You're Invited

Dear parents,
Today you're receiving an invitation to a very special event in June. To celebrate the end of the year, our class would like to welcome you to an open-house and concert on the morning of June 16th (10:45-11:30 am). During this time, your student will give you a guided tour of our classroom, showing and explaining some of their recent work. We will also perform the play we've been working on and some of our daily poems.
I think it will be a nice way to celebrate the hard work we've been doing this year and it is my hope that each child will have at least one person in attendance.
Please return the RSVP by June 8th so that I know how many people to expect. We welcome close family or caregivers, but will only have enough chairs for 1.5 fans/child, so please keep that in mind when inviting additional family members.
Looking forward to seeing you in June!

As we prepare for this special event, our actors may want to practice their play lines at home. Each actor has their own copy of the script. Most kids will be able to memorize their lines quickly, since I wrote down pretty much what they had been making up each time we practiced. The main reason that I went to the trouble of typing it up is so that we would know when it's our turn to speak. If you are practicing with your child, perhaps you could play the other roles so that they get used to who speaks leading up to their line. It is very important that the scripts come back to school each day so that we can practice together. Thanks!

Scholastic packages for June will be coming home this week as well and orders are due on the 8th along with your RSVP. This is your last chance to order Scholastic books to get you through the summer. It is essential that all French Immersion students continue their well-established reading routines over the summer. Without this consistent practice, we quickly forget so much of what we have worked hard to learn! Like I always say, it's like brushing your teeth.
Of course, purchasing books is not the only way to keep reading. The local library is a great resource, and there are plenty of online options - many linked to this blog. I will also post closer to the end of the year about how you can borrow some of my personal classroom books over the summer.

I have not been very good at recommending books from the Club de Lecture catalogue in recent months. Let me do that one last time... this is hard... there are lots of good ones that we can manage...
- #23F0, "Collection Gros Ours" - Not a bad deal for 5 books, so it'll last a while and the language level should be just right for a lot of us.
- #26F0, "Je suis une histoire" - Haven't seen this book before, but since we are excited about writing our own stories right now, this could be fun. I'm hoping it's the sort of thing that encourages inventing our own stories...
- #25F0, "Le moustique" - We know a poem called "Moustique" so this would be a great extension.
- #15F0, "Ensemble Toujours parfait" - Not cheap, but you get a lot of books at varied levels, so it would serve most of us well and would give you lots of summer reading material. If your reader is quite fluent already, this set would likely not be challenging enough. You can always gift them to a younger friend later, right?

Words of the Week

Different again for both grade 1s and 2s this week. 

For the final month of the school year, we are going to focus on some basic grammar rules and verbs. This week we are going to solidify our knowledge of “j’ai” and “je suis”. We've already had these words in previous dictées, so the spelling should be a review. We are now trying to use these words correctly in sentences. It helps to start orally - we usually can tell if something sounds right when we hear it.

Your student’s job is to come up with 5 sentences for each sentence starter. We got started at school today so many students have 1 or more sentence already written down for each starter. 

Festival Preparations

Hi families,
Dewson's famous festival is coming up on Thursday June 8th. I'm sure you've probably been getting/will get many emails about this from the office asking for your help and contributions. Thank you in advance for everything that you do to make this day happen.

Our class has been asked to collect items for the baby-themed gift basket. If you are able to pick up an item to contribute, that would be fantastic. You can send it to school with your child and I'll see that it gets to the right place.

You will also be receiving a yellow paper explaining how the tickets work. There are several options for what and how to purchase. Keep in mind that we let students enjoy the festival beginning at 2:30 under teacher supervision so they may need to have tickets before you are able to get here. For this reason, I think pre-ordering wristbands is MUCH simpler - no lost money or tickets - and they include a drink and burger as well as all obstacle courses and most games. There are still things you may want tickets for, but a wristband would allow students to have all the fun they want while they wait for you and throughout the evening. The last day to return the yellow pre-order form is Monday June 5th.

More info on Festival will be coming closer to the date.

