Parent Rep

Dear parents,
It has come to my attention that we currently only have one parent rep for our class. It would be nice to have two. This role includes attending parent council meetings (there is one tomorrow - Thursday - evening), passing on information to other parents, and helping to organize some school events, as needed. I'm told by our Principal that, aside from meetings, he has only assigned one task so far, so I don't think it requires much time.
If you are interested in bring a rep for room 101 for the duration of the school year, please let me know and I will pass on your name to the office.
Many thanks!

Scholastic

Dear parents,
Scholastic orders for January are due tomorrow. I realize I have been terrible at recommending selections from the French catalogues. Here are a few good ones from this month:
- #22F5 "Les petits malheurs de David" - We've read a David story, and they are simple, funny and well-liked by this age group!
- #27F5 "Comptez les bonhommes" - A cute little winter math game to support learning French number names and symbols.
- #31F5 "Thelma la licorne" - Unicorns are a big deal right now. Whenever we sing "Sur le Pont D'Avignon", you better believe there's a unicorn on that bridge! Oh, and this comes with a stuffed unicorn.

Happy Reading!

Bonne Année!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all enjoyed some time off and are looking forward to 2019! We were completely spoiled by le Père Noël who left us lots of new drawing materials (which we had asked for), as well as lots of new toys for our classroom. We have enjoyed playing with them already!

It was a shockingly quiet week with many students still away, but we tried to take advantage of our class size by doing some activities that are easier with a small group. For instance, we played a version of Twister, using our learning carpet, where we had to touch various letters, numbers, pictures and colours all at the same time! We also learned some skipping games with Mme Diamond, and learned to make some play dough roses (later used in a wedding ceremony). We are looking forward to having all our friends back soon!

We also reviewed an oral story we had heard (Loupscaroux), acted it out, and then started draw it, each student working on just one part of the story. This will be a really cool retell when complete!

Above, the loups are falling asleep as the petites filles sing to them.

A note about our upcoming library outing was sent home on Thursday - please let me know if you can come. I also sent home the Scholastic packages for January. Any orders are due on the 17th (this did not make it on to your calendar).

We will begin our activity bag routine again on Monday. The activities are new, but the routine is the same. Bags are returned the following Monday whether or not you tried the activity (but I hope you do!). I showed the kids the new science experiment that I am testing today, and I think they are really excited to do it themselves.
A couple bags include little books to read, but whereas last term, you read the books to your student, this time, I hope the students will begin reading to YOU! This week we have been discussing some things we can do to help ourselves begin reading. The books I'm sending will be perfect for practising these strategies:
1. Look at the pictures. Do you know any of the things you see in French?
2. Look at the first letter of the word, what sound does it make? Maybe that will help you think of the word.
3. Before reading, look at each page. What do you notice? Do any words repeat?

Most books I send will have a word pattern. After you read the first page, I think you will be surprised that your student can read much of the rest of the book using this strategy.
We have practised all of these strategies in our reading group meetings this week, so I know your students will be prepared to show off their skills.
I hope you enjoy the new activities!

Here are some winter clothes words to review:

Un Manteau

Le Pantalon de neige

Les Mitaines

Un Chapeau

Les Bottes