Week 4

 Oki / Hello Everyone!

This past week has sure flown by - it's hard to believe that we've already ushered in the start of fall and will be welcoming the month of October in this coming week!  I also enjoyed the wonderful opportunity to meet virtually with families at our "Meet the Teacher" conferences.  Thank you for taking the time to give me some wise insight into your children and sharing some of your hopes and goals for them!

Students are becoming quite adept at navigating our daily school routines and the longer school day will soon become much easier for our grade 1 classmates.  You can help your child with building some independence and confidence by allowing them to be part of the process of packing up their back packs in preparation for the school day.  When they know what is in their back pack and where they can find it, their transitions throughout the day become easier and they can locate things they might need throughout the day (like an extra, clean, dry mask!).

Literacy:

This week we have added the letters C, K, E, H and R.  We've also begun to build words with the letters we know using play-dough.  This allows students the opportunity to connect sight, touch, and sound to help them solidify their recognition of the letter/sound connection.  This is an activity that can be easily done at home for extra practice.  

I Can Understand the Importance of Belonging For Myself and Others / I Can Think About How I Am Connected to My World

We have continued to move forward and prepare for sharing our learning about Orange Shirt Day with the rest of the school.  This week we read the story "When We Were Alone" by David Robertson and connected that to our work around self-identity.  Students were asked to reflect on the loss of language, family, traditions, and cultural connections (such as clothing/hair style) and what that would be like to completely change everything that made you, you.  We talked about what it might be like to be at a school where students were expected to be exactly alike.  We moved on to consider how we thought students should feel while at school and came up with a list of words of what we wanted ourselves and other students at Ramsay School to feel when they came to school each day.  We took those words  and wrote them onto paper feathers that we had painted with bright and joyful watercolours.  

Week 3

 

Hello Everyone!

We had a great first full week at school!  Our capstone of the week was our Terry Fox Run with Ms. Rowland's grade 1/2 class.  Students were enthusiastic, energetic, and endured throughout the full 30 minutes of running!  After the run, students were asked to reflect on their classmates and nominate one person for the draw based on trying hard like Terry, being kind to others, and having fun with a positive attitude.  It was very hard for many to narrow their choice down to just one peer because everyone did such a great job throughout the run.

Literacy:

We added the letter 'N' to the letters we have practiced.  We spent quite a bit of time working with our six letters to build (write), sound out, and read words with our 6 letters. 

Additionally, we have been working on rhyming in oral language.  This crucial phonological awareness skill allows children to breakdown language into the units of sound that make up words which will in turn support them as they sound out words in reading and for writing.  

You can help at home by pointing out the rhymes in stories that are read aloud or by singing silly songs like 'Down by the Bay' or 'The Quartermaster's Store'.

I Can Talk About Events From My Community's Past / I Can Retell Main Events From a Story / I Can Make Meaning Through My Drawing

Over the past couple of weeks we have been building an understanding of the history of Residential Schools in Canada.  We've started by sharing our own identities with classmates and reflecting on the feelings of loss those who attended Residential Schools may have felt as their identities were stripped away.  This important and sombre work will end with both grade 1/2 classes sharing their learning with the whole school through a virtual Orange Shirt Day program on September 29. 

As part of this work, we have been reading and talking about the story, "When I Was Eight" by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokaik-Fenton.  We've written a retelling together and have started illustrating our story in order to make a class book.   Part of our process has been learning to understand how and when to show emotion in our drawings as a way of enhancing our reader's understanding and connection to the story.  We've also talked quite a bit on what makes a '4 Star' picture and how to move beyond simple stick figures and think about colour schemes.  This continues to be a work-in-progress - so stay tuned for our finished class book.

Week 2

 Hello Everyone!

We've finished our second week of school and are starting to get back into the routine.  We had a couple of exciting "returns" this week.  We were able to make our way to the learning commons to sign out books and take them home.  Afterwards, we were able to visit the maker space stations in the learning commons.  This is a wonderful opportunity for students to strengthen their classroom bonds through creativity, sharing, and encouragement.   Please return library books on Monday morning.

Thank you to everyone who sent back the "Story of My Name" sheet already.  I apologize for the short timeline to return it - that was unintentional.  I had planned to send it out last Friday to return for next week but made a last minute decision to send it home with the library books on Thursday.  Thank you again for all of the quick replies!

Literacy:

We have been reviewing letter names and letter sounds and will continue to do so in the upcoming weeks.  This foundational work will be very important as we work towards reading with accuracy and fluency.  So far we have reviewed the letters S, A, T, P, I

I Can Tell About the Changes in the Season / I Can Use My Senses to Draw, Tell, and Write About the World Around Me

We took advantage of the wonderful weather and went outside to make some observations of the last few days of summer.  We visited the tamarack trees on the north side of the school.  We used our senses of smell, sight, touch, and hearing to make observations of the trees.  We sketched what we saw and started to write simple sentences around our observations.  We will revisit these trees often throughout the school year to see how they change.

While we were visiting the tamarack trees we were able to carefully watch a neighbourhood squirrel preparing for winter.  We observed the squirrel breaking small branches off of the tree and adding them to its drey.  This will be another exciting opportunity for students to make observations our land and seasonal changes.

Click here for Week 2 Photos

Reminders:

• Please return all forms back to school as soon as possible.
• Terry Fox Run on Friday, September 17th.  Please ensure your child is dressed for the weather.  We will also be wearing stickers stating who we are "running for".  If you would like your child to honour someone special, please send me an email and I will write the name on the sticker for them.  You may also choose send in a 'toonie for Terry'.  
• Next Thursday evening and Friday is “Meet the Teacher”. It will be virtual again this year. Please sign up using your PowerSchool Account. (No school on Friday, September 24th)

https://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/ramsay/teaching-learning/assessment-reporting/teacher-conference/pages/default.aspx

• September 29 - Orange Shirt Day. 
• September 30 - National Truth and Reconciliation Day (No School)

September 1st - 3rd, 2021

Hopefully this first week of school was a smooth transition for students and parents.  I certainly enjoyed meeting all of the new students and catching up with those returning to room 5 this year.  

Just a reminder that I would like students to say goodbye to me after they see their "person" and before they leave for the day.  This way I can catch you with any messages I might have and it helps me feel better knowing they have connected with you.  

I Can Understand Everyone is Unique, Including Me / I Can Understand the Groups and Communities I Belong To

This week we have begun building our sense of identity and belonging within our classroom community and within our grade group cohort.  We used the story, "Our Class is a Family" by Shannon Olsen, as a stepping off point to discuss how we want to feel and be treated within our "school family" and established some norms to guide our learning and play.  We will formalize these norms with 'signatures' once all students have had a chance to have a voice (we have a few students who will be joining us beginning the second week of school).  Additionally, students have created first day self-portraits to hang on our family picture wall to help them view themselves as important members and stakeholders in our classroom family/community.

Hello Everyone!  I'm so excited to see all of you tomorrow and have an amazing first day of school!  

Here's a virtual tour of our classroom!