Well, it looks a lot less slushy outside today. Thank goodness!
If we have more of those super wet days, like yesterday, I highly recommend sending 3 or 4 (yup, you heard me) extra pairs of socks to school with your child. They come in soaking from each recess, and I feel badly, but there isn't much I can do to dry their socks and boots in time for the next recess, so it would help make them more comfortable if they could at least change their socks before they put on their indoor shoes.
If you're able to do this, take a moment to explain what you would like your child to do with their socks (e.g., put wet socks in a plastic bag and keep dry socks in a different baggie, give you the wet socks right after school).
Maybe the weather will improve, but it never hurts to have extra socks at school anyway.
Thursday 28 February 2013
Wednesday 27 February 2013
New Password
The link for "Stories with Sam" has been updated. You may need this new username and password to log-in.
Pseudo: Aire 24
Code Secret: Mlle
Pseudo: Aire 24
Code Secret: Mlle
Monday 25 February 2013
Pictures!
More pics from last week!
Here we are comparing our heights...
This week we will be measuring (very simply) height and surface area. We measured our heights using hands today, making sure each hand touched the last to get an accurate measurement. Each student graphed their height on our bar-graph, which they remembered how to do from months ago (Bravo!). In doing this activity, we ran into the problem that some students measurements suggested that they were taller than me! The mathematicians figured out that this is because our hands are all different sizes, and that to get an accurate graph, we would have to measure everyone with the same pair of hands, or with a different object that's the same for everyone. Great thinking!
In our geometry unit, we used shapes to make designs and pictures. Here are a couple flowers designed using pattern blocks:
I suggested to many parents that asking your artist to write a French caption for their work would be a great at-home idea. Some of our artists have done this in their free time. Here are two great examples:
To celebrate African Heritage month, we visited Area 22 for an African drumming lesson. Here we are in action:
Here we are comparing our heights...
This week we will be measuring (very simply) height and surface area. We measured our heights using hands today, making sure each hand touched the last to get an accurate measurement. Each student graphed their height on our bar-graph, which they remembered how to do from months ago (Bravo!). In doing this activity, we ran into the problem that some students measurements suggested that they were taller than me! The mathematicians figured out that this is because our hands are all different sizes, and that to get an accurate graph, we would have to measure everyone with the same pair of hands, or with a different object that's the same for everyone. Great thinking!
In our geometry unit, we used shapes to make designs and pictures. Here are a couple flowers designed using pattern blocks:
I suggested to many parents that asking your artist to write a French caption for their work would be a great at-home idea. Some of our artists have done this in their free time. Here are two great examples:
Today we went to a presentation where we got to see a performance of African-based drumming and dancing by students.
Our words for this week are all animals:
la vache, le cheval, la chèvre, le chat, le cochon,
un oiseau, la poule, le lapin, le canard
We are also going to talk a bit more about descriptive words (and adjectives) in the next couple weeks. Today, we drew pictures of ourselves and completed some simple sentences describing the colour of our eyes, our hair, and other nice things about ourselves (e.g., "Je suis intelligente.", "Je suis sportif."). Ask your writer what he/she wrote about him/herself today!
In Science now, we are going to talk about energy. Today we learned that everything that moves is using energy. We made a chart of things that move (e.g., a kite) and what makes them move (e.g., the wind), and students are encouraged to continue thinking of ideas when they're outside or at home. As part of this unit, we will talk about objects that use energy, where living things get their energy, safety and conserving energy. At the end of the unit, we will have a visit from Scientists in the School, which is like an in-school field trip. More to come on this later!
This Thursday morning is our LAST workshop with Donnely, and then it's back to me. Let's make the most of our time and be at school, ready to learn, right on time.
Have a great week,
Tamara
Friday 22 February 2013
J'ai des devoirs!
Dear families,
Every student has a teeny bit of homework for the weekend! In our parent-teacher interviews, many of us discussed that a next step for our writing would be to use capitals appropriately, and use lower-case letters for the majority of our writing. Our conversations motivated me to work on this quite a bit this week. We corrected my mistakes in our morning messages and discussed using capitals to start a sentence and for our names. Yesterday and today we worked on a worksheet involving finding and correcting more of my mistakes. The writers have already (or have almost) corrected my first 5 sentences, but I gave them one bonus that I wanted them to save for home. I thought maybe you'd like to watch them do one, or help them review what we've been working on. It's still a challenge for some, but we'll keep working on it. (The worksheet does not need to be returned, so you can do it whenever you have a spare 5 minutes).