Thanks!
Tamara

Subject Update

Good afternoon parents,

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend!
We've been starting all new units recently, since Mr. G wrapped up units in all subjects before he left. Here's a brief overview:

Language
As you know, we usually work in reading clubs during our reading time every morning. However, I'm currently working on meeting with each reader individually so that I can see just how far they've progressed over the year. Keep up the good reading work at home!
Special Request: If you're reader is currently working on the RED level, please only take one or two books at a time and send them back immediately after mastering. Do not hold on to a bunch. We have very few books left at school and several students on that level.

This week we will begin our final writing project of the year. It will be to plan and write a story with a beginning, middle and end. To support us in this task, we will begin by brainstorming together and completing our own planning templates to help us consider who our characters are and where the story takes place. The hardest part is usually thinking of an idea to run with. We will help each other, and you can help too by talking with your author about what could happen in their story. Thanks!

Math
Last week we started our second measurement unit. This time we are tackling linear measurement as well as weight. We thought about why it's important to learn to measure and came up with quite a few jobs that involve frequent measuring, such as being the cashier that weighs items at the grocery store, being a carpenter or construction worker building houses and designing and making clothing.

So far, we have measured various classroom items using a variety of non-standard units (such as toothpicks or our feet) and we know that the smaller the unit, the more we need. We also learned how to use a ruler with centimetres to measure a length precisely (this is a grade 2 requirement, but some grade 1s are super into it). We will continue to practice measuring length, height and distance this week.

You may remember that I measured everyone way back at the beginning of the school year. Well, we've been re-measured and we all grew by between 3 and 6 (!!) centimetres over the past 8 months. Good job with those veggies!

Grade 1 Science

Our final unit of the year is Living Things. We began by brainstorming all the things we could think of that are alive, and eventually found that they fit into 3 basic categories: plants, animals and humans. We then discussed how we know that these things are alive. What do they have in common? We came up with a list of 5 or 6 things that all living things do, in some way. Ask your scientist what some of these things are. We are even learning a clever little song to help us remember them!

We will spend some time now looking deeper into each category of living thing.

Grade 1 AND 2 Science - PARENTS' EYES ONLY

Since both grade 1s and 2s have science units involving animals, Mme Boukas has invited us to be part of a special event that she is planning for her class. Please see the message below and email me this week if the cost would not be doable for your family. Please don't tell the kids, as it is not confirmed. We know we have spent a lot of $$ on trips this year and want to know if you mind contributing to one last thing.

From Mlle Boukas:
I'd like to have an animal handler come into our classroom near the end of June to wrap up our unit on animals.  The package consists of a presentation including 8-10 exotic animals (native to either Africa or Australia; decision TBD) with an opportunity for students to interact with the animals as well.  The cost would be approximately $8-9 per student.

If everyone is OK with this cost, then I will go ahead and book the presentation, then provide you with the exact amount required.  Please let me know by the end of the week if you are NOT comfortable with the cost.  Lastly, PLEASE don't mention this to your child, as I would like to keep it a surprise for the end of the year! :)  Tentative date for this presentation is June 22.

Thanks!

Words of the Week

Grade 1: Our final sound review for the year!

We have learned that many times, the final consonant on French words is silent, and normally this would be true in the word “allons”. However, when the final consonant is an s, and the next word begins with a vowel, we usually make a liaison. In other words, we use the s to connect the two words - it’s easier to say that way. This occurs here, in the phrase “allons-y” (=let’s go).

allons-y, crayon, continue, rond, un pont, 

foncé, long, onze, monde, ballon

Bonus words: ils font, ils vont

Grade 2: This week is VERY different. The only job to do is sentences - 2 a day. The trick is, I would like students to practice turning positive sentences into negative sentences using the words "ne" and "pas". We practiced this at school today. We know that there should probably be a word (the verb) in between the "ne" and "pas", so if you find them together, say it out loud and see if it really makes sense. The sentences get progressively difficult as you go down my list, so start at the top and we'll do some more practicing at school. It's good to know how to correctly place the "ne __ pas" words within sentences. We usually know how something should sound, but it's still a very common mistake. Here are the sentences to re-write:

Je veux aller au parc.

Je peux jouer le violon.

