Nine days in...here's what's new....

When I left school on Wednesday, I took this photo of the school's garden and thought it would make a great shot to show that we had snow in September....and then we all woke up on Thursday to a real winter wonderland!  Dress your kiddos up warmly please, because the forecast is for more of that frozen stuff all weekend long!

When you open your child's agenda this weekend, you will see the orange and yellow brochures along with the one page registration for Monday night's meeting for all families who are going to assist their children in Grade Two (or older grades) prepare for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion this year.  I'll see you there....and if there is someone in your family that would like to consider taking the journey towards becoming Catholic, the RCIA program will walk with you on your faith journey.  Please contact our parish.

Today was the day that the first student took on the role of Teacher's Pet.  That means that the student will be able to 'share' with the class on Monday.  The first sharing activity is to create the 'All About Me' backpack and put five small (inexpensive and not fragile) items inside to talk about the next day. Here's a visual in case you aren't sure how to put it all together.

Don't forget to fill in the information on the back!

Today was also the first day that the students are bringing home a Literacy Bag for the weekend.  They are returned on Monday along with the family journal, that looks like the spiral notebooks that you see above.  The parents are asked to please share their observations with me through this communication tool, allowing us to keep in touch and celebrate the learning.

Here's the whole lot of the new bags....different than the ones used last year.  They are, for the most part, filled with more books at a more difficult reading level, and with more activities to work on.  One bag has a movie in it, one has the story in French with a CD player, some have puppets, one has rubber stamps to create a scene, and all are meant for you to engage with your child in a non-threatening way, and see the difficulties or challenges that the child may be experiencing or recognizing the growth and successes that come with a full year of school behind them.

Here's an example of one of the Literacy bags...

complete with 4 books to choose from, (try one on Friday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday), a plush character, a game for the family to enjoy.

and two books to work on, including an experiment that involves a cookie.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

What a way to start off our new year....cold, cold, cold.  This week we faced temperatures well below - 30 degrees Celsius, four days of indoor recess and two days without busses running.  We did it all with a smile!

God has co-operated because our work this month revolves around a winter theme.  We talked about all the different things we love to do in winter.  Sadly, though we have been praying for snow, so we can build snowmen and make snow angels, we have not been blessed with more than a light skiff.  Instead, we had to show our favourite winter activities in a picture form.

I always know when I have hit on a great activity, when the others in the school stop and look at our bulletin board.  This one was a favourite this week!

I also believe that students need experiences to write about.  With the 'pictures' of the students participating in their favourite activity, they then wrote a sentence about what the were doing, independently.

I can use these authentic writing samples to see which students have learned about starting sentences with a capital letter, which know how to end with punctuation, see who is using their knowledge of sight words in their spelling and who is not afraid to take a chance on spelling an unknown word using their understanding of the letter-sound work that is done during phonics instruction.

The students added the details to their pictures with felt pens.  I LOVE that this little guy added a goalie into his picture!

Have you heard your child talk about using the rekenreks this week?

What are Rekenreks?

Rekenreks are arithmetic racks, developed by Adrian Treffers, a mathematics curriculum researcher at the Freudenthal Institute in Holland. There are two rods of 10 beads. Each rod has 5 beads of one colour followed by 5 of another colour. The order and colours on the top rod are repeated on the lower rod. The colours most often used are red and white. The starting position should show all the beads pushed to the far right. The student enters a number by sliding the beads to the left in a one-push motion. It is important that everyone in the class is visualizing and communicating the patterns in the same way.

How do Rekenreks help students?

Rekenreks are used to help develop addition and subtraction strategies, such as doubling or finding near doubles as well as thinking in terms of 5s and 10s, instead of counting from one each time or counting on in addition and subtraction. Students improve their ability to regroup numbers when solving addition and subtraction problems. 

We started out just learning how to move the beads and it didn't take long before the students were just moving the whole group of red over when I asked them to show me 5.  This is important because we want the students to recognize 5 as a 'friendly number' (and 10, too).

Why?  It helps with 'seeing' or 'visualizing' numbers.  When I ask for the students to show me 7, they might be able to move 7 over altogether, but more likely they will move the 5 red, then 2 white.  If I ask, the student will explain, "I already had 5 so I just needed to move two more."  Isn't that what adding and subtracting is all about?

Rekenreks become a tool to assist young mathematicians as they work through how numbers work!

Oh! So cute!

Today the Grade One teachers were not in their classrooms as they were collaborating to ensure consistency exists between the classes.  Here is the art work that the students did with their substitute teacher.  The basic outline is the same, but the students got to 'put their mark' on it by choosing the bits and pieces and then adding the hair details.