Another thing that came up in a couple interviews was that students have not always been bringing their library books home, or that their books are too difficult. I have spoken to our lovely librarian, who is with the kids when they select their books, and she is going to try to make sure that everyone has at least one book at their level, and then another book of their choice. We're also going to try to put them in our bags right away, rather than in our bin. Hopefully this way they come home every week. Library is now on Fridays, so next Friday (or before) is when they should return the books they took today.
I have also sent home some art that has come off the walls and the March Scholastic package. Orders are due next Friday.
Next Tuesday, students are invited to bring in $1 or $2 to donate to a charity, and in exchange, they can wear their hats in school all day! Craziness! See Dewson Blog for more details.
Have a good weekend,
Tamara
Every student has a teeny bit of homework for the weekend! In our parent-teacher interviews, many of us discussed that a next step for our writing would be to use capitals appropriately, and use lower-case letters for the majority of our writing. Our conversations motivated me to work on this quite a bit this week. We corrected my mistakes in our morning messages and discussed using capitals to start a sentence and for our names. Yesterday and today we worked on a worksheet involving finding and correcting more of my mistakes. The writers have already (or have almost) corrected my first 5 sentences, but I gave them one bonus that I wanted them to save for home. I thought maybe you'd like to watch them do one, or help them review what we've been working on. It's still a challenge for some, but we'll keep working on it. (The worksheet does not need to be returned, so you can do it whenever you have a spare 5 minutes).
Another thing that came up in a couple interviews was that students have not always been bringing their library books home, or that their books are too difficult. I have spoken to our lovely librarian, who is with the kids when they select their books, and she is going to try to make sure that everyone has at least one book at their level, and then another book of their choice. We're also going to try to put them in our bags right away, rather than in our bin. Hopefully this way they come home every week. Library is now on Fridays, so next Friday (or before) is when they should return the books they took today.
I have also sent home some art that has come off the walls and the March Scholastic package. Orders are due next Friday.
Next Tuesday, students are invited to bring in $1 or $2 to donate to a charity, and in exchange, they can wear their hats in school all day! Craziness! See Dewson Blog for more details.
Have a good weekend,
Tamara
Structures
Hello!
As we finish up our science unit on structures and materials, we are discussing ways of reusing materials in order to reduce the amount of garbage we produce. Some of our ideas are:
These are the obvious shapes. Unusual shapes are even better!
Please enjoy these pictures of our recent art workshops with Donnely, where we have been building 3-D structures out of recycled wood. We had to do our own sanding, wearing the proper safety equipment, and use special wood glue. Quite a big project!
As we finish up our science unit on structures and materials, we are discussing ways of reusing materials in order to reduce the amount of garbage we produce. Some of our ideas are:
- Give clothes that are too small to a younger/smaller sibling or friend.
- Use old clothes to make something new.
- Patch ripped clothing, or turn it into a different garment (e.g., pants into shorts).
- Use materials from old/broken furniture to create a new object.
- Donate old furniture/clothing to those less fortunate.
- Use empty boxes for arts & crafts.
- Toblerone boxes (try to keep the ends attached) **
- paper towel or toilet paper rolls *
- cone-shaped paper cups (from the water cooler) **
- J-cloth boxes**
- milk cartons (please rinse)
- egg cartons
- mesh or cardboard berry baskets
- rectangular or square-based prism boxes no bigger than a cereal box
- even tiny boxes, like raisin boxes, are great!
- Styrofoam meat trays (washed with soap)
These are the obvious shapes. Unusual shapes are even better!
Please enjoy these pictures of our recent art workshops with Donnely, where we have been building 3-D structures out of recycled wood. We had to do our own sanding, wearing the proper safety equipment, and use special wood glue. Quite a big project!
STOP! Some of the sculptors would like to keep their work a secret until it's finished.
You need their permission to continue scrolling down to the more recent pictures!
Wednesday 20 February 2013
Happy Family Day!
I hope you had a great long weekend. This morning I heard, and read, about some of the fun activities the you did this weekend. Very exciting!
Thank you all again for the wonderful support you give me and your child at home. These children are very lucky to have parents that want to be so involved in helping them succeed at school. Everything you're doing at home is making a difference, so thank you!
