FEBRUARY BLOG
Dear
Parents/Guardians,
It's
February already! We are half way through the school year! It's amazing how
time is flying and how your little gal/guy is growing and learning.
I sure
hope you are keeping warm in these frigid temperatures. We have had a lot of
indoor recesses the past few weeks. Your child may pack a toy in his/her
backpack and if it's indoor recess they may play with it then. Please no
electronics! I do not want expensive items being broken. If your child brings a
toy/game and it is broken it is not our responsibility. So keep in mind what
you allow to come to school. Thank you for packing extra socks. We will try to
remember to send the wet socks home, it gets awfully busy with 24 little ones.
Our grade
one class has welcomed a new student on Wednesday. It's amazing how they opened
their hearts to her right away. They made her feel at ease and a part of our
group immediately. The grade one's played with her, showed her around the
school and playground, they offered their help when needed. I feel so truly
blessed to have such a wonderful group of disciples. What a great group God
created for me!
LANGUAGE ARTS
In
language arts in February we will continue with our author study Jan Brett. The
books we will study as well as learn many new concepts with are The Mitten, The
Hat and Snow Bears.
We have
almost completed our lessons on consonant blends and long/short vowels. We will
continue to work on word families, daily guided reading, working through
literacy stations which consists of sentence building, vocabulary, writing
activities, sight word recognition, word building, and various word families,
we use the computers for Destination Reading as well we use the iPads for
various word games, alphabet
learning,
math games, writing stories and so many
fun interactive literacy games.
Our new
phonics lessons for February will be recognition of hard and soft c, hard and
soft g, consonant digraphs ch, sh, th, and wh in the beginning, medial and
final word positions. We are starting our last unit in Jolly Phonics.
We will
continue with our spelling lists weekly. Our spelling consists of one spelling
activity a day and on Friday we have our spelling test. When the students bring
their list words in their agenda please practice them out of order. I dictate
the words out of order. The students have done wonderfully with their first
three spelling tests. The test I send home you may keep as I have my own copy. Thank
you for working so hard with your child. Your help is very much appreciated.
I have
been assessing the students with their sight words and there has been
significant improvement. I can hardly wait to benchmark their reading levels in
a few weeks. I'm very excited with the overall improvement of language skills,
reading, sight word recognition and math skills.
MATH
We have completed our addition and
subtraction from 0-12 unit. Our unit and end assessment went well. The
continuing unit will be addition and subtraction from 0-20. Here is a small
list of fun math games you might be interested in:
In this
unit we will continue to work on problem solving, mental math strategies, and
number sentences.
Mrs.
Shyian has taken over the math unit for this month with my guidance. We have
planned plenty of math stations, math booklets and a lot of direct teaching to
the students.
HEALTH
Our
February and March unit will be Healthy Behaviours. The students will have the
opportunity to learn about healthy food choices vs bad food choices. We will
learn about taking care of our bodies and the importance of brushing our teeth,
flossing and even bathing and washing hands. We will also be learning about the
heart and lungs and examine behaviours that keep organs healthy.
On
February 14 (Valentine's Day) we will be dissecting a cows heart. The students
will wear rubber gloves and they will not be handling any knives. If you think
your child won't want to take part we can simply send them to the office to
read while we do this activity. Valentine's Day will be a heart smart day. We
have plenty of healthy heart activities for that day. I am looking for 5
parents to send healthy food for the class that day. Thank you for those who
have offered cookies and cake already but we will go heart healthy on this day.
We will be going for a walk so please bundle your child up. I am also looking
for as many grocery store flyers as possible. So if you have any please send
them to school. Thank you.
RELIGION
Mrs.
Shyian is doing a fabulous job teaching religion. She teaches the gospel
reading for the week with a follow up activity each day. She teaches using
various activities to involve the students with hands on learning. The students
clap when we tell them it's religion. Our grade ones along with our grade 6
buddies are in charge of the entire Lenten season. We will be working with the
church to plan short 10 minute prayers each of the 5 Mondays of lent. I will
send further notice as we get closer to those dates in case you want to attend.
They will take place in the gym. It looks like we will be extra busy for the
next couple of months. I love it !!!
SCIENCE
I am
currently completing our Objects and Materials unit. It was such a huge unit
and as I taught it I found so many new ideas so of course the unit has gone
longer than expected. I expect to be done by end of February.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Our February unit is called My
World. In this unit we will be discovering who we are, how are we the
same/ different, family celebrations, needs and wants, and how does my neighbor
grow and change? This unit explores a variety of ways and lends itself to many
other subjects across the curriculums. We look forward to learning about ourselves
and where we came from.
CONCERNS!
Thank you
for bundling your bundle of joy up for school. I make sure every recess they
are bundle up so they don't catch sick or cold. I tell my students if mommy
dressed you up in ski pants and all the other gear then that's how you're
getting dressed for me. I have had students hide their ski pants in other
students lockers, once in their desk and yes of course they say " My mommy
didn't send ski pants". So away they go outside and when they come back in
they are freezing. Their poor little fingers are frozen, their poor little ears
and many many times their poor little legs. I have learned quickly to say to
them that I will check their backpacks. I certainly don't want to nag the
students, but I am concerned for them. Could you please have a chat with your
child about dressing appropriately. I believe you're all wonderful parents that
want their child to stay toasty warm.
Thank you in advance!
Lunch Room
We are having some difficulty with liquid/drink spillage. If
possible could you send your childs’ lunch beverage in an enclosed container.
The problem is stemming from beverages with lids and twist off caps. They
remain open and get knocked over and spillage happens. A juice box or water
bottle container might work better. Thank you!
100 Day Celebration
Our 100th day of school is fast
approaching. Our 100th day will
take place on February 15th.
We will
mark this milestone by participating in a
variety of 100-themed activities throughout the day. We will be counting to 100 in a variety of
ways
(2’s, 5’s, and 10’s) and through a variety of activities. We are
asking for students in the primary classes to create and send in a collection
or creation of 100 items.
In
past years, students have created a Lego tower of 100 pieces, glued 100 pieces
of candy/food onto a board that spells 100, 100 blinking lights on a stand, 100
pictures of anything, 100 playdough creatures, 100 fake flowers on a wreath,
100 used/old puzzle pieces in the shape of 100, 100 stickers, etc.
We’d like you to be as creative as you can. The kids always like coming
up with cool ideas that are unique. We would like them at school on Wednesday,
February 13th so we can set up the 100th Day display
prior to the big day!
We
would also like to make a snack in the classroom that afternoon based around
the idea of 100. I am asking each
student to bring 100 edible items to add to our 100th day munchie
mix! For example, you may choose to have
your child count out 100 fruit loops or 100 smarties or 100 pretzels. Please
remember to keep the snacks nut free!
Thank
you for your participation,
Mrs.
K. Rieger
Mrs.
Bernard
Mrs.
Luce
Mrs.
Durreault
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