Happy long weekend!

Dear families,

I have been hearing about some very exciting long weekend plans. Let's hope the weather comes through for us, and don't forget that there's no school on Monday.

Thank you for all the field trip forms, waivers and money. We are good to go! Thank you also to the many parents who have volunteered their time. You should have received an email from me with the details. If you have not, please contact me. Also, if your plans have changed and you can no longer join us, please let me know.

Before our rock climbing trip, we have our May outing to the College/Shaw library. It is on the calendar and a blue note came home last week. The supply teacher had a couple extra notes, but I'm pretty sure I made just enough. If you did not receive the note, and would like to volunteer, please let me know. This outing is in the afternoon of May 24th.

This Friday marks our very last show and tell day of the year. Thanks for your help preparing your children for their special days. As we wind down, we are trying to squeeze in some final activities that might prepare us for grade 1, having our last turns with our class iPads, and spending lots more time outside. Today I got to watch a few talent shows! 

In our yard, we currently have a beautiful tree in full pink bloom. We have been frequently reminding our students not to pull on the branches or pick the flowers. We want to enjoy nature and let it live. Please review this with your child.

This week, students met with me and did some writing to express which group of tomatoes they think are the "space tomatoes" and why. We have about 55 plants growing altogether. They are starting to smell more tomato-like! Ask your scientist which group (J or K) they believe are the space tomatoes!

Finally, I am collecting small and very small boxes and other recycled material for a math/art project. Please send in things like paper towel roles, raisin boxes and toothpaste boxes. Please nothing cracker or cereal-sized, they are simply too big to store. Thanks!!

Mots de la Semaine

With the many May birthdays we have, and the upcoming long weekend, here are some 

frequently-used phrases that you can encourage.

Joyeux Anniversaire!

Bonne Fête!

À plus tard.

À demain!

Bonne fin de semaine.

Radio Hosts!

Dear families,
First of all, we would like to warmly welcome our new student Julien to salle 202. Bienvenue! Our students now have the opportunity to be great role models as we review and introduce Julien to our routines.

I would also like to acknowledge that for at least the next 2 weeks, our ECE will be Mme Janice. She was one of several supply teachers to be with us over the last while, but it is nice to now have someone consistent until Mme Dominique's return.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the due date for the forms and payment for the Boulderz trip. I am sending home little notes to remind you of what I have yet to receive. If you need copies or assistance with the waiver, please let me know. Again, you can access the waiver here.

Last Friday, we had a special show & tell visit from Elodie's mom, Kalli. Kalli taught us about being a radio host, and interviewing guests. Each student had a chance to work with Kalli to interview a classmate, and be interviewed about a picture we had prepared in advance.

We also began work on a plant journal where we are learning what plants need to grow, what the parts of a plant are called in French (see words of the week) and we are tracking the growth of our haricot seeds.

Actually, all students will be bringing home a plant soon. Either their haricot, if it is well on it's way, or one of our tournesol plants, if their bean has yet to sprout. This is part of our special gift to our mamans this weekend! Bonne fête des mères!

Finally, after safety week, our staff has been reviewing some procedures. One of the items we would like to improve is making sure that students with epi-pens or puffers are carrying them at all times. In the medical forms you sent me, I read that several students use inhalers for bad colds or coughs. If you think that your child may need to use an inhaler during the school day, please get in touch with me so that we can make sure we know where it is at all times. Thanks!

Our class has also reviewed Dewson's school-wide rule of home toys stay home. There have been many home toys at school recently, despite our reminders. Please take a moment to remind your student of this rule, and perhaps check their backpacks in the morning for the next week. This way, we can avoid some sharing/jealousy issues, and avoid misplacing special items at school. Thanks!

Mots de la Semaine

Plants & Animals

Hello Salle 202 families,
We had a good visit to the public library on Monday. Thanks so much to the parents, especially those last minute recruits! Both the story (Bark, George) and the puppet show (Too Much Noise) were about farm animals - fitting in very nicely with the learning that we did with Mme Diana over the last month.

Too Much Noise actually reminded me very much of an oral story I told the class recently, called Le Lit de Grand-Mère. This week, we are reviewing the story again, and the class helped me create felt characters and props so that we can tell this story with felt illustrations!

Today, we set up a poster centre focused on saving the worms! This was inspired by some students who found dried up worms on stumps outside. They decided to do something about it! We put up our posters in our yard.

Today we also had a surprise visit from Mme Dominique. The kids were so happy to see her, many almost knocking her off her feet with excitement. It was cute!

We were pleased to find that many of our seeds began growing over the weekend. Many beans, the first thing we planted, are coming up. Several sunflowers from Santa are having a growth spurt, and every day more and more tomato plants are shooting up. We are tracking the growth of our two groups of tomato seeds, so each day, a group counts with me how many seeds have germinated from both groups. On Monday we had 8 from group J and 2 from group K. Now, on Wednesday we counted 15 from J and 28 from K!! Which ones are from Earth and which ones lived in space?

This week, I've introduced our whole class to the Zones of Regulation. Several students are already quite familiar with the colour zones, having had discussions about their feelings with myself or other staff. It is helpful for all of us to understand what the 4 different colours represent. It is a great tool when discussing and learning to identify our feelings and react appropriately. If it interests you, you can read more about this using the link above. Basically...
Blue can mean sad, tired, sick, bored or moving slowly. We may need a rest, a snack or a teacher's help.
Green can mean happy, calm, focused, ready to learn. We hope to feel green most of the time!
Yellow can mean frustrated, worried, silly, excited or a little out of control. It's time to slow down, calm our body and try to get back to green.
Red can mean angry, upset, mean, feeling like yelling, or out of control. It's ok to be upset. We need to find a place where we can share these feelings without disturbing others. Find a teacher quick if you're feeling red!

On Tuesday, we completed our May portraits. We are in the home stretch! At this point, I'm meeting with every student individually again to check their French alphabet letters. I'm interested in knowing if they can tell me either the French name or the French sound of each letter when they're out of order. This was one of my biggest goals for the year, and is something that we've worked on every morning for the entire year. As a grade 1 teacher, I did find that if a student was not confident with letter sounds at the beginning of the year, it was hard to catch up in the reading department. Therefore, I will make sure to let you know if it seems like a struggle for your child at this point. It gives you time to practice a little more at home before the end of this year, and over the summer. Rest assured, we are still practicing at school daily!

Thanks for beginning to send me the rock climbing permission forms. It may be easier to wait until you have all 3 items to return and then send it all together. I've received several permission forms without money or waivers. As long as you're aware that there is more stuff needed, I can keep track of the pieces. We are très lucky that this trip has already been subsidized 50%. Do speak to me personally if the $7 cost presents a hardship for your family.

Today, I've sent home a very small white slip to most students. This is a list of checked out books from our school library. If you can work on finding these and return them, that would be very helpful. If you're sure a book has been returned, please simply write a note and return the slip. I will pass this on to Mme Gaudreault. Many thanks.

Musical Hula Hoops

Mots de la Semaine

un tournesol (sunflower)

un haricot (bean)

le ver de terre (earthworm)

le jour

la nuit