A New Student and a Brave Hero

A New Student

On Thursday, we welcomed a new student into our class! Here are a few clues that describe him:

1. He has big brown eyes.
2. He likes to play and run outside.
3. He LOVES listening to stories.

Our new student is not a new boy or girl, but a horse, of course! His name is Trifon and he is an Arabian horse.

We welcomed Mr. Millar and Trifon from the Arabian Horse Reading Literacy Project. Mr. Millar shared that Trifon and all of the horses he has absolutely love listening to stories. He was hoping we could come read to the horses soon!

The boys and girls were very excited to meet Trifon. Each student had a special moment to gently touch Trifon on his shoulder. Mr Millar gave each student a little book about Trifon's friend, a horse named Sox. This little pattern book is a perfect beginning reader for the children because it encourages the children to look at the pictures for clues about the words in the book. We have lots of reading ahead of us before we head to the horse barn in the Spring to read to Trifon and all of his friends!

While Trifon was only a student in our class for the afternoon, Mr. Millar left a giant poster of Trifon for us to practice reading to.

Here are a few memories from our afternoon:




Trifon not only likes reading stories, but enjoys reading email, too! Trifon can be reached at trifon@arabianhorsereading.com and will respond back. Wow, what a horse!


A Brave Hero

Friday afternoon was perhaps one of the most special moments our class has shared so far this year. We tied up our runners, filled our waterbottles, and gathered with our school community to honour a Canadian hero, Terry Fox, by participating in our school's annual Terry Fox Run.

All week long we learned about Terry Fox. The children were amazed that Terry would run a marathon distance every day, even in cold, windy or rainy weather. What astounded us most was that even though Terry had lost a leg to cancer, he was brave enough to run through the pain so that others could perhaps one day live without cancer.  

With tattoos on our cheeks and smiles on our faces, we headed out into the sunshine! We ran, we walked, we jogged, and one sparkly little one even danced his way around the track! Here is a look at some of the energetic Terry Fox Run participants from our class.

It was an inspiring afternoon!

Down By The Bay - The Super Silly Version

I think I may have the silliest, most creative group of students who can rhyme anytime!

Our class has been having so much fun rhyming over the last few weeks! The students have written and illustrated new verses to Raffi's silly song Down By The Bay. Click on the presentation below to see their new verses (or click here).

Digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

This tune has been stuck in our heads for days now! The students sang Down By the Bay using song sheets to track the print and follow along with the verses. Careful! This song will get you singing and rhyming, too!

listen to ‘Grade1-Down By The Bay’ on Audioboo


Can you think of any other verses?

Amazing Applesauce

Last Friday the students became chefs! It was the first of our monthly Snazzy Snacks and we cooperated to make a crock pot full of delicious fall applesauce.

Snazzy Snacks are simple cooking or baking activities that are layered with rich learning opportunities. Children follow directions, count, measure, and cooperate. Once the snack is made and devoured, we write out the recipe together. Writing out the recipe encourages sequencing, makes connections to various phonic and spelling skills, and presents an authentic opportunity to print.


Fall is the season when our apple trees are full of ripe apples, so applesauce was the perfect recipe for us to tackle. Mrs. Montgomery was kind enough to share fresh apples from her parents' trees. Thank you so much! Many thanks to our Kindergarten class, who opened up their room to us for the day so we could have access to a sink and extra space to cook.

Here are our applesauce ingredients:

We washed our hands very well before cooking. 

First, the chefs worked in pairs to chop the peeled apple slices.

We filled the crock pot to the top with the apples we chopped!

Next, we added some cinnamon, a few spoonfulls of sugar, and a bit of water.

Then, the crock pot was turned to "high". We waited and we worked, and we worked and we waited. What a delicious smell!

Finally, as the apples softened, we carefully mashed them.

(As a side note, I apparently need to splurge on a new potato masher. The one I own is the world's wimpiest plastic gadget that didn't mash much of anything. Rats.)

The wait was worth it! The applesauce was warm and sweet, albeit a little chunky, but many agreed it was a lot like apple pie. Yummy!

It sure didn't last long! Congratulations, chefs! Job well done!

Today we recorded the recipe together and placed it in our cookbooks.

I can hardly wait for the spooky snacks we will concoct in October!

Thanks to Mrs. Bainbridge who inspired our monthly Snazzy Snack cooking and to Mrs. Bumgardner for the recipe.

Pattern Puzzler

Our first Math unit has focussed on patterning. We have worked hard to identify a pattern, describe a pattern, continue a pattern, and create a pattern. Now the students are exploring how patterns can be related.

