Curriculum Night

Dear parents,

Tonight is curriculum night for Dewson. I hope many of you are able to join the Zoom meeting hosted by our admin. If you miss it, no worries. I included most of our class info in my first day letter, but any questions you have about our program or routines, you can always ask me, and any operational or Covid questions, you can always call the office about.

The primary team put together a few slides that outline the curriculum this year, with a couple handy links for parents and I've included our class timetable. I will post this on Google Classroom for you to peruse at your leisure. Again, if you are not yet set up on Google Classroom and are having trouble, please email me. I can reset your student's password and that should help.

Mr. Lee also sent home a school "days" calendar and noted which days he has our class (days 1 & 3). This is important because the class will be outdoors for nearly all of this time. A little rain or snow or cold weather will not cause us to come indoors, so it is essential that students come dressed for success, especially on these days. Students may leave indoor shoes at school if that's ok with you.

I have to say that I am really enjoying working with this class. Your children are very thoughtful and engaged and they care about each conversation that we have. We have been talking a lot about how our recesses are going, and how we have a tricky zone this week - all concrete, not much to do, near the gates - and students were wonderful at contributing positive ideas for how we could use this space, and even brought some activities to school the next day. They are very much about problem solving with me and reflecting on why something may be a good or bad idea. Thank you so much for encouraging this thoughtful behaviour, it's lovely.

Words of the Week

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!

le, je, de, me, te

Bonus words: ne, se

In language, we are beginning to read in French by finding the sounds and words we are learning daily in the morning message. Students enjoy coming up to circle letters with their personal whiteboard marker! We write regularly in our journals, answering a simple question by completing a sentence starter. We are also learning new poems and songs all the time, and have started making a picture card for each one to build our menu of poems we know! Ask your student to perform their favourite song or French poem so far!

In science right now, we are talking about the seasons. We have already sorted some of baby Wales' clothes into seasonal bins and talked and written about our favourite activities in each season. We will be doing some fun 3D art as part of this investigation, and talking about what animals do as well.

In math, we are working on number sense, and starting to associate the French number words (written) with the number or a representation (drawing or collection) of the number. Lots of practice and games. See if you can do all your counting in French at home, for instance when counting out your move in a board game.

In art, we are talking about colours (and learning that vocab as we go). We did a stunning colour mixing art project (one of my favourites) using paint, oil pastels in only the primary colours and bingo markers. Students also helped me make posters for each colour to put on our word wall.

Take care for now!

Tamara

Accessing Google Classroom

 Dear parents,

If it is your first time using Google Classroom with your child, and you didn't use their TDSB email address last year, the following link may be helpful to you.

Google Classroom Student Login Instructions

You will need the class code I sent home on the green note, and your child's student number. Email me if you can't find it.

Thanks!

Please Join Google Classroom!

Dear parents,

In the case that we need to go to online school in a hurry, I want to make sure that we are all set up on Google Classroom. I have sent invitations to each student at their TDSB email address. I think you probably have this set up from last year. For most students, their email is firstname.lastname@student.tdsb.on.ca, though some of us have the extra '2' after our last name. Please email me if you have forgotten your password or email address.

Once you are in your student's email, you can click on my email and accept the invitation to Google Classroom. Once your student is in, you can add yourselves, or I will start adding parents using the emails you provided on your letters to me.

Should we ever need to use Google Meet for school, the link is already there at the top of the Classroom screen, and I will add information and work as needed. For now, let's just make sure everyone is able to access it and I'll keep putting my energy into our physical classroom.

Thanks for supporting our Words of the Week routine. Almost everyone had their cahier here today to glue in the next set of words. We have more a words this week, but a bit more complicated. Students loved making their own flashcards for these words today, and brought them home with tons of ideas for how to use them. Charades, guessing games, memory, saying the word by looking at the picture. Using pictures to recall high frequency words is a good strategy for beginning readers!

arbre, balle, classe, papa, table

Bonus words: maman, animal

Thanks also to everyone who has returned their green letter to me and their form allowing me to post pictures here. If you haven't received this yet, please have another look in your student's pochette tonight. I reminded them to give it to you as well! I've really enjoyed reading your letters and it does really help me to get to know and support our students. Merci!

