Thursday is our walking trip to Dufferin Grove. We're very excited!
If your child has a Dewson t-shirt, please have them wear it on trip day. If you do not have one, no worries, but do consider purchasing one at the next opportunity. It is very helpful to have these bright shirts on when we are off-property! Please remind your child to wear layers so that they are prepared to stay outside all day no matter what the weather. Note: We will be using permanent markers to decorate our gourds, so it's not the day for our favourite outfit!
Students will need to carry one bag containing their lunch, snacks and a water bottle. As the note explained, students may also bring activities or equipment as long as they can carry them independently.
Thursday will be super exciting, but there's more... Halloween is right around the corner!
We know how much kids like to celebrate Halloween at school, and we want the day to be fun for them. We are not planning a "party", but we will certainly plan some Halloween-y crafts, games, stories and music to get us in the spirit all day. We also welcome students to wear their costume to school on the 31st. We just ask that you leave any pretend weapons at home (e.g., devil's staff, sword etc.).
At Dewson we have a no food sharing policy at all times, including holidays. There was a page about this in the package of school forms that you received on the first day of school. Please do not send candy or treats for the class. If you feel compelled to send a little something for our class, you can always find thematic stationary and little party favours at the dollar store (we have 25 students in our class). However, there is no need to send anything at all. Dominique and I will have a little treat for everyone.
After Halloween, we expect that students will be allowed to bring a little candy in their lunch... I will most definitely be doing the same!! Please make sure any treats are nut-free and let's reinforce the importance of eating our healthy food first, and saving our treats for after lunch. (Fun Aside: one of my favourite questions to answer is "What is my main food and what is my snack?" - I love that the kids are thinking about this and trying to do the right thing!)
In anticipation of Halloween, we started working on some art to display on our hall board. We each drew a Halloween creature using white or gray oil pastel. Then, we painted over it with watercolour. The watercolour doesn't stick to the pastel (a technique called resist) and a little salt sprinkled over the top soaks up some paint, leave a kind of spooky look! Cool eh?
Last week, we opened our listening centre. We learned how to carefully handle a CD and get set up to listen by ourselves or with a partner. We listened to one book as a class, learning how to tell when it's time to turn the page. It's become a popular centre, especially during quiet time, and we absolutely adore seeing the kids engrossed in listening to a French book. Books on CD are sometimes featured in the Scholastic catalogues, and while they cost a bit more, they are a great way to get kids excited about reading!
Another cool building project happened during centre time... this is a playground, complete with a teeter-totter!
Finally, I snuck into gym a minute before the end of class to get an action shot!
Mots de la Semaine
We have started to make our way through our collection of Halloween stories (ask what happened in the story that my brother Darcy wrote!), and have been learning some thematic vocab. Here are some words for this week:
un squelette
un fantôme
un monstre
une citrouille
une sorcière
See you soon!
Tamara