October 22 2018 week with Ms. Selimos

Hello Parents and Guardians,

On Monday, we studied different kinds of bats (long nosed, horse-shoe, tube-nosed, hog-nosed, sword-nosed, & leaf-nosed) and predicted their names before researching about them on the internet as a class.  We studied bats’ noses through videos, books and then completed a worksheet.  Check out these GREAT bat videos with your child: 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr-Y2Tt8gFE     

    Echolocation song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPhA82ccg9E

   Bat anatomy video

We played another sorting game using our PWIM (Picture Word Inductive Model) words on Monday.  This time, the sorting rule was words with the letter “l” anywhere in the word.

We were excited to have Veterinarian, Dr. Sally Scleland, join us on Mon. p.m. to teach us about Dog Bite Prevention Safety.  The children practiced “STANDING LIKE A TREE” if a dog approaches them.  They practiced “TUCKING IN” like a rock, if they are already on the ground. Signs a dog is NOT happy:  tail up, white of eyes showing, mouth is closed, drooling.  Have your child share the ABCs of petting a dog:  A = ask owner permission, B= be sniffed and C= cootchie coo.  Check out some of the journal writing samples from the children. Also, be sure to view websites:  www.doggonesafe.com and http://doggonesafe.com/holiday_tips

In our printing books on Tuesday, we wrote a Halloween chant.  Have your child sing:  Sometimes I like to walk in the dark . . .  See attached photo.

On Tuesday, the students were introduced to the animal class - BIRDS! As a group, we brainstormed everything we thought we knew about birds; recording right and wrong answers. We then watched a video to find out if our answers were correct. After the video, we corrected and added to our brainstorm of ideas! The students then did a cut and paste activity to illustrate characteristics of birds. On Wednesday, we played a Jeopardy game including all the vertebrates we have covered so far; mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds! This was a very fun and engaging way to get the students to share their knowledge. We also had the opportunity to practice our math skills in adding up all our points! Team Lizards and Team Crocodile both did a great job in answering and working as a team.  However, Team Lizards won the game with a bonus question! Way to go Lizards!

 

Reptiles:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CQHewteFo8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh9SITaAF8Y

Bird Song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl4MvIZ5I_s

For Writing Traits our focus was TOPICS and choosing good topics to write about that would interest an audience.   

Mathematically, this week rods, units and coins were reinforced with the Grade 2s. The new math vocabulary term was:  unequal or “not the same as”. Is your child able to show 43 cents four different ways?  Is your child able to create 20 cents using exactly 3 coins?  Is your child able to create 45 cents using exactly 5 coins? Solutions:  4 dimes, 1 nickel OR 1 quarter, 4 nickels.  Please try questions like these at home.

 This week, the Grade 1s worked on different ways to make numbers to 20, showing what comes before and estimating objects to 20 and then counting for exact answers.  .  The Grade 1s will take their completed UNIT 2 – REPRESENTING NUMBERS TO 20 booklets home soon to share with you.  Grade 1 parents, please go over the unit with your child, celebrate their learning, sign, finish incomplete pages with your child if you like, and return to school.

French fun on Wednesday and Thursday consisted of creating Halloween puppets and performing short dialogues.  Next week we will use the puppet theatre to perform.  The children are excited for this activity.  They are very motivated to perform.

Our fabulous, fantastic, fun, Phonics letter of the week was:  Ff. The children created over 20 words as a class.  Try reading the sentences from the photos with your child and brainstorming a few “Ff” words.

On Thursday afternoon, we spent an hour with our Gr. 4 Learning Buddies, reading and then participating in a ‘yoga session’ with their teacher, Miss Heron.  It was a very relaxing, Green Zone way to end our day.

FUTURE PROJECTS:  Please save ONE 2 liter container (ex: milk or juice carton) for a fun project in December. DO NOT SEND TO SCHOOL until December, as we have no room to store them.

If you have magazines to recycle, kindly send them to school ANY TIME, as we are getting ready for a writing activity for November (farm study/Agribition).

Ms. Selimos, Ms. Daniels, and Ms. Holtby

  

    

October 15th, 2018 week with Ms. Selimos Going Batty and More

Hello Parents and Guardians,

Saria was our incredible Star of the Week.  Her favourite colour is hot pink and she likes to eat macaroni and cheese.  She is going to be a big sister soon.  She has a dog, a ferret, and a snake named Snow. She enjoys taking baton dancing lessons.  She has even driven a motor boat. 

