case you missed it yesterday, please take some time to read the following message about online safety. Due to recent events regarding “The Momo Challenge”, some students came to school today talking about the images they’ve seen and stories they’ve heard due to various news broadcasts. This prompted a whole class sit down regarding internet safety. I reinforced what to do if they ever saw something inappropriate or uncomfortable on the internet: walk away and get an adult. “The Momo Challenge” may be the mos...

Hi families, This morning we had Explore and Play and Daily 5 literacy time. During work period we continued practicing our Weekly Words, finished up our dreams for Calgary and continued talking about patterns. We focused in on the different types of patterns (repeating, growing and shrinking) and we talked about the core, pattern rule and attributes! Students were asked to create a repeating pattern and tell the core of the pattern. They were also asked to create a growing and shrinking pattern and tell the pattern rule. Pattern rules can be tricky to word properly so this is definitely something we will continue working on. We also had guest reader and PE. We had PE by ourselves today because Mr. Link was busy with Code Mobile - students chose between using bean bags, scoops, or skipping. In the afternoon we had our literacy groups. Students in my group continued talking about voice in writing. They were given three writing tasks and had to choose one to write about and show t...

Hi everyone! This morning we had Explore and Play and Daily 5 literacy. During work period, we read a story called "The Dream Collector" and started talking about our dreams for Calgary as the next step in our Salvador Dali inquiry. We also practiced our weekly words with a big emphasis on sky, grass and dirt letters and finished up our healthy plates. We then had guest reader and did some skipping during PE. In the afternoon we continued talking about voice in our writing. I read a few pages from a few different stories without showing what the stories were to see if students could hear the personality of different authors coming though. We discussed different ways that we ca have voice in our writing such as using humour, exclamation points, etc. Students then headed off to music.  Alien In-Line Skating Thank you to everyone who was so quick to sign and return the Alien-Inline forms! In order to allow each class to have equal time participating in inline skat...

Hello families, This morning we started with our question of the day: What does it feel like when someone is kind to you? Prepare to be blown away by these responses.... (this was all from them with no guidance from me!) - it feels like they want to be your friend - it makes you want to be kind back - it makes you want to pass kindness on to someone else - it makes you want to play with them - it makes me feel like I am important to them - it makes me feel like me - it makes me feel warm inside - it makes me feel special - it makes me feel like I am going to have a better day - it makes me feel like everyone likes me - it makes me feel like I'm on the beach - it makes me feel comfortable - it makes me feel awesome - it makes me feel embarrassed (like if your crush says something nice to you!) - sometimes when someone is really, really kind to me, it makes me feel like saying "thank you" isn't enough Can you believe it! What thoughtful answers! We...

Hello families, Today we had a busy day! In the morning we had some work period time to finish up our healthy plates. Ms. Kassam joined the class during snack and gym time while I tried to fix some technology problems! We then had guest reader and chatted about new math centres that we will be starting next week. We then had a really quick second snack and headed outside for our Winter Walk. During colour groups, each group read a winter story and drew pictures of the story. These will be put together in a big book for the school to share. Students brought home their Clay for Kids bowls and glass art today. I hope they all make it home safe. If you accidentally receive something with the wrong name or initials on it, please let me know! I sorted them pretty quickly! We have some exiting things going on next week! Wednesday, February 27th is PINK SHIRT DAY!   We have not started talking about Pink Shirt Day in class yet. On this day we will also be working with Code Mobile whi...

Hello everyone! Today we started our day with Explore and Play and music. During work period, students were working on sorting food into the different food groups (continued from yesterday) and began designing a "healthy plate" based on Canada's new food guide . We also read a book called "How to Feed Your Parents," where the parents were picky eaters and their child tried to get them to try new foods. We had guest reader and during PE we made some movement patterns. In the afternoon we had our literacy groups with Ms. Kassam and I felt a lesson regarding friendship was needed. We read a social story called "Making Friends is an Art" and discussed our Question of the Day: What makes a good friend? You can also probably find this story on Youtube if you're interested.  We also watched this very cute video  after our discussion. I tried to drive home the idea that if we are looking for friends that have all of these qualities, we need to try to b...

Hello families, I hope everyone enjoyed their Family Day long weekends! Today we had library in the morning and chose our Weekly Words from the "-ob" family. We also had Guest Reader and played Snakes in the Grass during gym. In the afternoon we had our literacy groups and started talking about using "voice" in our writing. Students then went to music. Throughout the day we opened several Valentine's Cards from our exchange across Canada. At the very end of the day, I gave students a "question of the day." I'm hoping to use this time to address a few different topics such as learning, emotions, etc. Today's question of the day was: What do you want to learn? Here are a few of the ideas that were shared... I'm sure you can pick out something that your child said. - multiplication and division - how to make pastries like a pastry chef - how to explore the deepest part of the oceans that haven't been explored yet - how to ...

Hello everyone, This morning we had Daily 5 literacy and celebrated the 100th day of school with our buddy class. We did two experiments... predicting what 100 drops of water looks like and how far 100 steps would take us. We then had guest reader and went to gym. We did a relay race and it was just warm enough for students to go outside. In the afternoon we had our literacy groups and we had some work period time. During work period, students were working on their weekly words and creating Valentine's Day patterns. After afternoon recess, we handed out our Valentine's Day cards, had a sugar cookie (they are seriously beautiful!) and watched some of the Berenstain Bears Valentine's Day special. Guest Reader Thank you so much for helping your children get prepared for their guest reader presentations! It's so awesome to see the growth in their confidence and reading skills. Please try to support your children in choosing a story that takes them less them...

