January 22 to 26

This upcoming week we will be participating in a virtual field trip with a Save-on-Foods dietician.  During the tour we will learn about making healthy choices from a wide variety of food groups.  Please check your email for more information.  

I Know Can Demonstrate How Ordering Instructions Affects the Outcome

This week we continued to work on our Computer Science unit.  We worked on programming Botley with a series of instructions that to have him retrieve an object for us.  This involved problem solving, critically thinking about the steps needed, and maintaining a growth mindset when things went wrong.

Literacy:

This week we worked with the sounds /ck/, /sh/, and the voiced /th/.  Ask your child what a digraph is.

Our new high-frequency words were: goes, says, she, we 

Math:

We've been working on using number lines to represent numbers.

Reminders:

Monday, January 29, 2024

• Library Book Exchange

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

• Community Walk
• Report Cards visible to parents - Check here for details

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

• Virtual Guest Speaker - Save on Foods Dietician

Save the Date:

• Field Trip to Calgary Zoo, May 15, 2024
• Field Trip to Reader Rock Garden, June 11 or 12, 2024

January 16 - 19

 

Brrr!  The cold weather has continued into this week and has meant that we had to get creative with our indoor recess time and our energy levels.  The grade 1s have really enjoyed having some extra time to dance in the classroom this week!

December Music Update:

I hope you all had a wonderful winter break and enjoyed the holidays! December was a fantastic month in our music class, with students working hard to learn new skills for the upcoming year. Throughout December, Grade 1 continued exploring the xylophone by playing as an ensemble and as soloists. We continued to work on “Engine, Engine, Number Nine” and made great progress as we learned to play both the melody and percussion accompaniment. Eventually students were able to play as a two-part ensemble and accompany each other on various instruments.

I Can Develop My Speaking and Listening Skills By Creating Stories

This week we used the Ozobots to help us create a story.  Students were asked to work with a partner to draw a story on a large piece of paper and were then challenged to think about how they could use the Ozobot as character in their story.

Literacy:

This week we learned about the FLSZ rule.  When these letter sounds are at after a short vowel, they are doubled.   For example:  puff, hill, pass, fuzz

We also learned that English is a tricky language and sometimes things don't always follow the rules.  We learned that -all, -ull, -oll at the end of the word can change how we say the vowel sound.  For example:  tall (has an /aw/ sound), pull ( /oo/) sound, troll (long o sound).

Are new High Frequency Words are:  want, your, so, no, go

Reminders:

Monday, January 22, 2024

• Library Book Exchange

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

• Virtual Guest Speaker - Save on Foods Dietician

January 8 - 11

 

Welcome back!  I hope all families enjoyed their winter break and found some time to rest and recharge.  It was an interesting week weather-wise to come back to.  I am sending you all warm thoughts over the weekend!

I Can Create Instructions that Lead to a Desired Outcome

This week we started working on coding as part of the new science curriculum.  Students have been exploring two different types of robots, Botly and Ozobot, and are begin to work towards creating simple codes to complete challenges.  We will be using Botly and Ozobot over the next few weeks.

Literacy:

This week we reviewed short vowels and learned that sometimes the "s" at the end of a word makes a /z/ sound.  This will be very important for us to remember when we are writing so that we can use the correct spelling.

We have also had a lot of time to work on some creative story-telling using oral language, pictures, and writing.

Reminders:

Monday, January 15, 2024

• Non-instructional Day, NO SCHOOL for students

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

• Make-up Library Book Exchange

December 18 - 22

 

We ended our final week of 2023 working on Marble Roller Coasters as a wrap up to our 'Energy' unit in science.  Students were asked to create a marble track where the kinetic energy of allowed the marble to go down and then back up again.  There was a lot of problem solving and reworking of ideas needed in order to be successful.  Partners who weren't successful with the building task were able to talk about what went wrong and what they would change for next time.

Literacy:

We finished our review of all letters in the alphabet and their associated sounds.  When we come back after the break we will begin working with letter pairs.

Reminders:

Monday, January 8, 2024

• First day after winter break
• Library book exchange day

Monday, January 15, 2024

• Non-instructional Day, NO SCHOOL for students

December 11 - 15

We enjoyed some time outdoors this week.  On Monday we went to the top of the hill to do some journalling.  While we were there, we found a little friend hiding in the bushes.  Ask your child about about the note that had a special challenge for everyone.  If they can't remember, you might have to go up to the community garden to see where he's hiding now!

We also managed to get out and enjoy a community walk with Ms. Yasin's class.  We walked down by the river and made some observations about how the river ecosystem has changed with the colder weather and what changes we can anticipate with the arrival of winter next week.