On Monday we read a silly, spooky story called The Ghost of the One Black Eye to support our reading and writing.  After reading this story, we acted out parts of it, using some of our class finger puppets.  The focus with the puppets was to introduce DIALOGUE and QUOTATION MARKS.  I refer to the quotation marks as “sixes and nines”.  Have your child show you what this means at home.  Write some fun sentences with your child using dialogue and see if he/she can place the quotation marks in the right spots.  When you are reading with your child, look for dialogue in the stories and discuss.  We also read a story called Wait ‘til Martin Comes and explored dialogue.

On Monday morning we studied the parts of a bat; bat anatomy.  Ask your child to tell you how many fingers a bat has.  What is the wing membrane made of?  Do bats have thumbs? We worked on a visual arts/writing project this week to support our clay bat study. On Tuesday, we created clay bats.  On Wednesday, each child created a paragraph about his/her bat (hoary bat, silver haired bat, little brown bat, big brown bat, silver haired bat, eastern long eared bat, eastern red bat, etc.). 

On Monday and Wednesday, the students learned about amphibians. We introduced amphibians with a non-fiction book called “Reptiles and Amphibians,” as well as an Amphibian song to engage student interest (see link below). As a class, we created a word web of characteristics from the resources we used. They are cold blooded.  Most females lay eggs. They can breathe through their smooth skin.  They live part of life in water and part on land.  Most go through metamorphosis (i.e. tadpole to frog). On Wednesday, students created jot notes from our non-fiction book and interactive song. We used our jot notes to write 3-5 facts about amphibians.

   Explore the following links:

 Amphibian song/ Pollywog:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XfSvDJge_4

Amphibian:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuZKgXxYrmY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI8GPsf6TAc  educational video

Amphibians – Animal Atlas - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyYb3h_pU1o

On Tuesday, you received your child’s school photos in his/her agenda.  Orders are due on by Wed. Oct. 24^th.  

On Wednesday, Aysha’s mom (Cheynna) read some Inuit stories to us in the library.  Thank you very much!  We enjoyed listening to you read to us.

It was wonderful to see so many of you at George Bothwell Library on Wednesday evening for Grant Road Literacy Evening. It is a fantastic place to borrow books for free and other material for free!

For math, Ordinal numbers were reviewed again (first = 1^st, second = 2^nd, ninth = 9^th).  Your child should be able to read ordinal numbers numerically and as a word in Grade 2.  Please continue to reinforce pennies, nickels and dimes with your children.  Are you able to show 6 cents a few ways?  1 nickel and 1 penny OR 6 pennies.   Is your child able to show 35 cents at least 3 different ways?  1 quarter and 1 dime OR 7 nickels OR 3 dimes and 1 nickel, etc. Grade 1 focus was numerals 11 to 20 and created sets and being able to recognize one more or one less of the original number.

 Mid-week we moved on to estimating objects (making good guesses) with both grades, and then solved for the exact amount.  See photos with orange ten frames and buttons activities.  At home, try using macaroni or cheerios.  Have your child take a handful from a container and place on the kitchen table.  Make your own estimate as a parent.  About HOW MANY do you think you see?  Have your child estimate how many there are and then count the exact number. Who was closest?  You or your child? How many tens and ones in your answer?  Example:  If the number is 68, then there are 6 groups of tens and 8 ones.

For Writing Traits our focus was TOPICS and choosing good topics to write about that would interest an audience.  Ms. Holtby did a Power Point presentation to show good topics. 

FUTURE PROJECTS:  Please save ONE 2 litre container (ex: milk or juice carton) for a fun project in December. DO NOT SEND TO SCHOOL until December, as we have no room to store them.

If you have magazines to recycle, kindly send them to school ANY TIME, as we are getting ready for a writing activity for November (farm study/Agribition).

Have a wonderful autumn weekend!  Enjoy this unbelievable weather and GO PATS GO!

Ms. Selimos, Ms. Holtby, and Ms. Daniels

    

  

  

  

  

  

   

October 9th, 2018 week with Ms. Selimos

Hello Parents and Guardians,

We hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!  Grade 1 parents, please look at LIST 2 (20 new sight words) in your child’s homework book, for your child to master.  Cut up the words into flashcards and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.  Continue to review LIST 1 (20 sight words from Sept.)

We welcomed a new Grade 1 student to our classroom this week; Skyrah.

