What we're up to

Well, the transition from one class to two went very well. Everyone seemed happy on Friday and we said "Hi" as our classes passed in the hall and at recess. The remaining Area 24 students and I worked together to write a letter to each of the departed students saying that they were missed, but hopefully having a good time in their new class.

Our new class seems very small, even though it is now a regular size. We shifted around the hall tags and mailboxes to give everyone some space. We also have new listening spots on the carpet and everyone has their own assigned desk. Our places are never permanent, but ask your student who they are sitting with for now.

Here's what we're working on at the moment:

Language
Every morning we begin with our carpet routine. We practice saying the date and work on reading by hunting for the current week's sound in the message and starting to put sounds together. This is, perhaps, the most important part of the day (at least when it comes to learning to read), so please try to be on time for school!
Then, everyone has time to read independently. We have been working on developing our reading muscles by gradually increasing the amount of time that we read for. We are up to 12  15 minutes a day now of focused, quiet reading. When our reading is well established, we will open a listening centre and computer centre during this time, and everyone will have a turn at each at least once a month.

Every week we add words to our word wall and personal dictionaries, which can be very helpful during writing periods. Students have already written a few journal entries and aren't afraid to sound out words as best they can. Way to go!

Math
This month we are working on counting and the beginnings of addition and subtraction (using the words "plus" and "moins" - not using symbols or number sentences). Skip counting by 2, 5 and 10 is something that will come in useful later on. We've been talking about things that come in pairs, and figuring out how many shoes it would take to make 16 pairs, and vice versa. We'll continue playing some games to practice this. You can review your numbers and practice skip counting at home as well!

Social Studies
We are beginning with a unit on Changing Roles and Responsibilities. This fits in nicely with the typical beginning of the year discussions around school rules, class jobs and families. I may ask students to do a little home "research" to help us make connections between different contexts.

Visual Art
Our first major project involved colour mixing. It will be up on the hall bulletin board soon - ask your artist how he/she made it. We began this project by reading the book "Petit bleu et petit jaune". There is a YouTube video of it in the Language links section. Check it out (so cute)!

I think that's it for right now. Don't forget to remind your student to bring their dictée cahier Tuesday and their library book by Friday. I look forward to meeting you properly at curriculum night next week. I would like to take a few minutes to tell you about a few classroom initiatives in person, so I'll give two short presentations beginning at 6:10 and 6:40 (same thing both times so that you can get to multiple classrooms). You'll also have the opportunity to look around the classroom and see some of your child's work. The kids are, of course, welcome to come show you around.

See you soon,
Tamara