Borrow-a-book & Words!

Dear families,

I hope you had a great weekend! Right off the bat, don't forget that tomorrow is individual picture day (no class pictures, so we only have to worry about looking good from the waist up)!

At curriculum night, I explained how our Borrow-a-Book program works. Today I explained it to the kids. Grade 1s will wait another month until we learn some more French sounds, but grade 2s are starting today!
In particular, we discussed that it is each individual student's job to remember to exchange their books when ready - not yours or mine (although do feel free to email me if your reader keeps forgetting and I can remind). It is a care giver's job to manage this program at home, listen to their student read for at least a few minutes a day and sign off in the tracking log when a student has "mastered" a book - this means they can read it fluidly, with no mistakes.
We also discussed that is is absolutely not a race, nor does it matter how far each student gets in the different colour levels. It is more important to spend time reading books that are too easy vs. too challenging. We will celebrate each student's accomplishments but not brag about how we are doing. There is no reward for reading the fastest or getting the farthest, and it is not counted for a mark. However, participating in this program by reading a few minutes a day does contribute tremendously to each child's reading success over the year. Thanks so much in advance for being the at-home teacher!

Grade 2s brought home the following outline with their first book today, and grade 1s will have it in a month. Here it is in case you missed it:

Borrow-a-Book

How it works

Your child now has a small tracking log in their communication pocket containing a list of books. We are beginning with simple books that usually have a pattern to them, making them easier for beginning readers to read and understand. Your child is responsible for bringing home books from this list, which are kept in colour-coded drawers in our class.

Once you’ve worked on a book at home (see suggestions for reading), please initial beside the title in the tracking log. Then, your child is responsible for bringing the book back and exchanging it for another from the list.

A good guideline is to read 2 books a week, but some children will need more or less time on each book and that’s ok. I will suggest that children exchange their books in the morning as they unpack their pochette.

Please help your child keep track of the book they have taken. It should stay in their pocket or other very safe place in your home. We have a very limited number of books!

Once your child has worked with every book on this list (indicated by your initials), I will add the next list of slightly harder books and we continue in the same way.

Suggestions for reading

-Start by looking at the pictures to make sense of what’s happening. Ask your child to predict what the book is about. This will contribute greatly to your child’s understanding of the text, and that’s very important since the words themselves may be new.

-  Looking at the pictures can also help us guess a word that we do not recognize.

-  Refer to the blog to review the sounds we have learned and search for them, or other familiar words (such as the words of the week), in the text.

- Have your child point to each word as he/she sounds it out. Cover parts of words to isolate sounds that you know we should know!

- After reading, ask questions like What patterns can you see in this book?, What do you like/not like about the book?, Does this remind you of anything you did?, Does it make you think of anything/another book?

-  Make sure your child has understood what the book was about – this is just as important as being able to say the words correctly!

-  Make it fun by having your child read to their teddy in bed, or over the phone to grandma.

-  Record (or video) your child reading it, and then let him/her listen to the recording over and over!

-  You or your child can make a simple word search using words from the book. Ask your child to read each word that they find.

-  Play hangman using words from the book.

-  Read the book using different voices (in a whisper, with a fun accent…)

-  Read the book to your child and let them correct you (they love this!)

The important thing is to read the book many times so that your child is building their vocabulary and developing confidence as a reader. These are just some ways that you can keep it interesting when you have to read the same book 27 times, but feel free to think of other cool ideas as well!

Reminders

- Please keep the tracking log in the communication pocket.

-  While it is ok to colour a page or two in pencil crayon, please make sure that your children do NOT use markers or pens in the books. Many hours from patient parent volunteers went into copying, folding, stapling and labeling each book and we need to treat them carefully.

-  Again, please help your child take responsibility for returning their book once they are through with it. We can’t afford to lose them!

Thank you for your time in progressing your child’s French reading and comprehension skills.

Tamara Mitchell

Words of the Week

This week we are reviewing the sound ‘i’. In French, this letter makes our English ‘e’ sound. Think “see”. Again, for each new sound that we learn, I love the idea of using 3-D letters or flashcards to experiment with the vowel combined with different consonants. We won’t be looking at each consonant in depth the way we are vowels, so this is a great way to make sure your child has a good grasp of the whole alphabet. Don’t worry if your combos aren’t real words, we’re just working on combining sounds in this game!

