I can't believe we are almost at the end of October! As I look towards parent teacher conferences and report cards it has been really great to reflect on the progress that students are making already this school year.
This week was jam packed. We continued working on a place value project in math, which will be on display for conferences next week. We finished our art for Remembrance day and started writing a poem to go with it. In Social Studies we have started a mini unit on mapping. This week we discussed what a globe was and what continents are. Ask your child if they can remember how many continents we have and see how many they remember! Our class was full of special visitors this week. Mrs. Jessica came to help us continue on our quest as super printing agents. We worked on using proper spacing and using upper and lower case letters properly. Alexis's Mom came to visit this week and brought their pet bearded dragon with her. The students really enjoyed watching it eat worms and asking questions about it. We also had Constable Mattice come visit us and teach us about the emotion scale. She also shared about her job as a police officer. A note about blue communication folders: These will typically come home only at the end of the week, unless there is something else important to come home (like spelling words or notices). Anything that is sent home is for you to keep or use, so please try to empty folders each time they come home. The only things coming back to school should be the TWAS books and any forms that need to be returned. Words their way sorts can stay at home, as students have another copy at school to practice with here. Other important information: -November book orders are coming home today. Please return by November 9 (not Nov.1 as it says on the book orders). - Parent teacher conferences next week Thursday night from 4-7 and Friday morning from 8-12. - Remembrance Day assembly Nov.10 at 10:30. Our class will be hosting and performing. Families welcome. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Looking forward to seeing all of you next week for conferences. Ms.Brett Another short week has come to an end, and another busy week it was. Students used the computers to type up writing they have done about their rights, finishing up our focus on rights and responsibilities in Social Studies. In Science we are learning about the difference between a rock and a mineral and continuing to look at the rock cycle. Students were amazed to learn that our bodies actually have minerals in them, and that we need them to live! In Math we started a fun project that uses our understanding of place value as well as some creativity. We also continued to look at addition strategies, specifically how we can use the number 10 to help us add more efficiently. For example: 7 + 5 + 3 = 12 + 14 + 18 = Which numbers would you add first? And why? Students received new word sorts this week, they are coming home today. They have also been learning different ways to practice their words. Ask them how to do a blind sort, or a word hunt, if you are looking for ideas. We also did our first spelling 'test' this week. They will also be coming home today. PLEASE NOTE: I do not test all the words in the sort, I will usually do 10-15 words, as this is enough to show me if the student is understanding the concept that the word list is focusing on. When marking the tests, each word is worth two marks. One mark is for correct spelling, and one mark is for having it in the correct category. If you have any questions about this, please let me know. Today we started talking about Rememberance Day and what symbols and colors represent it. We began an art project that will be on display during parent teacher conferences as well as the week leading up to our Rememberance Day assembly. The class has also started their work in music class, preparing a song to perform at the assembly. SAVE THE DATE: November 10, 10:30. I am looking forward to a full week next week, we will be starting a new mini unit in social studies, continuing to learn about rocks and minerals, and finishing out math projects. I hope everyone has a great weekend! Upcoming important dates: October 25 fun lunch October 26 Halloween Howler October 30 photo retakes October 31 Halloween November 2 Parent Teacher Interviews 4pm-7pm November 3 NO SCHOOL for students Parent Teacher Interviews 8 am- 12pm I hope everyone had a great long weekend, I managed to squeeze in three turkey dinners, which were all delicious but made for a slow Tuesday morning. Our short week seemed to fly by. Highlights included the first round of clubs for Club Friday and our first fun lunch!
