A "Purrr-fect" week with Pete!

Our first week together has been "purrr-fect"! We've been blessed with an energetic, warm-hearted group of students, and they've been an easy bunch of kids to fall in love with!

But we've had one extra "student" join us this week ... Pete the Cat! This feisty feline has a way of overcoming a challenge by always finding the positive! What an important message for the children to hear as they begin a new school year!

After reading Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, we couldn't resist making our own version! We brainstormed what Pete might step in, and students set to work completing their own page for our class book!

The children really enjoy flipping through our class-made book. They are so proud to see their work!

We also enjoyed reading Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus, because we found a way to sing the song using our names! We focused on using the first sound in our names to make our own silly verses. 

This student's name begins with the letter M, so his bus says "mumpity mump"!

Then we made our own buses, added the first letter of our name, and personalized our poems!

These projects gave Mrs. Beliveau an opportunity to get to know the boys and girls better. She got an extra peek at the children's abilities to follow directions, cut, print and glue, as well as several other work habits, such as perseverance, problem-solving and time management. 

Today was so exciting! As we were reading through Pete the Cat and his Magic Sunglasses, we discovered Pete's glasses were locked in the box! Yikes!

Using teamwork, patience, and our amazing enthusiasm, we collaborated by solving clues to open a letter lock, directional lock, and number lock! 

Ta da! We retrieved the sunglasses from inside the box ... and also earned delicious strawberries and blueberries! 

Ask your child why we got berries!

What a fabulous start to an amazing year!

Pete the Cat Breakout Box activities adapted from here. 

Pete the Cat Roll and Cover dice game from Little Miss Hypothesis.

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes book is inspired by A Classroom on Cloud Nine. 

The Wheels on the Bus names activity is inspired by Deanna Jump's Names Unit: Literacy and Math Fun With Names.

Welcome to Grade 1!

Hello, boys and girls!

My name is Mrs. Beliveau and I am THRILLED to be your Grade One teacher this year! It is going to be a fun year full of learning and adventures!

I want to find out all about you, but until we see each other on the first day of school, I'll tell you a few things about me. 

Did you learn a little about me? I can hardly wait to see you on the first day so I can find out what makes YOU so special!

On the first day of school, I'll help you find your own hallway hook for your backpack. The hook will have your name and your desk will have your name, too! Our first activity is top secret, but I'll give you a hint ... we get to use play-dough! Together, we'll learn a hilarious silly song and will read my absolute favourite book, which always makes me laugh! 

I am looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday, September 3rd! 

Hugs, 

Mrs. Beliveau

We are God's Masterpiece!

Our theme this year has centered on this beautiful scripture quote from Ephesians, and it has been a meaningful way for us to celebrate the gifts, passions and uniqueness of each and every person in our school!

To finish off the year, we created beautiful canvases, stamped with this scripture quote. 

These art pieces remind us that we are truly made with intention by God, who created us in His image and loves us infinitely!

Boys and girls, you truly are a masterpiece. May you always remember that you are created with love by our Father. Share this love with everyone you meet! Be Christ's hands wherever you go and share the masterpiece that you are with the world!

My warmest blessings and love, 

Mrs. Beliveau

Book Tournament Champ 2019!

June has been SO MUCH FUN! It seemed like there was something extra special taking place almost every day! We have enjoyed our ABC Countdown, a trip to Nitza's Pizza, a day at the Zoo, Fun Day, and more!

After a month of fierce competition, we held the finals for our Tournament of Books. It has been an absolute BLAST reading each day, and it was no surprise that the kids were thrilled to read every day! I couldn't be happier about having so many kids SO EXCITED ABOUT BOOKS AND READING!

Our winner? Memoirs of a Hamster! 

This is a fantastic read aloud about the challenges of being a hamster. The illustrations are so detailed and realistic, and the writing is catchy and suspenseful. 

Happy reading!

Teach the Teacher Week!

This past week was such a joy! Mrs. Beliveau was happy to become a student as the children each had a turn being the teacher! They taught us about things that excite them and things that they are experts on! It was a blast seeing them light up and share their passions. Check it out!