Grade 1: il, ici, si, avion, ami

Bonus words: lit, rit

Grade 2: merci, petit, bicyclette, 

crayon, s’il-vous-plaît

First dictée a success!

Hi parents,

Thank you for your continued efforts practicing the words of the week with your children. Today we had our first full class dictée, as I spoke about on curriculum night. Every writer gave it their very best, even though there were some sounds that we haven't learned yet! Trying our best is the MOST important thing! Merci mes amis!
In case you missed my curriculum night speech, there is a note on the reverse of the rubric you're getting today which explains the purpose of this activity, how to interpret the rubric you are receiving and how you can help!
Today I began explaining to students how to read a rubric and what our goals are in writing. We will talk more about this as time goes on, but already students were excited to see where they were successful and what my comments were. This shows that students are taking responsibility for their learning and is really quite exciting for me!
Please look at your child's writing sample from today and read over their rubric with them. Please point out all the areas where they were successful (everyone has several) and celebrate this first! Then, please ask your writer to pick out only one area that they'd like to improve for next time. Maybe it is remembering the petit point, or printing more nicely in the lines. Perhaps they would like to review their old words of the week even as we add new ones so that they don't forget the sounds we have already spent time learning. Whatever it is, please make sure it is only 1 thing so that it is not overwhelming, and so that they can keep this goal easily in mind!

In other news, our first show and tell day was today and I was happy that students had spent time figuring out what they would like to say in French. I was also happy that our first group of show-and-tellers were able to keep their special items safely hidden away until the appropriate moment of the day. Merci!

Grade 1s have been working hard during social studies periods to complete all the pieces which will come together to form our big self-reflective project. Thanks so much, parents, for sending the pictures (adorable!!) and helping at home. Students have now reflected and written about special people, special places, special objects, special events, their responsibilities and how we show we care about others. Please ask your researcher what they wrote about today when we were talking about how we show respect or that we care for others.
I'd like to remind the last couple grade 1 students to please bring in their time lines ASAP. Our next social studies period is next Wednesday and we will be assembling the entire project!

Heads up to everyone, there are TWO picture days this year, on account of the religious holiday, Rosh Hashanah. Next TUESDAY, October 4th, individual photos will be taken. On November 8th, class photos, and remaining individual photos will be taken.

I feel like I'm forgetting things... well, anyway, I'll write more next week!
Have a great weekend,
Tamara

Words of the Week

Here are this week's words again!

We have more e words this week, but here, e is followed by u. U and E are best friends. Whoever comes first gets their sound without interference from the next guy, so here, we only hear the regular ‘e’ sound that we learned about last week. Keep making flashcards, but this time, also ask your student to underline the letters that make the ‘e’ sound.

Grade 1: bleu, feu, fleur, deux, yeux

Bonus words: cœur, sœur

Grade 2: je peux, j’ai peur, je veux, 

les yeux, les cheveux

Home Toys Stay Home

Hi parents,

Just another reminder that home toys stay at home - this includes Pokéman cards. Please ensure that your student is not sneaking these into his/her backpack. They cause unnecessary distractions throughout our day and slow us down during transition times. Your student can feel free to bring these as his/her show and tell item on the appropriate day.

Fair warning: All of my students know that if I continue to see Pokéman cards at school I will be taking them away and keeping them overnight.

Thanks for your help!

Subject Update!

Hi parents!

Thanks for making it out to curriculum night yesterday. It was fun watching the kids proudly showing you around our room! I hope you found the information useful. If you have any questions about the routines I spoke about, or anything else, you know you can email me at any time. I am sending home our class timetable to all families that couldn't make it. Together with the Dewson "days" calendar you got on the first day, this will help you keep track of when we have gym, library etc. If anyone else needs a copy of this, just let me know.

I'm excited to have collected all media forms so I can begin to post some pictures here for you so that you can see your students in action. So far, I have been posting all the boring, but necessary beginning of the year info. Let me take a minute to share what we are actually working on at school these days!

Français

In language, we have been working on recognizing the 'a' and 'e' vowels, as you know from words of the week. This should be a good review for grade 2s, and not a big deal for grade 1s. We practice finding these sounds every day in the morning message. We practice combining these vowels together with neighbouring consonants as a first step to decoding longer words. We do other word study activities as well, such as reading poems containing our sounds and adding sound words to our personal dictionaries and word wall.

Each morning we have some dedicated time for silent reading, during which I can work with a small group. I'm working on meeting with each student to check on their letters, and I would also like to meet with small groups in order to teach them how to correctly play some of the games we have in our classroom. Games are great for making new friends and practicing cooperative skills, so I am happy to spend the time teaching students the rules. As you may have noticed last evening, we would love to have your support during our reading and meeting time (between 9:30-10:00 am). If you signed up, you will be hearing from me. If you didn't but would like to help, you know what to do!

Here's what reading looks like in our classroom:

In writing we are focusing on neat printing, using the lines in our workbooks. We have begun writing personal journal entries that answer a question or continue a thought that I provide. 

All students have a tin for jetons that they receive for speaking French. Each time I hear them speaking French I give them a petit jeton. When they have 5, they can trade up for one grand jeton. Once they have 5 big ones, they can trade them for a dollar. Once they have two school dollars, they win a prize! This is, obviously, to encourage students to speak in French at school.

We are also continuing the French 3 to 3 program that students began in SK or grade 1. This is basically a collection of poems, rhymes and oral stories that we pull from on a daily basis. We don't always spend a ton of time on it, but it's a great tool for getting kids speaking French right away, and they LOVE the stories. In fact, the two long story murals you saw on our bulletin board are drawn retells of two of our 3 to 3 stories. Ask your student which story he/she helped retell, and which part!

There is a ton more going on in language, but I'll move on!

Math

This month we are working on counting strategies. We've played games to practice counting and skip-counting (up to just over 40 so far) and we've started collecting some helpful strategies for counting, for example, crossing off or moving items we've already counted, or counting larger groups by 10 to make the job faster. We are naming our strategies after the student that comes up with it, and sharing them with each other on our math board. Hopefully we will be inspired to try these ideas out in our own work!

Social Studies & Science

As you know, grade 2s are with Mme Gaudreault for these subjects. Please feel free to contact her with any questions.

Grade 1s will be alternating between social studies and science and we've begun with a social studies unit called Our Changing Roles and Responsibilities. Students are each completing a self-reflective project which gets us thinking about people, places and items that are meaningful to us, and how we contribute to our family and community by showing respect and doing our part.

I have mentioned previously that we will need some pictures. Part of this project is a time line beginning with when our students were born and ending with the beginning of grade 1. In between, there is room for 3 important life events. These could be taking first steps, the birth of a younger sibling, a family vacation, starting preschool, losing a tooth... or whatever else! 

The time lines are coming home today. This weekend, please take some time to reflect on important moments with your child and help write down a quick word about each on the time line. Please also find 5 pictures (one for each time line event) and send them to me. Email is best, but if you only have hard copies, I will make copies and send your originals back right away. If you don't have pictures for your chosen events, I will make sure your child has time at school to draw a picture!

Please do your best to send the pictures and time line paper back by our next social studies period, next Wednesday. This should be a fun walk down memory lane with your researcher, and is not meant to take much time. (Again, you do not have to print and glue pictures at home - just send them to me and we will do it at school.) Thanks ever so much!

Here we are creating mini-versions of our special objects that we shared with each other last week!

Art

Hopefully you noticed our beautiful colour-mixing projects as you entered the second floor yesterday. We had fun making these and creating the secondary colours using only the 3 primary colour pastels! I'm excited for tons of great art projects with the class this year!

Other stuff

- Our gym teacher, Mr. Tredille has reminded us that we might want layers for outdoor gym (days 5 and 7). Apparently last time some children were chilly!

- The lunch room supervisors are happy with our class' behaviour in the busy gym. Let's keep reminding our gang to pick up all garbage, speak as quietly as possible and to stay seated until they are officially dismissed.

- We had our Terry Fox run this morning! We've been keeping track of the money we raise, and our class collected over $80!! This is double Dewson's goal of $2 per student! Thanks to Salle 317 (Mme Gouet's class) for running with us and keeping us safe this morning. Check out the action shots below!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tamara

Reminders!

Hi parents,

I'm looking forward to seeing you here in a few hours! The BBQ outside begins at 5:00pm. Presentations in area 211 will be at 6:45 and again at 7:10. If you can't be here, I will try to send any important handouts home with your student tomorrow, and I will post the information I speak about here on the blog when it becomes relevant. Hope to see many of you tonight!

Tomorrow morning is Dewson's Terry Fox run. We will be running/walking around the block during period 2, just before morning recess. We have your signed walking permission forms, so we're all good to go tomorrow, just remind your student to dress for success (walking clothes, running shoes, hat, sunscreen and water bottle). We are also encouraging each student to donate $2 to the cause. Our class has already collected over $30! If everyone in our school brings in a toonie for Terry, we will be able to donate $1000 to cancer research. Thanks!

See you tonight!

Social Skills Check-Up

Hi parents,

Were you wondering about the green paper that came home today?
Well, a couple years ago, I decided to put more effort into actually teaching some basic social skills, like listening and sharing. While we talk about this stuff throughout the day, each day, it is easy to get wrapped up in academics and move to quickly past what good behaviour looks like. Therefore, at least once a month, we will devote some time to completing an activity where the only focus is learning skills. We will focus on 3 things each time, discuss them first, and students will know that during the task, that is what I'm looking for. I have found that giving this front and centre attention does lead to students practicing those good behaviours in other contexts as well.

Today we did our first social-skills-only lesson. Students were given a picture starter and with their partner, had to complete the picture any way they imagined it. During the task, students were focused on listening to their partner, participating and staying on task. We discussed what this might look like before beginning.
After the task, each student completed a self-evaluation by circling the face which corresponded to how they felt they had done for each skill. On the other side, I gave my opinion of how each student did. Everyone was very successful and was also very honest and self-reflective when filling out their evaluations.
I will always send these green papers home to you so that you can discuss with your child if you like. If they don't have "All the time" for something, you might want to ask them why. Not that we need to be perfect all the time - not at all - but it's always good to have goals for improvement!

I'll speak about this in person Thursday night. If you have any questions about this initiative, please feel free to ask.

Thanks!!
Tamara

You're Invited

Hello salle 211 families,

I've called most families now with this information, but once again, I'd like to formally invite you all to our Welcome BBQ & Curriculum Night happening this Thursday evening at Dewson.
The BBQ begins outside at 5pm and is a lot of fun and a great chance to meet your child's new classmates. Between 6:30 and 7:30 you are welcome to visit our classroom. Your child can give you the tour - show you where they hang their bag, where they can keep a book they're reading, our classroom rules, how to use the listening centre, what they like to do during free time and lots more!
At 6:45 and 7:10 I will ring the chimes and I will talk for a few minutes about some important routines. Some you may have heard about, and some will be new to you. Sometimes things are easier to explain in person, so it would be fantastic if every child could have a caregiver present at one of those times. If you are unable to make it, no worries, just keep an eye on this blog and I will explain everything when it becomes relevant.
I will just add that curriculum night is not a great time to have long conversations about individual children. If you would like to meet about anything at this point, I will have my calendar ready and we can set a time. You can also email me anytime.

Thank you again for helping your child remember to have their words of the week cahier with them on the appropriate day. Again, I've corrected the grade 2 work and in some cases written a little note about how they can improve their work. Please have a look at this and have your student ask me if they are confused.

This week we are reviewing the sound ‘e’. In French, this letter makes a different sound than in English. Think “book”. Again, for each new sound that we learn, I love the idea of using 3-D letters or flashcards to experiment with the vowel combined with different consonants. We won’t be looking at each consonant in depth the way we are vowels, so this is a great way to make sure your child has a good grasp of the whole alphabet. Don’t worry if your combos aren’t real words, we’re just working on combining sounds in this game!

Grade 1: le, je, de, me, te

Bonus words: ne, se

Grade 2: bleu, deux, feu, fleur, un cheval

September Scholastic Recommendation

I've been thinking for a couple years that it might be helpful if I gave you an idea of which French books from the Scholastic catalogues might be most applicable to our current learning. I will endeavor to do this each month this year.

