 |
| Plowing Match Sept. 2014 |
First off, I would like to say I hope you all had a heart-warming Thanksgiving weekend with your dearest loved ones! In class, I look forward to hearing about your family's 'Thankful Stone' sharing experience. The students were extremely excited for you to bring home their 'Thankful Bags' and share them with you!
I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to all the families who took time out of their work days to join us in our "Stone Soup" Celebration on Friday. Many of you shared with me how very excited your child was to participate in this and to have you there meant the world to all of us. As a teacher, I strongly believe in parent-child-teacher working closely together as a team to help our children rise to their highest potential! I can say with confidence, the students certainly put in their "level 4 personal best" and performed exceptionally well. I am extremely proud of their efforts, they've lit up my heart! I enjoyed connecting with my student's families, I know we are going to have a year filled with purpose, passion, and productivity! This is the greatest gift I have received, having your child in my class!
 |
| Thank you families for your generous contributions of a variety of delicious vegetables! |
 |
| Preparing Stone Soup Picture Gallery! |
 |
| Writing a Class Recipe for Stone Soup |
Next, welcome to our Classroom Blog! I'm delighted to begin this online journey with your child and YOU - providing you with updates/news of our exciting learning and upcoming events from our "Classroom Community" to your "Comfy, Cozy Home." This blog is another avenue for US all to communicate, share, and celebrate your child's extraordinary learning in Grade One!!
Parents, thank you for actively supporting and engaging in your child's learning at home thus far - together, we can make a significant difference by working together to help your child achieve their academic, social and behavioural goals/needs. I could not do this without your unconditional love and support, it is greatly valued and cherished!
 |
| Conrad's Daddy & Mommy! |
 |
| Emma's Daddy, brother, and Mommy! |
 |
| Mrs. Roth, Mrs. McQuay and Ms. Isberg attentively listening to our Nolan! |
 |
| Daniel's Mommy! |
 |
| Cassius with his Mommmy! |
 |
| Kaden with his Mommy! |
 |
| Hannah's Mommy enjoying her writing! |
 |
| Alexander and his Mommy all smiles, precious! |
 |
| The gracious Gill's! |
 |
| Karrington's family - Gramma, baby sister, and Mommy! |
 |
| Carissa, Mommy, and baby sister! |
 |
| Karina's family! |
 |
| Layla and Mommy! |
 |
| Brody's loving family! Thank you for the ginger molasses cookies, yum! |
 |
| Nolan and his Mommy! Hope camping was a blast! |
 |
| Thank you Joanna, Mikayla, Gabby, and Leah my Grade 8 girls who helped serve Stone Soup to all the families! NAMASTE - "I HONOUR YOU!!!" |
In Language Arts, we have focused on a variety of literacy activities to build upon our reading and writing skills! Namely, in Reading we are differentiating between Fiction vs. Non-Fiction texts and I'm introducing important Reading ComprehensionStrategies (A.K.A. 'Reading Powers') such as "Making Connections, Visualizing, Predicting, Inferring, and Transforming." When your child reads to you, you may have heard him/her say, "Mom, Dad I'm making a connection!" Reading is THINKING is a vital component in establishing sound comprehension and critically analyzing what you're reading. We will integrate these strategies as we read! I will be introducing songs for each of these Reading Powers, which I think the boys and girls will enjoy and purposefully learn from.
Thus far, I have taught the first "Reading Power" song (see below). Please ask your child to share this with you.
"Reading Power Theme Song" (to the tune of "Head & Shoulders")
Hands and mouth and
Eyes and BRAIN!
Eyes and BRAIN!
Eyes and BRAIN!
Hands and mouth and
Eyes and BRAIN!
High-five Reading Power!
In Writing, we are working on "Recounts." So far, we have recounted our experience at the Plowing Match. At the end of every month, we will be writing a Recount on our most memorable experience and then pasting these into a "Scrapbook," which will serve as a Year in Review (a Grade One year book) for you to enjoy at the end of the school year! Along with this, I'll ensure that I take pictures to accompany your child's writing pieces!
 |
| Recount Writing Process |
 |
| Brainstorming for a Recount |
Word Study:
Beginning Mon. Oct. 20th, each week your child will bring home a red duo-tang with their "Word Study" homework pages in it. Please take the time to go over the words with them. I will also have them write their words out into their agendas as extra practice. Each week, I will be introducing "5 Key Words" (a.k.a. popcorn words). In Kindergarten, your child was introduced to approx. 20 of them, so some words are a review, but by the end of Grade One your child will learn 103 High-Frequency Sight Words :) The expectation is for your child to complete only the assigned pages for each evening which is 1-2 pages. I am a firm believer in this "Word Study Program" and have confidence that it will help my students who are at the early stages of learning how to read without fear of making mistakes. For those students in my class who are reading, I will ensure that I differentiate my instruction and provide them with extra challenge.
