Wednesday, 1 February 2017

Words & Photos

Words of the Week
Like in English, another way to make the ‘k’ sound in French is with ‘q+u’.
Most of the words that begin with ‘qu’ are question words. In English, we think of the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why). In French, it’s the 4 Q’s: Qui, Quoi, Quand, Que, Pourquoi (and Où).
When you read stories, take time to discuss them using these words. Who was it about? (Qui), Where and when did it take place? ( & Quand), What happened? (Quoi/Qu’est-ce que), Why did this event happen? (Pourquoi)
This is a good habit to get into, and will help us write complete stories of our own later this term.

Grade 2s, be careful!! 
Que, as in parce que and queue, sound exactly the same, but they mean different things. Queue means, the tail (e.g., of an animal), or it can mean to line up ("faire la queue"). 
When we do our dictée this week, I will say your words in a sentence and cross my fingers that you select the correct que!

Grade 1: que, qui, quoi, quel, quand, quatre
Bonus words: pourquoi, qu’est-ce que
Grade 2: parce que, qui, quatre, la queue, 
est-ce que … ?


Here are some pictures from our last skate! Thanks again to all our parent volunteers, including Mr. Mitchell for leading us in some fun drills!









Oh, and it turns out, Mr. G (below), is actually a competitive figure skater!! Who knew?!


Here are our grade 1 scientists testing materials to see whether they float or sink. There were a few surprises! Ask your student if they made any predictions that proved to be incorrect (scientists like learning from their wrong predictions). In particular, ask about the orange and the oil! The scientists might be motivated to test other liquids to see if they float, sink or mix! I'd love to hear about these at-home experiments.




Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Trash Theatre *Pictures added

Monday and Tuesday were our first two workshops with Crystal and Liam, from Trash Theatre. We learned that they like to use recycled and natural materials to create the props for improvized plays they put on, and this is what we will be doing together. In our first session, we got to learn about, see and touch some amazing natural wonders that Crystal and Liam have collected, such as owl pellets, fossilized dinosaur poop, turtle shells and a variety of animal skulls. Ask your nature ninja what other cool objects we saw!


In our second session, we used the cardboard you've sent in to begin making some masks and other props for our eventual plays. Many thanks to our grade 5/6 helpers for supporting us with the cutting etc.


We will continue our work with Trash Theatre next Tuesday and the performance will take place sometime on Wednesday (TBA).

Thursday, 26 January 2017

Trash Theatre

Dear Salle 211 families,

We were very sad today to say au revoir to Joah, whose family is on a plane right now to the Netherlands for the remainder of this year. We sent him off with some kind words, homemade cards and a little treat. We hope to remain in touch with Joah until he returns next winter. Have a wonderful adventure, Joah!

As you may know, each class at Dewson has the opportunity to work with a visiting artist at some point during the year, and it's almost our turn!!
Over the next 2 weeks, we will have 4 sessions with Trash Theatre. I don't know much, but I hear it's something to do with creating art and drama using natural and recycled materials. I'm sure it will be very exciting!

I have two favours to ask with regards to these workshops.
1) We need each student to bring in a thin cardboard box for art purposes. A cereal or cracker box would work perfectly. If you have more than one sitting around, please send them in for others who may forget.
2) We need some help during two of the sessions. If you are available at one or both of these times, please let me know. We would very much appreciate the extra hands!
Tuesday January 31, 12:45-2:00 pm
Tuesday February 7, 12:45-2:00 pm

We will let you know when the final performance will take place (some time on Wednesday the 8th).
We would love to have an audience!