There are no interviews after the June report card, so if at any point you'd like to come in and check up on how things are going, please feel free to email me and we'll set it up.
This week we are finishing up the sound "in" (could also be "im") which I have added to the sound wall. This is another sound that doesn't really exist in English, and it's a hard one to explain. Actually, it's kind of like the 'ain' in "explain", except don't close on the 'nn' sound as you would in English.
The next sound we're working on is "ch". The kids have already seen this one a lot (chat, chien, chapeau, cheval, cochon...). It makes the same sound as the English "sh".
The words for this week are:
In math, we're continuing our work on measurement. We know that measurement is a comparison. Today we compared our heights and made a line from shortest to tallest. We have also compared lengths using the terms "plus court" (shorter) and "plus long" (longer). To check our predictions, we have measured lengths using paper clips, straws, pipe-cleaners, our feet, books, and string. We know that the smaller our unit, the more we will need. For example, to measure the length of our desk, we need lots of paper clips, but just a few pencils. Try this at home using whatever units you can dream up, and whatever surfaces you have to measure. For example, which piece of furniture is longer, the kitchen table, or your bed? How could we check this?
In Science, we are still talking about our structures and materials unit a bit. For example, we have talked about the materials we have in our lunch boxes. Why is a plastic cup better than a paper cup for yogurt? Where do we put these materials when we're done? How can we take care of our planet by recycling old clothes, old furniture etc.?
We have also discussed different types of fasteners (the kids had tons of ideas... glue, tape, zippers, buttons, sticky tack, paper clips...) and what they are used for. If you think of it, you can just point out different ways of making a similar product, for instance, we have chairs that are firm, soft, that roll... all made for different purposes. It's fun to point this out and give it a little think now and then.
Have a nice week and check back for more pictures soon!
Tamara
Thank you all again for the wonderful support you give me and your child at home. These children are very lucky to have parents that want to be so involved in helping them succeed at school. Everything you're doing at home is making a difference, so thank you!
There are no interviews after the June report card, so if at any point you'd like to come in and check up on how things are going, please feel free to email me and we'll set it up.
This week we are finishing up the sound "in" (could also be "im") which I have added to the sound wall. This is another sound that doesn't really exist in English, and it's a hard one to explain. Actually, it's kind of like the 'ain' in "explain", except don't close on the 'nn' sound as you would in English.
The words for this week are:
le gâteau, le bureau, rouge, chez, grand,
grande, la pomme, le jour, la balle
grande, la pomme, le jour, la balle
In math, we're continuing our work on measurement. We know that measurement is a comparison. Today we compared our heights and made a line from shortest to tallest. We have also compared lengths using the terms "plus court" (shorter) and "plus long" (longer). To check our predictions, we have measured lengths using paper clips, straws, pipe-cleaners, our feet, books, and string. We know that the smaller our unit, the more we will need. For example, to measure the length of our desk, we need lots of paper clips, but just a few pencils. Try this at home using whatever units you can dream up, and whatever surfaces you have to measure. For example, which piece of furniture is longer, the kitchen table, or your bed? How could we check this?
In Science, we are still talking about our structures and materials unit a bit. For example, we have talked about the materials we have in our lunch boxes. Why is a plastic cup better than a paper cup for yogurt? Where do we put these materials when we're done? How can we take care of our planet by recycling old clothes, old furniture etc.?
We have also discussed different types of fasteners (the kids had tons of ideas... glue, tape, zippers, buttons, sticky tack, paper clips...) and what they are used for. If you think of it, you can just point out different ways of making a similar product, for instance, we have chairs that are firm, soft, that roll... all made for different purposes. It's fun to point this out and give it a little think now and then.
Have a nice week and check back for more pictures soon!
Tamara
Wednesday 13 February 2013
Bonhommes en pain d'épice
Here are some pictures from Friday afternoon when we made our gingerbread men!
Reminders!
Dear parents,
We discussed all this stuff this morning, but we didn't review it at the end of the day, so I feel I should repeat it for you!
Tomorrow morning we will drop off our coats at our cubbies and go directly to the gym for a traditional lion dance performance in honour of Lunar New Year. Our art workshop will begin immediately following and extend all the way until lunch to make up for the late start. Please please please try to be at school by the first bell (8:55). If you are late, we may already be in the gym.
What do I wear?
