Harnessing the Halloween Energy!

Between the full moon and Halloween approaching, boy has there been energy in Grade 1!

Rather than let that energy get out of control, the boys and girls got to work on several creative Halloween projects! Here is a peek at our week!

Making Connections

We were introduced to the reading comprehension strategy called "making text to self connections". Simply put, students are encouraged to connect a personal experience they have had with something in the story. This helps children better understand the story.

This past week, we practiced making personal connections using several Halloween books!

 

• The Littlest Pumpkin is about a teeny tiny pumpkin that nobody picks from a pumpkin patch. We thought of a time we felt disappointed. 

• Where's My Mummy is about a little mummy who is lost and can't find his mama. What a scary feeling! 

• Creepy Carrots is about a rabbit who fears his favourite snack, carrots!

• Crankenstein is about all the things that can make a kid cranky!

Here are some of the personal connections the children made:

It Didn't Frighten Me Pattern Stories

After hearing the story It Didn't Frighten Me, the boys and girls got to work creating their own spooky pattern stories! 

Here is the criteria they followed:

The boys and girls worked over several days to complete their stories. 

Here are a few pages from these amazing books!

These spooky stories will come home today! Have a safe and spooky Halloween weekend!

Where's My Mummy activity from Deanna Jump's unit. 
The Littlest Pumpkin activity from Cara Carroll. 
Crankenstein activity from Falling Into First. 
Creepy Carrots inspired by Anita Bremmer. 

Connections poster from the Comprehension Strategy Poster collection made by A Year of Many Firsts.  

Prayer & Gratitude

PRAYER

October is the month of the rosary. To make this form of meditative prayer accessible for us little ones in Grade 1, we prayed one decade each day for five days.

To prepare for our Decade-a-Day prayer journey, we made single-decade rosaries.  The decade of 10 beads can be moved around as each prayer is shared.

To connect our daily decade to the full rosary, we coloured in the 10 beads we prayed each day. 

Learning the Hail Mary prayer has been central to our exploration of the rosary. A "puzzle-piece" prayer came home this week. Consider praying this prayer as a family. 

THANKFUL THURSDAYS

We. Love. Thursdays. We really do!

We call this day "Thankful Thursday" and recently we have begun journaling about what we are thankful for. Gratitude breeds positivity and it is a wonderful lifelong practice that will help our students see the blessings God has sprinkled into our lives!

This year we are journaling in beautiful Grateful People journals. This is a year-long practice that will help us to see and appreciate all of the goodness around us!

Building Number Sense: JUNK IT!

In grade 1 we learn how our number system works by examining numbers up to 100. First, we went hunting for numbers! Where do we see numbers? When do we use numbers each day? Why are numbers so important?

Right now we are working very closely with numbers to 20. 

• How are numbers related? 
• What are some different ways to make a number? 
• How can we take a number apart? 
• How can we count carefully?

Keep hunting for numbers with your child! Road signs, recipes, flyers ... they're everywhere and so important!

Junk It Game

In case you haven't heard, we were introduced to a fast-paced card game, Junk It! It helps us recognize numerals and order them to 10. 

Junk It is a 2-player game. Remove face cards, but keep Aces. 

Put 10 cards in two rows of 5 face down in front of each player. Place the remaining cards in the centre. 

The first player flips a card over, and places it in its numerical spot. 

He picked up a 2 ... 

... so he put it down where the 2 goes. 

When he placed his card in the 2 spot, he picked up a 7 (formerly face down in the 2nd place). Off the 7 goes to spot 7!

When he put the 7 down, he picked up a 3, so off that card goes to the 3rd place. 

Notice how when he put his 3 down, he picked up the card in that spot? It is another 7! He already has a 7, so he gets to call JUNK IT and discard it in the middle. 

His opponent can either pick up the card that was just discarded, or select a new card from the pile. Keep playing!

The first player to get all 10 cards flipped over in order wins! 

It is a little confusing to explain on our blog, but the kids are definitely the experts! Will you challenge your child to a game of Junk It?!? Learning is so much more fun when it's a game! 

Heaps of Gratitude!

 This week we spent a little extra time exploring how blessed we truly are. Our blessings so are abundant and we seized every opportunity we could to thank God! 

With just the mention of the word "thankful", the students' hands were shooting up and ideas were overflowing. They were bursting with gratitude!

In the spirit of fostering a "growth mindset" and giving the students (and their teacher) the opportunity to practice perseverance and patience, we tackled a challenging Thanksgiving project, woven place mats!

We began by writing and colouring.

Then the students learned to weave paper strips over, under, over, and under. Many also showed off their patterning skills!

Amazing work! These will, without a doubt, be the center of the Thanksgiving tables this weekend!

We have been blessed beyond measure and it is so important to take time and give thanks. God is indeed SO GOOD! 

If you and your family are feeling energetic and grateful this long weekend, give this scavenger hunt from Natural Beach Living a try together!

On a personal note, I want to share how very thankful I am for each child in my class. Each student is a special blessing and I recognize what a responsibility & gift it is to spend eight hours a day learning alongside your little one. I am also very grateful for the support I receive from our classroom families and am thankful beyond measure for this support each and every day.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Every Child Matters

Orange Shirt Day (September 30th) is a day when we honour the Indigenous children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada. The “orange shirt” in Orange Shirt Day refers to the new shirt that Phyllis Webstad was given to her by her grandmother for her first day of school at St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia. When Phyllis got to school, they took away her clothes, including her new shirt. It was never returned.

The message that Phyllis wants to pass along on Orange Shirt Day — and every day — is that every child matters. Orange Shirt Day was started by Phyllis to educate people about residential schools and fight racism and bullying.

Orange Shirt Day is an important day. The message that every child matters was our focus. We are all made in God's image with boundless love and incredible care.

We read several stories over the past few days that helped us explore and appreciate our Indigenous history and culture in Canada.

One story that resonated with us was My Heart Fills with Happiness, written in both English and Plains Cree by a Canadian author and illustrator. It highlights the simple joys in life, and connects beautifully with our districts theme this year, "choose joy".

We reflected on what fills our hearts with joy and happiness, then let our creativity shine with watercolour paints!

Our exploration of Orange Shirt Day was rich with learning, and will continue throughout the year as we continue to honour our Indigenous history in Canada.