Happy New Year everyone!

I hope everyone has had a fantastic start to the new year. I sincerely wish all the best to all in 2014.  I would like to start off by saying how much I appreciate the wonderful class gift that everyone contributed to.  It was very generous and thoughtful.  I would like to thank all of the parents that have volunteered in the class.  You have made a difference to all the students in the class.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

As for the first day back, the students wrote a letter to the Vice Principal to review the parts of a letter.  We will continue writing letters until the end of January.  We  also reviewed our addition strategies in Math. Today, we looked at anchoring numbers to the number 10.  That is, 4 is 6 less than 10 or 8 is 2 less than 10. In the afternoon, the grade two students had Science with Mrs. Wilson and the grade one students discussed animal adaptations.  The students then had Computers and Learning Buddies.

I would just like to start of by saying thank you to all the parents that have generously donated to our Stonegate Basket. The donations have been an overwhelming success.  It is amazing to see our basket overflowing with gifts.  Again, thank you so much and our family will be so appreciative.  

As for the classroom, the students are starting their new unit in letter writing.  We have read a few read aloud picture books that show letter writing.  Ask your child the five parts to a letter (Heading, Salutation, Body, Closure, and Signature).  We are working on Place Value in Math.  This helps the students understand how numbers are in relation to one another.  This is one strategy that can help them with addition.  Ask your child when we trade units in for a rod.  The grade one students continue to work on their research projects in Science.  Most students have completed the researching component and will begin writing about what they learned.  The grade two students conducted one experiment in which they mixed flour and water.  Ask your child what he or she observed/learned.

We are starting another food drive for families less fortunate.  Please bring in non-perishable items to school, such as pasta and canned food.  There will be a box outside our classroom.  Thanks again, for all of your generous donations.  

The students have been working on their last procedural writing piece.  Each student decided what they wanted to write a procedure on.  Ask your child what they chose to teach someone to do.  Last week, the students made their plans (brainstorming webs) and rough copies.  We are currently working on our final copies.  When we finish, the students will be starting their new writing unit on writing Personal Letters.  We have also started our new math unit Number Sense.  We will start the unit with Place Value.  Some key vocabulary words that were used today were digit, word form, and standard form.  The grade one students are researching about animals.  The grade two students are conducting different experiments on Liquids, Solids, and Gas.

The students are working on their good copies for their procedural writing.  The students will create one more independently before finishing the unit.  Our next unit in writing will be letter writing.  We are also wrapping up our Patterning Unit in Math.  The grade two students have been doing experiments in Science on the different properties of matter and the grade one students have been working on the five senses.