In honour of Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day, we are all going to try to wear something RED. But, it also has to be art-proof for our workshop. You do NOT need your gym outfit anymore, today was the last day. Sorry for the incorrect information I posted last week.
The transition from gym back to class today was quite messy... our class had a LOT of clothes and winter stuff to carry. I think we went back and found a lot of it, but If you are missing anything, please check the lost and found when you come for your interview.
In addition, please check out Area 24's collection of assorted cutlery, containers and mittens that I've collected from our bins. After the interviews, I will put all of this in the school lost and found where it will be much harder to find again. Please have a look when you're here!
Another thing you can do when you're here is check out the French book fair. Getting a new book is a great way to motivate your child to read. If you're not sure what book to choose, ask Mme Gaudreault for help. Tell her your child is in grade 1 and is around level 2 or 3 in Alpha-Jeunes. That will mean something to her and she is amazing at helping you find books that are at your child's independent reading level.
Tomorrow afternoon is our Valentine's day celebration. Again... no need to send snacks, but if you do, they need to be store-bought and completely nut-free. If your child is making valentines, make sure they have one for everybody so that there are no tears. The list of names is posted, just scroll down. Looking forward to it!
Thank you for being so accommodating with your interview times, I know I wasn't able to give everyone their first or second choice, so I appreciate your flexibility.
See you soon,
Tamara
We discussed all this stuff this morning, but we didn't review it at the end of the day, so I feel I should repeat it for you!
Tomorrow morning we will drop off our coats at our cubbies and go directly to the gym for a traditional lion dance performance in honour of Lunar New Year. Our art workshop will begin immediately following and extend all the way until lunch to make up for the late start. Please please please try to be at school by the first bell (8:55). If you are late, we may already be in the gym.
What do I wear?
In honour of Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day, we are all going to try to wear something RED. But, it also has to be art-proof for our workshop. You do NOT need your gym outfit anymore, today was the last day. Sorry for the incorrect information I posted last week.
The transition from gym back to class today was quite messy... our class had a LOT of clothes and winter stuff to carry. I think we went back and found a lot of it, but If you are missing anything, please check the lost and found when you come for your interview.
In addition, please check out Area 24's collection of assorted cutlery, containers and mittens that I've collected from our bins. After the interviews, I will put all of this in the school lost and found where it will be much harder to find again. Please have a look when you're here!
Another thing you can do when you're here is check out the French book fair. Getting a new book is a great way to motivate your child to read. If you're not sure what book to choose, ask Mme Gaudreault for help. Tell her your child is in grade 1 and is around level 2 or 3 in Alpha-Jeunes. That will mean something to her and she is amazing at helping you find books that are at your child's independent reading level.
Tomorrow afternoon is our Valentine's day celebration. Again... no need to send snacks, but if you do, they need to be store-bought and completely nut-free. If your child is making valentines, make sure they have one for everybody so that there are no tears. The list of names is posted, just scroll down. Looking forward to it!
Thank you for being so accommodating with your interview times, I know I wasn't able to give everyone their first or second choice, so I appreciate your flexibility.
See you soon,
Tamara
Monday 11 February 2013
Report Cards
Hello parents,
As you know, report cards are coming home tomorrow, Tuesday February 12th. In the envelope you will find a half sheet of pinkish paper with your interview time on it. Please be sure to open the envelope right away, as some of you have interviews tomorrow right after school!! (Anyone who requested Tuesday as a choice got it, so be prepared!)
If your interview time doesn't work, please write me a note on the slip (include a more convenient time or two) and send it back Wednesday so that we can reschedule. If I don't hear from you, I'll assume that means you're coming.
I will be having a discussion with students about what their report cards mean and some things to remember on report card day. Here is some of what we will discuss:
- Report cards are personal, don't share your marks with anyone. Everybody is good at different things, and it never feels good to compare.
- Only open your envelope once you are with your parent/caregiver. Do not open envelopes alone or on the bus.
- Take learning skills comments seriously. It is hard to make progress in subject areas without strong learning skills.
- Trying your best is the most important thing. In the subject comment boxes, I explain what you've accomplished so far, and what you can try to do next in order to get an even better mark next time. Read these with care and decide what you will try to do better (pick one thing). Parents can also select one thing they'd like to work on more at home. In our interview, we can discuss what each of us is going to do going forward, myself included.
