October 9, 2015

I hope everyone has a great long weekend, full of good food and good books and good fun!  If you're decorating with the autumn leaf art that came home, please know that the leaves are coloured with corn syrup and food colouring, and that they will stick to things put on top of them, or the colours may run if they're left near a heat source.

My apologies in advance for the turkey dinner bells the grade ones are bringing home. Maybe their cuteness factor will make up for the noise ...

We had a presentation this afternoon from ATCO gas; there's some follow-up literature going home with the students.


Just a quick reminder that we have swimming next week in the afternoons. Please send swim gear. Our lessons are over at 2:45, so if you'd like to pick up your child from the pool, please feel free to do so; just let me know when you're picking them up. Thanks.

Please remember to sign and return the grade one spelling books.

Thanks also to everyone who sent veggies for our stone stew; it was a hit! Here are some photos of the lunch event here in Room Four, where the excitement never ends ...

September 25, 2015

We had our first spelling test of the year today, and ALL the brainy first graders of Room Four got 100%!  Wowza!  Here's a photo of how happy everyone was!

 

We also finished our one kilometer Terry Fox Run.  This is a photo of us standing in front of Terry's picture. (What a hero that guy was - and what great runners we were!)

 

 

September 17, 2015

Welcome to our class blog!  We'll use this blog to post photos, "bouquets" and announcements, and to provide links to  websites. (Just click on the links at the side and you'll be taken on  little educational adventures ...) I'll try to make weekly Monday morning posts to this blog, but this will vary from time to time, depending on our schedule - and my ambition!

Here are some first-day-of-school photos showcasing our new crop of fantastic first graders!  Enjoy!

June 11, 2015

Reminders for tomorrow include:

1.  Spelling test
2.  Homemade and Tell is due.  Students can bring anything they've made - or helped make - at home. Sewing projects? Playdough creations? Paintings? Lego constructions? Jewels?
3.  Wacky Hair Day will be here at last!  Can't wait to see what colours, hair additions, wigs, etc. will surface tomorrow.
4.  We'll be joining the other grade one class for a walking tour of historical sites in Jasper tomorrow afternoon.  We'll leave right after afternoon attendance is taken and should return sometime between 2:30 and 3:00.  Please ensure students are dressed appropriately.



Here are some cowpoke photos, in case you haven't been in to check out the bulletin board outside our classroom.  I think these photos have really captured the personalities of our first grade cowgirls and cowboys!

June 2, 2015

The students brought home lots of literature today, including:

1.  A notification regarding lice; please read the information on the note and check your child for lice.
2.  Permission forms to be completed and returned asap.  One of the notes outlines our plan to hike to Mina Lake.  Please note that we'll keep our eye on the bear situation and will NOT hike to Mina if the bear situation does not warrant a walk up the hill with a pack of first graders.
3. Book order forms for our final book order of the year. Stock up for the summer!
4. A sheet for this Friday morning's show and tell.  The theme this week is "Play and Tell"; students can bring a toy, a board game, a video game, a football - anything that they like to play with - to present to the class.

Tomorrow is "Wacky Walking Wednesday". Students and staff are challenged to avoid using vehicles to get to school - and and to be creative and have fun getting to good old JES.  Students in previous years have used wheelbarrows, stilts, decorated bikes, horses ... let's see what everyone can come up with tomorrow!

April 20, 2015

(Review) word of the day: retain

The first graders' daily homework is taking on a new look.  The students have a notebook added to their golden envelopes.  The notebook has a "sentence starters" sheet glued onto the front cover. When the students finish reading their books, their job is to print the book's title on the top of the page, then choose a sentence starter and use it to write about their book.  Some students write only a few lines.  Others fill the whole page.  There's room at the top of each page to add a drawing related to the book, if the students are feeling artistic.

After the writing is complete, the students should colour in a box in the graph beside their chosen sentence starter.  This will create a visual showing whether or not students are choosing various starters (something they SHOULD be doing).

I'll check the notebooks daily and write comments daily as well.

The writing the students are doing will help strengthen their reading - and vice versa.  Daily parent supervision and guidance with the reading and writing is invaluable.  Your dedication to your child's education makes a huge difference.  Thanks in advance for your support with this new homework initiative.

April 14, 2015

We're heading to the Palisades tomorrow, along with the Kindergarten, Grade Two, and Grade Three classes.  Please check your child's agenda pocket for a note regarding the field trip.  Please return the permission form attached to the note by tomorrow morning, if you've not already returned that permission slip.

Please note that we'll be gone all day tomorrow.  We leave on the bus shortly after morning registration and will return in time for our regular dismissal.

Parents are welcome to join us.  There should be room on the bus to accommodate extra adults, but parents are also welcome to bring their own vehicles. Parents who'd like to catch a ride on the bus should just come into the classroom with their child when the morning bell rings.

Please remember to send a lunch (see the note that went home today!) and clothing and footwear appropriate for the weather.


