Terry Fox Run

It was wonderful to see the sun today after two rainy days!  It was perfect weather for our annual Terry Fox Run/Walk.  We walked to the bridge and then some students ran all the way across and back!
Thanks to all who donated coins for cancer research - our school raised over $750!

Before,

During...

...and after! Everyone enjoyed a popsicle treat after the walk!

Have a great long weekend!

Word Work and Playing Instruments

Despite the rainy weather, today was a great day!  This morning we practiced six different Word Work activities.  Later on, students will be using these routines independently to help them practice spelling our sight words and word family words.

Magnet Words - students use magnets to spell words.

Magic Glove - students use a dry erase marker to spell words on a plastic plate and then use a "magic glove" to erase.

Play Dough Words - Students use playdough to spell words

Rainbow Write - students use three different colours to spell their words, tracing over the letters several times to make a rainbow!

Speak it, Write it, Stamp it

Blue Consonants Red Vowels - students write the words using red and blue to show which letters are consonants and which are vowels

In Music, students got to play our barred instruments for the first time!  We learned the song "Engine Engine" and then practiced keeping a steady beat by playing xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels.  They played very well for the first time!

We learned how to hold our arms when holding the mallets - it's just like riding a bicycle!

We played the C and G bars together to make a chord to accompany the song "Engine Engine".

Before playing the instruments, we had to practice a steady beat by "Patsching" on our knees.

Tomorrow is our Terry Fox Run.  Be sure to send warm clothes with your child because it can be chilly on the bridge!

Fruit Patterns video

Here is our Fruit Pattern video.  My apologies to the first student on the video - I couldn't figure out how to get him turned around!

Geese in the Sunset

In Science we are doing a short mini-unit about Seasonal Changes.  Yesterday we discussed all the different signs of fall that we know:  weather becoming cooler, leaves falling, geese migrating, etc.  After a lovely walk across the bridge last night (beautiful sunset and lots of cranes and geese flying overhead), I thought we should paint sunsets in Art today!
We looked at some photographs of sunsets and listed the kinds of  colours we could see:  reds, oranges, blues, yellows, pinks and purples.
We got our paint shirts, went to the Art room and painted the background for our pictures.  After the paint was dry, we glued on silhouettes of geese. 
Aren't they beautiful?

Painting the background

Beautiful art hanging in the "gallery"  outside our classroom!

Yesterday we made fruit pattern kebabs in Math.  Students planned out what kind of pattern they wanted to make, using bananas, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew or grapes.  They then put their fruit on a wooden skewer to show their pattern.  I tried to make a video but I am having some technical difficulties.  When I get it figured out, I will post the video on the blog!

Collaboration

This morning, several teachers from our school were involved in a workshop regarding 21 Century competencies.  Our school division is working on two specific competencies during this school year:  critical thinking and collaboration. So... this afternoon, Grade ones did some collaborating of their own!  In Science we have recently begun a unit on Characteristics and Needs of Living Things.  We have learned that living things need food, water, and air to survive, they can reproduce, they can grow, and they die. 

Our task today was to look at pictures of living things and think together about how we could sort them into different groups.  The boys and girls worked very well together to determine their own sorting rule.  I was so pleased with the high level of thinkers we have in our class!

Students worked together to come up with their own sorting rule for the pictures of animals on the smartboard.

Sorting Rule:  animals that live on land and animals that live in water

Can you figure out this sorting rule?

Sorting rule:  Animals that have horns or tusks and animals that don't.

Animals that don't have legs and animals that do have legs.

Read to Someone

Today your child is bringing home a yellow sheet with our Lesson 1 popcorn words and sentences.  Please listen to your child read the words and sentences.  Some students will need lots of practice and some will be able to read them quickly after just a little practice!  The boys and girls have practiced reading this sheet at school.  We've been working on the "Read to Someone" routine.  We've learned how to sit beside our partner (EEKK - elbow to elbow, knee to knee), listen carefully and offer "help or coaching" if our partner gets stuck.
Here are a few pictures of students at work!

We had Computers for the first time today!  Students reviewed how to log on (nearly everyone remembered from Kindergarten).  Then we went to Reading Eggs to do a pretest to see where we are at.  You can go to Reading Eggs on your computer at homr:  www.readingeggs.com   I will send home login names and passwords soon!

**Remember to tell your child to whisper in my ear if you have read the blog!

Learning About Texture

This afternoon we painted for the first time.  Our lesson was about texture. We learned about words (like rough, smooth, bumpy) that can we can use to describe the texture of objects.  
We painted the rough side of leaves and then made prints by turning the paint side down and rubbing over the other side of the leaf to transfer the paint onto the paper!  

Painting the back of the leaf

Beautiful leaf prints!

We also had a visit from Zero the Hero! He brought each of the students 10 cheerios since it was the tenth day of school.  We counted the cheerios and put them on a ten frame.  Then we got to eat them as we counted backwards.

Your child may have told you about trading "fuzzies" for coupons in our class. Here is some fuzzy information:

1. Fuzzies (small and large pompoms) are given to students to reward good behaviour (basically following our school Code of Conduct and Classroom Rules, doing poem and reading homework).
2. Fuzzies are kept in a little plastic container in students' desks.  Students are not allowed to play with their fuzzies (or they get taken away!)
3. Students can trade in their fuzzies on Friday mornings.  They trade 10 fuzzies for a coupon or special privilege (e.g. wear your hat for a day, bring your favourite stuffy to school for a day, eat lunch with the teacher, be the teacher's helper for the day, be the calendar teacher for that day, be the line leader for the day, etc.)
4. Students can also have fuzzies taken away for not following our school rules (e.g. running in the school, coming in late after the second bell, interrupting the teacher, being disrespectful to others).

**If you read this blog, please tell your child to whisper in my ear tomorrow morning:  "My mom/dad read the blog" and I will give them a fuzzy! 

It's Friday!

Another week has gone by quickly!  
Today we had Buddy Reading with our Grade 3 buddies. The Grade Ones enjoy listening to their older friends read them stories.

We continue to work on patterning in Math.  Students had to create two different kinds of patterns by gluing pictures.  We can make AB, ABB, AABB, ABC, AAB kinds of patterns.

Have a great weekend!

Writers Workshop

We have begun our Writers Workshop in Grade One.  Writing at the beginning of Grade One looks very different from the end of Grade One!

We begin by learning that being a writer is just telling on paper.  We think of a story and make a picture in our mind, then we draw the picture using as much detail as we can.  We label the pictures with letters or words and then try to write a sentence that tells about the picture.  Some students are ready to spell words (using invented spelling) and write sentences and others are telling their stories with just pictures.

Here are some photos of our first stories:

  

Welcome to a New School Year!

Welcome to our class blog!  The purpose of this blog is to keep parents informed about what is happening in our classroom.  I usually try to post articles several times a week.  These articles will include pictures that show what we are doing and learning about in our class.  Please be assured that your child's name will never be printed beside a picture.

This week we have been working on establishing important routines and procedures.  We developed a set of class rules:  Walking in the school, keeping our hands and feet to ourselves, raising our hands when we want to speak, listening to others, being respectful, kind, polite and helpful and always trying to do our best!

We have started learning how to make, copy and repeat patterns in Math.  In ELA we are reviewing the names, sounds and correct formation of the letters. We have also started learning some "popcorn" words (sight words - they pop up all over the place)!

Here are some of the patterns students made: