Fifties Rock n' Roll Fun and A Sad Good-Bye

This post will be more fun if you click on the video and listen to the music.

 

 

We celebrated fifty days of school this week. The kids were amazing today. Our fifties dress-up day was too much fun. Even the other grades got involved and came dolled up in their best fifties outfits. Here are a few of my stylish girls in their poodle skirts and boys in their greaser outfits.

 

We started the morning off with a little greater than / less than 50 fun. The students sorted a pile of numbers into two different groups - numbers less than 50 and numbers greater than 50.

 

Next we discussed how kids in the fifties were the same and different from kids nowadays. We added our ideas to our "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" bulletin board display.

 

 

After recess, we learned how to make root beer floats.

 

 

After writing out the recipe, we enjoyed our floats.

 

 

 

 

The verdict is........

 

We LOVE root beer floats!

 

Even though our day was jammed packed with fifties activities, we still managed to fit in our spelling quiz and even a quick trip down to the public library.

 

To end the day, the entire school met in the gym for a fun-filled rock n' roll sock hop where we were able to showcase some of our amazing dance moves!

 

Amoung all of our fifties fun, there was also a bit of sadness. Today was Mrs. Sandhu's last day with us. I feel like the luckiest teacher in the world to have been able to work with Mrs. Sandhu for the past year. We will all miss her but I know that she will be back to come and visit us and share her new adventures in the Surrey School District.

 

We'll MISS YOU!

 

-Mrs. Singh

My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks

Wow, two blog posts in one night!

Today I reminded the students that we are working on writing that invites our readers to make connections.  Our writing topic last week and this week has been "Connecting to a Special Grown-up".

Last week we shared a number of anchor books related to our topic. We also discussed how the use of adjectives and similes can make our writing more interesting and different from anyone else's. One of my favourite books to introduce our writing topic and the concept of similes is My Dog Is  As Smelly As  Dirty Socks by Hanoch Piven.

You can watch an online video version of the book if you click HERE. After discussing the similes that were introduced in the book, we brain stormed a few of our own using our wonderful public librarian as inspiration. Here are just a few that we came up with:

 

Ms. Judy is as sweet as sugar and as smart as Albert Einstein.

She is as beautiful as a rose and as bright as the sun.

 

Afterwards, we made her a giant poster with our similes and presented it to her after our Thursday book club talks. I think she loved it!

 

On Monday, we completed a planning sheet and chose another special grown-up to write about. Many students chose their parents, aunts and uncles, or a family friend. We brainstormed memories, adjectives, similes and information for our special grown-up. After viewing a variety of writing samples, the students then wrote their own stories about the special grown-ups in their lives.  Here is one example from one of the grade one students:

 

My favourite part : "My mommy can cook really fast. She cooks like a wolf and she likes to take naps on Saturdays".

 

Wow! That must be some fast cooking. I  am sure anybody would need a nap on Saturday if they cooked like that all week longt! Too cute!

 

Next we'll be editing our writing for errors in spelling, punctuation and missing words. Then we'll begin publishing our stories by adding illustrations to our written work. Phewwww! It is a long process and a lot of hard work but I can already see so many improvements in our writing skills.

- Mrs. Singh

That's Amore

Today division 4 was invited to dine at the Cafe du Paix, otherwise known as Mr. Mallinson's class.

Prior to our dining experience, we discussed appropriate restaurant etiquette.

However, we weren't just going for the dining experience but also as official restaurant critics.

 

 

Here we are perusing the menu.

 

Next we ordered our favourite items. The service was great!

 

Here we are enjoying our delicious and healthy meal.

 

After we finished our meals, we completed a restaurant evaluation form. The Cafe du Paix received outstanding reviews. We definitely recommend everyone try it out!

 

Don't forget....

Our fifties fun dress-up day is tomorrow!

 

- Mrs. Singh

 

Just a quick update....

This post is going to be short and sweet...

 

It seems that some of Santa's elves were busy decorating the classroom over the weekend. The students walked in this morning to find Christmas lights hanging everywhere. Hmmmmm!!?? I wonder what they'll be up to next? I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open to see what other Christmas fun they might bring to the room during the month of December.

 

Today we learned about the long e vowel sound. Some of the long e vowel patterns we focused on today were:

 

ea = peach     ey = key     ee = teeth     i = ski

tricky pattern ei = theif

 

Once again, we created a list of words with the long e vowel sound and then placed them under the appropriate pattern.

 

Lastly, we will be celebrating 50 days of school this week. We'll be spending the week engaged in a number of hand-on activities centered around the number 50 as well as many 1950's inspired writing and art activities. On Friday, we'll wrap-up our fifties celebration with a costume dress-up day. Everyone is encouraged to come dressed-up in rolled jeans, t-shirts, and poodle skirts or just in the colours pink and blue. We will be sure to have a BLAST!

