I hope you had a great long weekend!
We're getting right back into things with more words of the week, more work on our newest writing project and we're going to wrap up our first math and social studies (gr.1) units so that we can move on to new things!
Before I tell you about all of that, let me just explain the package you're getting tonight. Together with our entire primary team, I have been working hard to pre-plan and book all of our major field trips for the year. We hope it will be helpful to have these dates up front so that you can mark your calendars, send in one lump payment, and plan any days that you may need off work in order to join us. Our three trips this year will be to the Hindu Temple BAPS Shri Swaminarayan mandir for a celebration of Diwali (October 28th), a trip to the High Park Nature Centre for a science workshop on the changing seasons (November 22nd), and later, a full day adventure to the Ontario Science Centre for a hands-on Energy workshop and IMAX movie (May 5th)! Please do take the time to read the full letter you're getting to learn more about each individual trip.
We are asking that you please send in all forms and payment for the three trips at this time and then we will not have to bug you each time. We will, of course, send reminders closer to each date. The first two (pink) pages of the package are for you to keep at home. You will probably want this information later. Please send in the final 2 green pages (3 permission forms) with the complete payment of $40. This does sound like a lot, but it does cover all 3 trips, including bus transportation for 2 of the trips. If this presents a hardship for your family, please don't hesitate to speak to me.
Permission forms and payment is due by October 25th at the very latest. Please note that this is only a few days before the first trip, so please be prompt.
If you are interested in volunteering on any of the 3 trips, please indicate this on the correct permission form. We will try to arrange volunteers in advance and we will confirm again closer to the dates. Thanks in advance!
Now then, a little update...
For the first time, but not the last time, I am introducing a special "grade 2" sound in our words of the week. So far, grade 1s and 2s have studied the same letter sounds even though their words have been different. However, I do need to find some time to introduce grade 2 students to some more complex sounds that they may not have learned in grade 1. It makes sense to do so this week because the sounds are similar. Grade 1s were in the room with us, so they are welcome to use the grade 2 words as extra bonus words this week!
Words of the Week
We have more i
words this week, and in addition, a few y’s,
which make the same sound. Keep making flashcards with pictures and
underlining. “Y” doesn’t look like it should be a word, but it actually is,
though the rules around using it can get complicated. Your student will see it
often used, and use it, in the common phrase “il y a”. Note: In
the word “famille”, the final ‘lle’ are not really heard. They add a bit of a
“ye” sound I guess, but for your practice purposes, it would be better to not
pronounce them at all, then to add a regular L sound. :)
Grade 1 words: y, bicyclette, fini, petit, famille
Bonus words: stylo, pizza
Grade 2s are working with words that have the ending -ille. This makes essentially the same sound as plain i, except you might hear a little "ye" sound at the end. Because you don't hear all of the letters distinctly, it is useful to memorize the spelling of a few often-used words with this spelling pattern. The final word, mouillé (meaning wet) is an adjective. You only need the final e, in parentheses, if you are describing a girl or feminine object. For example, La fille s'est mouillée sous la pluie. Don't spend too much time worrying about this when helping your child, we haven't discussed adjectives at all this year.
Grade 2 words: fille, famille, grenouille, cuillère, mouillé(e)
In art, in addition to the leaf art I told you about last week, students have created collages using only the primary colours. They look great. We will be using the collage technique to illustrate our "Citrouilleville" stories as well!
We are lucky to have 2 moms coming in regularly (and sometimes my own mom likes to visit too... she's a teacher in Bowmanville) to help us learn how to correctly play some of our classroom games during our morning reading time. I have noticed that students are, indeed, choosing to play these games together during free time, where they had not been before. Yay!
During reading time, free time and any other moments when students are working independently, I have been madly trying to meet with every student to check on a few beginning of the year things - their letters, beginning reading skills, numbers and counting. Once I finish this, we will move on to our second math unit on patterning.
Grade 1 students are also finishing up our big social studies projects. We are completing this unit with a look back on everything we have touched on and each student has presented one part of their own project to the group. Students had a chance to rehearse their presentations in order to ask for help with unknown French words. We also talked about what goes into a good presentation - a strong voice, knowing what you want to say and pointing to information on your poster. Everyone did a great job, despite maybe feeling nervous about their first grade 1 presentation. Our audience members were VERY supportive, and had something nice to say about every single presentation!
Next week we will change gears and jump into science!
Alright, that's it for now! Have a great week,
Tamara