November 14 - 18

What a great week!  The weather warmed up enough that we were able to spend time outside.  Just a reminder that we go outside everyday the outside temperature is warmer than -20 degrees celsius.  Everyone should come each day with the appropriate winter gear (snow pants, boots, mitts, hats, etc.) to enjoy their time outdoors in comfort.  It is also important that students continue to build their skills to independently put on their winter gear.  This would be a great thing for families to practice at home so they are successful at school.

I Can Appreciate the Diversity of Communities in Canada / I Can Examine How Communities Have Changed and Emerged

This week we had an in-school field trip with the Glenbow Museum.  Our presenter came in and showed pictures from the arctic and showed us artifacts from the Inuit people.  We spent some time closely examining the artifacts and then sketching them in our visual journals.  A highlight is when we got to feel an arctic fox pelt with the back of our hand.  We also got to play a traditional children's game meant to strengthen our hand-eye coordination for hunting.  It was very tough!

 

I Can Decompose Numbers / I Can Think About Numbers Flexibly

This week we've been working on decomposing numbers by breaking them down into part, part, whole.  We've recognized that there are many ways to to add parts together to get the same whole number.  We also worked on a decomposing challenge where students had to figure out how many canoes our class would need if we went canoeing.  We used the book, "Paddling the River", as our stepping off point.

Literacy:

In the coming weeks, our grade 2 students will be working with Ms. Leusink for an hour Mondays to Thursdays.

Phonics:  

Grade 1 - y

Grade 2 - igh, -y (/ī/)

High Frequency Words - from, or, one, had

Reminders:

Wednesday, November 23 -

• Library Book Exchange Day

Thursday, November 24 - 

• Conference Booking closes at 2pm.  Click here to book.
• Parent Teacher Conferences from 4pm to 7pm

Friday, November 25 - 

• Parent Teacher Conferences from 8am to 1pm.  NO SCHOOL for STUDENTS

Upcoming Fun Days in December

December 20 – Christmas Sweater Day

December 21 – Christmas Hat Day

December 22 – Last day of classes - PJ Day

November 7 - 10

 Lest we forget . . . this week we spent a lot of time reflecting on the meaning of peace and on the sacrifices made by others on our behalf.  As a class we created a list of things that made us think of peace.  Then each student chose the ones are important to them and wrote it down on a dove.  Each student completed a poppy for our classroom wreath using paint and also made one for our classroom in a mosaic style using paper.

I Can Add and Decompose Numbers within Twenty

We have been working on building a strong foundational understanding of numbers up to twenty and being able to represent them in different ways.  An important step in our understanding is using base ten blocks to represent numbers.  Using these blocks is a concrete and hands-on way to make connections to the patterns in the number system.  In the coming weeks we will be ramping up our knowledge of numbers and beginning to work with numbers up to 100 for grade ones and numbers up to 1000 for grade twos.  

Here is a game that we have been playing in class to help with our automatic recall of ten pairs (numbers that add up to 10).  Knowing these pairs will help students as they begin to work on adding and subtracting larger numbers.

Ten Pair Memory - Using a regular card deck, pull out two of each number from ace to nine.  Mix the cards up and lay them face down.  Take turns picking two cards, if they add up to ten, you keep the pair.  If they don't, put them back.  The winner is the one with the most pairs at the end.

Literacy:

Grade 1 Phonics - V, U, J

Grade 2 Phonics - ie, igh (long I sounds)

High-Frequency Words - at, be, this, have

Reminders:

Monday, November 14 - 

• In-school Presentation from Glenbow Museum

Tuesday, November 15 -

• Photo retakes and class pictures

Wednesday, November 16 -

• Library Book Exchange
• Booking for Parent Teacher Conferences opens up

November 24th and 25 -

• Parent Teacher Conferences (no school on Friday)

October 31 to November 4

 

It was a very wintery week and the first opportunity for many students to begin building their independence in getting themselves ready to enjoy the outdoors.  This can be a very tricky process for some students as they learn which way to pull up their snow pants or pull their coat sleeves over their mittens.  Please help your child to be successful (and be able to get out to recess quickly) by having them independently practice putting on their outdoor clothes.  If you need assistance in getting winter gear, please call Ms. Calhoun in the office by November 7th.  This is also a good time to remind everyone that a pair of indoor shoes are needed to help keep the learning spaces within our school clean and dry.  

We had a very busy week - Halloween celebrations, a new student joined our classroom family, a fire drill, and a lockdown practice!  Here's a look at some of our Halloween activities.

Reminders:

Monday, November 7:

• Last chance to contact the office about assistance with winter gear.

Wednesday, November 9:

• Library Book Exchange Day

Thursday, November 10:

• Remembrance Day Assembly - we are collecting non-perishable food donations for the Veterans' Food Bank

Friday, November 11:

• Remembrance Day - NO SCHOOL for students

Monday, November 14:

• In-School Field Trip with the Glenbow Museum.  An educator from the museum will be bringing in Inuit artifacts to share with students as part of our social studies curriculum.  If you are interested in volunteering (from 1pm to 3pm) in the classroom during this experience, please send me an email

• Parent Teacher Conference Booking opens up (conferences are on November 24th and 25th).  Book early for best selection of times