We also said goodbye to our student teacher, Mr. Reimche, this week.  We wish him well as he continues his final semester and practicum on his way to becoming a teacher.  He has promised to come back and visit before the winter break.

I Can Create a Symmetrical Picture

In "mart" (math/art) we created symmetrical winter mittens.  First we drew out our designs.  Then we used wax crayon to trace and fill in some of our designs.  Afterwards we used watercolours to fill in the rest of the mitten.  Finally, students drew symmetrical snowflakes on the background of the picture.

Literacy:

This week we worked with the sounds /ks/ (x), /y/, and /kw/ (q).

We added the HFW: you

Ramsay School Food Drive

This year we will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Calgary Food bank. Our grade 2 & 5 classes are inviting everyone to participate in the Ramsay Food Challenge, where classes will be working to collect the most food for the Calgary Food Bank. If you would like to donate, please have your students bring non-perishable food items to their class before December 22.

Reminders

Monday, December 18

• Library Book Exchange
• Jersey and/or Holiday Hat Day

Tuesday, December 19

• Red/Green Clothing Day

Wednesday, December 20

• Holiday Sweater / Outfit Day

Thursday, December 21

• Winter Solstice - wear blue, white, or silver

Friday, December 22

• Pyjamas and Stuffy Day

December 23 to January 7

Winter Break - No School for Students

 

December 4 to 8

 

We enjoyed our final session of Alien InLine Skating.  It was amazing to see how well all the students did after just three lessons.  Thank you to Parent Association and School Council for providing the funding for this residency!

November Music Update:

In November, our grade 1 students learned about different dynamics, tempos, and pitches that can be heard in music. We have also been learning about the difference between the beat and rhythm of a song. Students have been able to explore the song “Engine, Engine Number Nine” through movement activities and various percussion instruments. Some of the students' favorite instruments included the boom whackers and djembe drums! The grade 1 students have made great progress in their instrument technique and are beginning to learn to play the xylophone. 

Literacy:

This week we worked on the sounds /w/ and /j/.

Our new High Frequency Word is: was

Reminders:

This year we will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Calgary Food bank. Our grade 2 & 5 classes are inviting everyone to participate in the Ramsay Food Challenge, where classes will be working to collect the most food for the Calgary Food Bank. If you would like to donate, please have your students bring non-perishable food items to their class before December 19th.

Monday, December 11

• Library Book Exchange

Monday, December 18

• Library Book Exchange
• Jersey and/or Holiday Hat Day

Tuesday, December 19

• Red/Green Clothing Day

Wednesday, December 20

• Holiday Sweater / Outfit Day

Thursday, December 21

• Winter Solstice - wear blue, white, or silver

Friday, December 22

• Pyjamas and Stuffy Day

November 27 to December 1

We had wonderful week and are so appreciative of the opportunity to take part in Alien InLine Skating.   Thank you to the Parent Society for funding this.  

 I'm afraid that the pictures I took have disappeared into a digital black hole and I promise to take replacements at our last session on Monday, December 4th.

I Can Document Everyday Activities Through Drawing

This week we started off a new unit in art with a drawing provocation.  Students were invited to observe drawing mannequins posed in a running stance.  Students were then asked to consider how they might draw what the mannequins and were encouraged to add their own details.  This is our first steps as we learn how to draw people with increasing accuracy around proportion and depiction of activity.

I Can Respond to Texts That Have Been Read Aloud

This week students worked on their ability to retell texts that they have heard read aloud.  We used the framework of "Somebody, wanted, but, so, then".  After listening to the story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, students identified the main character (Goldilocks), driving motivation, problem, solution, and falling action. They then illustrated each 'polaroid' to help point out important details.

Using this routine at home is a great way to help students build their reading comprehension skills - this can be done by talking about a story after reading it.

Medicine Wheel:

This week we continued to work on building our knowledge of the Medicine Wheel by exploring the animals represented in each section.  This week we learned that the Eagle in the East and their feathers  represent love and honour.  We learned that if you are gifted an eagle feather it is an honuorable gift and blessing.  We then worked on drawing realistic pictures of an eagle with some help from art hub.

Literacy:

This week we spent the whole week working with the sound /l/ that is spelled with the letter L.  The /l/ sound can be tricky for students because it can be found at the beginning of words or blended with another sound to make a continuous sound (and later in the year we'll also learn that ls at the end of a word are often doubled).

Are new HFW are: are

Reminders:

Monday, December 4

• Library Book Exchange
• Alien Inline Skating

Thursday, December 7

• Boston Pizza Fun Lunch - order through Healthy Hunger by December 1st.
•  https://healthyhunger.ca/

Friday, December 8

• Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL for STUDENTS