December

December has been very very busy!  I'm sure you experience the same.  We have been really enjoying our Christmas Countdown activities this year! 

We are also very lucky to have parent (and grandparents) coming in this week to help us make special Christmas crafts.  These will be coming home next week once they are all complete.

The Christmas Concert is fast approaching.  It is only 1 week away!  I am asking that students bring sunglasses in to wear for a portion of our performance.  Please send them as soon as possible so we can practice with them.  I apologize for the last minute request, it was a last minute decision.



I am trying to upload some photos to our blog to share with parents, however this computer is not letting me, so I will have to wait until I can get to my other computer.  Stay tuned for pictures soon (there are MANY MANY photos!

50th Day!

Today was a very important day in grade 1... the 50th day of school!  We focused quite a bit today on celebrating.  The students were quite excited!

Earlier this week we compared and contrasted how students would dress in the 1950s and how students dress today.  

Today we practiced counting to 50 by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s.  We put together a book about how to make a Root Beer Float, and then we made Root Beer Floats this afternoon!  Many students LOVED them and were very excited. 

 Working on our book on how to make floats.  The biggest question was, "Are we actually going to make floats?"

 The books were sent home today with the students (I'm sure you have already seen them).

 Root Beer Floats are delicious!

YUMMM!!!

 Showing off our books.

 Doing our best impression of how we think we will feel after eating our floats.

Starting on Friday November 15^th from 12.30 – 1.05 p.m. parents are invited to come and join us for reading.  This will happen every Friday unless noted.  Parents do not need to RSVP – please come when it fits into your schedule.

Parents are welcome to bring their own books, use books from our classroom library or use books from student book boxes.

Younger siblings are welcome to join us as well!

Hope to see you on a Friday!

Important Dates 

Friday November 15th: Read with Me from 12.30 - 1.05

Monday November 18th: Report Cards will be sent home.  Due to a technical error beyond our control, we had to push it back 1 day.

Friday November 22nd: Library.  Read with Me from 12.30 - 1.05 

Friday November 29th: Read with Me from 12.30 - 1.05

Tuesday December 17th: Assembly

Thursday December 19th: Christmas Concert at the High School

Monday January 6th: First Day back after Christmas.

The Snow is Here!

Just like that! Winter!  Wow.
I would like to say that I am surprised over the amount of snow that fell over the weekend, but I'm not.  It was bound to happen, I'm just happy it waited this long.

Snow is very exciting in Grade 1!  Just think of all of the snow gear, the shlockey games, the snowmen building, the cold weather, and the snowballs.  Oh, the snowballs.

Along with the snow comes wet snow gear.  I would highly suggest that students come with an extra pair of mittens, an extra toque, and extra socks in their backpack.  These will stay in backpacks as we learned today that mittens tend to walk awayand socks easily  become wet at school.  Both myself and Mrs. MacAleer encourage students to become as independent as possible when it comes to dressing and undressing themselves with their snow gear.  This includes putting ski pants on, jackets on, zippers done up, toques/mitts/scarves, as well as putting on own boots.  Then undressing, hanging up gear so it dries, and putting mittens on the drying racks if needed and storing our stuff safely on the shelf.  This is a very slow process right now, but it will speed up.  If possible, please encourage your child to do the above at home as well.

Our school yard has a small hill that is used in the winter as a tobagganing hill.  Grade 1 students are able to use the hill at lunch recess.    If you choose to, you can send a sled for your child to use at school.  These sleds must be foam (no plastic) and labelled.  Please keep in mind that any sleds that come to school may be broken or "borrowed" by other students as we keep these in a bin in the hallway.  I would suggest that once a sled comes to school, it stays at school.  It can become quite the ordeal if a sled is constantly coming and going.  The students are also responsible for ensuring their own sleds stay safe.

Interviews are next Wednesday and Thursday (November 13th and 14th).  Interview times will go home this week.  If you have any specific time or date requests, please let me know ASAP as we will start scheduling these in the next few days.