 

- Mrs. Singh

 

 

Creature Features

Today we completed our Creature Feature riddles. Yesterday, each of the students chose an animal and then researched information and facts about the animal of their choice. They started creating riddles using the information they gathered. Today we completed our riddles and added a few last minute details to our illustrations. We read our riddles to Mr. M's class and they tried to guess our chosen animals. Here are some photos of our completed work:

A Whole Class Bulletin Board Display

A Close-Up View

 



 

We Love To Show-Off Our Work

 

Could You Guess Our Creatures?

I was able to snap a few shots during calendar time today.

First up, our "Celebrity of the Day" completed the calendar duties on the calendar wall.

 

The rest of the class completed their calendar activities in their Math binders.

 



 

Here are some students working and learning together on our classroom computer.

 

I hope you are all having a FANTASTIC Thursday! Tomorrow will be Friday and the end of another fun and busy week.

 

-Mrs. Singh

 

Fun with the iPAD

This morning, our class had the opportunity to use the school's iPAD. We attached the iPAD to our classroom document camera. The document camera allowed us to enlarge the image on the iPAD and view it on our classroom projector screen. The entire class was then able to utilize and benefit from the iPAD, rather then one student at a time. Isn't technology amazing? The spelling City app was downloaded onto the iPAD, so we played a few spelling games using our words of the week. All the students were having a great time learning and practicing their weekly words and there was a TON of enthusiasm in the air. What a great way to start the day!

 

After our fun with the iPAD, we completed our weekly word work activities in our work word duo-tangs. It is really amazing to see how much my sweet ones and twos have learned in just 3 short months. They are turning into independent lovely learners. Yay!!!!!

We also had a chance to visit the computer lab today. Most of the students accessed their RAZ-Kids reading accounts and engaged in a variety of activities to help improve their reading and comprehension.

 

In the area of Math, we are continuing to improve our number sense by describing, comparing, and ordering numbers up to 100 as well as using mental math strategies to solve addition and subtraction facts to 20. Grade two students will be moving onto double-digit addition and subtraction without regrouping shortly. I always find that double-digit addition and subtraction is much easier for students when they have their basic facts memorized. For this reason, during the month of December, we will begin a new morning Math warm-up that will help all of the students memorize and master their basic math facts.

 

We have been having a lot of fun in gym learning and performing a number of folk dances. One of our favourites is the Kinderpolka. The Kinderpolka is a children's dance from Germany that mocks the adults scolding finger and uses a clap and slap pattern. The students create a circle and are assigned a partner. Next, they perform a number of side steps, stomps and claps which are repeated several times throughout the music. Too cute!

 

Tomorrow, we will be working on completing some animal classification riddles that we started working on this afternoon. Each of the students chose an animal and then researched information and facts about the animal of their choice. They started creating riddles using the information they gathered. Tomorrow they will have other students in the school try and guess their animal after reading their riddle. I'll definitely be posting photos of their work on this blog.

 

Have a great evening! See you tomorrow!

 

- Mrs. Singh

When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.

This week in our word study, we will be learning words that have the long a vowel sound. Last week, we learned how this sound can be created with the magic "e". Some other spelling patterns that create this sound are :

ay as in day

ai as in pail

eigh as in sleigh

One way to help the students remember the ay and ai vowel patterns is to remember this rhyme:

"When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking."

Here is a fun video and song clip to help reinforce these patterns:

 

 

We created a list of words with the long a vowel sound and we will continue to add to the list as the week progresses.

 

Onto animal classifications...

 

Today, in Science, the search was on when six poster boards were displayed throughout the classroom. Each poster board represented one of the six animal classification groups that we have been studying (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects). Each of the students cut out animal pictures from a variety of magazines and then pasted the magazine pictures onto the appropriate poster boards.

 

    

 

Searching through magazines

and

our mammals poster board

 

 

When we were all finished, we checked over our work and crossed out any animals that were pasted into the incorrect group (penguins had some of us confused, but we learned that they actually belong in the bird category).

 

Next we completed our animal classification windsocks (which some students have taken home to complete as homework) and displayed them hanging from our ceiling.

 

 

 

Have a great evening!

-Mrs. Singh

 

 

A Pizza Party and A New Reading Program

Our pizza party was a delicious success. Thank you so much to the PAC for organizing this fun and delicious lunch for our class. It looks like the PAC initiated Save Around coupon book fundraiser was a huge success. Thank you to everyone for supporting our wonderful school!

 

 

I am so happy because we officially kicked off our school and home reading program this week. All the student's now have access to hundreds of eBooks using the school's subscription to Raz-Kids.

This website provides students with a variety of books to listen to and read. They can even record themselves reading. Afterwards the students can take a quiz to check for comprehension.

