Word Sorts

As part of our word study (aka phonics), we have been looking at different ways that long vowel sounds can be spelled.  This week we are focussing on the long u sound. Students read and sort words according to different spelling patterns:  u - e (like in cube), oo (like in school), and ew (like in Drew).  We sort the words in different ways (ask your child to explain how to do a "No Peeking" sort) throughout the week and then sort and glue them before they come home.

Please be watching for a June calendar that will be coming home on Friday, as well as numerous notes explaining our special June events.  The year is quickly coming to a close!

May 16

In Math we have been practising a variety of different strategies to help us add and subtract.  We've learned how to use doubles, thinking doubles (ask your child to explain this one!), counting up and making ten to add.  Counting back and counting up are subtracting strategies we have worked on.  We will continue to work on adding and subtracting during the next two weeks by writing and solving story problems and using related facts (or fact families).

Our Social Studies lessons have focused on the First Nations Peoples. We discovered how they helped the newcomers and what the fur traders traded for furs.  Today we made story robes in Art.  We discussed how First Nations People recorded their stories hundreds of years ago:  drawing pictures (using berries and plants, sticks and bones) on buffalo hides.  Students had a lot of fun crumpling up paper bags (aka buffalo hides) and then drawing important events from their lives (see above pictures). 

Writers at Work

With all the rain this week, students had to spend
a lot of time inside at recess.  This is one of the wonderful
creations with pattern blocks that they made!

This year, I am part of a learning community to improve student writing. In Grade one, we have worked a lot on including lots of details in our writing.  In our writers' workshop lessons this week, we collected ideas and details using a "five square" organizer", then put these ideas into sentences.  The pictures below show students hard at work. It is amazing to see the difference between what the students could do at the beginning of the year compared to the wonderful stories they are writing now!  I showed the children samples of their writing from September and they thought it was quite funny how many of them couldn't even write any words and now they can write stories that are several pages long with interesting words and details.  I am so proud!

A completed five square organizer

Writing in progress