Last Week Peek

I have a bunch of videos and photos to post today, so I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

Physical Education

We were so successful improving our hula hooping skills that we have now moved onto skipping. This is one talented group of kids. Check out our moves.....

 

Every Friday, the entire school meets in the gym to participate in our school wide Health Hustle lead by Mrs. Tarnowski. Here's a peek inside our gym during last Friday's Health Hustle.....

 

 

Non-Fiction Writing

 

We are wrapping-up our study of penguins and non-fiction text features. We completed some amazing penguin reports, which are now on display on the bulletin board outside of our classroom. Come on down our hallway and take a look when you have a chance.

 

 

We also had a chance to integrate a lot of artwork into our penguin theme unit. Last week we were very fortunate to have Mrs. Barone working in our classroom. One of the amazing things about Mrs. Barone is that she is also an artist. She was able to share her artistic talents with us and we created some amazing pieces of artwork.

 

 

These penguins are just the cutest things I have ever seen.

 

We are also loving "Ready Freddy! The Penguin Problem" by Abby Klein. We only have two chapters left to read and we're eagerly awaiting to see how the story ends.

 

 

 

Math

 

After completing a very successful unit on place value skills, we decided to revisit even and odd numbers. Here is a cute bulletin board display that ties in perfectly to our new study of communities. The students created almost identical houses as well as some creative and colourful houses. The identical house were all given an even address whereas the colourful and creative houses were given an odd address. Welcome to Even and Odd Street.

 

 

Social Studies

 

Speaking of communities, last week's focus was on community helpers. We took the opportunity to improve our inferencing skills while learning about the people that work and contribute to the success of our community. Students were divided into groups of two and were assigned one community helper. We researched books and created clues about our special helper. The class then worked together to examine each of the clues and used their background knowledge (schema) to guess the community helpers.

 

 

This week, we will be learning about the changes that have taken place in our community. It will be fun to research and learn about what school was like for our grandparents.

 

Enjoy your evening!

-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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembrance Day

This week we will be learning about the importance of Remembrance Day. I started by reading one of my favourite books aloud to the class. A Poppy Is to Remember calls to mind the rich symbolism of the poppy we wear so proudly on Remembrance Day... lest we forget.

 

 

Last week, we worked with our big buddies in division 2 to create a Remembrance Day wreath. We will be presenting our wreath at our school Remembrance Day assembly this Thursday afternoon. We will also be singing a song called "Peace In My Heart".

 

 

Our Remembrance Day Wreath

created by students in

Divisions 2 and 4

 

 

Remembrance Day Poppy Pictures

 by students in

 Division 4

 

 

 

Over the past few weeks, we've been learning about healthy eating practices as described in Canada’s Food Guide. We have learned to identify many different kinds of foods and classify them into the four major food groups. These food groups have included the dairy group, grain group, meat and alternatives, and fruits / vegetables. Today, we completed a balanced meal craftivity to demonstrate our learning. Students were required to create a healthy lunch that included at least one item from each of the four major food groups. After they had brainstormed their ideas, they drew and coloured their meals and then proceeded to cut them out and glue them on a paper bag to display. I quickly circulated the room to make sure their meals were balanced, and I am happy to report that everyone completed their projects perfectly.

 

 

A balance meal bulletin board display

and

a few close-ups.

 

 

 

- Mrs. Singh