To access your child's assignment, log in at:

 

 http://www.raz-kids.com/main/Login/teacherUsername/AngelaSingh

 

Each student was given their password today and this information was stapled into their planner.

Raz-Kids, SpellingCity, and Starfall are just a few of the teacher approved websites that we will be accessing during our computer lab times to help improve our reading skills.

Have fun reading!

-Mrs. Singh


Animal Classification

Animal studies have to be one of my favourite parts of the grade 1 & 2 science curriculums. There are so many opportunities for hands-on learning in our own backyards that it will definitely be a focus that last throughout the school year.

 

Yesterday, we started our animal study by discussing and sharing our background knowledge (what we already know) with our classmates. After this discussion, the students worked cooperatively in small groups, searching through a variety of animal books discovering things about a variety of different creatures. We also recorded information about what animals can do, what they have, and what they need in order to survive.

 

Today the students took their learning a step further when I introduced two new vocabulary terms, vertebrate and invertebrate. A vertebrate is an animal that has a spine, or a backbone. An invertebrate is an animal that does not have a spine. We watched a short movie clip from the website BrainPOP Jr about classifying animals to help further our understanding. Here is a link to the video: http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/animals/classifyinganimals/

 

After watching the video, the students were given a piece of paper divided in half. They labelled one side of the paper vertebrate and the other side invertebrate. The students then illustrated an animal that would fall under each category. Finally, the students used Q-Tips to create a backbone in their vertebrate. Their final projects turned out great.

Tomorrow we will be taking our learning a little further by identifying and describing 6 animal classifications including mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and insects.

 

Ms. Judy, the public librarian, came to visit once again for our book club activities. Today she read a story called "Snap" by Damian Harvey. This story is about a Mother Duck that finds a lone lost egg. She decides to take it under her wing and raise it as her own. One by one, all her eggs hatch, but inside that lone lost egg is a very different looking duckling. Mother Duck loves all her little ducklings, no matter how different they may be.

 

We completed our book club session by working in our book club activity books and completed a number of activities related to the story.

 

-Mrs. Singh

Reading, Writing, BINGO, A Salamander, An Assembly, and Some Spelling

Just so you know, this post will be ALL-OVER-THE-PLACE. There is so much to write about because so much has happened this week.

First.....

This month our reading and writing goals have been focusing on connections. Making connections to the books we read enhances understanding. A story will become more meaningful when it triggers memories of similar experiences, feelings, people, or places from within our own lives.

Some of the types of connections students can make to the books we read are:

Text-to-Self : When a book reminds the reader of something that happened to them.
Text-to-Text : When a book reminds the reader of another book they have read.
Text-to-World : When a book reminds the reader of something that doesn't just affect them personally, but affects other people in the world.

Many of our connections happen during story read aloud times and group discussions.
I have been choosing to share books and stories about real-life situations, such as friendships, school, and feelings. Before, during, and after our read aloud times, the students are encouraged to make connections to the pictures, characters, and feelings from the stories.

Writing to connect is another important component of our Language Arts curriculum. This month we will be writing many personal narratives that invite readers to make connections to our own writing.
This week we wrote about different feelings and the experiences that cause these feelings. Before we begin any type of writing, we will usually complete a planning sheet that helps us organize our thoughts and ideas. Here are a few examples of our work...

A pre-writing planning sheet:

 

 

 

Two examples of student writing.

 

 

Second...

 

In math, we've been working on our number recognition skills all the way to 100. BINGO seems to be a favourite activity to practice this skill. Yesterday we had the opportunity to teach the sweet Kindies a little number recognition and play a little BINGO.

 

 

 

Third...

 

A special guest spent two days in our room this week. No, it wasn't the candy corn bandit but rather a very cute and slimy salamander. One of the our classmates happen to find the little guy near the basketball court by the doggy daycare. We quickly found him a cozy, moist aquarium where we could keep him safe. We spend a little time looking up information regarding his eating habits and habitat. We also had a little election and voted on a name. We decided on the name Zoom, appropriate because he was able to hide under the leaves in his aquarium so quickly. Today, with a little bit of sadness in our hearts, we let Zoom go and returned him to the spot we had found him. We knew he'd be much happier that way.

 

 

Fourth...

 

We completed a Remembrance Day writing activity with messages for the soldiers to display in the gym for our assembly.

 

 

 

Fifth...

 

Finally, I wanted to showcase a few more amazing spelling activities completed by three of my hardworking students.

 

 

A short vowel sunshine

and

a beautiful word pattern rainbow!

 

Some short vowel playdoh words

 

 

And Finally...

 

Don't forget that Sunday is Remembrance Day.

Please take some time to remember.

 

Have a wonderful weekend.

See you on Tuesday!

 

-Mrs. Singh