Each one shows the student's own personality,

as they work on the concept of perspective.

If your child added eyes, and some did, they did not understand that the child is looking up and sticking out their tongue to catch a snowflake! (Yep! that was explained during the lesson)

Earlier this week your child brought home a letter explaining the upcoming visit from Barnaby Bear.

Here's the letter without the list of dates and student names for the visits:

One aspect of the Grade One Social Studies program in Alberta asks students to distinguish geographic features in their own community from other communities by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions for inquiry:

·       What are some familiar landmarks and places in my community?

·       Why are these landmarks and places significant features of the community?

·       What are some differences between rural and urban communities?

Over the next couple of months, each student in my class will have the opportunity to bring Barnaby Bear home for a few days.  During Barnaby’s visit, Barnaby will get the opportunity to visit some familiar landmark of Sherwood Park.  After his adventures, he will have been to at least 21 special places in our community.  Along with his suitcase, Barnaby will also be bringing along his postcard collection.  I will be asking you to take a photograph of your child and Barnaby together at the landmark in Sherwood Park.  Your child will write about that landmark on the postcard and if you can send the photo to me digitally, I will try and get it printed here at the school and attach it to the other side of the ‘postcard’ so that the other students will have a chance to read about the location and the adventure that your child had with Barnaby.  I have my fingers crossed that you will think about where you can take your child and Barnaby that is different from where another family has been.  If you see that Barnaby has already been to Millennium Place or to the public library, perhaps you can choose one of the special statues on the Heritage Mile, or in front of one of the schools in our community.  The postcard writing could have a sentence or two about the person that was honoured at that location.  Just remember that this is a Grade One student writing the postcard, so don’t make it into a large complicated assignment.  The student should be proud of the information that they can share with the class.

Barnaby will be making his way to your homes on a Monday or Thursday.  Barnaby and his things MUST be at school for the next student, no matter if your child is away.  Thanks for helping out!

I hope you enjoy this 'family time' working on this at home.  Remember what is really important is that your child can share with all of the classmates, where he or she went with Barnaby.  If everything is not perfect on the postcard, that might mean a Grade One student did the work!!

Because I was not in the classroom, the student folders were not sent home today.  Inside the agenda were two notes, a white one explaining that next Friday the students will start taking home Literacy bags, and a bright green one that is basically a contract saying you as a parent are taking an active role in getting all the bits and pieces back to me the following Monday.  The literacy bag takes the place of the read at home book for Friday.

Here's some information I found on line to explain:
Literacy bags can be used at different grade levels, Dever and Burtis (2002) and Dever (2001) emphasizes the use of family literacy bags for early childhood development. In her article, Family Literacy Bags: A vehicle for parent involvement and education, she quotes Adams (1990) who notes that "the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills eventually required for reading appears to be reading aloud to children regularly and interactively." This verbal interaction enhances the children's language development, sense of story and understanding of vocabulary and language structure (Adams, 1990). 

The Literacy Bags, also known as activity sacks or take home bags, are meant for you to actively engage with your child in reading, playing and talking.  The books inside are not easily read by the students, so here is your chance to cuddle up and continue to read to your child.  I have had parents tell me that their child looks forward to that Sunday afternoon time, or right after supper on Friday time, or whatever works with your family.  The students know about the different bags and look forward to a particular one.  Parents are encouraged to write in the family journal each week, about their experiences, the challenges or successes or questions that come with these opportunities.  Some parents in the past have said that their child saw reading as 'fun' because of the variety of activities that are inside.

That's the whole point!  Reading is fun!  In Grade One it seems that it is all work, but by sending home these Literacy Bags, I am hoping that with your help (and the little and big brothers and sisters who are going to get involved) your child will be excited to read.  They will want to improve so that they can read those books that are coming home each weekend.

Just a note:  The bags belong to me.  All the stuff inside I had to make or buy.  I know kiddos love the bits and pieces but I kindly ask that you help them take care of everything and pack things carefully back inside and send it back each Monday.  Please be honest if something is broken or missing. I will try and remake or replace those items. I can't go through all 21 bags each week, so I am praying that you will go through the one bag you have to make sure all is back and ready for the next kiddo.  Write in the little journal.  I will read those each week....promise.

The green contract needs to be signed and returned before I will send a literacy bag home on Friday.

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween....

