November 18-22

Hello families, 

Here's our weekly update! 

In literacy, we reviewed the letters R with the characters Rosie Racoon and Rhino Ralph, and the letter L with characters Lonnie Lion and Lizzie Lamb. We also learned about r letter blends (gr, fr, cr, tr, etc.) We learned how to put words in alphabetical order and we learned about syllables. We talked about the clapping trick for finding syllables as well as counting how many times your chin drops when you say the word. Students were reminded that how many sounds or letters in a word is different than how many syllables are in a word. Now that we've learned many ways to practice our high-frequency words, students can use the choice board to decide how they would like to practice them each morning during Opening Task. 




Here are the words for next week: 
In small group work during during Daily LA, we've been talking about rhyming words and working with different word families. Students are practicing their decoding skills to brainstorm words from different word families such as the "-ug" word family. 

 

On Monday, we enjoyed celebrating Rock Your Mocs and learned more about moccasins and Metis culture. We loved this video of a young Metis girl explaining her heritage but cut it off early before she makes a comment about knowing where babies come from... 🙈 (if you're re-watching at home, you might want to stop the video before 3:25). We learned about Metis bead work and students designed their own moccasins. 




In math, students continued their learning on patterns. Students learned how to use the core of a pattern to identify a missing element. They also practiced extending patterns - students created a pattern and we put all of their patterns in a basket. They then chose a classmates pattern to extend.  All students learned about increasing and decreasing patterns and grade 1s were given the opportunity to try these patterns as well (this is just in the grade 2 curriculum!) On Friday we had fun doing math pattern stations! 


 

 

 

 


 
 
Students had really interesting ideas for our Which One Doesn't Belong pattern activity. Which pattern do you think doesn't belong and why? 
Students also learned about the Mi'kmaq seasonal cycles. We discussed how long ago, before clocks and calendars, Indigenous people had to use nature and weather changes to know what season it was. Students learned how to say the seasons in the Mi'kmaq language and drew one way to tell the season for each season. 


In social studies/wellness we've been following some lessons and ideas from Adrienne Gear's book "Powerful Understanding." This is a teacher resources rather than a book for students. 


Students are exploring more about themselves and how the connect with the world. We read the story "The Best Part of Me" and students wrote about their best physical characteristic. On another day, we learned about character traits and students had to choose their best character trait and write and draw about it. 


 

 



 

In science we've continued to learn about materials and properties of materials. We learned about properties including: hardness, texture, flexibility, transparency, etc.


 

Work choice of the week! The Montessori Constructive Triangles are great for developing visual-spatial skills. 


We had to do a bit of a music switch this week to help out one of the other classes so we ended up having music 3 times this week but will only have it once next week! Did you know Mrs. Kawchuk has a music blog as well? https://musiclbs.blogspot.com/

A reminder that following our school's Instagram account is another way to stay in the loop! Their recent post shows how much our Lost and Found is overflowing - take a look to see if you recognize any items! 
@Montessori_LBS

This placemat/tea towel has been in our classroom for awhile. It is navy blue and from Pier 1. Please let me know if it belongs to you as no students are claiming it. 


Upcoming Dates
  • Monday, November 25th - Studio Bell Field Trip Forms Due 
  • Friday, November 29th - PD Day - No School
  • Monday, December 2nd - Scholastic Book Orders Due
  • Tuesday, December 3rd - Studio Bell Field Trip 
  • Thursday, December 12th - Winter Event - More information to come 
  • Friday, December 20th - Last Day before Winter Break 
  • Monday, January 6th - Classes Resume
  • Friday, January 31st - PD Day 


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