In the past two weeks we've been learning about how to write a procedure, or instructions. As mentioned, students worked in partners to explain the steps for doing an everyday task, with the goal in mind of helping kindergarten students learn how to be successful in grade 1. Some things we've explained are how to go to the washroom, how to get dressed for recess, how to borrow books and how to use the listening centre.
In writing our instructions, we referred to our success criteria, which outline the 5 parts of a good procedure. We always begin with a title (starting with the word Comment), then a list of the things we need, next the steps and drawings that help to explain the steps, and finally a word of advice in case something goes wrong (un conseil).
During this project, we also began learning to edit our work a little, using feedback from the teacher and checking that we have the appropriate upper-case letters, petits points, and that we are using our dictionaries and classroom resources to check spelling here and there. We have and will be applying what we learn about editing to all of our future writing work.
Today, students had an opportunity to look at their rubric for their partner instructions to see how they did. I used the same rubric that I will use for their individual procedure project so that they know exactly what they can work on in order to be successful. They are bringing this rubric and a copy of their partner instructions home to show you. You'll notice that some areas are crossed off - this is because this project was done by two people and I didn't think it fair to assign the same level for sounding out and printing two both people, when usually one partner did more writing and the other did more drawing. All groups have been successful so far in their procedures, but looking at this rubric will give you a good idea of how the expectations for writing are progressing as we approach the half-way point of the year!
In math, we've continued working on data management by learning how to conduct our own survey. Students are able to think of a question (e.g., What's your favourite colour?), three answer choices, and create a tally chart for keeping track of responses. Surveyors have earned lots of jetons in the last week by asking each other their questions in French! This year, I tried something new, I had students create their own bar graphs in their math journals to represent their findings, rather than giving them a pre-made template. I was impressed at how successful students were. They took all the tips I gave them and remembered what we had learned about making an organized diagram (e.g., using a ruler). This week we will do on final graphing project, which will involve each student planning and conducting one final survey and graphing the results in two different ways.
Thanks to all the parents who have shared their bills and newspaper articles with their children and with our class. It's always nice to be able to make the connection to how these skills are used when we grow up!
Three final things:
1. A reminder that this Friday is our second skating adventure. If you're coming with us, please come up to class with your student at 9:00am. If you are on the schedule, but are no longer able to come, please let me know. Thanks! Students will, again, need their skates and helmet in a bag that they can carry. Everything else will be left at school.
2. Every so often our glue bottles need to be refilled and the caps rinsed out. It is that time. If you have an hour of time that you can spare to sit by our sink and help with this boring job I will be eternally grateful. Hot drink of your choice will be provided and of course you can also spend some time helping in class if you like. Please email me!
3. Report cards are coming up! We are beginning to plan interviews once again. I believe Mme Robinson is sending out the interview form tonight via email. If you are unable to receive the form via email and get it back to me, please let me know ASAP and I'll get you a hard copy. Interview requests are due back to me Monday Feb. 8. Thanks!
Words of the Week
ça, garçon, glaçon, le chat, le chien, le cochon
Bonus words: la vache, le cheval
The letter C can
make three different sounds in French. On its own it can be either soft (‘s’)
or hard (‘k’). The vowel that follows can help you decide which it is, but
there are always exceptions. In general, a c
followed by an e, i, or y is soft. A c followed
by a, o, or u is hard. When a c has that funny little thing that
looks like a 5 under it (called a cédille)
it is always soft. You’ll see in our words with c-cédille that those c’s would normally be hard, but the cédille breaks the
rule. This is a lot to remember, so I
haven’t shared all this with the kids, they just know that ç makes ‘s’.
The third sound that c
can make, when followed by h, is ‘ch’ - sounds like the English ‘sh’.
ça, garçon, glaçon, le chat, le chien, le cochon
Bonus words: la vache, le cheval