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Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Christmas Traditions
This afternoon we had a tasting party! Parents sent a variety of special foods for the grade ones to taste and enjoy. We had lefse, roll kuchen, beetniks, kilkees, pulla, krumkake and Belgian Christmas waffle cookies. Everything was delicious. Take a look at the food in the slideshow below:
Ways to Show 17
This is my first attempt at "producing" a video! In Math, we have learned many different ways to show numbers. Each student told a different way to make the number seventeen. We used words like: more, less, between.
Friday, 16 December 2011
Dominoes
Our lessons this week in Math have been about comparing groups of objects and using words like more, less, fewer, and equal.
Today we played "War" using our new domino sets! Students worked in pairs. They each turned over a domino and had to add the number of "pips" (dots), then compare their domino to their partner's by saying: "9 is more than 7".
Here are a few pictures:
Today we played "War" using our new domino sets! Students worked in pairs. They each turned over a domino and had to add the number of "pips" (dots), then compare their domino to their partner's by saying: "9 is more than 7".
Here are a few pictures:
Friday, 9 December 2011
Christmas Crafts
This afternoon we worked together with the other grade one classes to make some Christmas crafts. I meant to take more pictures to show everyone working, but we got a little busy! (Imagine forty-nine six and seven year olds all in one space talking, gluing and cutting at the same time!!) It was a lot of fun!
Some other things we've been working on this week:
Have a great weekend!
Some other things we've been working on this week:
- Math - comparing groups of objects using words like: more, less, fewer, same, equal.
- Reading - reading and writing CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words with short vowel sounds. We practice sorting the words into word families, spell the words, match picture and word cards.
- Social Studies - our current unit is Traditions and Celebrations. Today we did a survey and 17 out of 19 students' favorite celebration is Christmas!
- Music - singing Christmas carols! "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" is a favourite.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Daily Five
We have been practicing several routines that reinforce various Language Arts concepts that we have learned. We call these routines the Daily Five. They are: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Word Work and Work on Writing. The following pictures show students engaged in these activities.
Word Work - This student is spelling some of our "heart words" using play dough. |
Listen to Reading - Students follow the text by listening to a story cassette. |
Work on Writing - Students choose their own story topics. We have been working on adding lots of details to our stories! |
More Word Work - Students use letter stamps and stamp pads to practice spelling word family words. |
Read to Self - Students find their own spot in the room and practice reading the "just right" books from their book baskets. |
Read to Someone - Students take turns reading the books from their book baskets to a partner. |
More Word Work - This student is using stencils to practice spelling words. |
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Buddy Letters
Now that we have finished learning and reviewing all the names and sounds of the letters, we are starting to figure out different sounds that letters can make in combination with other letters! Our phonics lessons this week have focused on consonant digraphs (or, as we like to call them in Grade One: buddy letters!) These sounds are /sh/, /ch/, /th/, and /wh/.
Here is an interactive website that your child can work on at home to practice working with words that have buddy letters:
http://rbeaudoin333.homestead.com/initialcondigraphs_1.html
Click on practice activities.
Here is an interactive website that your child can work on at home to practice working with words that have buddy letters:
http://rbeaudoin333.homestead.com/initialcondigraphs_1.html
Click on practice activities.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks
This afternoon we were very fortunate to have Mr. John Felling (from Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks in Edmonton) do a math workshop with Grade One students. He showed us how to play some different games and activities with different kinds of dice: regular six-sided dice, twelve-sided dice (with dots) and "Belly Button Dice" (a small inside die enclosed in an outside clear die). The games that were taught helped to reinforce different math concepts that we have learned at school, such as: more and less, counting on and back, and reading number words.
I would strongly encourage any parents that are available to come to school this evening at 7:00 to attend the parent workshop that Mr. Felling will be doing.
I would strongly encourage any parents that are available to come to school this evening at 7:00 to attend the parent workshop that Mr. Felling will be doing.
