An apple a day....or for the whole week

To introduce non-fiction reading to the students, we are focussing on apples.

We are using a variety of different non-fiction sources to look at the different features found in these types of books, such as labels, captions, photos, bold words, table of contents and glossaries.

As the students heard the information, they were intrigued by the facts that they learned.

Ask your child how many different types of apples there are (over 7000) and if they know any names of apples (we could name 10 varieties).  You could also ask where the blossom that started the apple on the tree is found on an apple (do you know?) or what insect is needed in the orchard to make sure that apples can grow.  The students were so intrigued by this new learning and I know they would love to share.

They are creating a lap book to demonstrate their new learning, and focusing on recording their observations, the way that a scientist would.

Today they used their long term memory to name the five  senses  that they learned about in Grade One.  Could your child name them?  The students all got to taste three different types of apples: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith.  Using their senses, they shared their thoughts

which I recorded on the whiteboard.  They used these words in their own observations which then got  pasted into their lap books.  You'll see those soon!

It's All Good with Pete the Cat

Our class did a little 'action research' this week.  The students ate their snacks outside at morning recess time.  On Friday I asked them to choose to respond to the question "Do you like your snack at recess or after recess?"  The results were so very close, with one more student preferring after recess than during recess.  We are going to compromise.  During the months when there is no snow on the ground, the students will be eating their snacks outside.  During the months when there is snow on the ground, snacks will be eaten inside, which should avoid frozen fingers!

The students got a chance to work in small groups on some math activities.  The tubs each had a different concept to explore including patterns,

creating equations,

searching for data, creating tally marks and using this information to create a graph,

recognizing the sequence of numbers.

rolling a die and reading 'teen numbers' with a partner,

and reading the words: one, two, three, four and five.

The students worked in small groups of four, so co-operation was also key!

This week the students' learning hinged on the stories where a blue cat named Pete is the main character.  Pete has a good attitude and shares this attitude in the stories that we read.  On Friday we looked at this story:

 Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses

It became the jumping off place for exploring 'Growth Mindset'

Carol Dweck, researcher, explains it this way:

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually, all great people have these qualities. Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the world of business, education, and sports.  It enhances relationships.”

An example of a growth mindset would be:

  Instead of ' I can't do this!' THINK: 'I'm going to train my brain.'

OR   Instead of 'I give up!' THINK: I'll use a different strategy.'

We used the story "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" to create equations.

Work in this area is needed by some.  In this first example, no equation was written.

The information the kiddo created in the story does not match the equation.

The solution in the equation is not correct in this example.

Check your child's backpack for the letter on our latest challenge, learning to tie our own shoes.  Hope the kiddos were practising this weekend.  Pete has sent us 'brag tags' for those who can demonstrate this important life skill.

Another painting project!  The students followed the verbal directions and the projected steps in this directed drawing activity.  They then used their Sharpie pen (by the way...not all students had one???) to outline their pencil drawings and we again practised the skill of water colour painting, filling the brush with colour, using long strokes in one direction and not scrubbing back and forth like you would with a crayon. 

Progress is being made!  Hooray!

Make a mark!

Every September 15-ish, we celebrate International Dot Day.

The story has a main character named Vashti who learns to 'make a mark'

and recognize that she can do more than she thought she could.

Click here to see the story!

Here's some of my students' marks!  They are artists!

What's with the labels??

What a day to be 'Teacher's pet'!  Our good humoured kiddo allowed us to label him!  Why would we do that?  It is part of our new learning.

Here is the anchor chart that is being displayed in our classroom right now.

If you can touch something, you are most likely looking at a noun.

It does get a bit tricky, but we tried labelling our friends, and then were reminded of something that might have been heard in Grade One...

a noun is a person, a place or a thing.  Can you touch Fort Saskatchewan?  It's a place.  We think that since we are standing in the city, then we are touching it with our feet!

We then talked about action words, which have the fancy name of verbs.

We tried to pantomime all of these lovely verbs.  The students tried to identify the actions of Pete the Cat, who is the main character of the books we are reading in class.  We are going to notice in our next lesson, that verbs can tell us when the action took place.  Here's an example:

ran     run      running

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Recognize this favourite?  This book led many of our classroom language learning activities this week, as the students demonstrated their understanding of the alphabet.

Look at how bright and colourful our back wall is now with their work.

The students practised cutting and pasting as they created a palm tree with three coconuts and all the alphabet "up the coconut tree."  They were to find a way to put the letters in alphabetical order.

Here's another way that a student choose to show the order of the letters.

What would you say about this student's ability to put the letters in order?

The students also took the first letter of their first letter and completed this little writing.  I put any of the words that they chose onto the white board for them to copy.  There are many students who are not sure how to correctly make each upper and lower case letter.   If you notice the errors, such as the backwards 'j' and below, the 'n' with the line on the wrong side, please demonstrate the proper way to make the letter.  We say "go down the ladder" for every letter, which means, every letter is made from the top down, not the other way around.

The students do not take their morning snack outside.  Instead for all recess breaks, the students go out to run and jump and play to get their hearts going.  When they take their snacks out, they just stand around and can't "shake their sillies out."

When they return from morning recess, they get a fruit or a vegetable from their lunch and come into the classroom.  they have about 5 minutes to eat before we start our lessons.  Look at these great choices"

cucumbers and tomatoes and dip

grapes

carrots, tomatoes and pepper slices

oranges

blueberries

more peppers and dip

and a good old fashioned apple.

The Canada Food Guide says that children aged 5 to 8 need 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. By sending fruits and vegetables as morning snacks, you are helping your child get the vitamins and natural sugars that they need.  If a child does not have a fruit or vegetable in their lunch, they are encouraged to ask others at their table to share with them.  

Click here to get to the food guide for suggestions.