Sorry I am late with the words for last week, it has felt very busy, between the windows, Remembrance Day and snowsuits... where do I begin?
First of all, I am missing interview time sheets from about 7 families. My schedule is filling up, so please send those in Monday (or email me) so that we can hopefully find a time next week that works for all of us. I will send home the confirmation forms in the report card envelope on Tuesday. So far, I've been able to find times that work for everyone on Wednesday or Thursday so you'll have time to get your time and read the report card at least a day in advance.
Our class did a good job in room 115 during the window replacement, and they finished our class in record time - one day!! The new windows look sooooo much better. Please feel free to oooo and ahhh! (My mom has been wanting to wash our windows for years... she will be so happy!)
We also managed our winter gear very well on Friday. As the cold weather sets in, we are teaching the kids how to put their mittens, hats, scarves and other assorted bits, in their coat sleeves before hanging up their coat. With this strategy, we hope to reduce the amount of clothing that goes missing this winter. You can help us by using this same strategy at home, and checking that every little piece of clothing has a name in it. We do need for every student to have a pair of gym/indoor shoes at school now so that we can change out of our boots (the kids will not be able to participate in indoor gym if their footwear is not safe for the activity). Thanks for your help!
Now for the fun stuff! For the past several weeks, our students have been working on a dance with Mme Gaudreault and our guest instructor, Rebecca. I was invited to view the final performance and it was charming. Here are a few pictures!
In anticipation of Remembrance Day, we fashioned our own poppies to wear out of muffin cups that we painted, pipe cleaners and buttons. Each coquelicot was unique and beautiful, and we made some extras to put on a class wreath. Each student wore their poppy to the assembly on Friday, and brought it home.
Dewson's assembly took place Friday and we had prepared our students for a solemn assembly that would not include clapping and would include being still and quiet. I was so impressed with how our class did, and I would like to give them ALL a special Bravo for their behaviour. Merci mes amis!
In addition to the assembly, we had read a book about who we are remembering, and we had read the poem "In Flanders Fields". I think the kids were touched by the messages. During centre time on Friday, many students chose activities that were related to Remembrance Day. Some students worked in their special Remembrance Day booklets that we were given (these were brought home Friday), others drew pictures of fields of poppies.
I was particularly touched by the group of builders, below, who decided to build their own memorial, complete with RIP signs. They were very purposeful in their building, and I was blown away when they announced that they wanted to sing O Canada around it once it was done. I sang our anthem for them and they stood there silently for the whole song. We let the structure stay in place all day. It was quite amazing.
For our end of day story on Friday, I told the kids about my own grandfather, who was in the Navy during World War II. I shared a funny story about his experience on his ship. Ask the kids about what happened when they thought they'd detected an enemy submarine...
Mots de la Semaine
In making our own poppies to wear to the assembly, I'm fairly certain we all learned the word coquelicot. We should also know the word soldat from all our time playing the ball game by the same name. I've also put our numbers up to 10 for this week. This is easy as pie for most kids, so feel free to go further. We have a new poem (about cherries) that uses numbers, and remember we did our pumpkin math this week where we actually counted by 10 to one hundred! Feel free to do some counting challenges of your own!
Coquelicot (poppy)
Soldat (soldier)
un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq,
six, sept, huit, neuf, dix
Lastly, a reminder that the English book fair will be open in the library most of next week. Don't forget to cut out your entry for the draw and bring it to school by Wednesday!!