We have been focussing on how to add and subtract, what the operational signs mean, putting math facts into our long term memory and this week, what strategies we can use to find the solution.  As a child identifies a strategy, they become the expert and their name is put onto the strategy for our 'Math Wall'  If another student doesn't understand that strategy, I will ask the 'expert' to explain their thinking.  Hearing the idea from a peer demonstrates that others in class can do it and also child language may be easier to understand than teacher language, at times.

Today was all about Frankenstein's monster, and so 'Frankie' shared his strategy with our class.  Fact Families help us know our basic facts because the numbers used are related, like in a family.

(Thanks Amy Lemons for sharing this fact family poster with me)

The students looked around the room for eight cards cards with fact families identified.  They copied them down on their recording sheet and then worked through the 2 addition and 2 subtraction equations that could be created. (Thanks Hope King for sharing this little activity with me)

This should not have been new learning, but for some students, this was challenging.

Seeing that addition equations end with the largest number and subtraction equations begin with the largest number was not easily recognized by all the students.  This will continue to be an area that we practise.

Here's our labelling page (remember labels will be nouns) and then the students again generated adjectives to describe the nouns, which they recorded.

They look great outside our classroom!

I love how each on is full of their own personality.  By the by, those are bolts on the sides of the neck!

Our coat area is never this clean during the day!  Thanks to those who have sent in ice cream buckets.  Those are labelled and put on the shelf so that the mittens and hats for winter can be kept under control.  We share this space with 20 Grade. 1 students!  The bottom ledge is where the backpacks are to be lined up.  The literacy bags are all ready for taking home tomorrow.  I have three families who have not yet signed the contract, so you'll notice empty hooks.  I am sad that those children will not be able to take home bags tomorrow.  Remember bags are due on Monday please.

I have pushed the 'invite' button for all the e-mails on Fresh Grade, the digital portfolios.  Hopefully you'll be getting notice tonight and can look at the little addition that I did last night.

Literacy Bags come home!

This weekend was the first time the Grade Two students look home literacy bags.  The directions are not completely specific.  There are games in almost every bag along with a stuffed animal.  Sometimes there is a writing activity involved.  The point is to interact with the story as a family, instilling a love of the fun of reading!  Enjoy this special time, when families are all so busy.  Slow down and spend a half hour seeing the world through the eyes of your child.

There is a laminated sheet in each bag, listing all of the items found inside.  Please double check that everything is returned each Monday morning.

Our first birthday child! Congratulations!

One of the little gifts that I will give each child this year is the opportunity to order a book, up to a $5.00 value, from the Scholastic book clubs.  The children have suggested the when they receive the certificate, I should keep it so that it is ready for the next month's order.

Literacy Bags

Congratulations to this cutie who has been working hard on a home reading program and was awarded a certificate for moving up to a new level!  Hard work pays off!

Just a quick note about our Friday Literacy Bags....

I do so appreciate when I get a note that something is missing, but please remember that you agreed to ensure that everything in the bag, would be returned.  If you lost something from the bag, I would appreciate you replacing it.  I am now off to buy another book that was torn, buy three toy animals that are missing, another plastic measuring tool and then later I will have to reprint pages because pieces are no longer in bags, laminate them, cut them out and  put them into the correct bags.  That's after phoning four families tonight who hadn't returned bags on Monday.  I understand you all have busy lives.  I love working with your children and put in lots and lots of hours to ensure that your children have many opportunities to try new things.  Please help me out by ensuring that the items are all returned in the bags on Monday.  It will be so much better for our kiddos that way.  Thanks!

It's Day 5!

The students are getting into the swing of things in the classroom.  When they come in, they are now trying to independently work on their "Rise and Shine" binder, a wonderful idea that I got from another teacher named Reagan Tunstall.  The binder works on basic math understandings that children need, that are usually reinforced through calendar work.  They tell me, using a dry erase marker, what day of the week it is, what month, what year and how many days we have been in school.  

Using that number, they also work on tally marks, the numbers that come before and after, how that number is created in ten frames and how it can be created in part-part-whole sections.

The binder allows for daily practise in a fun manner, without duplicating paper for each day's work.  After it's done, the students just use their little dry marker erasers and they are all set for the next day!

Today we began a little alphabet review using a wonderful book called "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom."

In the story "a told b, and b told c, "I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree."  The students searched for their own alphabet letters and made them climb up their coconut trees.

Finding the letters was quite the challenge!

Here's our first little birthday girl with her special cupcake chair, her special glasses, her sticker that tells everyone  that she is celebrating a birthday attached to her shirt and the balloon that she will take home with a twisty drinking straw.  She also got to take home our first literacy bag, that includes a game and a journal to complete.