Just a reminder for all that have not had a chance to book your conference time for either Thursday evening of Friday morning. You can book through Power School.
We've been hard at work this week creating some art for the bulletin board outside our classroom. We listened to the story of Turtle Island as told by Robin Wall Kimmerer in the book, "Braiding Sweet Grass". We learned about the gift and sacrifices that were given by the animals and how Turtle Island was formed from "the alchemy of all the animals' gifts coupled with her deep gratitude."
I Can Appreciate How Stories of Communities Contribute to Their Sense of Identity and Belonging / I Can Create Artistic Emphasis Based on Personal Choice
Afterwards we looked at some of the art created by Norval Morrisseau. He is often considered a grandfather of Indigenous art in Canada and was a member of the Indigenous Group of Seven.
We loved the bright, bold colors and his use of organic shapes. We were inspired by his style to create our own representations of Turtle Island as a way of remembering the gifts from the land.
Literacy:
This week in literacy most students worked on the phonics patterns 'sl' and 'br' and a few worked on 'oo' (moon) and 'ch'.
We also spent sometime building our oral language and reading comprehension skills by summarizing the book, "Grumpy Bird" by Jeremy Tankard. Students were asked to think about the important elements of the story using, "Somebody, wanted, but, so, then". There was a strong emphasis put on using character's name throughout the retelling and to ensure that only the most important information was retold.
A few tips for helping your child with reading at home:
- Have them focus on the words and not the pictures. Relying on pictures sets them up to develop a habit that will be very hard to unlearn and will also cause them to have issues when they transition to reading short novels with little to no pictures.
- Have them use their fingers to track both words and letters from left to right.
- Look through the whole word and identify the sounds represented by the letters. This strategy asks kids to rely on what they know rather than guessing based on context clues such as pictures and what would make sense within the story. No Guessing!
- Split longer words into syllables that will be easier to sound out.
- Help them when they don't know. It's better that you supply them with a word rather than have them practice something wrong.
Ms. Yasin's Math Group
This week in Ms. Yasin’s math group, students continued to practice adding and subtracting multiples of 10 from any number less than 100. Students practiced this strategy with and without a hundreds chart. The group had fun putting together a puzzle using the skill of subtracting 10!
Reminders:
Monday, March 7 - Learning Commons / Book Exchange Day
Thursday, March 10 - Student Learning Conferences in the evening
Friday, March 11 - Student Learning Conferences during the day - No School for Students
