October 25, 2010

It's been some time since I last posted but I'll try to write more regularly on this blog. To begin for today:

This week's spelling words (hot, mop, not, dog, pot, sob,rope, and boat) are concentrating on the vowel "o". The list is shorter this week because of the more varying endings (notice that not many words rhyme, as they have in previous weeks) and because of the addition of two more difficult words (rope and boat) that illustrate some phonetic rules.

The first rule is the "magic e" one - where the silent "e" jumps over the consonant to its left and makes the vowel say its own name.

The second rule is "When 2 vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and it says its own name." So in the word boat, where the vowels "o" and "a" are adjacent, the first one is the one you hear while the second one is silent.

We've been working on Hallowe'en vocabulary, practising the following words: bats, witch, pumpkin, goblin, spider webs, spooky, vampire, monster, skeleton, dark night, trick or treat, rats, full moon, hoot owl, haunted house, costume, mask, mummy, and brew. If the students have trouble remembering the words, the best prompt to give them is to say, "What do you know about this word?" Often the first letter of the word will trigger the student's awareness of the word.

We've also been working on the symbols for "greater than" (>) , "less than" (<), and "equal" in math - comparing 3 witch hats with 5, for example, and representing the answer this way: 3 < 5. We've also been working on adding and subtracting using sums up to 10. We use smartboard figures that can be moved around, or pumpkin/ghost counters at their desks to practise. (This is where the ability to count forward and backward REALLY helps!) We watched a great Hallowe'en short video last week. Just click on the following words:

September 15, 2010

Class photos will be taken tomorrow.

There will be a small cookie sale again tomorrow at recess. (There'll be a one cookie limit for this one!)

Remember to practise the spelling words for tomorrow's test. A good way to practise is to have the child say the word while listening carefully to themselves. They should practise holding the sounds of the words - saying mmmmmmaaaaattt, ssssaaaattt, etc. to help them identify the components of the words. They can put the words together using magnetic letters, if you have them at home.

Book orders have arrived and will go home with your child tomorrow after school.

September 15, 2010

Welcome to Adrian, the newest addition to our classroom!

Class pictures were postphoned until Friday, due to the poor weather. Individual photos will still be taken tomorrow, so don't skimp on the Crest tonight.

There will be a cookie sale tomorrow. Cookies are a quarter each, if anyone would like to make a purchase.

The book bags have been coming back very regularly - thanks for taking the time and effort to read to/with your child each night. Regular reading is a great way to build investment in a scholastic future.

I need to thank Matteo's mom and Zoe's mom for agreeing to sit on the school advisory council and Zoe's dad for agreeing to help out as a key communicator. It's great to have such dedication from our parents!

If you have time, check out our "Rare Birds" bulletin board - it should be ready for viewing by this Friday morning. Hold your breath untl then....

September 14, 2010

Remember class photos will be taken tomorrow morning. Practise those mega-watt smiles!

Thanks to Wyatt's dad and Ethan's mom for volunteering to be our classroom rep on the school advisory council. Double thanks to Ethan's mom for volunteering to be our key communicator.

September 8, 2010

Thanks to everyone for returning the book bags with all the contents intact! Please enjoy your child's new selection and return it tomorrow.

We had our first art class today. If you attend tomorrow's Meet the Teacher evening, you'll get a chance to see our "Cornflake Art". (Prepare to be dazzled!) We also started memorizing the poem "Cornflake leaves fall from the trees. Are they a breakfast for the breeze?" If you haven't already sent a paint shirt for your child, please do so asap. We do lots of messy art projects; it would be nice to preserve everyone's clothing...

Just a few friendly reminders to close today's blog:
1. If you haven't returned the signed and updated Student Demographics sheet and/or the Computer User sheet(both of these were sent home the first day of school), please do so asap.
2. Book orders are due Friday.
3. Meet the Teacher night is scheduled for tomorrow evening and will begin at 6:30 with staff introductions in the gym. Following that, I'll be in the classroom for an informal drop-in.

September 7, 2010

Welcome to our Class Blog! Most of the links on this blog were set up for last year's Grade Three class, but some of them will work for Grade One as well. Rattle around and see what you can come up with! (The links are listed on the right hand side of this page. Just click on the link and you'll be taken to the site listed.)

I'll use this blog to post daily announcements, homework assignments, reminders, "bouquets", etc. Anyone is welcome to comment on the blog online; you just have to set up your own blog before you can comment. Setting up a blog is relatively easy: just go to www.blogspot.com and follow the prompts there.

Our class has 17 students enrolled to date. The students are: Joie, Sarah, Ethan, Joshus, Lloyd, Patrick, Mily, Andre, Wyatt, Ysabelle, Andy, Matteo, Adrian, Bryzen, Athena, Zoe, and Anis.

Our library book exchange is scheduled for Tuesday afternoons. We checked out books this afternoon but are keeping the chosen books at school for the time being.

Today's agenda items include:
1. Book orders are due Friday. You're invited (but not required) to make purchases; please send payment with your order. Thanks.
2. Family handbooks were sent home today.
3. Book bags were also sent home today. Please read the books in the bags to or with your child and return the bag with all its contents (each bag should have a book or two, a "Parent Tips" sheet, and a game or activity) tomorrow. We'll be swapping these books daily.

We've been reviewing colour words, initial consonants on words, and some sight words. Your child should be able to instantly recognize the following words: the, I, is, and stop.

Finally, I thought I'd give you a little advance notice for our September "Meet the Teacher" night. It'll be held this Thursday evening from 6:30 - 7:30. It'll be short and sweet; hope to see you here!

Mares Eat Oats