Celebrating Family Literacy Day!

Family Literacy Day is celebrated annually in Canada on January 27 and encourages families to read and learn together each day.

While we may not be able to welcome every family into our classrooms to celebrate, we found a meaningful way to connect home and school. Students selected a favourite book from home, wrapped it, and brought it in to share with their classmates. Each day, we unwrapped a surprise book and enjoyed reading it together as a class.

The excitement each morning was infectious! This simple activity has been an exciting and engaging way to celebrate our shared love of reading and the important role families play in nurturing literacy.

Happy Family Literacy Day!

Read In Week

Welcome to Read In Week! While we read each and every day in our class, our goal this past week was to make reading EVEN MORE exciting, enjoyable, and engaging! 

MONDAY

We kicked off the week reading eachother! Look at the shirts we chose:

What better way to build a love of reading than to devour some picture books with our Grade 3/4 buddies?

TUESDAY

We enjoyed a "teacher swap". Mrs. Beliveau waved goodbye and read to the Grade 3's. Our class headed to the Grade 3 room where Mrs. Spooner read her favourites to us! 

WEDNESDAY

We warmed up our brains reading the room! Hidden all over our classroom (and into the hall) were picture cards! We used our knowledge of letters and sounds to stretch our reading brains!

"All in the Hall" was fantastic! For 20 minutes, each and every kiddo in St. Nicholas piled into the halls with books to enjoy! It was so relaxing. 

We read some HILARIOUS sleepy-themed book to celebrate PJ day ... but everyone fell asleep! Zzzzzzzzz ...

THURSDAY

We rounded out an amazing week hearing Mr. Rachmistruk's favourite books all together in the gym!

Next week we'll get our daily home reading program rolling! Stay tuned!

Mystery Readers: Making Reading Exciting!

To develop a love reading is a huge goal in Grade 1. If the children are excited to read at this young age, it is very likely that they will continue to read and be avid readers throughout their lives. 

One way we have been getting really "pumped" about reading is by welcoming in Mystery Readers. By some stroke of luck, we had two last week ... and have more scheduled!

First, the children read three clues about the Mystery Reader. Then, the Mystery Reader is welcomed in to share a story!

For our first Mystery Reader, we welcomed in a grandma! We worked as a team to read her 3 clues and then settled in to enjoy her story. What a fantastic way to begin our Mystery Reader fun! 

We had another reader join us, too! She has a daughter in Grade 1 ... and also a granddaughter!?! Those clues really challenged us, but we loved figuring out that tricky puzzle and meeting Mrs. Beliveau's mom! She brought a fantastic Halloween book!

If you are interested in coming in as a Mystery Reader, or have a family member who is, please get in touch. You don't have to be a grandma (but we sure do love them!). We will find a convenient time and you are welcome to select a book or one can be provided. It really is a simple way of making reading exciting!

We Are Readers!

Bus shenanigans

The boys and girls were so excited to jump on a bus and head to the Strathcona County Library for a very special tour, and we learned a lot! 

When we arrived, Pascale showed us many of the items that can be borrowed from the library. We can borrow read-along kits (book/CD), CDs, DVDs, beginning readers, picture books, really fun PlayAway kits (an MP3 player with stories to listen to), and so much more! 

We took a tour to see what we can do in the library! We went through the children's section, the Discovery section, the computer area, past the Information Desk, and back to the program room! 

Back in our program room, we got a super secret sneak peek at the Summer Reading Game "Welcome to Meliora" and that the library offers! You can play every day once school finishes. Can your child tell you how to earn a free, brand new book? 

Have a peek in the Grade 1 reading kit your child received today. It is specifically tailored for our readers entering Grade 2 in the fall! Can your child tell you how we can get our names on the rocket ship board?

Ask your child how to get our names
posted on the board!

Be sure to check the Summer Program Guide for many FREE programs offered this summer for kids and families, including the Lego Night that got us all excited!

The library makes reading and learning so much fun, and is an excellent way to spend your summer! Please encourage your child to continue reading daily throughout the summer, as this will make the transition to Grade 2 tremendously smoother. 

It was an awesome trip and we are so excited that we have become readers!

Reading & Rhyming!

Rhyme Bag

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. pot, hot, and spot are in the -ot family). Rhyming is such a rich language activity! 

We have a Rhyme Bag that students are taking turns bringing home. Only items that rhyme can be placed inside! This student had fun with us by only showing us her first item, a bat! 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!

bat, cat & 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!

