News for September 7, 2018

News for September 7, 2018

This four-day week, the children had a chance to get to know me and each other. We talked, played and laughed while reviewing classroom rules, math and language skills and learning new games.

In math, the students reviewed the ten digits that are used to make numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), We discussed how these ten digits can be used to make ANY number in the world! The children reviewed the numbers in a 100 chart and talked about how we know a number is bigger (greater than) or smaller (less than) another number. The students practised saying these numbers and understanding the relative value of the numbers by playing the game “Snakes and Ladders”, using a standard board game and the game “Race to 100” using a 100 chart.

In writing, the class reviewed how to print the letters of the alphabet, both uppercase (or capital) letters and lowercase. We discussed how the 26 letters can be used to make ANY word in the English language. We talked about creating a sign together to put in the hallway for other students to read and we agreed on the sentence, “WELCOME BACK EVERYONE FROM ROOM 222!” The children worked cooperatively to create this sign by each drawing, colouring and cutting out the individual letters of this greeting. This is now on display in the hall outside of our classroom.

In art, the students planned and painted large paintings to use as story planners for their first stories of the year. After writing a class story together, the children began to write their own stories about their paintings in their writing journals. 

In science, the children began the unit on animals by asking questions and beginning to research squirrels. The students asked some great questions and, after watching a video about the photographer/author Nancy Rose and hearing read aloud a non-fiction page from the encyclopedia, they confirmed some interesting facts. Did you know that there are 3 kinds of squirrels? There are tree squirrels (like the ones we see around the school), flying squirrels, and ground squirrels (like chipmunks). Did you know that squirrels are found all over the world except for Antarctica and Australia?

Here is the video we watched about the photographer/author, Nancy Rose who photographs squirrels and creates stories around the pictures she takes. Here is a link to the video:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1124882-bedford-woman-puts-squirrels-in-the-picture

The school’s two aquatic instructors (Ms. Ahumada and Ms. Feng) came to our class to talk about swim classes at our school this year. The pool is not ready yet so our class will not actually go in the water until September 19th. The instructors ask that students each bring a swimsuit, a towel, goggles (optional) and a plastic bag in which to put these items. The instructors have also asked that parents have their children practise putting on and taking off their swimsuits/clothes independently.

Books read aloud this week:

The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose

The Secret Life of Squirrels  - Back to School! By Nancy Rose

The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers

The Book That Eats People by John Perry