Dear room 113 families,
Friday was Madame Tatiana's last day at Dewson. We made her a lovely poster of messages to give her. I know the kids will miss her, but we wish her well!
Last week, I got to know students a little through asking them to draw and tell me about their favourite mask. I've been reflecting, this year, on what you can tell about someone by the mask they wear. I got to know what students like to do, their favourite animals and colours and we presented some of these in front of the class.
I was also thrilled to be able to share some pictures of little Wales, and also Mme Speid's baby, Victor, with the class. They really loved seeing the babies, especially the video of Wales using his walker! I shared that I'm now obsessed with les baleines and had the class do some whale writing and drawing, just for fun! We also made congratulatory cards to mail to Mme Speid. She will be SO surprised!
I've learned that our class really LOVES science experiments. So do I! So, building on what I saw Mme Tatiana working on earlier last week, I planned an experiment about the stages of matter. We talked about how water can exist in all three stages: solid, liquid and gas. We then used 3 ice cubes each, topped with salt, sugar and sand, respectively, to see which substance would help the solid ice melt into liquid water the fastest. Like good scientists, we made predictions, took notes during the experiment, and wrote our findings afterward. Please ask which substance helped our ice cubes melt fastest, and one way that we use this finding in the community!
Earlier last week, students helped me learn some of our new and old Dewson rules, and we wrote down a list of sensible rules for our class. One of these rules is about not using our hands and feet when upset. I have heard from other teachers, some of you, and I've witnessed, that this can be a challenge! Especially outside at lunch and in line. We have already had several small and group discussions about strategies we can use for problem solving. Good ideas are: saying STOP (and then you HAVE to stop), ignoring the behaviour if possible, walking away or picking a different spot in line, getting a teacher or supervisor and helping a friend do these things if they can't. I'd appreciate if you could review these strategies at home. If we can do it, we will have more time for fun!!
You should have received some information already about Dewson's virtual book fair. This is a great opportunity to stock up on some French books for your home, in a safe way (delivered right to your door). It is also a great fundraiser for our school library and the proceeds will be used to purchase books for our classrooms. This is great news for us, as we have limited resources at the moment. You can visit the online store starting now!
I'll leave it there for today, but I'll be back soon with some info on what we will be working on in the next little while.
Take care, Tamara