Bleu est ma couleur préférée.

Une heure a 100 minutes.

J’aime les bananes et les pommes.

J’ai 10 ans.

Piste et Pelouse

Hi parents,
This afternoon was our track and field event. We participated in 7 (!!!) activities including...

Sprint

Long Distance Jog

Bean Bag Toss

Overhand Throw

Running Long Jump

Standing Long Jump

Combo Races

Although staying in our attendance order was an almost impossible task, it was great to see everyone cheering and supporting each other. I think everyone will sleep well tonight!

Our pyjama day (the reward we chose for earning 80 kindness hearts) has been scheduled for next Friday, May 26th. This is the same day as our last show & tell of the year and a special birthday! On this day, students may wear their PJs to school, but please do not allow them to bring pillows, stuffies or other toys (unless it is their show-and-tell). Thanks!

Thanks to the kids for singing to me today (I get older tomorrow). Have a great long weekend!

... Continued

Well, as our prize for earning our 80 kindness hearts, we have voted to have a pyjama day. I'll put this on our calendar and let you know when it will be soon. This week with our concert and track and field, it isn't the ideal time to be wearing pjs to school.
And yes, Friday morning is track and field for primaries. Please ensure students are dressed for success in any weather. Hats, running shoes, athletic clothing, layers and water bottles are recommended.

Tonight, look for your child's April dictée rubric. So sorry for the delay getting that to you - what a busy time! We also have our games. Of course, some students had borrowed bits and pieces from our class to play their games (dice, jetons, coins etc.) and I have returned these to their places in our classroom. I hope they are either able to borrow from your games at home, or come up with their own creative substitutions so that they can keep playing their games.

Since, to my surprise, we did not vote our homework away, words of the week are ON.

Words of the Week

Grade 1: In our previous look at ‘ou’, we learned that “ou” means or. With an accent grave, it sounds the same, but the meaning changes. "Où" means where or refers to a place.

“Je cours” (= I’m running) and “court” (masculine version of short) sound the same (both end with a silent letter). “Court” can also be part of the verb To Run, e.g., “Il court”.

où, nous, vous, la boue, la poule, août, 

le goûter, je cours, court, tout

Bonus words: fourchette, douze

Grade 2: I was impressed with the homework I saw last week on the verb pouvoir. Let's try another one! This week, le verbe faire. I hope students will start to notice some commonalities that will help us memorize spelling patterns. For example, the endings for je  and tu are the same, just as they were with pouvoir. Same for the endings of il, elle, et on. You might also point out that the ending of nous is 'ons', just as it was in "nous pouvons". Once you start noticing these little things, learning other verbs become a LOT easier.

je fais

tu fais

il/ elle/ on fait

nous faisons

vous faites

ils/elles font

Au revoir Mr. G!

Dear families,
Sadly, after a month of working with Mr. G on a daily basis and completing many fun projects with him, we have had to say goodbye. Mr. G has one more year of university to complete and then he will be qualified to teach in a school just like ours. Who knows, maybe he'll be your teacher again someday!
Today we celebrated all the work we have done with Mr. G by presenting our animal reports to each other and playing our math games. Everyone got to play 4 different games and they went splendidly! We'll bring them home very soon to share with you.

We also had the chance to reflect on all the projects that we have done with Mr. G, including our animal reports, our math games, our geometrical structures and many energy experiments (oh ya, turns out plants really do need the sun!). We all chose our favourite and wrote a few words about what we liked and what we learned. We'll put this reflection in our portfolios.

We offered Mr. G a small gift to get him started as he builds his own classroom. Now you're stuck with good old me again... I had better get planning!

Today we also practiced our ArtsFest song in anticipation of Wednesday evening. Don't forget to ask your child for the updated schedule tonight. It's green! Throw that pink one away! I'll see you in the gym Wednesday at 6:40 and not too much before! Please see Friday's post for all the info.

Due to the business of today, we have not brought home our new words of the week, and in fact, the kids and I need to have a little talk tomorrow. Last week we earned our 80th heart on our bucket of kindness, and that was our goal. We will discuss what reward we would like tomorrow, and if it's no homework, I'll save our words for next week. To be continued...