In this month's Club De Lecture catalogue, I noticed that items #22-26 all have a seasonal theme. This will be our first grade 1 science topic. In particular, item #23 includes a letter recognition game that would be an excellent idea for the beginning of grade 1 (and it's only $10)!

Our grade 2s might be ready for something like #18, which is a collection of Robert Munsch stories (always very popular), and while #39 might be a difficult read for the beginning of the school year, it does match up with their Earth and Space Systems science unit.

There are lots of other great options in the September catalogue. Hope you have time to give it a look!

September orders (always completely optional) are due this Thursday!

Tamara

A message from our Librarian:

Dear Parents, your child will soon begin to check out books from the school library. Reading is one of the most important skills your child learns in school. Like all skills, improvement comes with practice, and the Dewson School Library provides a wide variety of books for students to borrow for reading practice, information, and enjoyment.

Your child will visit the school library weekly to select books.  

A schedule is posted on the library blog at www.dewsonlibrary.blogspot.ca daily.

     Students are responsible to handle library books with care, since they are for everyone to share. Please keep books away from pets, food, and all liquids.

     Any book damage should be reported to the library as soon as possible so we can attempt repairs.

     Library books may be kept for one week then must be returned. A book may be renewed (checked out again) if the student is not finished reading it but the book has to be returned first.

     An overdue book means a student cannot borrow another book (until the overdue book is renewed or returned).

     There are no fines for overdue books, but please encourage your child to return his or her book each week. 

     Magazines come in an envelope. If your child check out a magazine, it is important to return the magazine in its envelope.  

     If your family plans to move from Dewson, please return all books before moving.

Kindergarten

JK-SK students may checkout 2 books at a time. When your child brings the books home, you may want to spend time reading them together. If your child can read, you could listen to him or her read the book and help with words they may not know. We want your child to love reading, so please make the time you share books together fun. French Immersion students will be able to check out an English book and a French book.

At home, please

     Find a safe place for his or her library books away from little brothers/sisters and family pets.

     Remind your child to have clean hands when handling the book and to turn pages gently.

     Encourage your child to read every day.

     Encourage your child to read for enjoyment and to notice/discuss the illustrations with you.

     Read and reread the book as well as discuss favorite characters and important parts of the story.

I look forward to a great year and many wonderful stories. If you have any questions or concerns about the library, please feel free to visit or contact me at 

marie-chantale.gaudreault@tdsb.on.ca. You may also post a comment on this library blog.

 Sincerely, Mme Gaudreault 

Montre et Raconte & Gr. 1 Homework!

Dear Salle 211 families,

Our students have shown an interest in having a time to share special objects or talents with the class. I also love giving students opportunities to give presentations and share personal stories. Since we do not have time every day for everyone to share, I have set up the following schedule. Please let your student know when their montre et raconte days are and help them remember on the day so that they are not disappointed. Students may choose to share a special object, talent (e.g., piano solo) or even a small pet (e.g., hamster) if you are able to bring it in at the end of the day (pets are not invited to stay all day - I have my hands full already!).
On their day, students will have a couple minutes each to present. It would be great if you could allow students to practice for you in advance so that they can figure out what they want to say. Grade 2s will be expected to speak entirely in French, and grade 1s will be encouraged to use as much French as they can and ask for help with tricky words!

Here we go:
Friday September 30 & Friday February 24
Archer, Aster, Beckett, Benji, Brooklyn

Friday October 28 & Friday March 31
Declan, Delina, Egan, Gabe, Teagan

Friday November 25 & Friday April 28
Emmy, Estelle, Joah, Marko, Oliver

Friday December 16 & Friday May 26
Florkencia, Louisa, Ryan, Sam, Santi, Sean


Grade 1 students have a bonus chance to share a special object with us this week! As I mentioned in a previous post, we will need at-home help with a big social studies project that we are starting. This project involves reflecting on important moments in our lives, special people, places, things and how we contribute to our communities. During our social studies periods on Friday, grade 1s will be talking about objects that bring them joy, cheer them up, comfort them or are meaningful for other reasons. Some examples might be a special blanket, stuffed toy or gift from a family member, but of course it could be anything. We already started brainstorming some special objects in class today so most students probably already have an idea of their special object. If possible (and with your permission), students are invited to bring this object to school Friday to show the group, and to use as reference when completing this part of the project. If they can't bring it, it's totally fine, they will still participate in everything.

