November 30, 2012

Today's home reading is the I'm Busy book from our basal reading series. 

We had a visit from Baby Jack (our Roots of Empathy baby) today.  The students made some very astute observations about Jack's progress - what sharp students we have in here!

Our swimming week wrapped up today.  Swim reports are in the pockets of agendas.

There was a possiblity that the grade one classes would be going on the Santa train next Tuesday morning, but it turns out that there will not be enough tickets to accommodate us.  There were some tickets that became availabe today (at More that Mail), in case anyone would like to take their child(ren) on their own.
Enjoy the weekend!

November 29, 2012

Reminders for tomorrow:
1.  Read The Cap.  (This book should be quite easy for everyone.)

2.  Bring swim gear.

3.  Study for the "my, by spy, cry, why, etc." spelling test.

November 28, 2012

Welcome to our newest member of Room Four: Tianna!  It's great to have another new student!

Today's book for home reading is Fish Fun. 

Remember that we will be swimming again tomorrow afternoon.  Check out the photos of our fish!

November 26,2012

Tonight's book for home reading is The Deer.

Remember that we have swimming tomorrow afternoon (and all the rest of the afternoons this week), so dry out that swim gear and pack it up for tomorrow's pool adventures.

November 25, 2012

Just a quick reminder that we have swimming lessons every afternoon this week.  Everyone will need their swim gear for tomorrow.

November 21, 2012

Reminders for tomorrow:

Read "Gail and Ben".

There will be a cookie sale - remember your quarters!

November 20, 2012

Welcome to our new student: Chloe!  Now we have a matched set!

Thanks to everyone who returned report card envelopes and interview and comment sheets.  I've set up interviews for the people who returned their forms - check your child's agenda for your time.  (Interviews are in our classroom - Room 4.  They are scheduled to last 15 minutes each - I'll try to stick to the time frame!)

Tonight's book is "A Real Pal" - lots of double vowel practise!

November 15, 2012

Tonight's reading selection is "The Bee".

Study those "ar" words for the test tomorrow!

Thanks to those who've returned the Remembrance Day art and swim permission forms.  We're still waiting for a few more to come back ....

Today the students heard the story of Persephone and Demeter and their connection to the seasons.  (Apparently Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, was so lovely that Hades nabbed her and took her to live underground with him.  Demeter was the goddess of growing plants.  She was so sad that her daughter had disappeared that she neglected her crops and plants, which dried out and turned yellow.  People were so worried about this that they appealed to Zeus, who decided Hades must return Persephone.  The only problem was, Persephone had eaten 6 pomegranate seeds while she was underground.  Because she had done this, she had to return to Hades for 6 months of every year (the 6 months of fall and winter).  When she returned above ground, however, her mother perked right up and let all the plants grow again - presto!  Spring and summer! 
We had a little taste of pomegranate after the story.  Hopefully nobody got pomegranate juice on their clothing....

November 14, 2012

Happy Birthday, Chloe!  Thanks, too, for the delicious treats you shared with us!

Our reading selection for today is another "magic e" book: The Cake.

Our spelling list this week has "ar" words: arm, car, etc.  The students helped choose the words and even came up with the tricky choice "heart" as a challenge. 

A note/permission form regarding the school's swim program went home today.  Please sign and return the permission form ASAP.  Thanks.

A second note/permission form went home today regarding a Remembrance Day art competition.  If you wouldn't mind your child's art project being entered in a contest, please sign and return the form.  (We made pictures of poppies - they turned out beautifully!)  Thanks.

November 13, 2012

Tonight's reading selection is "The Joke".  It concentrates, again, on the "magic e" concept.

The class wrote "Oowwee!" stories today, detailing previous injuries or accidents.  Drop in to read the bulletin board outside our classroom tomorrow - the writing should be completed and up on display by then.  (It will be largely unedited by me, so you'll get a pretty good idea of where your child's writing abilities stand at this point.  I'm quite impressed with the products so far!)

The guitars are now finished and on display in the classroom.  They look mmmmmmmarvelous!  Thanks again to Logan's mom and Hana's mom for all the work they did cutting out the guitars.  You rock, Mrs. D and Mrs. R!

November 8, 2012

Reminders for tomorrow:

Read "The Big Game" - another "magic e" book.

Study for the spelling test on "ow" words.

Book orders are due.

November 6, 2012

Today's home reading book is "Tab and Mac".  It concentrates on the "magic e" concept, where an "e" jumps to the left over the letter beside it and makes the vowel it lands on say its own name.  (For example, "hop" becomes "hope" and "bit" becomes "bite".)  The book also reinforces use of quotation marks, and reviews the sight word "said". 

Notes went home today regarding some upcoming testing and a mistake on the pink phone lists that went home earlier this year.  (The phone lists showed there was an early dismissal this Friday when, in fact, there is not.

Remember that the book fair is on until 7:00 pm.  The sale is upstairs in the library.

Class book orders are due this Friday.

November 5, 2012

Our spelling list this week has words that show two different pronounciations of "ow": the letters as they sound in how, now, cow, wow, owl, howl, etc. and as they sound in grow, blow, slow, below, snow, etc. 

Tonight's reading selection is "Ted" - enjoy!

Just a quick thank you to everyone who has taken off winter/wet footwear at the entrances to the hallways.  It helps keep the floors clean and dry and sets a good example for the students.  We appreciate the respect and concern you show for our students and our floors!

November 2, 2012

Spelling test results are in the agenda pockets.

Here are some photos from our Hallowe'en celebration:

Unfortunately, the dance video didn't turn out - sorry about that.

November 1, 2012

Tonight's reading selection is entitled "Meg".   Many of the students are finding the phonetic/decoding skills and, consequently, the reading itself, to be easier every day.  A good target for reading now is to have them work for smooth, fluent expression.  This may mean that they will repeat some sentences - sometimes more than once.  In school, we talk about how the reading should sound like you're talking to someone, not being robotic.

Thanks to everyone who sent treats for our Hallowe'en party.  What a nice feast we had!  The students' costumes were great - and so was their dancing.  (I'll see if I can find time tomorrow to post a video of their Arthur Murray moves.   Hold your breath everyone...)

Our spelling test tomorrow is on the "ook" family.

I've added a link at the side to  another website: www.funbrain.com.  Just click on Funbrain, listed under the links on the right hand side.  (I've changed the format of the blog so that it's easier to find the links.... no scrolling down required any more.)