Dear parents,
This morning it was announced that we are expecting some work to be done on the Dewson Field. In the long run, this will make our field a much nicer place to play, but it will require us to be mindful of our safety and of the new boundaries during the construction period. On Monday morning, there may be a large area fenced off where work will be starting. The children are aware of this, but they asked me to remind you through the blog so that you aren't surprised.
In addition, there is a very important note coming home today in the yellow folder. It explains that beginning Monday, grade 1s will eat lunch in the gym with the big kids. We discussed the lunch room rules before going home today, and I will personally get my students settled at their lunch table on Monday. You can help with this transition by reviewing the lunch expectations that were sent home in the package of school forms, and which the children had to sign. Eating in the gym will allow us to keep our desks and floor a LOT cleaner, and will give the kids a break from being in one place for so long!
Some conversation starters for the weekend:
- What did you imagine today in your journal?
- What was one of the funny things in the book about "Si" (What if)
- What are you working on in art? What is the hardest part of making it so far?
- What is a "renardeau"? What happened in the book about the baby fox?
- What songs did you sing at school this week? Can you teach them to me?
- Can you really count from 15 to 1 in French???
Check back soon for more pictures!
Have a great weekend,
Tamara
Friday, 28 September 2012
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Reading Buddies
Salut!
Today was a very exciting day! In the morning, Area 24 participated in the Terry Fox Run around the Dewson field. The weather was perfect for the run, and the children had lots of fun. Ask your child how many laps they did around the field! We counted up all of the money we brought in, and together our class raised $55.23 for cancer research. Thank you!
This afternoon, we began a very exciting partnership with another class. We are teaming up with Mlle Segreto's grade 5 class (my former students!) for reading buddies (les amis de lecture). Every day 3, last period, Mlle Segreto's class will come to Area 24 and help us work on our reading. Each grade 1 student is paired up with one or two grade 5 students.
During reading buddies, the grade 5 students will be teaching grade 1s how to read with a buddy (e.g., how to sit knee to knee, elbow to elbow and hold a book in between) and encouraging them to begin sounding out words. For now, I am asking every pair to read one very simple book with high frequency words that the grade 1s might recognise, and one book that the grade 1 student selects. Often my students ask me to read to them during their independent reading time and, of course, I can't read everyone's book to them at the same time, so this will be really fun for them.
As we learn more sounds, I hope that the older kids will be able to support our class in sounding out more and more words and that by the end of the year, my students will be doing a lot of the reading in simple books. Ask your child who their buddy is and what they read today!
In math news, we have started working more on number sense, beginning with counting, reading numbers, drawing what a number represents, and writing numbers. This is easy stuff to practise at home, in the car, out for a walk... For example, "How many books do we have on this shelf? Can you count them in French?". You can also grab a scrap piece of paper and write a number on it and have your child draw a set of something (e.g., 7 apples) to match the number. Try doing the reverse as well, if you give your child a few grapes as a snack, have them count how many there are and write the number before they eat them! If you notice that your child has written a number backwards, ask them to turn it around right away to avoid forming bad habits.
I noticed a big improvement in backwards counting the last time I mentioned it on the blog! In October we will be challenging ourselves to count backwards all the way from 20! We have already tried starting at 15. Keep up the great work!
Tamara
Today was a very exciting day! In the morning, Area 24 participated in the Terry Fox Run around the Dewson field. The weather was perfect for the run, and the children had lots of fun. Ask your child how many laps they did around the field! We counted up all of the money we brought in, and together our class raised $55.23 for cancer research. Thank you!
This afternoon, we began a very exciting partnership with another class. We are teaming up with Mlle Segreto's grade 5 class (my former students!) for reading buddies (les amis de lecture). Every day 3, last period, Mlle Segreto's class will come to Area 24 and help us work on our reading. Each grade 1 student is paired up with one or two grade 5 students.
During reading buddies, the grade 5 students will be teaching grade 1s how to read with a buddy (e.g., how to sit knee to knee, elbow to elbow and hold a book in between) and encouraging them to begin sounding out words. For now, I am asking every pair to read one very simple book with high frequency words that the grade 1s might recognise, and one book that the grade 1 student selects. Often my students ask me to read to them during their independent reading time and, of course, I can't read everyone's book to them at the same time, so this will be really fun for them.
As we learn more sounds, I hope that the older kids will be able to support our class in sounding out more and more words and that by the end of the year, my students will be doing a lot of the reading in simple books. Ask your child who their buddy is and what they read today!
In math news, we have started working more on number sense, beginning with counting, reading numbers, drawing what a number represents, and writing numbers. This is easy stuff to practise at home, in the car, out for a walk... For example, "How many books do we have on this shelf? Can you count them in French?". You can also grab a scrap piece of paper and write a number on it and have your child draw a set of something (e.g., 7 apples) to match the number. Try doing the reverse as well, if you give your child a few grapes as a snack, have them count how many there are and write the number before they eat them! If you notice that your child has written a number backwards, ask them to turn it around right away to avoid forming bad habits.
I noticed a big improvement in backwards counting the last time I mentioned it on the blog! In October we will be challenging ourselves to count backwards all the way from 20! We have already tried starting at 15. Keep up the great work!
Tamara
Can you help?
Dear parents,
On our first day newsletter slip, a number of you indicated that you would be willing to help in our classroom. I am wondering if I could get a couple volunteers to come in, at your convenience, to help colour code some levelled books to make it easier for the children to identify books that are at their appropriate reading level. It's easy, but time consuming work.
If you have some time in the next week or two, I would be MOST grateful for your help!
Let me know @ tamara.mitchell2@tdsb.on.ca (don't forget the '2')
Merci!
On our first day newsletter slip, a number of you indicated that you would be willing to help in our classroom. I am wondering if I could get a couple volunteers to come in, at your convenience, to help colour code some levelled books to make it easier for the children to identify books that are at their appropriate reading level. It's easy, but time consuming work.
If you have some time in the next week or two, I would be MOST grateful for your help!
Let me know @ tamara.mitchell2@tdsb.on.ca (don't forget the '2')
Merci!
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