May 17th Concert Info!

Dear families,

Today I sent home a pink sheet with the schedule for next Wednesday's Arts Evening. ...Or at least, what I thought was our schedule. I have just received, as have you, an updated schedule with many changes. Please disregard the pink note entirely and refer to the following schedule, which I will send home in hard-copy on Monday. Sorry for the confusion!

You'll notice that our start time has been delayed. We have been asked not to arrive early as other classes are performing before us and we want them to have the space that they need for their families and friends.

May 17^th Concert Info - Updated!

6:40-6:45 – Arrive at school. Kids should meet me in the gym. There will be no access to our classroom so please hang on to coats or leave them at our meeting place in the gym. Please enter the gym quietly, there may be another performance going on!

6:50 – Performance of our ArtsFest song in the gym.

7:00 – Stay in the gym for grade ½ choir, led by Mr. Tredille & Mr. Greene.

7:05 – Go directly to the library for our dance performance, led by Mme Morgenstern.

7:10 – 7:30 – Please tour the first floor to take in the visual arts displays presented by grade 1 and 2 classes. Our class is displaying our printmaking work and the 3-D sculptures* that we built for geometry. 

*Please take your sculpture home with you!

We ask that students please wear black on the bottom and white on top.

Looking forward to seeing you next Wednesday evening,

Mlle Mitchell

Words, Games, Homework, Reports, oh my!

Hello families,

I'm looking forward to a beautiful, sunny week full of outdoor recesses! I'm also looking forward to next Wednesday, May 17th when I hope to see you all at our Grade 1/2 Arts Evening. Please plan to be here between 6:30-7:30 pm. We especially need the kids to be here so that they can perform for you and all our other guests!
In addition, I'm working on an idea for June 16th - please save the morning if you are able and avoid making appointments for the kids!

This week students are continuing their work on the animal reports that they started last week with Mr. G. So far, we have done some research on what our animal eats, where it lives and other special things about it. We used sticky notes to mark important pages in our books, and we learned how to use a table of contents to speed up our research. Most students are now finishing up their rough drafts, where they are copying the information they found in their books. Grade 1s are being encouraged to write just a sentence or two, and copying from the book is ok. Grade 2s are expected to write a little more for each section, and we've talked about writing it the way we would say it (in other words, using our own words, rather than copying). This is a great skill to begin working on, and many of our young writers already recognize the importance of giving credit when you borrow someone else's hard work.

In math, we are very excited to be designing our own games this week! Last week we played a whole bunch (6!!) of games that helped us predict and measure probability, and helped us use the mathematical language we learned - those grade 2 words of the week. (Ask your player if it's worth it for me to keep buying tea from Tim Hortons during Roll up the Rim and why...)
Today, with Mr. G, we brainstormed ideas for our own games and started planning what we want to create. I know that many students are planning to build board games or card games and they already have a good idea of how the game will work. Please ask your creator what their game is about and what the rules are. This might give us an idea of what we need to write down as we continue our planning tomorrow! After a bit more planning time, students will build a real life version of their game using craft materials. We hope to celebrate Mr. G's last day with us next Monday by having an afternoon of playing each others' games!!

 A few homework notes:
- Grade 1s have a tiny bit of at-home research to do this week for science. It's a simple survey about how you use or conserve energy in your home. We read over all questions today, but the researchers may need a bit of help. They can check as many answers as apply for each question. Please remind them that this must be returned by THURSDAY! This is Mr. G's last science class with us!!
- Grade 2s, and soon 1s, will be working on some frequently used verbs, rather than particular sounds, for words of the week. Hopefully a little at-home practice will help us begin correctly spelling many of the words that we use all the time, but watch out... it depends on the person, or people you are talking to or about!! We will talk about the different endings at school, but know that using the pronoun is important as it dictates which ending must be used, so please remind your speller to include the pronoun every time they write the verb. This change means that grade 2s have 6 sentences to do instead of 5, but you will see there is a LOT of repetition in the words themselves.