Here are a couple students playing a game today to compare numbers - who rolls the number that is "plus grand"? We had a ton of fun with these giant dice!

And here are just a few students presenting their number booklets to the class. Almost everyone who had completed it this day, came up to the front and read their book to the class. They keep asking when they can bring this home to show you, I just like to admire our work for a while! Soon!

Getting Started

Dear parents,

I hope you are well and that your students are enjoying being back at school. Things are going well here! I've been impressed with how quickly we've learned our new routines and how excited and focused our class is on doing their work. 

We have started working on French vowel sounds, to help us with our reading, our words of the week are underway and we are up to 8 minutes of focused silent reading that we can do at school.

We have started reviewing our French numbers, and are working on representing some small numbers in a booklet of our own (our first little story - we are excited!).

We have also gotten into science with a lesson about day and night. We pulled out the globe and got a student to be the sun so that we could see how day time for us means night time for others. We also made spinners using plates to show day and night activities. Students were so excited about this activity that they wanted to bring it home right away! I've managed to put a few up to display! (It is neat how it shows the sun setting on the activity, but it's still there since it's daytime for others.) You may like to continue talking about the sun and moon and where they are when we can't see them!

Thanks for all your help with drop-off and pick-up. I'll get to know you better soon, but for now, thanks for coming right up to our class and ensuring your student says bye before leaving. It's so helpful!

Also, thank you for your understanding when I need to be away. I seem to have many appointments popping up right now for myself and baby, but trying to keep them to half days as much as possible!

Today I've sent home a little form asking whether I can post student pictures on this blog. Parents have often enjoyed seeing their kids in action at school, and especially now that I can't welcome you in. No worries if you prefer not to give permission, I understand. Please return this either way so that I know - I already have a few pictures from the first week!

Many thanks, Tamara

 

Words of the Week

Welcome to online Words of the Week! 

As I mentioned in my letter, each week we will be focusing on a French vowel, and will have 5 words of the week that use it. 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.

If you find it 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. 

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! 

Today we brought home our first list of words. We already used magnet letters at school to practice the words, and talked about different ways we could practice at home (playdough, write with a stick in the dirt, make a memory game... some of us had amazing ideas!). Students know that they can keep their words at home all week to practice, and bring their book back next Monday in anticipation of the next set. Thanks for your help!

a, la, ma, ta, va 

Bonus words: sa, Tamara

Dear former friends

Dear former families from Rooms 113 or even 317,

I hope you are all doing very well. If you are getting this email, it is because you had subscribed to automatic blog emails while you were in my class. To stop receiving these every time I post, you will need to scroll to the bottom of the email and click "unsubscribe" and follow the instructions. Unfortunately I cannot do this for you.

Thanks and have a great new school year!

Mme Mitchell

Bienvenue!

Welcome Salle 213 families!

I've enjoyed setting up our new classroom and can't wait to get to know you! 

For now, here is our online First Day Newsletter. 

 A Day in the Life of a First Grader in Salle 213

Welcome parents and students of Salle 213,

My name is Tamara Mitchell, and I will be your child’s teacher this year at Dewson Public School. I started my education, like your child, in a French Immersion program in Bowmanville, Ontario. I also participated in an exchange trip to France. I come from a very musical family and look forward to sharing my experiences with the class. 

I recently became a proud mother to my son, Wales, who arrived right as Covid hit, in March 2020. I came back this past March but we soon went back to online school. I’m looking forward to being back at school hopefully for the full year, learning about each of my students and creating a community of learners in our classroom. 

Our school day will contain several components that are outlined in the following pages. In addition, we will be establishing a few routines in our classroom, which are discussed later in this letter. I thank you for taking the time to read and discuss this information with your child. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or concerns. I welcome your communication and will respond as soon as I can.

This newsletter and more will be posted on our class blog (see communication). Please inform me if you cannot access the blog as I will try to limit my use of paper newsletters after today!