Stay warm in this cold weather!

Halloween and November

WOW!  It is hard to believe that it is already November!  This year is quickly going by.
Yesterday, we celebrated Halloween.  We had some stations where the students made ghost pudding, a treat bag, and played a candy eating game.  It was fun!  After that we went to our school dance.

Halloween is very exciting!  Please limit the amount of Halloween treats that you send in you child's lunch.

 It is starting to get very cold out, please make sure that jackets (not just bunny hugs), mitts, toques, and scarves are coming to school.


Important Dates
Friday November 8th: Remembrance Day Assembly at 1:00 p.m.  Everyone is invited
Monday November 11th: Remembrance Day - No School
Wednesday November 13th: Parent Teacher Interviews from 3:30 - 9.00 p.m.
Thursday November 14th: Parent Teacher Interviews from 3.30 - 8.00 p.m.
Please let me know if you have any specific date or time requests.
Friday November 15th: Report Cards go home
Thursday December 19th (tentatively): Christmas Concert
Friday December 20th: Last Day before Christmas Holidays
Monday January 6th: First Day back after Christmas Holidays.

Have a great weekend!

Education Week!

Wow!  We have had a crazy Education Week so far!
On Tuesday we working with Mrs. Hickman on a school wide art project.  Our job was to make the bodies of a monster.

Then on Wednesday, we learned about Belly Dancing!

Today, we were very lucky.  First we had a hip-hop lesson, then we learned about zumba.  After last recess, some First Nations dancers from Loon Lake came and performed for us.  It was an amazing sight.

For some reason, my computer is not letting me upload these photos.  I will try again tomorrow.

On Friday, we have our Gym Blast in the afternoon!  It should be tons of fun as the whole school participates!

Interviews are quickly approaching on Wednesday Nov. 13th from 3:30 - 8:45 p.m. and Thursday Nov. 14th from 3:30 - 6:00ish p.m.  If you have any requests please let me know and we will try to do our best to make it work.

Have a great night!
Sarah

Monday, October 21st

Mark your Calendars!
Monday October 28th: The Parent Information night for report cards is from 5.00 - 6.00 p.m.
A letter will be coming home this week.

ID Kits
We were very lucky to have some members of the RCMP come in today and complete the ID kits.  The students did fingerprints today, but the kit still needs to be completed at home. 

Education Week
For Education Week, Mrs. Richardson came in and read a few books to us.

Book Fair
Each student went home with a wish list for the book fair.  Please do not feel that you must purchase. 
Book Fairs help build our school library. 

Code Yellow, Code Red, and Weather Announcement
We talked about and practiced what we would in either a Code Yellow, Code Red, or Weather Announcement situation.  Code Yellow is used when there is an unsafe situation in the community (such as a few weeks ago), Code Red is used when there is an immediate threat, and Weather is used if dangerous weather is approaching.  While we were practicing these, I did reinforce that these are used for safety and that we practice them to use if we need to just like a fire drill.

Have a great night!

Update!Where we are going, Halloween, Education Week, Report Cards, Important Dates

It has been quite a while since I have updated.  My apologies! We are well on our way in grade 1!  We have really started to get into the "nitty gritty" of grade 1, and the students are doing great.  Here are some of the things we have been and will continue to work on:

Language Arts:  We have started guided reading.  This involves myself reading with a small group of students are targeting certain reading skills.  We have also started to write mini-books on each of the colours (these will come home in the near future), we have learned 30 of our sight words, we have learned to print all of the "frog jump" letters and are now starting with the "corner starting" letters.  

Maths:  We are working on patterns right now.  The focus is on more of the tricky patterns (AAB, ABC, ABB, ABA) and transferring.

