October 30, 2014

Thanks so much to Hanna's mom for coming to help out with our spooky science afternoon.  The class performed lots of experiments and scientific discovery - check out the photos at the bottom of this post.  Please be aware that there is vinegar and baking soda in the balloon/bottle creation.  The goblin goo is made from cornstarch, water and food colouring.  You might want to keep it away from carpets.

Remember to study for the spelling test tomorrow.  Also, remember that we're having our Hallowe'en costume parade (right after afternoon attendance), followed by our class partay.  Please send a small juice box for the party.  We have some treats left over from yesterday, but if anyone would like to send something else for the treat table, I'm sure the class will do their best to eat everything ...

We watched a cool video on walking stick creatures - just click here to see it.

October 28, 2014

 

 

 

Dear Parents;

We have a pretty full schedule coming up; I thought it warranted a reminder letter.  Here goes!

1. Individual school photos will be taken this Wednesday.  Please send photo envelopes with payment Wednesday morning, if you are ordering pictures.  Thanks.

2. Mrs. Sawka’s grade six class is collecting non-perishables for the Food Bank.  I’m sure they’d appreciate any donations you’d care to make. They are also hosting a Haunted House event.  Admission to the Haunted House is $1.00.  We’ll be going to see the house this Thursday morning, so please send a loonie that morning.

3. There is a bake sale tomorrow morning, sponsored by a high school group, to raise money for  narwhal preservation. All items will be 50 cents.

4. Our class swims Monday to Thursday mornings next week, from 9:25 until 9:55.  Please send swim gear.

5. We’ll be having a hot dog “Halloweiner” lunch at school this Wednesday, to help get us in a spooky spirit.  I’ll supply the hot dogs, buns, ketchup, and drinks.  Would anyone like to whip up a veggie tray or a cake for dessert?  Let me know if you can – thanks! The 16 grade two students will be joining us.

6. We’ll be having a Spooky Science afternoon this coming Thursday.  If you’d like to help out at some of the stations, please let me know and I’ll find a job for you. 

7. We’ll be having a costume parade throughout the school and a class party following that this Friday afternoon.  Everyone is welcome to come and view the parade, which will wind through the halls from class to class.  Please send a small juice for this event.  Also, if you’d like to send something for our treat table for the party, we’ll happily accept all offers!

 

October 22, 2014

There will be a cookie sale tomorrow.  We'll also have our weekly spelling test.  (Sorry - I forgot to remind the class about this; there's no school for students Friday, so we'll write the test tomorrow.) This week's theme is a "magic e" one; the students should be able to tell parents all about the magical powers of the letter "e".

The class did very well singing their Hallowe'en songs on Monday.  Thanks to everyone for coming out to watch!

Thanks, too, for the wonderful witch hat decorating!  The hats are on display outside the classroom - drop in for a peek if you haven't already done so. While you're at it, take a trip to the library upstairs and look at the pumpkins on display there.  Our very own Mylie has contributed a particularly good one!

Here are some photos of our witch hats.  Enjoy!

October 16, 2014

I'll begin this post with an apology for the tin can squawkers that came home today - but they are kind of cool, you must admit!

Reminders for tomorrow:
1.Study for the "ay" spelling test.
2. Read the gold envelope book, record the title, and return the book to school.

Mrs. Sawka's class is organizing a Hallowe'en food bank drive for our school.  If you'd like to send any non-perishables, the sixth graders would be most grateful.

October 15, 2014

We've changed our daily homework program to one where the students will be reading to the parents.  Check backpacks for a golden envelope.  There should be a book inside (one that the class created, in this case); your child will read this to you, then you should jot down the book's title and the date the book was read.  Thanks for your support with this.

Moms, you have a "Happy Wednesday" gift coming home to you today.  We talked about how sometimes it's a kick  to get a nice surprise for no good reason - just "because"! 

Thanks to Calder for bringing the great Hallowe'en decorations; they help make our class very spooky!

Our class will be combining with Mrs. Sawka's sixth graders next Monday afternoon to present some Hallowe'en songs at the school assembly.  We started practicing today - it should be a really good show, to quote Mr. Sullivan.  The assembly will start right after attendance is taken in the afternoon.  Spectators are welcome!

October 14, 2014

Just a reminder that there is an open house at the fire hall tonight, starting at 6:30.  There'll be fire truck rides, hot dogs, and other fun events; everyone is welcome.

The students have a looong list for their spelling words this week.  We brainstormed "ay" words and they came up with quite a few.  I'll pick ten words from the list for the test Friday.  As well, there will be the ever-present surprise "Bonus Word" to look forward to ...

All the first graders in Room Four brought home a witch hat to decorate and return by next Monday.  There's a note in the agenda pocket with more details.  We've had some great hats in years past; I know we'll see some outstanding headgear this year too!

Here are a few photos from Friday's stone stew to end today's post:

October 9, 2014

Reminders:

Book orders are due.

The weekly spelling test is on for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a half day for students.

We'll serve our Thanksgiving stone stew! We'll eat around 11:30; students will be dismissed at the regular time.  Thanks to everyone for the veggies that arrived at school today.  We've started cooking the stew and plan to let it simmer all morning tomorrow; it should be delicious!

October 7, 2014

The students brought home a note today regarding our Friday morning culinary adventure and outlining some other news.  Check agenda pockets!

Book orders went home today, as well.  Please return orders by this Friday morning.  Thanks.

October 6, 2014

I thought it would be simpler to post information on the Fire Safety plastic bags that came home today, instead of having the students try to write about it in the agendas.  Our fire chief visited the class this morning, gave a talk on fire prevention and fire safety, then gave out the bags and  pamphlets (check the front pocket of your child's agenda).  If students complete the pamphlet's fire escape plan drawing and return it to school (remember to add the child's name and grade), their names will be entered into a draw to be fire chief for a day.  Some fun!

We welcomed a new student to the grade two part of our class today, bringing our class enrollment to 26 (until recess).  We're expecting another second grade student next week, as well.

We learned about the concepts of and symbols for "greater than" and "less than" in math today and will continue to practice these as the weeks march on.

The spelling list this week is a challenging one, so we kept it to 5 words.  Let's see how everyone fares with this on Friday's test!

I'll close with a "heads-up" that there will be a noon dismissal for the students this Friday.  Enjoy the extra long weekend!

October 3, 2014

We've been working on the concept of estimation in math, as well as daily practice in recognizing odd and even numbers, and explaining why they're odd or even.  We've also been continuing our work on patterns, and on counting by twos, fives, and tens.  These smart first graders are going to eclipse my math expertise any day now!

In Language Arts, we've been working on reading and ordering directions, reading smoothly and with expression, composing stories, and writing sentences with proper punctuation and capitalization, and phonics.  We threw some words in jail this week, and identified some "ghost words" and "magic E" words, too.

We have been having some fun having a little turkey hunt at the beginning of every afternoon.  Our little turkey camouflages himself quite sneakily, but we persist and are always able to locate him!  (He's almost as adorable as his hunters!)