Today we examined the patterns below. We practiced describing these patterns using words (e.g. scissors, glue, glue), letters (e.g. A, B, B...), and numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 2...).

Ask your child to describe these two patterns.
How are they similar? Different?

It is so important for the children to verbalize and justify their thinking. This helps deepen understanding not only in Math, but in any subject or situation. Don't be surprised if your child struggles with this skill at first. With daily practice together, we will only get better at explaining and justifying our thinking.

Rhyme Time and Sing-a-Long

We are working hard in class to develop the necessary skills for reading, and rhyming is an important part of the reading process. Rhyming allows children to play with words and makes language fun and engaging. It encourages children to listen to language and notice its sounds. Rhyming also helps children discover word families (e.g. hat, mat, bat). Rhyming is such a rich language activity! As a class, we are having fun identifying rhymes and creating rhymes. Take a peek at some of the rhyming activities we have enjoyed together so far this week!

Rhyme Bag

We have two Rhyme Bags that students are taking turns bringing home. Only items that rhyme can be placed inside! One of today’s students had fun with us by only showing us her first item, a cat. We all enjoyed guessing what else might be inside (as well as what probably wouldn’t be inside). Look at the rhyming items that filled her bag!

Mat, bat, cat, rat, hat!

When your child brings the Rhyme Bag home, feel free to not only choose items to place inside, but illustrations, words, or images printed from your computer. All items will be returned. Happy rhyming!

Rhyming BINGO

Rhyming BINGO is so fun it hardly feels like work, but boy, are the children refining their rhyming skills! In partners, the students listen to clues I read aloud that rhyme, and together find the picture/word on their card. The children have been excellent sports, and one student even decided to make his way around the room today to shake the hands of his competitors!

Down by the Bay

This week we have enjoyed Raffi’s Down by the Bay, which is a story as well as a song. The rhymes are very silly and the students have had lots to laugh about as we create new rhyming verses. Below is a clip of Raffi singing Down by the Bay in concert. Can you guess the students’ favourite verse (which, funnily enough, is their teacher’s LEAST favourite verse)?

Stay tuned for our dazzling Down by the Bay class project, to be posted soon!

Sing-a-Long

After lunch today we were surprised by a very special guest, Father Dan! He came from our parish for a special beginning of the year visit to meet all of the students. Father Dan is very talented and shared several songs with us on his guitar. The children couldn’t get close enough to him, and kept scooting up on the mat! Father Dan, you have a gift!

We sang several songs with Father Dan and one of our favourites was Awesome God. Then Father Dan shared a story with us from his Action Bible, a bible written much like a comic book, with bright illustrations and speech bubbles.  We heard the Creation Story and learned that God created us good. Father Dan reminded us that God created us out of love and that He loves us very much.

Tomorrow morning is our first school mass. All parents and guests are welcome to celebrate with us. Mass will begin at approximately 9:30. We look forward to sharing this welcoming mass with Father Dan and our school community!

Morning Brain Warmers

In our Grade One class, a big part of September is learning and practicing the daily routines. This past week, we focussed on our morning Brain Warmer routine. After unpacking their Kanga Pouches, this is what students do when they arrive at school each day.

In the past, I have had students complete journal prompts, sentence corrections, and other worksheet-type activities. This year, I decided to move away from the typical paper-pencil warm up tasks. I found they were not particularly engaging, so I decided on an alternative that allows students to talk and share with each other in a unique, active format.

Here is our weekly schedule:

Magazine Monday

Students are encouraged to flip through a magazine of their choosing in pairs. Some of the magazines on hand are Chirp, Highlights, High Five, Clifford The Big Red Dog and Let's Find Out. All are geared towards a primary reader and offer a different format for reading than the typical fiction book.

 

Tune Up Tuesday

Each Tuesday, the students will “tune up” a skill chosen by the teacher. This week, the children enjoyed being challenged by a picture/word search!

What Is It? Wednesday

What could it be?

Each Wednesday, I project pictures onto the SMARTboard for students to identify. Do you know what these might be?

The students were fairly certain the first picture was a pumpkin. As for the second picture, guesses ranged from a toque, a blanket, a sweater, mittens, to a pair of colourful socks. Here are the complete pictures:

Think Outside the Box Thursday

On Thursdays, children receive an abstract shape. They are encouraged to turn the shape into something else by “thinking outside the box”. This past Thursday, they received this L-shaped picture:

Here are some of the students’ creative creations:



From L to R: Rollerskate, striped snake, foot in a sock,
hockey stick, the beach in Mexico, and a sock.