We kicked off the week learning about safety on a school bus!

One student taught us some Ukrainian dancing steps, including the bow!

We learned how to design our own Pokemon card! This student was thrilled to use the document camera!

An expert athlete gave us tips on becoming a successful goalie. 

An animal enthusiast shared several interesting facts he knows about sharks! 

We were all excited to learn how to make our very own slime!

Rainbow looms had us all focused and enthralled!

We even were treated to a golf lesson from our very own golf pro!

Batman visited and shared many interesting facts!

Using Google slides and his imagination, a student taught us how we would take care of a dinosaur on Jurassic World Evolution!

This student shared her passion (as well as many interesting facts) about horses. 

Our dance lessons continued! This time, hip hop got us grooving!

A talented artist taught us all how to draw a 3D hand. 

One patient little lady introduced us to Cat's Cradle!

We got creative and had a soccer lesson in the library!

We rounded out the week with a lyrical hip hop lesson!

We are all God's Masterpiece, each with different gifts and passions. What a wonderful week seeing each student shine in a unique way!


Teach the Teacher lesson idea from More Than a Worksheet

Alphabet & Animal Reports!

Boy, has our ABC Countdown made our last few days even more exciting! This week we enjoyed M, N, O, P and Q!

M - Magazines

The students enjoyed relaxing with Chirp, Highlights, Chickadee and more!

N - Nature Walk

Did some deep breathing and strolling! The 3R class had measured out 1/2km, so we followed their path and walked there and back to make 1km! International playground laws state that when you pass a hill, you must roll down ... so we did!

O - One Hundred's Chart Tic-Tac-Toe
Students were partnered up and received a blank 100's chart. Using two different colours, students tried to fill in the numbers on the chart ... three in a row! 

P - Paper Airplanes and Puzzles

We watched a super YouTube on how to make a simple airplane! The we got busy folding and throwing! The planes were an absolute blast! A Pokemon puzzle also kept us challenged!

Q - Quiet Time in the Chapel
Today we plan to end off our busy week with quiet prayer and reflection as a little classroom community. We love our Chapel!


Amazing Animal Reports

As we prepare for our end of year field trip to the zoo, the children were challenged to learn more about an an animal of their choosing! They drew and labelled a detailed diagram of their animal and wrote three facts with accompanying illustrations. We used the San Diego Zoo Kids website to help us with our research.

This was not an easy project, but we rose to the challenge! Students navigated challenging text, gathered information, wrote complete sentences, and illustrated with detail. Wowzers!

Watch for your child's animal report to come home! Happy reading!

Books, Pizza, and Learning!

Books!

This week marks the beginning of our June Tournament of Books! 16 amazing read-alouds have been selected, and each day we read 2, voting on the one we prefer! Which book will win? We'll keep you posted!

Pizza!

We took a little road trip to visit a local landmark, Nitza's Pizza! We were welcomed in and learned how to make our own pizza! We listened, followed directions, used our manners, and left with full bellies!

The fee that we were charged for the morning was then donated (in it's entirety!) by Nitza's to the Stollery Children's Hospital. What a generous community landmark! Thank you to the phenomenal staff at Nitza's Pizza!

Our ABC Countdown carried on this week! 

H - Hula Hoops & Hats

Our hips were shimmying and hats were flying as we tackled our hula hoop games!

I - Ink Pen

We were excited to set our pencils aside and use real ink!

J - Jokes and Jump Rope

The kids told some side splitters!

Q: What do you call a pig doing karate?
A: A pork chop!

Q: What did the horse say when he was lying down?
A: I can't giddy up!

Q: Why was 6 afraid of 7?
A: Because 7 - 8 - 9!

K - Kindness with Pre-K

The boys and girls got busy spreading kindness! We read the stories we wrote last week to the kiddos in Pre-K. What an awesome opportunity to be leaders!

L - Library Learning

We are changing things up and taking our learning to the Library today! Should be a fun place to learn together!


Rest up this weekend, kids! Next week is even more exciting!