Mr. Felling modelling how to "count on" using two dice. |
Using two dice to find the total, then record the number beside the number word. |
Using the "Belly Button" dice to figure out which is bigger - the inside or outside die. |
Monday, 14 November 2011
All About Families
In Social Studies, we have been learning about families. Today, students created pictographs to show the composition of their families. They glued pictures to show how many people were in their family (adults and children). See the pictures below! (The largest family in our class has 18 members!)
Just a reminder to help your child prepare for their "family talks". We had four talks this morning and each student did an excellent job. Students spoke loudly, clearly, in good sentences and told about all the people in their family and what they like to do together.
I look forward to meeting you tomorrow and the next day to discuss your child's progress at Tri-conferences!
Just a reminder to help your child prepare for their "family talks". We had four talks this morning and each student did an excellent job. Students spoke loudly, clearly, in good sentences and told about all the people in their family and what they like to do together.
I look forward to meeting you tomorrow and the next day to discuss your child's progress at Tri-conferences!
Monday, 7 November 2011
November News
My apologies for the lack of news last week! We were very busy doing lots of tests and assessments. This week, however, we are back to learning new things! Today we began a new unit in Social Studies on Families. We will be learning how families are the same and different, as well as the different roles and responsibilities that family members have.
Tomorrow all the Grade Ones are walking to Luther Place to sing a couple of songs for the residents. (Perhaps you have heard your child singing "Tony Chestnut"?? I can't seem to get the tune out of my head either!)
In Math we are working on numbers from eleven to twenty. Today we worked on showing these larger numbers in 2 groups on our two-part mats. We also practiced counting on from the larger number. For example, 15 can be 8 and 7. We say "8", then count on by touching each counter in the other group: 9, 10, 11, 12, etc. Future lessons include describing the "teen" numbers as ten and _______. (17 is ten and 7).
Our new reading strategy is "Asking Questions". Today we started talking about how good readers ask questions before, during and after listening or reading a story. It is great to see Grade One students making connections and wondering about what they are reading. Read the yellow note that was sent home today about how you can help at home with this strategy.
In Writing we are focussing on choosing topics for our stories and using good details to tell about our topic. It is amazing to see how students' writing has improved in the last two months.
I look forward to sharing samples of your child's work with you next week during tri-conferences.
Tomorrow all the Grade Ones are walking to Luther Place to sing a couple of songs for the residents. (Perhaps you have heard your child singing "Tony Chestnut"?? I can't seem to get the tune out of my head either!)
In Math we are working on numbers from eleven to twenty. Today we worked on showing these larger numbers in 2 groups on our two-part mats. We also practiced counting on from the larger number. For example, 15 can be 8 and 7. We say "8", then count on by touching each counter in the other group: 9, 10, 11, 12, etc. Future lessons include describing the "teen" numbers as ten and _______. (17 is ten and 7).
Our new reading strategy is "Asking Questions". Today we started talking about how good readers ask questions before, during and after listening or reading a story. It is great to see Grade One students making connections and wondering about what they are reading. Read the yellow note that was sent home today about how you can help at home with this strategy.
In Writing we are focussing on choosing topics for our stories and using good details to tell about our topic. It is amazing to see how students' writing has improved in the last two months.
I look forward to sharing samples of your child's work with you next week during tri-conferences.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Pumpkin Seed Count
We counted our pumpkin seeds this afternoon with some very interesting results! Students predicted that the biggest pumpkin would have the most seeds and they were right! The interesting part was that the largest pumpkin had only 4 more seeds than the smallest pumpkin! The students put pumpkin seeds on ten frame sheets (100 seeds on each page) to help make the counting easier.