- Please take a moment to write your goals on the bottom of the second page and return it to me with your envelope so that we can reuse it in June. You can bring this to your interview or send it with your child to school.
Thanks for your ongoing support, see you later this week.
Tamara
Friday 8 February 2013
Valentine's Day
The following note was sent home yesterday:
Joyeuse Saint-Valentin
Dear parents,
Area 24 will be having a small Valentine’s Day celebration in the afternoon on Thursday, February 14th. We will have some stories, perhaps a French Valentine’s Day movie, an art activity and a card exchange.
If you would like to send a snack or drink for the celebration, that’s great. Please make sure that any food you send is completely nut-free (check that is doesn’t say “May Contain…”), store-bought and is packaged in Canada. It is not necessary to send anything, all the children will receive a treat from me.
If your student would like to make Valentines for his/her classmates, here is a list of names so that you can ensure no one is left out!
Tamara (Mlle Mitchell)
Alyssa
|
Liam
|
Amara
|
Maisie
|
Anabel
|
Malcolm
|
Caleb
|
Margot
|
Cassius
|
Max
|
Edie
|
Mia
|
Ella
|
Milo
|
Gabriela
|
Nuan
|
Iain
|
Ruby
|
Jack
|
Seaton
|
Kaylee
|
Sofia
|
Keira
|
Spencer
|
Pictures!
I managed to sneak a few pictures of the kids using the gymnastics equipment. I was really impressed with what I saw, especially with how well they take a knee to listen for instructions at the end of the class. The kids are loving this unit, so I'm thrilled that they get another period next Wednesday.
In class, we have now found lots of good examples of words that contain the sound "on" (see list below). We have two sounds left to go, and then we will switch over to working more on the verbs we have to learn in grade 1. The trick will be to not forget the sounds we've worked so hard on, so please continue your review at home, and we will keep practising our reading skills at school too. We've been really talking a lot about using the pictures first to help us with hard words, and then sounding it out using our finger to break the word into 2 or 3 chunks. We can't forget to re-read the whole word after we've figured out the sounds! Repeating it helps the sounds form a word, and when it sounds like the word, we can usually understand what it means.
Here are some pictures of yesterday's workshop with Donnely. We learned about mixing colours and we mixed 12 colours using the 3 primary colours, plus 6 more using white. Then, we used a technique called "resist" where you draw something in oil pastel and then paint over it, and the paint rolls off the pastel. We had tried this technique earlier when we drew some crayon lines in white and painted over them, but it turns out that pastels work a lot better!
Today we had a VERY exciting afternoon because we finally got to decorate gingerbread men to go along with the instructions we all wrote for how to eat one! Look at these fantastic booklets hanging in our class!
In class, we have now found lots of good examples of words that contain the sound "on" (see list below). We have two sounds left to go, and then we will switch over to working more on the verbs we have to learn in grade 1. The trick will be to not forget the sounds we've worked so hard on, so please continue your review at home, and we will keep practising our reading skills at school too. We've been really talking a lot about using the pictures first to help us with hard words, and then sounding it out using our finger to break the word into 2 or 3 chunks. We can't forget to re-read the whole word after we've figured out the sounds! Repeating it helps the sounds form a word, and when it sounds like the word, we can usually understand what it means.
Here are some pictures of yesterday's workshop with Donnely. We learned about mixing colours and we mixed 12 colours using the 3 primary colours, plus 6 more using white. Then, we used a technique called "resist" where you draw something in oil pastel and then paint over it, and the paint rolls off the pastel. We had tried this technique earlier when we drew some crayon lines in white and painted over them, but it turns out that pastels work a lot better!
Today we had a VERY exciting afternoon because we finally got to decorate gingerbread men to go along with the instructions we all wrote for how to eat one! Look at these fantastic booklets hanging in our class!
Obviously, the smart thing to do would have been to send home the writing assignment on the same day as the cookie so that your child could read it to you and eat it at the same time. However, I want to have the booklets here for your interviews since it's a great piece of work for us to talk about. Therefore, I've given your child the job of explaining to you each part of the gingerbread man, in French, as they eat it (e.g., "Je mange la tête. Je mange le glaçage.").
I've also included the recipe in their baggie, and the kids know that they need your permission to eat the cookie at all, since they are homemade.
Finally, I am still waiting for just a few green interview forms. Please get it back to me Monday so that I can try to give you a time you want. Thanks for making it to school today!
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