September 30, 2016

Well, that's a wrap for our first month of school; we're all now officially one month smarter!

Reminders:

1. Signed spelling test books need to be returned Monday morning.

2. Grade One students swim next week - first thing in the afternoon.

3. We'll be continuing our "Souper Sharing" food bank campaign next week.

4. Have fun with the Ziploc book bags, first grade families, and return them on Monday.  Thanks!

September 29, 2016

Thanks to Sarah for kicking off our "Souper Sharing" campaign! We'll be doing our soup collection tomorrow and all next week, so there will be lots of time for everyone else to contribute, if they'd like.

Thanks for supporting our scarecrow clothing shopping spree today, as well. Drop into the school and meet the scarecrows on the bulletin board outside Room Four if you get a chance. We discussed lots of name options and settled on Indigo for the boy and Scarlet for the girl. We'll be writing some biographical material on our new scarecrows next week. You'll have to wait in breathless anticipation for our ideas on what the scarecrows like to do in their spare time, what foods they like, their favourite movies, books, sports, etc. Whoop whoop!

Remember there is a spelling test on the "et" words tomorrow morning. The spelling books will get sent home for a parent signature; please return the books Monday morning.  Thanks.

September 28, 2016

Remember that the second graders are swimming tomorrow.

Also, remember that the first graders are going to the thrift store in the basement of the United Church tomorrow morning  to shop for scarecrow apparel! If you could send along a quarter or two to contribute to the cost of our purchases, that would be great. Thanks!

I wanted to mention the growing pile of items in our school's lost and found. If you label your child's clothing, lunch kit, shoes, mittens, etc., there's a far greater chance that missing items will be returned to the proper owners. (Clear labels will be especially helpful next week when the class goes swimming.)

We've added some new words to our sight words list. It's growing! The sight words now include:

we, all, for, my, you, is, at, little, can, an, am, is, big, the, I, girl, a, this, boy, not, said, good, and all the number words up to ten.

Here are some recent "Fall Magic" pictures from the Grade One class.

September 27, 2016

The second graders need to remember to bring their swim gear tomorrow; the first grade students are swimming in the afternoons next week, so they can dig out the towels and swim suits for that time.

We will be going to the United Church Thrift Shop Thursday morning to purchase clothing to make some class scarecrows.  If you have some coins that you could send along to donate to the thrift shop for this shopping adventure, that would be great!

Next week the school will be collecting non-perishable food for the local food bank. Our first grade class will be collecting soup - for a "Souper Sharing" theme. It's all part of giving thanks for what we have and helping others who are less fortunate. Thanks in advance for any support you can give for this.

Our "Cornflake Tree Forest" is now displayed on the bulletin board upstairs outside the library.  Drop in for a peek!

September 26, 2016

Thanks to everyone who returned the signed spelling test books. Friday's test this week is all about the "et" words; they're listed in the students' agendas.

Thanks, too, to the people who've been reviewing the list of sight words that was sent home. It's making a HUGE difference to the students who are practicing and will pave the way to smoother, more confident reading.

I hope everyone is enjoying the book bag reading program. Thanks for looking after the contents of the bags so well.

The first grade students brought home an apple book today. It can stay at home - another wonderful addition to your family's library! Ask your child to read it to you, then point out individual words and have them say them. We learned that "ow" can say the "ou" part of "ouch". (We'll talk later on about the fact that it also says "O" as in "snow".) We talked about the "ow" sound because it's part of one of the title words: the word "how".  Now you can ask them to try out other "ow" words: cow, bow, now, pow, wow, etc.

September 23, 2016

We had our first grade one spelling test today! Some fun! Please sign and return your child's spelling test book (it should be in the backpack) and return it Monday morning.  Thanks!

It's great to see everybody on top of the plastic book bag reading/activities.  Your at-home learning will really make a big difference in your child's progress.

Enjoy the weekend!

September 22, 2016

Happy first day of fall! We completed a fall trees/fall poem activity to celebrate! The students' efforts will be displayed on the bulletin board outside Room Four by next Monday; drop in for a peek!

Reminders for tomorrow:

1. Study for the spelling test.
2. Noon dismissal for the students.
3. There is a free parent workshop from 4- 5 in room 7 tomorrow. The topic is "Executive Functions: Who's in Charge?"

September 21, 2016

Reminders for today:

1. There will be a snack sale tomorrow at recess.  Snacks will be 25 cents each.  Dig out those quarters!

2. There will be a noon dismissal for students this Friday.  Cross your fingers for Friday afternoon that matches today; the weather looks perfect out there!

3. There will be a Parent Workshop on brain-based strategies this Friday afternoon from 4 - 5 in classroom 7 here at JES. There is no charge for the workshop; the Right to Read group is sponsoring this for our school's parents.

4. The Right to Read group will be meeting here at JES in Room 7 at 7 pm; everyone is welcome to attend. They're always looking for people who'd like to join!

If you get a chance, please review the words listed below with your child. (They should know them just by looking at them. These are our "automatic words'.)

the    I   is   good   am   an   this   boy  a  girl  big   litlle

September 19, 2016

Welcome to our class blog!  We'll be using this forum to post class photos, links to learning, announcements/reminders, bouquets, etc. Enjoy!

Here's a shot of our grade two class pausing for a photo on last Friday's Terry Fox Run.  (Thanks to everyone who sent toonies to support this great cause!)  We ran one and a half km, gaining a real appreciation for Terry, who ran 42 km every day of his Marathon of Hope.

The first graders are starting their home learning program, bringing home book bags today. There should be two books, an activity and a parent info card with each bag. The idea is to have parents read the books in the bag to their children, work through the accompanying activity, then return the book (with all its contents intact, please!) to school the next morning.  A new book bag will be coming home every day. The goal of this at-home reading program is to inspire a love of and an interest in books and reading, and to reinforce at-school learning. Parents play a big role in their children's education; your support will make a big difference.

The first graders are also bringing home their first weekly spelling list. Check the left hand side of this week's agenda page for the words we'll practice for this Friday's big spelling test!

The first graders are also bringing home an apple book to "read" to a willing listener at home. We've practiced  this at school, setting up some sight word reinforcement, and using patterning, predicting, memorization and picture prompts to support reading. Enjoy!

Just a few reminders: there will be a snack sale this Thursday at recess. Snacks will cost 25 cents;  dig those quarters out!

There will be a noon dismissal for students  this Friday, to allow staff to attend a professional development afternoon.