Yours in sharing the caring of our children,

Tamara Mitchell, B. Mus. (Hon), M. Ed., B. Ed. (OISE)

Subject Components

Français

All instruction will take place in French. Each day we will devote a large block of time to our literacy components (these include reading, writing, speaking and listening, with an emphasis on developing French vocabulary). We will use elements of a program called ‘The Daily 5’ or ‘Les 5 au quotidien’. The Daily 5 is a structured language program that helps students develop the daily habits of reading, writing, and working with peers that will lead to a lifetime of independent literacy. The 5 elements of the program are: Read to Self, Read with Someone (buddy reading, if possible), Listen to Reading, Work on Writing and Word Work. In September, we will begin establishing each of these components.

Once the components are established, students will be able to work independently or in small groups on an activity while I work with a small group on their particular learning needs. Conferences enable me to assess students’ understanding and abilities and give students more focused instruction. 

*Please note that the references to small group work are dependent on Covid related regulations and may not be possible this year.

Math

Our math periods will include the following components:

Before the Problem Solving (Introduction to today’s work)

The class engages in an activity or solves a sample problem that will help them recall prior learning related to the concept being taught. 

Once students are ‘warmed up,’ they are given a problem to solve or an activity designed to build their knowledge related to the unit of study. Before beginning, students discuss the problem or activity, paraphrase instructions and ensure that they understand the task at hand and their responsibilities. They may begin to orally plan the strategies that they will use to solve the problem or predict outcomes.

During the Problem Solving

Students work with a partner or in a small group, if possible, to solve the problem or complete the activity. During this time, I may confer with individuals to assess their skills, knowledge and needs, or I may support small groups of students with similar learning needs. 

Students who complete the activity early are provided with an extension to the day’s work. For example, they may be asked to:

• try to find another possible way to solve the problem;

• draw or write a sentence explaining what they did.

After Problem Solving

Students share and discuss their solutions and approaches to the problem/activity. Students learn to evaluate critically (and kindly) the validity and efficiency of the range of approaches demonstrated by their peers. Together we summarize the main points of the discussion and ensure that everyone understands what was agreed upon. I may demonstrate a particular strategy at the end of the lesson and give students another opportunity to apply their learning the following day.

Science and Social Studies

Students work on Science or Social Studies activities related to the current unit of study. Both Science and Social Studies will be highly linked to our literacy component. I will make an effort to provide a wide selection of books related to our current unit of study for students’ use during literacy periods. There will be a great deal of hands-on exploration in science in particular.

The Arts & Physical Education

Visual art will be integrated into many units of study this year. Students will have opportunities to study the work of well-known artists, show feelings and understanding through art, and work independently on their own creative pieces. Gym, dance, drama and music will be provided by Mr. Lee this year. We will supplement these programs with music and drama activities in class and 20 minutes of daily physical activity (DPA or APQ) on non-gym/dance days. 

The following schedule may help you pack for school each day, but know that our schedule may change if classes need to be rearranged. A complete and updated daily schedule will be provided ASAP. Please ensure that your child has running shoes at school every day (even on non-gym days). These can be left in Salle 113’s shoe bag unless you need them to be brought home. 

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Outdoor HPE & Arts with Mr. Lee in AM	DPA	Outdoor HPE & Arts with Mr. Lee in PM	DPA	DPA

If you are interested in learning more about specific curriculum expectations, please visit the Ministry of Education’s Website: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/

Other Routines & Information

Community “Circle”

Everyone in Salle 213, including myself, is part of a community of learners. It takes time to build a community that is inclusive, supportive and appreciative, but this is our goal. We will be participating in many fun community-building activities as a class, as well as daily discussions about how we are doing, how our routines are going and problem solving of any issues.

Expectations

On the first day of school, we co-created our own set of classroom agreements and signed a class contract that we will refer to throughout the coming weeks and school year. Our agreements center around the following principles:

• attentive listening (on écoute)

• active participation (on participe)

• mutual respect (yourself, others, materials) (on est respectueux)

• appreciation & positivity (on dit des choses gentilles)

We will continue to discuss what each agreement looks like. For example, attentive listening means eyes up, hands to yourself and we raise our hand to share. I would appreciate you taking the time to review these agreements with your child.

At-home-work

While there will be no “homework” in the traditional sense this year, there are many ways that you can support your child’s learning at home. Many children are excited to start school and have homework. If you’d like to say, “Mme Mitchell gave us this homework”, that’s fine by me!