Hello everyone! We had an extremely busy day today! I was excited to get back into our Daily 5 routine but unfortunately we just didn't have a lot of time today! I try to do Daily 5 literacy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday since we have library on Monday mornings and music on Thursday mornings. We will do better next week! We spent 10 minutes reading this morning instead and had an early snack. During work period we practiced our weekly words, decorated paper bags for tomorrow's Valentine's exchange, and continued with our 100s day writing from yesterday. We then had guest reader and a very quick second snack. Students then had the choice of doing a Star Wars yoga activity in room 13 for PE or doing Go Noodle in room 12. We then had our presentation from the Canadiana Musical Theatre Company. After lunch, since we had a later lunch from 12:00-12:50, we had a quick mindful minutes and then students went to music. At the end of the day we talked about our upcoming Byb...

Hello families,  This morning we had library and work period. For weekly words this week, students were given 1st and 2nd grade "no excuse" words, meaning there is no excuse for spelling these words wrong! Each student has a copy to keep in their cubby to use as a reference. They chose 5-8 of these words to practice during this short week. Some students chose to add some challenge words on their weekly word lists if they found the "no excuse" words too easy. Students also had a choice between these two writing prompts: "If I had $100..." OR "When I am 100 years old..." This Wednesday is the 100th day of school!  In the afternoon, we had our literacy groups and we did some Valentine's Day hedgehog art! They were so cute, I couldn't resist! We used PebbleGO to learn more about hedgehogs. Here are some interesting facts we learned:  - They eat snakes - They are spiky - They roll into a ball to protect themselves  - Some peop...

Please visit   lakebonavista.yapsody.com   to purchase your dance tickets or sign up to donate a cake online today!  We are still in need of more donations of baked goodies. Whether or not you can attend the dance, please consider donating some goodies! We hope to see you there! Our School Spirit! Family Dance is coming up quickly and we’re still in need of a lot of volunteers. Each volunteer opportunity is only half an hour, so you can slip away and have fun with other parents at various stations! Not able to volunteer time that night? We have another way you can contribute. We’re looking for bakers (or purchasers) to provide cakes, cupcakes or other baked goods as prizes for our very popular Cake Walk event running at the dance. Donating 12 cupcakes? Put six each in two containers and sign up for two baked goods. Awesome!! *The baked items can be dropped off at the front entrance of the school on Wednesday morning or afternoon.  *Thank you for bringi...

Hi everyone, Over the past two days we have been talking about our dreams for the school. We talked about things we would want to see happen at our school such as new materials or equipment, new clubs, the way we treat our school, the way we treat each other, etc. We are finished up with gymnastics now. The students did a really awesome job by giving themselves appropriate challenges and being safe with the equipment. Today we also continued working on our maps of the school with our buddy class and we enjoyed some free choice time. Yesterday I sent home a list of students' first names for Valentine's Day. If you are making Valentines, please make sure there is one for everyone! We are still working on filling our pom-pom jar in order to have a Valentine's celebration. Report Card Envelopes I have received about half of the signed report card envelopes back. We re-use these envelopes for the second report card in June. Please make sure you return it next week if yo...

Hello families, Today we started talking about subtraction! Students chose a material to solve some questions and had the option of subtraction to 10, to 20, 2-digit, and 2-digit with regrouping. During work period, we also practiced our Weekly Words and finished our "Spongebob's Secret Valentines" drawing from yesterday. Last year, I used a program called "Class Dojo" and this year I decided to not use it as I found students were so motivated by getting "points" rather than doing something because it's the right thing to do, because it's kind, or because it's important. Today, we talked a little bit about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how it's okay to be motivated by things you want but you shouldn't be doing everything in life just because you want something materialistic out of it. (Obviously we talked about this in more student-friendly language!) We compared doing something for a sticker or an ice cream or doing so...

Hi everyone, My wishful thinking for a warmer day was not successful! We spent the whole day inside again today. I can definitely tell the difference in behaviour when students don't get a chance to run around and get fresh air! Hopefully it'll warm up by the end of the week! We are trying to push through and work hard! We are working towards filling our pom-pom jar in order to have a Valentine's Day celebration next Wednesday. Whether we fill the jar or not, students will have a chance to hand out Valentines on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 13th, and depending on if we fill the jar, we might ask for treats and enjoy more of a celebration! I'm hoping we can fill the jar in the next week! I will also send home a list of first names for Valentine's Cards. Today we got back to our regular routine of Daily 5 in the morning. During work period, we practiced our Weekly Words, finished up our Acadian research from last week, and we made red envelopes to celebr...

Hello families, What a chilly day! I'm looking forward to a slightly warmer day tomorrow! This morning we had library and some work period time. During work period we worked on our weekly words, our dreams for ourselves and number lines. Students in grade 1 were plotting numbers on a number line from 1-20 and grade 2s were plotting numbers 1-100. This week, students chose between 3 spelling lists with Valentine's Day themed words. Pink List: red, pink, like, love, bug, hug, mine, card Purple List: love, heart, rose, candy, adore, pink, purple, Cupid Red List: February, Valentine, chocolate, flowers, affection, admirer, bouquet, embrace In gymnastics, we attempted to set up Mission Impossible since it wasn't set up this morning. Hopefully tomorrow it will be fully ready to go! Our lunchroom supervisor was away today but she will be back tomorrow! We spent lunch indoors because of the temperature. In the afternoon, we had our literacy groups with Ms. Kassam and s...