Science/ Social Studies: We are learning all about pumpkins and the pumpkin life cycle.I group these subject areas.  We will study a Social Studies unit for appox. 2 weeks straight using both the Science and Social Studies periods, then switch to Science. I find that the students are able to remember and recall the information much easier.

Health: We are learning all about Kelso's Choices and how they can help us solve small problems.  

As you can see, we are very busy these days!

Now for Halloween...  

I am attaching the note that will be sent home on Monday. 

Halloween is quickly approaching! 

Halloween is very exciting in grade 1, and we will be celebrating in the afternoon on Thursday, October 31^st.  The students are welcome to change into their costumes at lunch.  Please do not send any makeup that needs to be applied as this is a very busy day for me and I can not guarantee that I will have time to help apply it (no blood either).  If parents choose to, they may come at lunch to help their child get ready.  Please do not send plastic swords/guns/knifes as these are considered weapons.

We will have some games and activities in our classroom from 12.30 – 1.40, as well as a little snack.  If you are able to send a snack for us to enjoy, please let me know ahead of time as we don’t want to end up with 5 different sets of cupcakes, or cookies.  I am only looking for about 4-5 snacks for this day (there is still a chance to send snacks for Christmas and Valentines Day too!).  Please keep the snacks healthy (as possible) and avoid using red food dye. The S.R.C. is putting on a dance from 1:55 – 3.15. 

If you are choosing to send treats for your child’s classmates, please place all of the treats in a bag so that I can assist your child in handing out them out at the END of the day.  There are 16 students in our class. 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Report Cards

Report Cards are changing this year!  We have moved to Outcome Based Report Cards.  Your child's report card will look drastically different from last year!  For starters, there are now 4 reporting terms, each subject area has outcomes.that are individually assessed, and it is now End-of-Year Standards   There will be an information session for parents on Monday October 28th.  I'm not sure of times, but will let you know.  I highly recommend you attend if you can.  The new report cards are very different from the previous ones. 

Education Week

It is Education Week this week!  We are celebrating the Arts and all things Education!  Parents are welcome to join us!

Monday October 21 : Celebrity Readers are coming in!  Grade 1 is slotted in for 10.40 a.m.

Tuesday October 22: Art Day!  Mrs. Kristin Hickman will be creating masterpieces with classes in the afternoon.

Wednesday October 23: Belly Dancing!  Mrs. Meaghan Frecon will be coming in to lead workshops and demonstrations.  Triple P Parenting session is from 1.00 - 3.00.

Thursday October 24th: Zumba and Hip Hop!  This will go from 12.30 - 1.30.  This was a blast last year and I highly recommend that if you are able to make it, please come (great work out too)!

Friday October 25th: Gym Blast with House Teams from 2.00 - 3.00 p.m.

Book Fair is also running this week!

Here are some dates to keep in mind:

Mon. October 21st - Thurs. October 24: Book Fair 

Mon. October 21 - Friday October 25: Education Week

Monday Octber 28th: Report Card Parent Information night

Wednesday October 30th: Kindergarten Assembly

Thursday October 31st: Halloween Celebration

Monday November 11th: No School! Remembrance Day 

Wednesday November 13th and Thursday November 14th: Parent Teacher Interviews

Friday November 15th: Report Cards go home.

Thursday December 19th (tentatively): Christmas Concert

Friday  December 20th: Last Day before Christmas Break

Thanks for bearing with me through this long post!  I will try to post more often so please check back on a regular basis!

 

Apple Crisp

We made delicious Apple Crisp today!  I don't have any pictures yet as not all forms have come back and I do not want to violate any FOIP agreements.

Before you start, ask your child what the secret ingredient is.  (Hint: it is NOT pickles or cucumbers)

Butter a 9 x 13 pan.
Cut 6-8 apples into small pieces and spread over the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of white sugar and as much cinnamon as you like.

Topping *I usually double the topping.  I find that a single batch is not enough.*
Mix together until is forms a crumble.
1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (the secret ingredient is to use 1/4 cup light brown sugar and 1/4 dark brown sugar instead)
1/2 Cup Flour
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1 tsp. vanilla.

