Welcome Twinkle!

 

 

We have adopted a snowy owl to enhance our literacy and science program.  We voted on names and have elected to call our female owl, Twinkle.  She will be visiting each student's home for a week.  We draw a name each week to see who will take her home.  This will commence after we complete our first non-fiction report about Snowy Owls.

 

 

 

Classroom Awaits New Students!

Welcome Back!

With school starting soon, I wanted to send out a welcome greeting to all our students!
I have been at school throughout the summer getting our classroom ready for September 3.  I will be posting some photos of the classroom so if you would like a 'sneak peak', you can have a look.

We will be creating a 'community of learners' when we begin school next Tuesday.  Because we share our classroom supplies within the classroom, you won't need to label anything other than your nutrition break snack pack and containers.  I would also like you to keep your ruler and markers at home for use there.  I provide rulers for use in the classroom for measurement activities.

If you have any questions, feel free to call the school when the office opens next week.  I can't wait to see everyone on September 3!

Year-End Celebration

Just a reminder that we are going to be enjoying a morning on Lundy's Lane on Monday to celebrate the end of our school year together.  The children will be enjoying activities in small groups of 4 supervised by lots of parents and teachers!

Remember to WEAR SOCKS!

When we return to school, we will have our lunch and then get busy with some fun math activities.

Where is the homework?

I wanted to let everyone know that we have added all the Grade One and Grade Two words to our word wall.  The students also completed the Developmental Spelling Inventory last week.  I am using the results of that assessment to 'customize' your child's weekly word work activities.  Every Wednesday your child completes a word sort activity that works on a particular spelling skill at his/her current developmental level.  If you would like an extra copy for home practice, please let me know in your child's agenda. 

We will continue to review, through Word Work activities, the words that continue to be commonly misspelled in students' work.  We will also have a weekly spelling theme that we will practice.  This week we are working on regular plurals.  Next week, we will add irregular plurals.

I truly appreciate how diligent the students AND PARENTS have been in completing weekly spelling homework this year!  I will send homework books home TO KEEP next week.

Thanks for all your support!

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a wonderful March Break!
We will be continuing to work on our biography (recount) writing this week.  The students are going to be working on adding supporting details to their writing and sharing their biographies of their book buddies on Wednesday.  We will be doing some 'surgery' or revisions this week, so your child may want to tell you how we revise without having to redo or reprint the entire piece of writing.
I will try to post some photos after our mini lesson!

Welcome Mr. Willemsen

I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new teacher in our classroom.  Mr. Willemsen, a teacher candidate from Brock University, will be taking over 70% of the teaching in our classroom commencing March 5.  He observed our class on Friday.  He will also be observing this week on Thursday and Friday.  His final observation day will be February 28.  Mr. Willemsen will gradually be taking over more responsibilities for leading the class, under my supervision, beginning with 70% of teaching time to increase to 100% by the end of his practicum on April 30.  We look forward to learning with Mr. Willemsen!

Valentine's Day is Thursday

Some parents have asked for a list of names of students, so that their child can address their valentines.
If you wish to address your valentines, the names in our class this year are:
Adam-John
Austin
Branden
Cheyene
Claudia
Emerson
Emi
Emily
Gabrielle
Gregory
Herry
Ireland
Maria
Melody
Nancy
Sydney
Tamar
Tarynn
Waleigh
If you wish to just sign your valentines and bring 19 to school without names (but that you can put into our valentine mailbags), that is fine, too!

SNOW on the 100th Day of School! Oh no!

I still can't believe it!  Today the schools are closed and it has been declared a SNOW DAY!
We were planning on celebrating the 100th day of school today.  Just so students are aware, we will carry over our special 100th day festivities to Monday.  Monday isn't my preferred day for celebrations, but we will enjoy our activities related to the very special and friendly number 100 anyway!

As I gaze out my kitchen window while writing today, it looks like a hundred snowflakes are landing on my deck every second!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend playing in all this white stuff and I will see you on Monday!

Who is Antonio?

Ask your child who Antonio is?