In the coming week we will be asking for a bit more help with our project. This will be mostly to have some conversations at home in anticipation of our discussions at school, but we will also need some photos, preferably emailed directly to me. More on this soon!

Happy sharing!
Tamara

Words of the Week

Thank you! Almost every single student had their Mots de la Semaine cahier ready to go today! Fantastic! We glued in our new words. 

Remember, grade 1s can keep their cahier at home until next Monday while you practice these new words, still using the sound 'a'.

Grade 1: papa, arbre, classe, table, balle 

Bonus words: maman, animal

Grade 2 homework has been checked! Look at last week's work to make sure your student is on the right track. I'm being fussy about their printing so that we can form good habits. Today students should be doing their Monday task of writing each new word 3 times (not 2... I didn't help this time!).

Tomorrow (Tuesday), they need to write one sentence for each word, underlining the word. For example, 

Je joue avec une balle dehors.

See? They don't have to be long.

Wednesday grade 2s need to write their words in alphabetical order, and Thursday they need to clap the syllables and write how many there are for each word. I'll see grade 2 cahiers back here again Friday and we'll do a little dictée. Thanks again for your help getting right into the routine!

Grade 2: avec, avion, pas, le canard, le rat

Just a few students came home today wearing bright pink reminder bracelets - super stylish if I do say so... Please send in those yellow school forms tomorrow!

Finally, a big BRAVO to the whole class. Mme Teresa, our main lunchroom supervisor, told me that our class is the best at staying seated and tidying up before waiting to be dismissed. This is not easy in a busy lunchroom, so I was very pleased to hear that our class is keeping things together! Continue le bon travail mes amis!

Parents, if you have not done so already, please label the outside of your student's lunch bag with their name and our room number (211). The bins are carried back to our class by grade 6 helpers. Should a lunch fall out of the bin, they will be able to find it's rightful home if it is clearly labelled. Let's avoid losing lunch bags! Thanks!

First Week!

Dear Room 211 families,

It was a hot and sticky first week in Salle 211. Thanks to all my new students for sticking with me and giving it their best even when we were all hot and tired! Next week will be much nicer!

I've quickly been getting to know my new students and they've been settling in quickly to our new routines. I've been wanting to share details from the first few days, but didn't want to clutter up the blog before you had a chance to explore all the beginning of the year posts. If you haven't had a chance to sift through all the information (I know, it's a lot), don't worry. Nothing ever gets erased, just archived. If what you're looking for is not below, just click on the Archives at the bottom.

Thank you for all the mail! I've already received lots of letters and forms, which I've very much enjoyed reading. If you haven't yet had a chance, please do try to to send all of that stuff in soon. I love and always look forward to reading those first day letters from you! Once I have everyone's media forms, I'll know if I can begin posting pictures here so that you can feel even more a part of our school day.

A couple other reminders:
- Library is on days 3 and 8. Our next book exchange will land on next Thursday, but students can drop off their books in our class bin anytime throughout the week.
- Thank you for jumping into our words of the week right away! We ALL get new words of the week on MONDAYS. Please ensure your student has their cahier in their pochette on Monday (most grade 2s remembered to give me their cahier on Friday).
- We have gym, dance or DPA every day. If your student is not wearing running shoes to school, please make sure they have a pair with them. We do have a bin ready to receive shoes that can stay at school.

This week we have established all kids of routines for our class. We know how to empty and pack our bags, where to put notes for me, where to line up after recess and where the safe places to play in the school yard are. We have practiced what we do in the case of a fire alarm and we have worked on including others during free time and recess. We discuss our 4 class rules regularly (ask your student what they are) and I have seen amazing listening behaviour from everyone in the class. Keep up the great work!

In French this week, we have been working on little Tout sur Moi (All about Me) books so that I can get to know my students. We are already experts at recognizing the letter 'a' and grade 1s began reviewing printing skills, including a comfortable pencil grip (more important than we tend to think) and forming letters neatly. If you have a chance to watch your child write at home, try to encourage them to start their letters at the top, the way they are practicing at school. This will help them form good habits.