This week we started our literacy and math centers, after many weeks of learning routines and activities. For now, our math centers will focus on place value and word problems. We also started reviewing addition strategies this week, so far we have talked about doubles, near doubles and using place value. Our literacy centers gave us a chance to practice different writing, spelling and reading skills. It also gave me a chance to read with more kiddos as we started our guided reading groups. We did not get to a spelling test this week, so I will start out with a spelling test next week and new words their ways sorts will go home on Wednesday. We had our first visit from the occupational therapist, Jessica, on Tuesday. She has invited our whole class to join her on a mission as super printing agents. We started by looking at sticky letters, sinkers and floaters. Ask you child what that means and how they practiced their printing. I have to say, when students slowed down and focused on printing, I saw such an amazing improvement in neatness. We will continue to practice these skills in our daily writing practice. I hope you see the same improvement in their T.W.A.S. writing this week. We also started to learn about the rock cycle this week. We are going to continue to explore the rock cycle and the different types of rocks for the next couple of weeks. In social studies we continued to talk about the rights of children. We read a children's book that described a little girls experience at a residential school and we talked about some of the rights that were taken away from her. She wasn't allowed to use her name, she wasn't allowed to speak her language, and she didn't have enough food. I asked students to reflect on how they would feel if someone took their rights away and they wrote a reflection about it. While the book and conversation didn't go into the more serious aspects of residential schools, the concept of what life would be like without their rights made an impact, and helped them to realize that they are lucky to live in a place where their rights are taken seriously. Next week will be another short week, as Monday, October 16 is a PD day. No school for students, just teachers! We will also be hosting Literacy Night next week on Thursday, October 19. Families are invited to come from 6:00-7:30pm to learn about literacy strategies and activities you can use at home with you child. Other upcoming important dates: October 25- fun lunch October 26- Halloween Howler October 27- sharing assembly (our class is not sharing) I hope everyone has a great (second) long weekend! I also want to wish a happy birthday to both of my birthday buddies who are celebrating this weekend! See you on Tuesday, Ms.Brett Our week got off to a crazy start with our first snow storm of the year! It took us a few days to regulate after the excitement of Monday, but we did get back on track by the end of the week. Colder weather reminded us it is important to come dressed for the weather, because students do still go outside for lunch recess most days.
This week we finished working on the properties of rocks and minerals. Here is what we learned: " Rocks and minerals can all be different colours" - BC "They leave a streak behind if you drag it on the ground" - MB "Some rocks and minerals if they are shiny they are metallic" -JG "Some are shiny and some are not. it's called lustre." -KN "We learned about if they have patterns or if they have textures" -SB "If you scrape a knife or a spoon or something it might leave something behind on the spoon." - SB "Hardness is something when it is hard. You can scrape a rock across and it might leave a scrape." -AF "If you tap on a rock it might be hollow and it might be a geode inside." -AH "Lustre is another word for shiny" - MA " Non metallic is when a rock is not shiny" -DC We also took a closer look at place value this week, focusing on the different ways we can represent a number. We talked about standard form (123) and expanded form (100+20+3), which was tricky at first, but got easier throughout the week. We started our Words Their Way program, and students were able to try out some different games that we use to practice our words. We continue to build our writing stamina, and just started talking about how we can add more detail to our writing and turn boring sentences into exciting ones. I hope that our TWAS writing starts to become more detailed as we work on this! Important Information: - Scholastic book orders are coming home today. If you would like to order anything please return the order form by next Friday, October 13. - Our box of cards fundraiser is still going on and orders can be returned to the school at any time. The final day for orders is October 17. - Our first round of Words Their Way will continue next week, and students will be 'tested' on their sorts at the end of the week. - Cranston is hosting a Literacy Night for parents and students on Thursday, October 19 from 6pm-7:30pm. We hope you can join us! - October 16 is a PD day, so no school for students. - Next week we will have our first fun lunch on Wednesday, as well as our first Club Friday on the 13th. - Wednesday, October 11 is YAD SDRAWKCAB (backwards day). Students are invited to wear their clothes backwards or inside out. Please make sure they are dressed appropriately and still comfortable enough to get through a school day! A reminder, there is no school this coming Monday, October 9 due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope everyone has a great long weekend, enjoying lots of time with family and possibly a turkey or two! Ms.Brett |
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