Newsletters also went home today.  We'll watch for safe arrival of the newsletter slips to come back tomorrow.

March 27, 2015

Thanks so much to everyone for all the hard work put in on the egg protectors!  Our success rate was pretty good - only 3 eggs didn't make the trip down to the lawn from the library window.  Here are some photos of our eggscellent adventure.  Enjoy the spring break!  And, grade one students, don't forget to challenge your parents to see if they can break an egg that's being pushed on from one end to the other.  (Good luck, parents!)

February 9, 2015

(Review) word of the day: concur

We've begun a new project here in good old Room Four.  Each day we'll draw a name and the lucky winner will take home our class stuffy: Sam.  Sam comes with a journal and his very own carry bag.  Students should write a journal entry about their time with Sam, then add a photo or a hand-drawn picture to go with the writing.  Sam, the carry bag and the journal should return to school the next day so that another student can have a turn.  Thanks for your support with this.  (If the daily reading practice is too much when combined with the journal writing for Sam on the days your child has Sam, please do just the journal writing and skip the daily reading.)

We'll have a Valentine's party this Friday afternoon.  If you are sending Valentines, please make sure that you send them for everyone, so that nobody gets left out.  The class list for the first graders is :

Aurora, AJ, Ashton, Anders, Austin, Andrea, Hanna, Mylie, Emery, Brennan, Calder and Josh.

 The second graders will not be at the party, but we can do a morning card exchange with them. The second graders include: Thomas, Callum, Brooklyn H, Teighan, Kelly, Keaton, Psalm, Seth, Brooklyn P, Izzy, Ella, Jackson, Brayden, Tyler, and Jadlyn.

There are several more school spirit days coming up.  February 25th is Pink Shirt Day/Anti-Bullying Day.  February 27th is PJ Day/Find the Common Thread Day, in support of auto-immune disease awareness.

First grade students brought home a book called "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Desk"; it's theirs to keep, in honour of all the great reading everyone did for the read-a-thon.

January 30, 2015

It's hard to believe we're saying goodbye to January already - whoosh! 

Thanks to everyone who attended our student led conference last night.  It was great to have such a large turnout.  Thanks, too, for the generous cookie donations; we raised $137.85 for our school's foster child - great!

I've added a link to Seterra.net - a mapping quiz game - at the side.  It's a good one for parents and students alike; I know it's helped me learn the names and locations of lots of  places.

If you haven't had a chance to check out some cool examples of artistry, check out the last blog post and click on the highlighted link.  There are some pretty slick examples of optical illusion artistry awaiting you ...

January 23, 2015

There were some great book characters who wandered into our classroom today!  Thanks for all the work everyone put into the super heroes, the animals, the beautiful fairies, the orphan, the spy ... Amelia Bedelia even showed up! There's lots of creativity alive and well in Room Four at good old JES.

If you'd like a look at some more creativity, click here for a look at some amazing optical illusion art.

January 22, 2105

(Review) word of the day: ecstatic

Reminders for students for tomorrow:
1. Study for the spelling test.
2. Dress as a book character for the morning, if you're feeling inspired!
3. There will be a noon dismissal tomorrow.
4. Cross country skis are available for borrowing for the weekend; just sign them out at the front of the school.

January 20, 2015

Welcome to Austin, our newest first grade student!  We now have an even dozen grade one students!

(Review) word of the day: fragrant

The students all became parents today - of  brand new baby spider plants.  They've already named their babies and plunked them into jars of water so the plants will grow roots. Our room will look like a greenhouse before long!

A few reminders:

1.  There will be a noon dismissal for students this Friday.

2. The movie The Mouse and the Motorcycle  will be shown in the gym this Thursday from 3:30 - 4:30.  The movie is rated G rated and is 43 minutes long. There is no charge for the movie but the Right to Read Society will be selling popcorn for $2.00. 

3. Students are invited (but not required) to dress up as a storybook character this Friday morning.
It should be a good photo-op day!

4. Parents can borrow cross-country ski equipment overnight or on weekends.  Just sign out the equipment on the clipboard at the front door.  I wrote down the numbers of the boots and skis that the grade one students have been using here at school; check the bottom of today's agenda postings for your child's info.

January 16, 2015

We're reviewing the words of the day that we've had to date.  Today's review word was repast.

It's great that the weather held for us with our cross-country skiing plans.  Thanks to the parents who came out to help - we really appreciate your assistance. The class learned how to select and put on equipment, how to stand up after falling down, what a gliiiiide was, how to bend their knees skiing downhill, how to turn around, a little bit about double-poling - and they all did very well!

 If anyone wants to keep up x-c skiing with their child, you are most welcome to sign out equipment from the school for overnight or a weekend.  Just make sure you sign the sheet on the table under the office window and return the equipment the morning after you've signed it out.  I have a list of boots and skis that the students have used this week, if you need to shortcut the selection process. (Poles should be up to the top of the shoulders - unlike downhill ski poles.)

Here are some photos of the "Great One" class.  Enjoy!