Trash Theatre Presentation

Hi Parents,

We complete our workshops with Trash Theatre tomorrow (Wednesday). The kids will be putting on an improvised performance using the masks they made and the ideas they've brainstormed about landfills and global warming. You are invited to join us for the performance if you are able. It will take place Wednesday morning at around 11:15 in room 115 (first floor). Hope to see you there!
Here are some pictures from today. Can you guess what animals we are?? (Oh - it was suggested that students might want to choose their outfit for tomorrow to go with their mask or whatever animal they are supposed to be!!)

Today you are also receiving your interview request form for the upcoming report cards. At this time, it is up to you and I to decide whether or not we would like an interview. From my perspective, interviews are a great way to make sure we're all on the same page and have the same goals in mind. Plus, the kids will have a chance this week to reflect on some of their past projects and select something special that they would like to show you. Therefore, please consider yourselves all invited and please bring your students with you when you come. If you would like an interview next week, please return the form to me by THIS Friday at the latest!

You received the February Scholastic catalogues last week, and still have over a week to think about it. Here are my recommendations this month:
No. 28F6 - Mouche-toi, grand méchant loup! - This looks like a variation on The Three Little Pigs, a story familiar to just about all children. Knowing the story, and much of the French vocabulary, will help beginning readers be able to decode a new book.
No. 1F6 - Le costume de Malaika - I'm not familiar with this book, but it is recommended for Black History Month, which we are currently celebrating.

Speaking of celebrations, in addition to Black History Month (which we will talk more about soon), the TDSB is also currently celebrating Chinese New Year! We are celebrating the year of the Rooster, by creating some magnificent art based on Picasso's painting called "A Rooster". We talked a bit about the surrealist style that Picasso was using during this time, and about how he might have sketched the rooster using basic shapes (since we are also working with shapes now in geometry). I admit I was a bit nervous of how our sketches would turn out since this project was recommended for junior students, but actually I was blown away not only by our students' sketches, but also by their fearlessness when it came to trying! These projects are going to be amazing!

Hopefully we'll have our roosters up when you come for your interview, but at the very least, you'll be able to see our completed "Starry Nights". Here's a taste:

OK, what else. Well, I mentioned that we are into geometry now! This is the final math strand before we get a second go at everything again. We are beginning by discovering the characteristics of many shapes. For instance, today we did a concept attainment activity where students had to guess the sorting rules for the 2 D shapes I showed them (four sides / all equal sides) and eventually discovered that a square (and a diamond) would follow both rules and could live in the middle of our Venn diagram. We then practiced drawing PERFECT squares using a ruler and the lines in our math journals to make sure we were right on, and we looked for other shapes that share the quality of having all equal sides. We will look in depth at other shapes and what we can do with them over the coming days.

In language, now that we have a set of instructions done with a partner under our belts, we are all working independently on writing instructions. Grade 1s are all explaining how to build a snowman. Grade 2s are explaining how to make a snack (e.g., a sandwich, cereal, popcorn). I've been impressed at the increasing independence that many writers are showing. Books, dictionaries, posters and word placemats are becoming a popular source of spelling help for students, rather than checking their sounding out with me all the time. Ask your writer to explain to you the steps they are writing out. This will help them solidify their writing plan.

In grade 1 science, we have continued our tests of different materials. Most recently, the scientists built walls using different materials and different block patterns. We tested them for strength and found that an interlocking pattern was much stronger than stacking blocks directly on top of one another. They also correctly predicted (based on a previous experiment), that materials that attach (like lego) would be stronger than materials that do not (like our wooden blocks). We are learning that good scientists are happy to learn from wrong predictions, and use them to make more informed predictions next time.

Looking ahead a bit, I'm excited to share that in March, our class (together with 3 others) will be performing at ArtsFest. This is a celebration of the performing arts put on at a nearby school. Our classes will be performing a song called "On écrit sur les murs". Students have sung this song a little bit in choir, and we are now working on it in our class. We already made up some little actions! More info and forms for this will come home soon. For now, please feel free to encourage your child to listen to it and practice at home. The song is available on YouTube here, as well as the karaoke version.

Words of the Week

The sound ‘in’ is very tricky. I remember sitting around the table with my exchange family trying to match exactly what they said so that I might have a nice French accent!

Your expert French speaker needs no assistance speaking this sound, they know it well. The best way I’ve found to describe it is to start saying the word “kangaroo” but pause on the “an” part. This is approximately the right sound. Note: The last 2 words in the gr.1 list have a pesky e in between the i and n. We already learned what sound e+n makes, but in this case, they make the ‘in’ sound. We still hear the regular i sound as well. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, Très bien!

Grade 1: lapin, la fin, train, vingt, bain,

 rien*, bien*

Bonus words: cinq, dinde

Grade 2s will notice that 'im' makes exactly the same sound as 'in'. The terms impossible and certain will come in very handy when we work on probability later this year!

Grade 2: vingt, impossible, certain, 

j'ai faim, peindre

And now, a message from our librarian:

French Book Fair is next week!

Dear Parents, You and your family are invited to join us in this celebration of literacy.

Every purchase you make, directly benefits our school. Help us add new books and
much-needed resources to our library.
Join us at our French Book Fair and help spark a lifelong love of reading! Your child will bring a flyer home. Do not discard this flyer because it has a free ballot to win 25 dollars worth of books. All you have to do is fill out the ballot and put it in the ballot box located in the library.
Good luck and keep on reading!
Mme Gaudreault

In French!
Chers Parents,
Vous êtes invités avec votre famille à vous joindre à nous pour cette célébration littéraire.
Pour chaque achat que vous effectuerez, Dewson recevra une remise. Aidez les enseignants à acquérir de nouveaux livres et de nouvelles ressources pédagogiques.
Participez au Festival du Livre et encouragez l’amour de la lecture chez les enfants, un plaisir qui durera toute leur vie! Votre enfant va apporter un dépliant du festival chez-vous. Ne le jetez surtout pas! Il y a un coupon pour un tirage d'une valeur de 25$ en livres. Remplissez le coupon et déposez-le à la biblipothèque dans la boite prévue à cet effet.
Bonne chance!

Mme Gaudreault 

French Book Fair:
Where: Dewson Library
When: February 13-16
From 7:30 to 4:30
Thursday: until 7:30