First, it is crucial that all students develop a consistent reading routine at home. Students are welcome and encouraged to take a book home everyday to read with a parent or guardian. Reading at home makes a huge difference in a child’s development as a reader, and reading together with a loved one helps children develop an enjoyment and love of reading! There are tips for establishing a reading routine, as well as a link to the TDSB Homework Policy, posted on the class blog. In November, we will begin our formal borrow-a-book system and I’ll provide information about it at that time.

In addition to reading, children will have 5 words of the week beginning next week. These will be high frequency words which children should be able to recognize quickly, regardless of the context (like jumping-off points for reading). Grade 1 words will match the sound we are focusing on at school so that students can practice what they are learning. Words will come home every Tuesday and will be posted on the blog as well. This week, and regularly on the blog, I will provide ideas for how to work with these words at home. The goal is to spend a few minutes playing with these words every day so that your student would be able to recognize them quickly in a sentence.

Finally, I think it is very valuable to talk to your child about what they have done at school. You may want to expand on what we have done, or review it. I hope that you will find my blog to be an excellent tool for keeping up with the class. I will make every effort to give you conversation starters and specific questions you can ask to get your child talking!

Bravo!

I believe in recognizing students for the great things they do at school. The Bravo! note gives me an opportunity to write a short note to students to thank them for an act of kindness or particularly good behaviour (for example, helping a friend or helping to tidy up even when it wasn’t their work area). I will send these notes home, and I hope you enjoy reading them with your child!

Class Blog & Communication

I have created a blog for Salle 213. This will enable me to provide parents with current information on what we are working on in class, special events happening at Dewson, and other reminders! You can access the blog at www.mllemitchell.blogspot.com. I update it frequently so please check at least once a week.

Another valuable form of communication between yourself, your child and me, is the communication pochette. I have provided each child with a zipper pocket that they can keep and hopefully reuse next year. All I ask is that you replace it should it ever get lost (they are available for $1.50 at the dollar store). Any notes, forms or work will be sent home in the pocket, size permitting. Please return forms or send notes to me via the pocket - I will teach students how to use their pocket and place any mail for me in my mailbox each morning. Please ensure that any forms or money you are sending has your student’s name on it, as there is usually a delay between when I receive mail and when I can go through it with a checklist. Try to make it your child’s responsibility to unpack his/her pocket every morning at school and evening at home, and put it in his/her bag for the next day. This is a great way to start teaching your child how to stay organized. 

The best way to reach me is via email at tamara.mitchell2@tdsb.on.ca (don’t forget the 2). I will return emails as soon as I have a minute during school days. You can also send a note in the communication pocket or leave me a message at the school (416-393-9120).

At this time, I am not able to welcome parents into the classroom to support our students. If this changes at some point in the year, I will let you know. This is one thing I really miss!

Allergies

Please inform me of any allergies or medical conditions your child has, and if they are bringing a puffer, Epi-Pen or other medication to school. All students are to refrain from bringing any products containing peanuts to school. Some children in our class and school have severe allergies to these products. Thank you in advance.

Getting ready, labeling & supplies

To limit lost items at school, please remember to label your child’s belongings (e.g., lunch bag, hat, boots & shoes). Thank you! I will provide supplies for every student, however as we are still attempting to reduce sharing and contact, students are welcome to bring a pencil case with extra pencils, erasers, crayons or other writing or drawing materials they like or might go through quickly. Please remind your student to leave other home things at home.

In grade 1 we expect students to prepare themselves for recess with very minimal assistance. Please practice shoe-tying and zippering skills at home. This will help your child, and our class, get to recess and pick-up on time. On rainy days, an extra pair of socks (or even two) is a great idea. If you like, your child can keep a little bag of clothes on their hook in case they need them. Finally, please send a (labeled) reusable water bottle to school as we are no longer drinking directly from water fountains. I will insist that these come home at least every Friday to be washed. Thanks!

Covid Considerations

While we hope to have as normal a year as possible, we need to stay safe and remain prepared for changes. Here are a few Covid-related safety measures and routines:

• Daily health screening, which you may do on the app or with a form (beginning tomorrow).