Dyson was our amazing Star of the Week.  Dyson enjoys spending time with his mom, dad, big brother; Colby, and his grandparents.  He loves to eat mac and cheese and his favourite colour is green.  He LOVES to play hockey and enjoys going to the Pats games. He enjoys spending time at the farm too.  He likes dressing up for Halloween.  He even went to an NBA game (Golden State Warriors vs Phoenix Suns) this past year.

Parents, did you enjoy the TURKEY FORTUNE GAMES with your children, which they made with their Gr. 4 Learning Buddies on Thursday?  The children learned some interesting TURKEY TRIVIA FACTS and are eager to share them with you.

Mammals and birds focus:  Ms. Holtby’s science focus was mammals and amphibians this week.  Please watch the information mammal video:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGonwMTPV6g&t=13s 

Have your child sing and read these fun songs about mammals:  https://vimeo.com/54038870

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0RCzj9mYYw

Have your child explain characteristics of mammals.  They are warm blooded vertebrates.  Their babies are born alive and drink milk.  They have hair or fur.  On Wednesday, your child did an inquiry about a mammal of his/her choice with sentences and an illustration in his/her journal.

On Tuesday in your child’s agenda you found:  FRUIT BAT’S BAD RAP. It is a drama/science/language arts reading activity for you to work on with your child.  We will perform it for University of Regina Biology Professor, Dr. Mark Brigham, when he comes to teach us about bats, on Halloween day. We will practice every day in class, as well.

Great bat video to check out with your child:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9y4r-VI_qY

Mathematically, our Grade 1 math focus this week was drawing their own flashcards on ten frames. The Grade 1s became familiar with DOT CARDS and each made their own personal set to practice at school and at home. As well, they used 2-part place mats to represent numbers from 10 to 20 as a combination of 2 sets.  Ex:  Count 16 cheerios at home.  Ask your child to put 10 to one side; then count the remaining cheerios:  “16 is 10 and 6.”

Mid-week, the Grade 2s began to learn about Canadian coins; pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and skip counting using money. 

Here’s an AMAZING website for money practice: 

http://www.abcya.com/money_bingo.htm

The kids LOVED playing this game with me at lunchtime on Thursday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRI1C7oJmhI   Canada money song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnZlAOSEmYQ   Canada in my Pocket money song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdmtmr8G7A8  The Canadian Money Song

Money includes recognizing the symbols on each coin and counting money.  We will be using the Math Makes Sense “story books” to reinforce each coin and do some “shopping” activities.  We charted information about each coin and did math stations using pennies, nickels and dimes.  Pull out some coins at home and have your child count by 1s, 5s and 10s using money.  Do they recognize the value of each coin? As well, ordinal numbers were discussed (first = 1^st, second = 2^nd, ninth = 9^th).  Your child should be able to read ordinal numbers numerically and as a word in Grade 2.

As well, counting forwards and backwards by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s continues to be reinforced.  Print off a 100 chart from my math website and play counting games with your child.  Work on even and odd numbers with your child as well.  Even numbers end in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8.   Odd numbers end in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. 

Our focus this week and next week for French is Halloween vocabulary.  Visit the site: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYfmQ5eAQlg  and listen to C’est l’Halloween.  We have played French Halloween 7-up using props.  We read a few chants/rhymes, sang songs and made haunted houses (les maisons hantées).

ARE YOU AND YOUR CHILD TRACKING YOUR READING LOG MINUTES?  Our Gr. 1/2 class is participating in the PIZZA HUT monthly reading program.  When your child hands in his/her READING LOG at the end of each month, with the 250 required minutes, he/she will receive a coupon each time for a FREE INDIVIDUAL PIZZA. 

                                                          

Friendly reminder:  Mark your calendars to attend the George Bothwell Library (Southland Mall) GRANT ROAD LITERACY EVENING for K to 4 students from 6 to 7 p.m. on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17^TH.  We hope to see you there with your children.  Bring your library cards too.

Ms. Selimos, Ms. Daniels, and Ms. Holtby

"Practice subtraction as the season 'falls' in! Find more fun worksheets at Education.com."

October 1st, 2018 week with Ms. Selimos

Hello Parents and Students,

The weather certainly took a turn for winter this week.  Please remember to send your child to school with a jacket and some mittens, as the temperatures are dropping. 

 PWIM = Picture Word Inductive Model. The PWIM poster this month is of a classroom. This week’s PWIM lesson focused on plurals and sorting PWIM words based on this concept.