Fidget Friday

Fridays are filled with items to fidget with! This week we enjoyed play dough in partners. Pipe cleaners and beads, cloud dough, links, building blocks, and more will make an appearance on Fridays.

So far, I’m very pleased at the results of this new format of morning warm up task. Students are engaged in an activity that is enjoyable and different each day, and can connect with each other in a meaningful way. The children can hardly wait to come into class for the daily Brain Warmer!

Welcome! Please tour our classroom!

Today was our Meet and Greet BBQ. The sun shone, the hot dogs sizzled, the popcorn popped, and most importantly, we gathered together as a school community. I think it is safe to say everyone who came to the event had a fantastic time! I was lucky enough to get a few extra hugs from my students, too!

After gobbling down a few legendary hot dogs from Chef Stabile, students gave their parents a tour of our “home away from home”. If you were unable to attend tonight’s event, here is a glimpse into our classroom.

Below is a view from the door. The equipment mounted in the centre is called a SMARTboard. It is connected to my computer and projects my desktop onto the board’s surface. The students can use their finger, a special “pen”, and even a pointer to control what is on the screen.

When you walk into our class and look left, these are the bulletin boards you see. The students all made a promise, sealed with a handprint, to try their very best to follow our classroom rules. Below is a white shelf to display family photos. If you haven’t sent in a picture of your family yet, there is plenty of room on the shelf. Who doesn’t love a little family picture to peek at throughout the day?

Moving to the right, we have three monkeys climbing a vine. These monkeys will help us to understand where we are with our learning for any given skill or outcome. Basic Bob is at the bottom of the vine. He does his best work when he has help.  Proficient Patty is progressing in her learning, as she has climbed up the vine a little. She can pretty much complete the task independently. Excellent Eddie has conquered the task! He is at the top of the vine. He can complete the task independently and with confidence, every time. Thanks to Mrs. Weller, who inspired this board.

The children are just being introduced to this system of self-assessment. So far, we know that green is a signal we use to show we can complete a task or carry out a skill independently, and today we were circled our best printing with a green highlighter. Throughout the year, we will use green to signal proficiency with a skill, yellow to signal that we are making progress but still need practice, and red to signal that we do our best with help.

To the right of the monkeys and behind our curved guided reading table is the Stuck on a Word board. These stuffies will help the children remember several strategies that they can use if they are stuck on a word when they are reading. Watch for a bookmark coming home with the strategies and animals listed.

This green board is where we will post our weekly spelling words. We will start to add words soon! Are you wondering about the glue bottles? Vowels are like glue, because they stick words together. Every word has a vowel in it.

Below is a picture of my workspace, which we call my “fort”. The students know this is my private space and are very respectful of it. I do not spend very much time sitting in my chair, though! Often, I pull my rolling chair out so I can roll to the students’ desks to check in on their learning. The large yellow happy face is where our classroom jobs are listed each day. Can you see my favourite poster hanging on my file cabinet? 

To the right of the SMARTboard is a learning bulletin board. The Potato Head pieces remind us what to do with our bodies so that we can be ready to learn.

Nestled in the front corner is our Prayer Table. In the centre is a friendship circle. Circle of Friends is the theme that runs throughout our Religion program. Does your child remember the actions to our Circle of Friends song? They are fast, but are so much fun to do together!

This is the view from my desk. It looks so strange not to have any children smiling back at me!

Below is our mat. We gather here several times a day. The shelves on the left hold our free reading books. The shelves on the right hold several hands-on Spelling Centres. Once spelling begins, we will be using these bins daily to practice words as well as strengthen our fine motor skills.

Each week a new message will be shared on the easel. Throughout the week, we will re-read the message, building fluency, and will interact with the message in different ways. Yesterday we circled letters that fall below the line, such as g, j, or y .

The boys and girls place these bathroom passes on their desks so that I know at a glance who is out of the room at any given time.

Below is a clip chart that helps us monitor our choices. We begin each day with our clothespins on Ready to Learn. Students have the opportunity to move UP on the chart if they are making positive, caring choices. As well, students move DOWN on the chart if they receive a warning for a behaviour and then continue to choose not to correct it. This is a wonderful visual for the children and I am thrilled at the choices the children are making.

It is my goal that our classroom is a happy, safe, and inviting space for the children. If you were unable to pop in today, I look forward to welcoming you into our classroom very soon. Information packages were left on students’ desks. Packages that were not picked up tonight will be sent home tomorrow so we all have the information we need to make this year a success!