Thank you for supporting your child in our "Word Study Program," I am looking forward to their progress and taking initiative and responsibility for homework completion. Every Fri. we will have a "Spelling Test," please initial and leave a comment in your child's "Word Study Test" notebook when it comes home. I know how much they will value reading your 'notes of encouragement!'
Math:
 |
| 3 Part Math Lesson |
 |
| Math Wall - Number Sense Learning Goals/Success Criteria, terminology, charts |
In class, I have a designated MATH WALL (see pictures above) where I post the following:
Learning Goal: We will read, represent, compare, and order whole numbers from 0-31.
Success Criteria:
1. I can use, compare, and order numbers 0-31.
2. I can read and print number words 0-10.
3. I can estimate and check the number of objects in a set.
4. I can use ordinal numbers from 1st to 31st.
5. I can count using one-to-one correspondence.
On this wall, I also put up important math terminology that is pertinent to the unit of study. My math lessons are based on a 3-Part Lesson which includes a specific Learning Goal, Minds On, Action, and Consolidation piece. Students are becoming very familiar with this process and benefiting from it. In math, I also ensure that I include numerous "Math Games" to help reinforce math concepts in a FUN, engaging, and meaningful manner. Ask you child about some of the games I've introduced :)
Extra Math Practice Homework:
On Mon. Oct. 20th, I will also be sending home an "Extra Math Practice" duo-tang which is designed to further support your child's math learning and gives you (the parent) an idea of what concepts we are/have covered in class. This duo-tang will come home on Tuesday evenings and please return to school on Thursday mornings. The expectation will be for your child to complete this one math sheet per week on his/her own as the concept will be covered in class prior. However this being said, if your child requires some gentle support, please do so :) Thank you in advance for taking the time to hel when he/she requires it. I appreciate it!
Science:
 |
| Kaden admiring a GIANT sunflower! |
 |
| Labyrinth exploration at the Plowing Match |
 |
| Spectacular Scientists! |
 |
| Getting our hands and hearts ready for exploration! |
In Science we are focusing on the following:
Learning Goal: Energy in Our Lives
We will learn about the uses of energy at home, at school, and in the community.
Success Criteria:
1. I can understand that energy is what makes the things we do or see happen.
2. I can understand that the sun is the Earth's main source of energy.
3. I can identify food as a source of energy for living things.
4. I can think of ways to save (conserve) energy.
5. I can name sources of energy such as electricity, natural gas, oil, wood, food, and batteries.
At our Stone Soup Celebration, I hope you enjoyed our two science songs we shared with you! Namely, "The Seed Song & Mr. Sun!" They are so adorable when they sing and do the actions, aren't they? In our class, you may have noticed, I have a designated "Science Centre," (table) where I encourage each student to be a scientist to investigate, explore, and more importantly, to QUESTION to help develop their inquiry skills ... "I Wonder!" We have a Science Scrapbook where children write on sticky notes and paste their "Inquiries and I Wonder" questions. They get so excited when a "NEW SCIENCE TREASURE" is placed on the table! We have many aspiring "Bill Nye scientists" developing in our class family :)
 |
| Emma investigating! |
 |
| Conrad & Kaden discovering treasures from Mother Earth! |
 |
| Jacob, Brody & Cassius in awe of the giant sunflower head! |
 |
| Thank you Karrington for making Walt's name tag! Very creative & colourful :) |
Until soon ...
"May you continue to grow gracefully, creatively, and joyously..."
Namaste,
Miss Gill
Thank-you soo much for creating this blog, it means a lot to our family, I love it!! Brody has mentioned most of these things to me and now I can really put it all together. We're already excited to read the next entry.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, Amanda & Clint Duggan
As usual a fantastic blog full of wonderful stories and pictures. You are a fantastic person and we are so blessed to have you as Carissa's teacher this year! Looking forward to a fun-tastic year!
ReplyDeleteCheers from the Knowler Family ��