The kids had a blast at Friday's dance-a-thon, I saw some amazing dance moves! We used a calculator to add up how much money our class raised for the school. The total was over $1330.00! That's quite an accomplishment. On behalf of Dewson, thank you!
This is another exciting week, with our science workshop and the art show both happening Thursday afternoon. Please remember to send in your $5 tomorrow if you haven't already. Also, if you volunteered to help with our workshop, please check your student's bag today for a note and confirm with me whether you are still available. I am inviting more parents than the presenter requested, but I still wasn't able to fit everyone in. Don't worry, there will be other opportunities to help out with special activities before the end of the year.
In our own science lessons, we've been talking about everyday objects that need energy, and where they get it from. For example, the sun provides a lot of energy, but objects also use batteries, plug in, or use gas in order to move. When we started looking around our class, and imagining our homes, we came up with lots of examples for each source. At home, you can invite your child to stop and think about different moving objects and explore what is making it move.
In math, we have started our important work on addition. So far, we have been using pennies and nickels to help visualize 2 groups being put together. We have come up with a few helpful rules for adding with certain numbers. For instance, when we add 0 to another number, the other number always stays the same. We also noticed that when we add 1 to something, we just have to count up 1, so that's not so bad. When we add 10 to another number, we sometimes say "dix" and then the other number, and we usually replace the 0 in 10 with the other number, but there are exceptions to both of these rules. It is also always true that you can exchange both numbers in an addition sentence and the result remains the same (e.g., 1 + 8 is the same as 8 + 1).
Last week, students practised reading an addition sentence that we had displayed with numbers and pennies (e.g., "Huit plus un égal neuf.") and showed me that there are different ways to make up the same amount of money using different combinations of pennies and nickels.
This may seem like simple stuff to us, but it's important to get some good basic strategies under our belts this year, so the more review we can do, the better. We will be starting to add other combinations of numbers, and work on additional strategies, such as doubles facts (2+2, 3+3). At home, and with very little effort, you can make up simple stories to help your child practise adding numbers up to 10. For example, I am going to pack 1 chocolate egg in your lunch on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but I'll pack you 2 on Friday. How many eggs will you get this week? (Have eggs on hand for counting!)
In language, we are working away at learning our lines for our plays (going surprisingly well) and are slowly working away at learning our verbs. When we write in our journals now, students have more opportunity to decide what they would like to write about (rather than finishing a sentence that I start). Some children write about what they have done recently (as I often prompted them to do), others write about something they imagine (candy land, for example), and others have started writing a story which they add to each time. Ask your student what he/she has chosen to write about recently, and if you like, brainstorm an idea for next time.
In our morning message, we are focusing on how we put a sentence together. Occasionally I mix up word cards which students read and try to unscramble, and other times I have brave volunteers come up to write the message for me. This is fun because it gives everyone a chance to look for improvements (such as adding a period, or making a bigger space between words).
Words of the Week – Les Mots de la Semaine
féminin
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je suis content
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je suis contente
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je suis triste
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je suis triste
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je suis fâché
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je suis fâchée
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je suis calme
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je suis calme
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je suis fatigué
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je suis fatiguée
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In art, we have started another neat project called "Scratch-away Klee", after the artist who did the original. Last week, everyone used pastel to completely colour in a face made up of geometric shapes. I gave students the basic face, and they added to it, using circles for eyes, triangles for shoulders, rectangles for hair and so on. Each face is very interesting, colourful and unique. This week, we will completely paint over our careful work (awww) and then scratch most of the paint away to create a really neat aged effect.
Check out the new link in the language section! It's got tons and tons of French songs, many with videos, music and words! There are some songs on here that we have sung in class (e.g., "Ah! Vous dirai-je maman", "Les petits poissons").
Here are some pictures of the "Klees", our egg hunt from a week ago and some of our building-time creations.