Reading

Each morning the boys and girls are paired up and share their Home Reading books with each other! Then they exchange their book for one at the same level and quietly read the new book. I am able to read individually with 4 to 6 students in this short time, allowing progress to be assessed, feedback to be given, and book levels to be adjusted. What phenomenal readers we are becoming!

For the next few weeks, the books that come home will be basic pattern books. My goal is to build confidence, make the experience of reading enjoyable, and develop reading behaviours! 

Here are a few strategies to support your child as he or she reads:

• Finger-track: Ask your child to follow the words with their finger. Today we used googly-eyed reading buddies to remind us to track!

• Look at the Pictures: The pictures are loaded with information that our beginning readers rely upon. Please never cover the pictures. For example, we can see flowers painted on Froggy's picture!

• Check the First Letter: When stuck on a tricky word, ask your child to say the sound of the first letter. For example, in the picture below, when we check the first letter and see an "h", we know the word cannot be "chicken". Must be "hen"!

We have keen readers and rhymers in our class! 

March Madness!

Did you know March is Read Aloud month? 

Today we had a guest from the Strathcona County Library come and kick off March by reading a few books and sharing information about the read aloud contest sponsored by the County (log your minutes here). 

But, like any other day in Grade One, the fun didn't stop there! March Madness began today! Whaaaaaat?!?

March Madness has the primary kids going bananas for books, not basketball! We have a 16-book tournament ahead of us:

Here is a close up of the books playing off:

We asked Mrs. Haston's Grade 2 class to share in the fun, and today we read our first two books of the tournament! Mrs. Beliveau read The Pout Pout Fish and Mrs. Haston read Memoirs of a Hamster. 

Overwhelmingly, the winner was Memoirs of a Hamster! 

Mrs. Beliveau posting today's results ... and thoroughly confusing
several students with the tournament draw!

Be sure to ask your child about the books we are reading, which was his or her favourite, and why. March Madness playoffs will continue tomorrow!


March Madness idea inspired by Playdough to Plato. 

Horses Love Reading, too!

The children have learned many lessons and new skills this year, but perhaps the learning they take the most pride in is reading. They began the year able to identify sounds and read just a few short words. Now they are able to read stories, magazines, websites, comics, and so much more! What a tremendous accomplishment!

After practicing our reading daily since September, the children were ready and we were off! We spent a morning celebrating and sharing our reading talents with none other than a few gentle Arabian horses. 

The students moved through different centers, reading to the horses after completing the activities at each centre. The activities were fun and included labeling the parts of a horse with sticky labels, grooming the horses (and their hooves!), running silly relay races dressed as cow boys and cow girls, writing special messages on posters to the horses, trying out the feel of a saddle (complete with parent-generated bumps) and making paint-stamped bandanas. 

Reading was easily the highlight! There were so many magical moments as the horses leaned in to see the pictures and hear the students read. The children read with confidence and tremendous pride, and the morning is one we will fondly remember. 

Keep reading, boys and girls!

Thank you, Mr. Millar for motivating 
us to read all year long!

A Library on Wheels!

We LOVE reading in our class and will read anywhere! We read in the halls, in the classroom, in the gym, and if you can believe it, today we read on a BUS! We had a special visit from the Bookmobile, a library on wheels! 

We piled onto the big bus, which came to us from the Strathcona County Library. Here we met Diana, an energetic book-lover who got us all excited to read, read, and read some more! With Spring in the air, Diana chose to share stories, songs and rhymes all about bugs. We really enjoyed singing Walter the Waltzing Worm (can you see our wiggly yarn worms?) and re-telling The Very Hungry Caterpillar using food props from the story. 

L to R
(1) Reading The Crunching Munching Caterpillar (2) Enjoying I Love Bugs
(3) Singing and dancing along to Walter the Waltzing Worm (4) Retelling The Very Hungry Caterpillar using food props

Then the boys and girls received colourful book bags and were given time to choose 5 books to take home. They were thrilled and quickly got to work hunting! Books were signed out and students were encouraged to read them and bring them back next Monday, when the Bookmobile returns again. 

For every book the students read and return, a sparkly little jewel is earned. Each student got a plastic Easter egg to store jewels in, and we will keep these eggs here in the classroom. Jewels can be traded in for prizes on the Bookmobile (please see the sheet in your child's book bag for more). 

The boys and girls were so happy with their new bags filled with books! It was nearly impossible to tear them away from their new books!

The bookmobile will return each MONDAY in April. Please take time to read these books with your child and kindly return them in a week so that new books can be taken out next Monday ... and jewels can be earned!

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!