Here are the final results:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZXsM2Zk7kdMThiq3WYivDtr9khOz4UQIVg-PZXEsZGnYN1sQ2bbBNIeVmeaWUwcwOkjfH_1OPzczEXIhnT5j827g7kxgKHSLdICFFjTTCzEiRBNQlkCOW-qMeBImiloxeo20ZPYCReM/s320/Pumpkin+seed+count+004.jpg)
2. Medium Pumpkin #1: 213 seeds
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fRTXF_lD5VDWKs3WYtgvYAtKUf-3bTzPMidP_v6XDSmemsLht6Dn0PwXV5zwIKBGM9pDq_kRG_etXovoQ_VzmmPQFctuwVRFCazz1pSg3Cp3n1D69r-n0jemCExiboUd5ammil1I9bk/s320/Pumpkin+seed+count+001.jpg)
3. Medium Pumpkin #2: 365 seeds
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrCRYp0C0O5X7xssVqXhwUisEjxKJPJDGHBJlehpw6arUpHgQuBRDjdBQSQB05rP_sQ1CpRbkgqr9c2DVnuk7S8sIkD8ZmKwe4NLemUhJvwnxAD3qcO40oqH4ZJxNz9Pjn5aXvr1_41E/s320/Pumpkin+seed+count+003.jpg)
4. Small Pumpkin: 392 seeds!!
Here are the final results:
- Large pumpkin: 396 seeds
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZXsM2Zk7kdMThiq3WYivDtr9khOz4UQIVg-PZXEsZGnYN1sQ2bbBNIeVmeaWUwcwOkjfH_1OPzczEXIhnT5j827g7kxgKHSLdICFFjTTCzEiRBNQlkCOW-qMeBImiloxeo20ZPYCReM/s320/Pumpkin+seed+count+004.jpg)
2. Medium Pumpkin #1: 213 seeds
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fRTXF_lD5VDWKs3WYtgvYAtKUf-3bTzPMidP_v6XDSmemsLht6Dn0PwXV5zwIKBGM9pDq_kRG_etXovoQ_VzmmPQFctuwVRFCazz1pSg3Cp3n1D69r-n0jemCExiboUd5ammil1I9bk/s320/Pumpkin+seed+count+001.jpg)
3. Medium Pumpkin #2: 365 seeds
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrCRYp0C0O5X7xssVqXhwUisEjxKJPJDGHBJlehpw6arUpHgQuBRDjdBQSQB05rP_sQ1CpRbkgqr9c2DVnuk7S8sIkD8ZmKwe4NLemUhJvwnxAD3qcO40oqH4ZJxNz9Pjn5aXvr1_41E/s320/Pumpkin+seed+count+003.jpg)
4. Small Pumpkin: 392 seeds!!
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Pumpkin Carving!
This afternoon we worked in groups to cut and carve our pumpkins! (I did the cutting and the students pulled out the seeds and slimy stuff.) We predicted which pumpkin would have the most seeds. Tomorrow we will count the seeds by putting them into groups of ten on ten frames and see whose predictions were correct!
After all the seeds were collected, students drew faces on their pumpkins and I cut them out (see last picture).
After all the seeds were collected, students drew faces on their pumpkins and I cut them out (see last picture).
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Pumpkins and Math Practice
Yesterday we had a drawing lesson on pumpkins in Art. The students used oil pastels to color their pumpkins. Even though everyone had the same instructions, it is interesting to see how all the pumpkins are special and unique in their own way!
I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by during the last two months. Report cards will be going out shortly (November 10) and I will be doing a lot of assessing during the next two weeks. Here are some things you can be doing at home to help your child practice skills and concepts we have been working on in class:
I apologize for the error on the Halloween note that was sent home last week. Our Halloween activities will take place on Monday, October 31, not Friday!
Thanks!
I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by during the last two months. Report cards will be going out shortly (November 10) and I will be doing a lot of assessing during the next two weeks. Here are some things you can be doing at home to help your child practice skills and concepts we have been working on in class:
- Math - counting forwards and backwards to 20 (starting at different numbers - e.g. start at 7 and count forwards to 19, start at 17 and count backwards to 5), writing numbers to 20, reading number words to 20, filling in the missing number in a counting sequence, showing numbers in different ways (8 can be 5 and 3 or 4 and 4), identifying how many on a ten frame or in a collection of dots without counting (see past post for youtube video link to practice this).