Spread the topping over the apple mixture and bake at 350 for about 40 - 45 mins.

Enjoy!

What to expect this week..

Hi!  As many of you know, I am getting married on October 5th.  Needless to say, its a little busy around my neck of the woods right now so this blog will not be updated until after the wedding.  Here is some upcoming information:

• Terry Fox Walk/Run:  It will be this Friday at approx. 2:45 p.m.  Parents are welcome to join us!  We will have an assembly beforehand, starting at 2 p.m.  If you are able to, please send $2 with your child.
• This Friday, we will celebrate fall!  Please send an apple with your child so that we can make apple crisp!  

If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Sarah

Week 1 and what to expect for week 2

Hi!
We had a great first week of school!  I am very proud of all of the students and how hard they all worked this past week. 

Here is a brief overview of what we did in the first week of Grade 1:
We learned many classroom routines, procedures and where things are located in our classroom. 


We also started our Jolly Phonics sounds.  We were able to cover the sounds that S,A,T make and started to blend simple words (as, sat)

We are review our numbers from 0 - 20, we covered numbers 0-3.  This included tracing and printing the number, learning what that number looks on a 10 frame, printing the word.

We learned about the listening skill.  The steps of this skill are to look at the speaker, stay still, think about what the speaker is sating, and to avoid interrupting.  Many students were able to fill up their first skills (dab) chart by demonstrating good listening!  When a student fills up a chart, they are able to pick from our treasure chest.  There are pencils, erasers, small toys, and classroom coupons in our treasure chest. 

We started our "Star Student."  Instead of having weekly jobs for each student to do, I have a daily star student.  The start student helps me out, hands out worksheets, etc, is line leader, and gets to lead calendar.  For the first rotation, we are also interview the Star Student and creating a booklet for them.

We have also been working on correctly printing our name with 1 uppercase letter at the beginning and with the rest of the letters as lowercase letters.  Please help your child at home with this too. 

As you can see we had a very busy week!

In the second week of grade 2...
We will start our Daily 5 and Centers introduction. 

We will start our Patterns unit in Math.

We will start our "All About Me" unit in Social Studies.  Please send a family photo if you have not done so already.  We use these for our "All About Me" unit.

We will continues with Jolly Phonics and Star Student interviews.

We will start reviewing and learning about "Kelso's Choice" which is a conflict resolution program.

And alphabet rings will go home this week!  I was able to complete all of the lowercase letter testing and am slowly working on uppercase letter testing.  Please watch your child's agenda this week.  We will start with lowercase letters. 

If you have any questions, please contact me~

Have a great weekend!
Sarah

First Day of School!

We had an exciting first day of grade 1 today!  We have been focusing on learning classroom routines and expectations, and will continue to work on these throughout this week.  The students worked very hard today!  I'm not sure who was more tired after school - the students or the teacher.

I have also started assessing students on being able to recognize both uppercase and lowercase alphabet letters.


Just a few notes about the first day package that was sent home today;

• Please fill out, and double check that all information is correct on the white regeistration form, and return to the school ASAP.  We can not accept partially filled out forms and every student needs to have an in - town billet.
• Please fill out and return the Pink Paper to me.  I use this information for direct contact, to help students if they need for spelling family members' names, to help students learn phone numbers/parents' names, etc, and it helps to give me some insight to your child.
• Please get school fees ($25.00) supply fees ($35.00) in as soon as you can.  The school accepts both cash and cheque.

A few notes about the classroom:

• Please send a complete set of extra clothes!  Mud puddles seem to jump out at the students, sometimes the bathroom is too far away, or a water bottle doesn't seal well.  
• Please send a family picture!  When a family picture is available for students to look at, it helps to calm nerves, give a little extra boost and motivation that I just can't provide.

Thanks!  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Sarah