I'm stuuuck!

"Mrs. Beliveau, I'm stuck on this word!"

Boy, learning to read is challenging! A huge part of Grade One is arming the students with strategies they can apply when faced with a tricky word. 

We have a special bulletin board in our room that helps us remember useful reading strategies. There are many more strategies not posted on our board that can help a reader, but the ones we focus on are the ones that will help our beginning readers get "unstuck" most often. 

If you ever want to hear a funny story, ask Mrs. Beliveau about how her husband ended up buying all of these Beanie Babies!

We have not yet introduced all of the strategies posted, but have worked with several so far. Mrs. Beliveau frequently meets with small groups of kids who have similar needs to practice applying reading strategies.

Can you see the strategies posted behind our reading table?

Knowing the strategies your child is familiar with, as well as the vocabulary we use in class when discussing strategies, can be helpful when reading together at home. Here are the strategies we have worked with so far:

• Stretch out the sounds in the word slowly. (Stretchy Snake)
• Look at the first letter of a word. Get your lips ready to say the first sound. (Lips the Fish)
• Look at the pictures for clues. (Owl Eyes)
• Find a chunk/part of the word you know. (Chunky Monkey) 

Above all, always encourage your child to ask "Is what I'm reading making sense?". 

Watch for a strategy bookmark to come home with your child soon!

Reading strategy posters from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten. 

Braille and a Black Lab

Our Five Senses Unit is coming to a close, and we have learned so much! This past Friday, we had an opportunity to learn more about what people do when their senses are impaired. Several special guests visited!

Braille

Our first special guests were from down the hall! Mrs. Cooper is an incredibly talented Educational Assistant who has become very skilled at Braille. Joining her was a student with a visual impairment who was learning to read Braille. 

Braille is a set of raised bumps that you run your fingertips over. The bumps stand for letters, punctuation, or even whole words. A person would learn to read Braille if they their sense of sight was impaired or if they were blind. 

We were amazed that our special guests could read with their fingertips! We were treated to a story, read entirely in Braille!

What an amazing way to read! Many thanks to Mrs. Cooper, who also Brailled our names!

Dogs With Wings

Mrs. Montgomery, a former Holy Redeemer teacher and close friend of Mrs. Beliveau's,  generously set up a special visit from Dogs With Wings. Dogs With Wings is an assistance dog training organization that supports individuals with various disabilities, from visual impairments to mobility challenges. Mrs. Montgomery used to train puppies and still volunteers with the organization!

We welcomed in Susan and a 2 and a half year old black lab, Oakley! 

We saw several of Oakley's special skills that can help people be more independent and capable.

Here is Oakley helping Susan take off her shoes, coat and hat:

Oakley knows how to help someone cross a street or navigate a busy mall. Here is Oakley getting ready to help Susan cross a pretend street:

Labs are an especially focused breed of dog. One of our students was asked to distract Oakley by stepping over her several times. Do you think Oakley payed any attention to this little girl?

Look at how Oakley's attention remains on Susan

We learned that when we see a service dog out in public, we are not to pet it, talk to it, or distract it. We can identify a service dog because it wears a vest. 

Can we pet this dog? NO WAY, JOSE!

Can we pet this dog? YES!

Once a service dog's vest is removed she can be treated like any other dog. We all jumped at the chance to get in some puppy cuddles, too!

There are many ways to support Dogs With Wings. Susan said the organization is always looking for foster families to train the puppies. Of course, donations are always appreciated, as clients are only charged $1 when they receive their service dog. Susan even invited us to visit the dog training facility with our families so that we can play with the puppies!

Susan left our library with a new book, A Dog For Uncle Peter, written specifically for Dogs With Wings. Thank you, Susan, Oakley, and Mrs. Montgomery! Dogs With Wings is truly a blessing for so many!

There are so many ways that people with sensory impairments can be independent and successful. What an amazing day filled with learning!

It Didn't Frighten Me!

Halloween was SPECTACULAR! Last Friday was a ball! We had loads of fun busting a move at the dance, reading spooky stories, making a Halloween wind sock, and playing all sorts of active games, like Goalie Ghost!

But our Halloween fun began well before October 31st! For the past few weeks, the boys and girls have enjoyed the book It Didn't Frighten Me, by Goss and Harste. 

It is a pattern book about all of the things that didn't frighten a child late at night ... until a little brown owl shows up to do some scaring! Eeek!

We read the book several times, and then worked for days creating our own versions of the story! 

The boys and girls were introduced to the word criteria. We had two very simple criteria that the students were challenged to meet for this project: 

(1) print neatly with finger spaces

(2) draw neat pictures that fill the space

Ta da! Here are a few completed pages!

On Halloween, we shared our work with our Grade 5 buddies, and also snuck opportunities to read to anyone who was brave enough to hear a scary story!

Yesterday we reflected on our great work! We thought carefully about the criteria for the project. Then the students chose a colour they thought would best match their effort for the given criterion; green (excellent), yellow (proficient), or red (basic). 

We often use these monkeys when we self-assess and are reflecting upon where we are at on our learning journey. Can your child describe what these monkeys and their corresponding colours mean?

Watch for these amazing, scary stories in your child's Evidence of Learning binder, coming home after the November break!