Words of the Week

Grade 1:In our review of the ‘é’ sound, we have more examples of masculine and feminine. Many adjectives, including those that end in é, become feminine with the addition of a plain e. If you’re talking about a girl, the e in brackets is for you. If you’re talking about a boy, leave if off. Remember, it doesn’t matter what you are, it’s who (or what) you’re talking about that counts.

épaules, vélo, égal, été, cinéma, fée, 

je décore, j’écris, fâché(e), fatigué(e)

Bonus sentence: Je suis allé(e)...

Grade 2: This week we are working on the verb pouvoir (to be able to). We say "je peux" (I can) ALLLLL the time, and it has already been a word of the week this year, but did you know it's spelled differently if you say "il peut" or "Tamara peut"?? The spelling of the verb depends on who you're talking to ("Est-ce que tu peux m'aider?") or about ("Elles peuvent courir très vite!").

I have listed the verb as 6 different people to write about: je (I), tu (you), il/elle/on (he, she, we or a proper name), nous (we), vous (you, plural), ils/elles (they). 

You will notice some similarities, for instance, peux is spelled the same whether you are taking about me or you, and it's the same for any single person you are talking about in the third person. I've tried to reduce the workload by grouping those together. Please write a sentence for each "person", so 6 sentences. 

je peux

tu peux

il/elle/on peut

nous pouvons

vous pouvez

ils/elles peuvent

An additional note about verbs to ALL parents: Verbs are complex animals to understand, and I won't get into a ton of detail this year. I find that generally, it's easier to think about what sounds right. Most kids will recognize that "nous peut" does not sound right, and they might even know what does just from hearing the language used at school. The information shared above is mostly for your knowledge, but feel free to share it with your student if they seem ready for it. I will get into it much more at school next week when I am the language teacher once again!!

Energy

Hello Scientists!

I hope the kids enjoyed our final big trip of the year to the Science Centre. We watched an amazing IMAX movie called "A Beautiful Planet", played in the KidSpark area and got our hands on lots of fun materials that demonstrated different kids of Energy. We know that Energy makes things move or happen, for example, a light go on, a fan spin or a person able to move around. Ask your scientist how they made things move today!

 Pooped!

This workshop extended on the good work we've been doing in science recently. For example, one of the energy using toys we saw today was a pinwheel, just like the ones we made a few days ago to demonstrate how the wind can be a source of energy. Ask your scientist if they remember what we learned about how the Sun helps create wind.

We also saw a watermill toy in action, very much like the homemade machines that Mr. G built for us the other day, demonstrating the power of water to make things move.

Have a great weekend!

Upcoming trip!

Bonjour Salle 211 families,

This Friday is the big trip we have been looking forward to! We are spending the day at the Ontario Science Centre. I'm super excited for everything we have planned. I will send home a reminder note tomorrow with all the details, but the most important thing is that we are at school at 8:45 am - I repeat, 8:45 am - as we would like to be on buses and leaving by 9:00. This is earlier than when we normally have to be at school, so please make a note of this. We would hate to leave without you. Students need only bring their lunch with them to school on Friday as that is all they will be bringing on the bus. Please meet me in the gym at 8:45 am for attendance. Thanks!

Today you received a pink form about the possibility of hot lunches at Dewson in the future. Please fill out the questionnaire, either in hard copy or it may be available through email, and return to me ASAP (this week). I think this is something that our Council has to get moving on, and I know they want every family's input.

Words of the Week

Gr. 1: A review of all the ‘en’s this week. You’ll notice many of them are I (Je) statements. See if your writer can invent some sentences using these as starters. For example, Je mange une pomme chaque jour.

comment, je pense, ensemble, je mange, 

je chante, je range, je danse, je plante, 

ans, ventre

Bonus words: grand-père, grand-mère

Gr. 2: This week and next, we are working on probability in math. This is a very small, but super fun unit involving a lot of game play, as we learn to predict outcomes using mathematical language. The 5 terms that we need to learn, and which we spent a LOT of time discussing today are:

certain, probable, possible, 

improbable, impossible

These will be our grade 2 words of the week this week. See if you can use them at home in daily conversation. For example, "It is probable that it will rain today, so wear your boots."