In math,we are getting started with some counting and skip-counting activities. At home, you can review French numbers by asking your student to count various sets aloud in French (ex. Can you count how many juice boxes are left in French?)

Our grade 2s have quickly gotten into the routine of taking themselves to library twice a week for their social studies/science periods with Mme Gaudreault and their other grade 2 friends. Grade 1s will soon begin working on a little self-reflection project during our time together, and we will need a bit of at-home help. Keep your eye out for more details!

Finally, thanks for your patience with pick-up. Very soon I will know who belongs to who, but for now it is helpful if you come say hi at the end of the day. I do need to see each child's picker-upper every day before I release them. Please remind your child to always stay with the teacher and not to leave without saying goodbye. Otherwise I worry! If it's ok for an older sibling to pick up your grade 1/2 student, please let me know!

If you need to contact me at any time, email is the best way to reach me. Don't forget the 2 in tamara.mitchell2@tdsb.on.ca (there is a principal by the same name).

See you Monday,
Tamara

DON'T WORRY!!

                        Welcome to Online Words of the Week!

I know, homework on the second day? It's not a big deal!
As I mentioned in the First Day Newsletter, we are beginning with our words of the week right away. I really want to match up our words of the week to the sound we are studying in class. Since we are beginning right away with the 'a' vowel, I thought we should begin right away with some words to practice that sound.
Grade 1 and 2 students have different words and expectations, to match where they are in their learning. Grade 1s need only review these words with a helper by writing them, saying them, or playing games with them. Grade 2s have some specific writing tasks to complete with their words over the course of the week. This is outlined in their cahier.

You can see that the grade 1 words are all very short, I expect many children won't need a lot of work on these words - maybe just a few minutes on a few nights to get warmed up. Today we made a flashcard for each word that we think could be a fun way to practice (maybe kids can test parents too!). Grade 1 students may keep their cahier at home until next Monday, when they need to bring their cahier to school to receive the next set of words.

Grade 1 words: a, la, ma, ta, va 

Bonus words: sa, Tamara

The grade 2 words are longer, but still focus on the sound 'a', which should be a simple review from last year. Students had time today to catch up on Monday's task, but we didn't have time to write a sentence for each word (Tuesday's task). I told them that if they have time, that's great, but I don't mind if they skip the sentences for this week and move on to writing the words alphabetically tonight (the normal task for Wednesdays). All work is due back at school Friday for checking. New words will come home every Monday.

Grade 2 words: avion, balle, classe, maman, papa

On this blog, I will attempt to give you a thorough explanation of what we have learned in class, and how to pronounce the sound correctly so that you can be your child’s at-home teacher. (Note: Most consonants are the same in French as in English, so although we will talk about them in class, and you may want to review them at home, I will not discuss them here.) Know that much of what I explain to you, I probably have not explained to the class - or I have explained it very simply. All kinds of rules and exceptions will be meaningless and overwhelming for students at this point. At school we are focusing primarily on what sounds right, and matching this up to what it looks like. The more detailed explanations that you will find here are for your interest and benefit. 

This week we are reviewing the sound ‘a’. In French, this letter is not as bright as in English. Think “dad”. For each new sound that we learn, I love the idea of using 3-D letters (maybe you have magnets?) or flashcards to experiment with the vowel combined with different consonants. We won’t be looking at each consonant in depth the way we are vowels, so this is a great way to make sure your child has a good grasp of the whole alphabet. Don’t worry if your combos aren’t real words, we’re just working on combining sounds in this game!

Grade 1 parents: If you find it is a struggle to get through a list of words, especially as the words get longer, feel free to focus on only some of the words. Similarly, if you feel your child could use a challenge, add the weekly bonus words to your list. You’re the teacher when you practice at home, and you don’t need my permission to adjust the workload to suit your child.
Grade 2 parents: Please help your child develop their responsibility skills by monitoring their at-home practice and ensuring they complete their daily word-study task. They are not long! If it seems to be a struggle, start by reviewing the grade 1 words and play the kinds of games I suggest to them. If you feel your child needs more of a challenge at home, feel free to speak to me. There's lots we can do!