This we introduced the Writing Traits ELA component this week.  The focus was “topics.”  What is a topic?   Can you write a sentence based on a certain topic?  They each had a choice of writing about a fish, a monster or a robot.  Writing traits will be shared at the November Goal Setting 3-way conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvfztlC2ho  

Pizza song based on 2^nd writing traits lesson with the topic of PIZZA.

We also began our PRINTING BOOKS.  Have your child sing to you the song:  Smells like Thanksgiving.  See photo.

The phonics letter of the week was Cc.  We brainstormed food words beginning with Cc, explored rhymes and solved mystery sentences. Charlie and Cindy really liked the ‘C’ lesson.  The children were able to successfully figure out the 8 sentences with “c” words.

We had a lot of fun on Thursday singing Happy Birthday to our lovely Ms. Daniels and surprised her with some singing, birthday cards and a gift certificate to pamper herself. 

We hope the turkeys made it home safely before the Thanksgiving long weekend.

For Math this week, the Grade One’s have been working on number sense with numbers 0 to 10. We have been practicing our number words every day, and have been working on writing our numbers correctly without reversals. This could still use much practice at home. Does your child recognize the word ‘five’ or ‘seven’? The students have been exploring with counters and ten frames what one more and one less looks like, or two more and two less. For example, if my number is 6 (six) what is one more than 6 and what is one less than 6. See what your child knows and practice at home with any group of objects. The children also played some POWER OF TEN GAMES.

Explore POWER OF TEN GAMES AT:   http://poweroften.ca/category/addition/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58kC6zoarG0         Halloween night number song

The first few lessons were challenging for some of the Gr. 2 students.  In this unit the children will be expected to be able to SKIP COUNT by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s FORWARD and BACKWARD.  Examples as follows:  Count backward by 10s from 90 to 30.  ANSWER:  90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30.     Count backward by 5s from 60 to 35.  Count forward by 2s from 82 to 94. Print off a 100 chart from a math website and play counting games with your child.  See math photos for ideas.  Is your child able to count forward by 5s starting at 35 and ending at 85?  Is your child able to count backwards by 10s starting at 90 and ending at 30? Is your child able to start at 1 and count by 2s? Work on even and odd numbers with your child as well.  Even numbers end in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8.   Odd numbers end in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.  Next week, coins will be introduced (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters) and skip counting using money.

Ms. Holtby has enjoyed teaching her first health unit on the Zones of Regulation. She started the unit off by introducing the 4 zones; Green Zone – Focused and Ready to Learn, Blue Zone feeling tired, sad or sick, Yellow Zone; feeling worried, scared or silly, Red Zone; feeling angry and out of control. She used clips from the movie ‘Inside Out’ to illustrate how different emotions look. She then had students engage in drama, acting out emotions without using words to show students that they can tell how someone is feeling based on how they are acting. As a class, they discussed what kind of strategies you could use to ‘self-regulate’. Throughout the unit, they practiced different strategies such as breathing exercises, brain breaks and animal walks. At the end of the unit each student created a “Zones Tool Kit” that has their zones booklet that illustrates each zone and a strategy. In it, you will find a stress ball, clapper, zones bracelets, fuzzy fidgets, feathers, sparkly shaker and a dinosaur fidget. Students can use these tool kits to ‘self-regulate’ throughout the school year! The students completed a zones sorting activity to illustrate what they learned throughout this unit and they did great!

We began our Life Science Unit this month, with the Gr. 1 and 2 focus of animal growth and change as follows:

LT1.1
Differentiate between living things according to observable characteristics, including appearance and behaviour. [CP, SI]
     i) Differentiate among animals according to their observable characteristics.

AN2.1

Analyze the growth and development of familiar animals, including birds, fish, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, during their life cycles. [CP, SI]

AN2.2

Compare the growth and development of humans with that of familiar animals. [CP, SI]

AN2.3

Assess the interdependence of humans and animals in natural and constructed environments. [CP, DM]

We will discuss life cycles, importance of balance (sun, plants, water), vertebrate classification, warm blooded (endotherm) vs. cold blooded and more.

Check out the Vertebrates song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mP-2WpmCkA

ATTENTION GRADE 1 PARENTS:  Next Tuesday, your child will be given LIST 2 of the SIGHT WORDS; see his/her HOMEWORK NOTEBOOK.  Cut them out and use them daily as flashcards.  We tested our Gr. 1s this week and many still need to master the 20 words in LIST 1. We have been testing each child.  Please review Lists 1 and 2 EVERY DAY as part of your child’s home reading.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!  Enjoy the long weekend!

Ms. Selimos, Ms. Holtby and Ms. Daniels