Our Next Mathematics Investigation

This week we will begin our study of SHAPES AND THEIR PROPERTIES.  Both groups/grades will be working on the BIG IDEAS:

• Some attributes of shapes are quantitative (the fact that a triangle has three vertices is quantitative), others are qualitative (the fact that a circle is round is qualitative);
• Many of the properties and attributes that apply to 2-dimensional shapes also apply to 3-dimensional shapes;
• Many geometric properties and attributes of shapes are related to measurement (Group 2 will be revisiting AREA when we focus on 2-dimensional shapes)

(from Marian Small's Big Ideas from Dr. Small - Creating a Comfort Zone for Teaching Mathematics Grades Kindergarten to Grade 3, page 63)

This week, we will begin our study by focusing on 3-dimensional geometry.  You can support your child's learning at home by trying these activities with your child:

• Ask your child to describe the shape of an object, for example, whether it is like a sphere, a cylinder, or a rectangular prism.
• Challenge your child to check several shapes to see which ones will roll, slide, or stack.
• Ask your child to explain how two shapes are similar and different (encourage the use of "math words")
• Challenge your child to sort shapes into group, then to try sorting them a different way.
• Describe the shape of an object and ask your child to guess the object; then switch roles.
• Have a 'shape hunt' at home - find examples of cubes, triangular prisms, pyramids, etc.
• Use playdough to model various 3-dimensional shapes. Count the number of faces, edges, and vertices on each shape.
• Invite your child to help you put away the groceries.  Talk about why you place particular packages and supplies together.

Ideas from Math Makes Sense Grade 2 (Pearson Education Canada) and Mathematics 1(Nelson)

Lunch Lady Orders

The Lunch Lady hot lunch forms are due on January 9.
Our HOT LUNCH day is January 16. 
I am going to try the Potato and Cheese Perogies - sounds yummy!
Remember you can order on-line, too.
www.thelunchlady.ca (click order here)

Back to School

Just a reminder that I am looking forward to seeing everyone at school tomorrow!
I am excited to hear about everyone's break!
We have gym tomorrow.  If you brought your running shoes home for the break, make sure you bring them back to school.  You are probably ready for a Take-Home Reading Book exchange as well!

Check out the Bright Lights in Room 3

I hope everyone can make it to our celebration tomorrow at 2:00.

I will endeavour to record our performance with our classroom iPad and keep on hand for viewing later if you can't make it to our live show.

TWIN DAY

This Wednesday is Twin Day.
Students are invited to dress like a friend this day.

If you would like to be "twins" with Ms. Sinclair and Mrs. Leonard, dress in blue jeans, white top, sneakers, and ponytails on Wednesday!

DREAMBOX now linked!

Some students mentioned that they were having difficulty getting access to Dreambox at home using the URL that was printed on the letter home to parents last week.  My original link wasn't working either when I checked it this weekend.  I have changed the link so it will work now from the classroom blog.  It has been renamed "Dreambox Math!"

It would be great to set aside about 30 minutes in the evening to work on mathematics on Dreambox.  It is good screen time, as it is linked to what we have been learning about in class.  It is much more interactive than doing worksheets!  The program progresses at your child's pace and builds upon your child's current abilities.  I have told students to NOT ask family for help when working on Dreambox.  If your child is having difficulty, have her click on the "I need help" button.  The program will adjust if the activity is too difficult.  My own children have used Dreambox over the past two years, and I highly recommend its use.  I welcome your feedback, too.

Class Photo

I just wanted to let everyone know that student photos (for those who ordered them) were sent home today.  Every child received a class photo today. 

Measuring for the Art Show

Today we started a new unit that will help us transition from our recent unit on Measurement back into working on addition and subtraction.  We will be focusing on using 'friendly numbers' and the number line to develop efficient operational strategies. 

At home, practice counting by 10s - starting at different numbers.
For example,
Let's count by 10s (adding 10s), starting at 4: 4, 14, 24, 34, 44, 54, 64, 74, 84, 94, 104,...

Remember to also practice subtracting 10s, too.
For example,
Let's practice subtracting by 10s, starting at 98: 98, 88, 78, 68, 58, 48, 38, 28, 18, 8.

Our Classroom

Here are some photos of our classroom!

We continue to adjust to our new routines, so some of our physical arrangements may change over the next few weeks.  Ms. Sinclair is still trying to achieve the perfect seating arrangement for us.  We really enjoy each other's company!

Post Card Reminder

I hope everyone has been enjoying themselves so far this summer.  Please remember to record one of your special summer experiences on your postcard and mail it to school soon.  I can't wait to read about your adventures!

If you would like to practice writing postcards, here is an interesting site to visit.  Just click here.

I hope to hear from you soon!