Friday, September 26, 2014

Friday, September 26, 2014.

Happy Friday everyone!  It looks like it is going to be a beautiful weekend.  I hope you all enjoy the weather...however, if you could please make time to go through Raz - Kids and IXL A.1 if you haven't already done so. The students will also be bringing home their poetry books. Their new poem is about the months of the year.  We discussed the use of upper case letters for the names of the months and we looked at the ending "er".  We are trying to get the students to understand that vowels need to be in words.

In our morning messages, we have been looking at using upper case letters at the beginning of sentences and using periods at the end of sentences.  We have also emphasized putting 'finger' spaces between words so we can read it and it makes sense. Pinpoint some of these concepts when reading with your child. You can count the words in each sentence and asking them how they know, look at how many sentences are on a page or in a book and how they know that as well.

We continue to work on our printing.  We have now looked at all of the vowels, which is useful as we can begin to play arrange the letters that we have printed to create words.  It is a great strategy to get students to sound out words and stretch the words when reading.  We will continue to do a letter each day until we complete the alphabet.  This work has helped them create stamina for working at their desks.  

In math, the students have made many hands-on graphs.  For example, everyone in the class took of a shoe and we had to organize them into three groups and then graph the results.  Ask your child, which type of shoe the students in Ms. Kim's class wore the most.  We will continue with graphing for the next few weeks.  They are learning to label the graph, collect data, read graphs, and make conclusions.

We have been looking at the different signs for each season.  We have played many games to help us categorize different signs and events in each season.  We discussed colours we would see in different seasons, what trees look like in each season, and activities we would do.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Friday, September 19th

The students continue to work on printing their letters each day.  You can help your child practice the letters at home and make words using the letters that we have learned thus far.  We have looked at the letters Cc, Oo, Ss, Tt, Vv,Ww, Aa, Dd, Gg, and Uu.  You can also review when we use upper and lowercase letters and what sounds they make and how to properly form the letters.  We also learned a new poem this week about colours.  Please make sure your child reviews their poems at home.  We will be working on colours words next week as well.  As for Math, the students have started Data Management (Graphing).  We have made many graphs together as a class.  Ask your child what some of those graphs were about (number of letters in our first name, favourite colour, and favourite animal).  We also introduced our new Science unit: Daily and Seasonal cycles.  We discussed what the four seasons are and what clues tell us it is that season.  Ask your child for some of those clues.    

IXL:

Your child should have received their username and password for IXL.  I have already assigned A.1 for homework.  Your child may be eager to work ahead or go on other sections.  I don’t mind if they do this.  I only assign particular sections to practice the concepts that we are learning at school to reinforce learning.   

Ms. Lee:

We will have a student teacher starting on Monday.  She will be here everyday from 8:45 - 11:30 until the end of January.  The students are very excited!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Friday, September 12th

Happy Friday everyone,

This week the students have been reviewing some letters and numbers.  We are currently working on printing our letters both in uppercase and lowercase.  We have also been practicing our numbers by counting to 100 by ones, fives, and tens.  In addition, the students have been practicing how to spell the number words.  These concepts have also been reinforced in our morning message.  Each day, the students will be looking at a message that needs to be edited.  This week, we have been looking at using uppercase and lowercase letters, number words, the date, and the vowel pair "ee".  As stated in previous posts, the month of September is a time for review and to ensure the rules and routines are in place.  This week, we introduced a new routine in the morning called Bell Work. Ask your child what they are to do during this time.  Your children will be coming home with their poetry book today with two new poems to read and enjoy.  Don't forget to bring back the duotang on Monday.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.



Monday, September 8, 2014

Wheels in Motion

Hello everyone,

Congratulations, we are into our second week of school.  I'm sure there have been many different emotions for both the students and the parents.  Just keep in mind that it is a difficult transition into grade one as the children are getting used to going to school all day.  Yes, I have had many students reach for their backpacks at lunch :) However, they are quickly making new friends and learning the routines of the class.  Learning the rules and routines of grade one is probably the single most important concept for students to learn.  Well established rules and routines make the entire school year run smoothly.  Therefore, we will be working on these rules and routines for the month of September.  Additionally, we will be using the month of September to review concepts the students learned in Kindergarten and taking the time to assess where the students are in academic areas, such as reading, writing, and math.  I will keep you posted on what is going on in the classroom, so please make sure to check the blog often.


Terry Fox Walk

Our Terry Fox Walk is fast approaching.  We are having a few fundraising events this week and next.  Lemonade will be sold on Wednesday, September 10th and Wednesday, September 17th at lunch and there will be a shoe sale on Friday, September 12th and Friday, September 19th at lunch. On the day of our walk: September 24th; lemonade and shoe sales will follow the event.  I hope to see you there.

*FYI: We will be walking rain or shine.  We will only change the date to the following day if there is thunder/lightning.