- Language Arts - reading stories and sentences with all our "heart" (sight) words, reading and spelling simple 3 letters words with short vowel sounds that belong to the word families we've learned (-at, -ot, -it, -ap, -an, -og)
I apologize for the error on the Halloween note that was sent home last week. Our Halloween activities will take place on Monday, October 31, not Friday!
Thanks!
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Ways to Make Ten
Yesterday we read a story called Mouse Count. (Ask your child to retell the story to you!) We used the book as a springboard to explore all the ways that we can show 10 in two groups. The students discovered that there are 11 different ways we can make 10! (0 and 10, 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, etc.) We used cubes to represent the mice, a plastic cup to represent the jar and green paper to represent the grass. Students worked with a partner to see how many different ways they could show mice in the grass and mice in the jar (like the story). Here are a few pictures of them at work:
Monday, 17 October 2011
Margy Reid Author Visit
This morning we were very fortunate to have a local author come and visit our school. Margy Reid read two of her published books: Lexi's Magic Clothes and A Crazy Day.
Students really enjoyed both of her books!
A few other bits of information:
- Today your child is bringing home their "Heart word" booklet (sight words). Please have him/her read the words and sentences for extra practice. I will be assessing each student's sight word recognition this week. A green sheet will come home tomorrow with the words and sentences for Lesson 3.
- Students will be bringing home two notes tomorrow. The orange note tells about our Hallowe'en activities on October 31. The yellow note asks for your help with a writing activity that we are working on at school.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Math Information
One of the learning outcomes in math for our Numbers unit is that students are able to recognize (at a glance) familiar arrangements of 1 to 10 objects, dots or pictures. This skill is called "subitizing". For example, a child who is subitizing can instantly tell how many dots are on a die without counting. Subitizing helps a child form mental pictures of numbers and to realize that a number can be represented in many ways. The ability to see the components of numbers and the relations between numbers will help children develop addition strategies and learn and remember basic facts later on in the year.
In class, we use "dot cards", "ten frames" and games using dice to practice this skill.
Here are some good websites with similar activities that your child can do at home to practice these skills
This first website helps students recognize how many counters are on the ten frames. We have practiced this at school and students know how to do the first 3 activities (we'll do the adding one later on in the year).
http://illuminations.nctm.org/activitydetail.aspx?id=75
These next two websites are videos that help to practice instant recognition of ten frames and dot cards.
Practice identifying the numbers before they disappear!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho&feature=related
Practice number recognition with these dot cards with numbers 1-10.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRv5SYlaufY&feature=related
Hope these are helpful!
In class, we use "dot cards", "ten frames" and games using dice to practice this skill.
Here are some good websites with similar activities that your child can do at home to practice these skills
This first website helps students recognize how many counters are on the ten frames. We have practiced this at school and students know how to do the first 3 activities (we'll do the adding one later on in the year).
http://illuminations.nctm.org/activitydetail.aspx?id=75
These next two websites are videos that help to practice instant recognition of ten frames and dot cards.
Practice identifying the numbers before they disappear!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho&feature=related
Practice number recognition with these dot cards with numbers 1-10.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRv5SYlaufY&feature=related
Hope these are helpful!
Friday, 7 October 2011
First Week of October
We have had another busy week! We painted fish, turkeys and started new units in Math and Science. In Science we are learning about Characteristics and Needs of Living Things. Today we sorted pictures of animals into groups (mammals, fish, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians).
Our new unit in Math is all about numbers to 20. We spent the last two days learning how to read number words from zero to ten. We played a game of Memory (see pictures in slideshow below). You can play this at home too! We've also been trying really hard to form numerals correctly.
I hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Please remember to listen to your child read their little book and the poem called "Five Little Turkeys".
Enjoy the pictures below!
Our new unit in Math is all about numbers to 20. We spent the last two days learning how to read number words from zero to ten. We played a game of Memory (see pictures in slideshow below). You can play this at home too! We've also been trying really hard to form numerals correctly.
I hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Please remember to listen to your child read their little book and the poem called "Five Little Turkeys".
Enjoy the pictures below!
Picture slideshow made with Smilebox |
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
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