Thanksgiving Blessings!

Yesterday the we spent some time reflecting on how blessed we are. Before sinking our teeth into our Thanksgiving craftivity, we started with a little discussion about the people and things in our lives that we are thankful for. With just the mention of the word "thankful", the students' hands were shooting up and ideas were overflowing. They were bursting with thankfulness!

The children had so many wonderful ideas to include in their Thanksgiving craftivity! These projects are sure to be the star of the dinner table this weekend! Here is the beginning of the project:



A work in progress...



Today we were able to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. Our school participated in Make a Difference, Break a Rule day. Students could "pay" to break a rule. To break a rule, students' brought in one food item per rule for the Strathcona Food Bank. Students wore hats, ate and drank in class, and listened to music during work time. Boy, did we collect a HUGE pile of food! Here are some highlights from our fantastic day:

We have been very busy preparing to lead the Thanksgiving Celebration tomorrow, with the help of the Grade 2 and Grade 3 classes. If you are able to join us for the celebration, please plan to meet in the gym at about 2:00 pm this Thursday.  

What are YOU thankful for? Take a minute to leave your reply. Simply double-click on the "wall" below to leave a "sticky note". There is no log in. Just type your idea and click GO. The students and I have left a few responses already (signed, Student). When leaving your response, please sign your name as Mr. or Mrs. and your last initial (e.g. Mrs. S, Mr. H), or something equaly appropriate and anonymous. Thank you for not mentioning first or last names on our blog.




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 in my life, and I recognize what a responsibility and gift it is to spend eight hours a day learning alongside your little one. I am also very grateful for the unwavering support I receive from the parents in our class and am thankful beyond measure for this support each and every day.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

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!