• We must ALL wear masks indoors unless we are eating.

• During lunch in class, we will remove masks, but MUST remain seated and silent. I will show great French videos to support us in following this rule and making lunch time more engaging.

• We must all sanitize or wash hands when entering the classroom, before and after eating or sharing materials.

• Any shared materials (such as books) will be sanitized or removed from use for a week, 

• As much as reasonably possible, we will limit contact, especially with other cohorts.

• Please keep your child home if they have any of the symptoms on the updated list. I know this is difficult - I have had to keep my son home a few times and it’s no fun to get him tested and is inconvenient for my work life, but the more careful we are, the more likely we can keep each other healthy, and schools open.

• In the case that we do need to go online, we will use Google Classroom and Meet. Once I have this set up, I will post instructions on how to get there. I currently don’t plan to use our Google Classroom unless needed, as I think it will be more convenient for you to just check the blog for in-class updates.

On this blog

Just by way of introduction...

When you look at this blog on your phone or tablet, you likely only see my posts. Is that you right now??

If you look at the blog from a computer screen, you will notice columns to the right and left that contain more information, reminders and links. Please check the blog from your computer from time to time!

In the column to your left, you will see the To-Do List (friendly reminders of what's coming up or needs to be returned) followed by my "Wish List". I am always collecting things that I think could be useful at school. Most often, these things would otherwise be garbage, so it’s nice to be able to recycle them and use them in our learning. If at any point you are getting rid of any of the listed items, please send them to school with your child instead and I will store them and put them to good use! Merci!

In the column to the right, you will see several link lists organized by subject area. Please explore the online resources available to us at your leisure, and if you find any others, please send me the address so I can check it out! In particular, I have added many sites that allow you and your child to listen to French words and stories. If you ever have trouble navigating a page or finding the actual thing you're supposed to listen to, please just ask!

Hope you enjoy!

Tamara

Supporting your child with reading

 Dear at-home-teachers,

In the first day newsletter, I stress the importance of developing an at-home reading routine. I’m sure that many families already have some routines in place, such as reading to your child before bed. If I may, I’d like to share some tips that I’ve learned in the last few years - many of these come from experienced teachers and other experts in the area of literacy. 

• I suggest 5-10 minutes a day to begin. You can adjust the length of time as your child grows as a reader, or as you settle into a school-day routine.
• Pick a time when your child can focus. Every child loves to be cuddled and read to before bed - don’t turn this lovely time into work. Pick first thing in the morning, or as dinner is cooking, for example. 
• Do it everyday! Sometimes your child won’t want to, and sometimes you won’t want to. Sometimes you will be very busy and it will seem like an impossible task. Try to be consistent with the time of day and treat it with the same importance as eating a meal or brushing your teeth.
• At first, it will be you doing the bulk of the reading while you help your child review the sounds we are working on at school. Make sure they are involved in the reading as much as they can be, for example, ask them to look for letters or sounds (e.g., “a”). Ask them to tell you what’s happening in the pictures, or guess what will happen next or how the story will end. Ask them to look for words of the week before you begin reading.
• You can read in English too! You don’t need my permission to read to your kids in English, or whatever language you speak at home. Kids can learn multiple languages simultaneously. Because reading and word work is the only at-home-work that I assign, I would love for every family to read at least 1 short French book everyday, but what you read in other languages will also contribute to your child’s growth as a reader.
• But I don’t speak French! Neither did my parents. I think that you’ll find that you are able to follow along and learn along with your child for at least the first few years. I’ll try to explain what I’m teaching the children via the blog so that you can be their “at-home” teacher. Without knowing a syllable of French, you can still work on letter names, holding a pencil properly, tracing letters neatly and in the lines and discuss the pictures in French books.
• Above all, make sure it’s manageable for you and your family. Working with your child is important, but it should always be enjoyable. If it becomes overwhelming, shorten the amount of time, do a few shorter segments, play reading games, take turns reading or talk to me and we can brainstorm solutions together.

I thank you in advance for all your amazing help and dedication this year. Your efforts at home will go a long way and contribute greatly to your child’s success!