Room 3 2019/20

Students take a huge part in cleaning our classroom as part of building responsibility, independence and Montessori practical life skills. We are looking at having a vacuum for our classroom so students are better able to clean the carpets. We are asking if you have a small dust buster (ideal) or vacuum  you are not using and willing to donate, could you email Ms. McCullough at  mkmccllough@cbe.ab.ca We would be extremely appreciative!!! Thank you for the support!

This is a fun math game you can play at home to practice making ten (an important math concept)

Students decided on and are very excited to be doing  an amusement park for our gerbils. They have come up with the plan to build a carousel, house, furniture, maze, toy (beyblade) climbing roller coaster, bumper car, cave and tunnel  for Marshmallow and Coca Cola. We are hopeful for some of the following materials Cereal boxes, cracker boxes plastic water bottles toilet paper roll and paper  towel rolls Lego Lego wheels (large) Dublo or mega blocks water bottle lids small bell paper plates straws fabric stuffing or cotton balls popsicle sticks coloured consturction paper A large box (2 meters long by 2 meters wide by 1 meter tall  or smaller) Thank you so much for your support!

Today we did an activity to learn the importance of adhesives as part of our science building unit. We tried working in a group to stack cards to build the tallest tower with no tape our glue! It was a challenge! Here are some photos of our successes but it didn't take much for our structures to fall. As we begin building next week, we will assess what type of adhesive will work best for  our structure.

Skip counting is an integral part of the math curriculum. It is part of our pattern unit as well as number sense. Please help your child with counting. The following are the end of year targets for each grade: Grade 1: Say the number sequence 0 to 100 by:  • 1s forward between any two given numbers  • 1s backward from 20 to 0  • 2s forward from 0 to 20  • 5s and 10s forward from 0 to 100. Grade 2: Say the number sequence 0 to 100 by:  • 2s, 5s and 10s, forward and backward, using starting points that are multiples of 2, 5 and 10 respectively  • 10s, using starting points from 1 to 9  • 2s, starting from 1.

If your child handed in their folder today, they will have their IRIS  username (their number) and  password on the inside of their folder. You can access their IRIS portfolio of work at: https://iris.cbe.ab.ca Some students still did not have their folders in their backpack. Please ensure the folder stays in their backpack. Scholastic orders are due for December 5th.

Today, we learned about sense impairments to our hearing such  as being hard of hearing and deaf. Also, impairment to our sight such as being  nearsighted or farsighted. We talked about how these impairments would make learning in our classroom challenging and things we  could do to accommodate these children. We practiced using sign language like those  who are deaf or hard of hearing. Many students shared their experiences with  struggling to learn when the board or their work was  blurry. Many shared experiences going to an optometrist, eye doctor, for  a eye exam and/or with  getting glasses. We also talked about the importance of seeing  an optometrist once a year to have our sight tested as it plays such a large role in our learning . If your child hasn't done one already,  you may want to book your child in! Here is the sign language sheet we used. Those who have been working on sight words, may have fun using this as another  ac

As part of keeping parents informed on how your child is doing, we have sent home a physical education  assessment with both your child's assessment of their  abilities in several curricular areas, as well as, their physical education teachers', Ms. Ma and Ms. McCullough's assessment.  The teacher's assessment includes the work we have been  doing for volleyball and basketball as well. Please talk to your child about the assessment, sign and return as soon as possible. Thank you!

November 22, 2019  Invitation from Simon Fraser School Dear Parents and Guardians, Simon Fraser is bringing in another amazing presentation, called Bring Them Closer with Connie Jakab on Thursday, December 5 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Though Screenagers was an excellent video with an important & timely message, Connie's personal message of hope and support to parents who have children struggling with anxiety (parents too) is captivating and inspiring. It is so much more than this though. Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor, Paul Day said this about Connie's Bring Them Closer seminar: "I loved the stories and honest sharing. Connie creates a beautiful atmosphere to receive. She gave great tips to take home for any parent." Bring Them Closer would like to help see families no longer drowning in crisis or mental health concerns. This seminar is free of charge, thanks to the Simon Fraser School Council. Look at your calendar and sign up for the seminar today. S

We are making an effort to send home students' work so you are able to see how your child is doing at school.  To help us with this process, can you please review and sign the forms that come home?  This helps inform us that you have seen them.  Thanks for your support.   Today coming home are: 1.Socials  sheet -  please sign and return 2. Art Rubric Sheet - Please sign and return Items to note: Please send a plastic or cloth  bag to school with your child to hang on his/her hook for indoor shoes if you have not done so yet. If you have not returned the three black cards , please return them to school as soon as possible. Blue Folders:  Please remember to keep your child's communication folders in your child's bag everyday. We use it to send home notices and for parents to send in notices. Book Fair Money: The students will have time to visit the book fair tomorrow.  Please talk with your child about having a safe place to kee

With all the learning we have been doing  with Comprehension Cat, Accuracy Alligator, Fluency Frog  and Expanding Elly Elephant, today we set our own reading a goal. Let your child tell you what their goal is and how  working on this goal will help  improve his or her reading skills.

Yesterday and today, we have been looking at the grade 1/2 writing rubrics and  writing examples to assess our own  piece of writing. We looked at how we could edit our work and make it even better using a checklist! Then we assessed our work based on the December writing rubrics and examples and we gave ourselves a mark. We each conferenced with Ms. McCullough on areas  we want to improve on  and will be setting a writing goal for ourselves next week. This goal will help us improve our writing even more. We even got to wear some fun editor and teacher glasses and use a fun coloured pen of our choice! We can't wait to show you our writing on Thursday!

This T hursday is our Celebration of Learning! Students and teachers are excited to share their work and learning with you. Classrooms will be open from 6:15 to 7: 45 pm. Families are encourage to visit their child's classroom any time during the   allotted time frame. Please allow for at least 30 minutes to spend looking at your child's work and projects. Don't forget to check out all the bulletin board's outside of the classrooms too.  The students have been working hard to share some writing, Montessori language, math and our programming with our ozobots! We went to book fair today. Your child may tell you some books they are interested in buying. We will visit the book fair again on Thursday.  You can send money with your child  or you can visit the book fair on Thursday during the celebration of Learning. We are also encouraging families to visit the lost and found for missing items. It is also a great time to check to see if your child'

Here are the December writing rubrics for grade 1 and 2  along with some writing examples for each corresponding report card mark. On Thursday at the Celebration of Learning, you will be able to look through your child's reading journal and compare your child's writing to the  rubrics they will be assessed on for report cards. Grade 1: Grade 2:

Today we talked about Body in the Group and Brain in the group. I love the phrases Body in the Group and Brain in the group. These are popular phrases used in Social Thinking lessons, because these phrases do more than get a child’s attention. They teach our kids how and why they need to stay focused during group activities. They are perfect phrases to prompt what is expected when hanging out with friends, in the classroom, or working on a group project. They are easy to deliver and give kids the cue to make a change.  You can see their bodies moving before you finish saying ‘oh your body rolled out of the group – pop your body back in the group’.  These statements also come into their own in the schoolyard. You need to get your body in the group if you want to play with your peers.  If you are standing all the way over the other side of the oval, away from the group, your potential friends don’t know that you want to hang out.  Here’s a little bit more about having your brain and bo

Our day at a Glance Played a math game called Beat the Teacher.  The students are to create a three digit number.  We roll each digit and they have to decide which place value column to place the number.  I am also creating my number.  Their goal is to try to create a bigger number than I did with those numbers. It's a fun game to try at home. Math - we explored how many different ways we could make the numbers 16, 57, or 119.  The students explored using ten frames, golden beads, tally marks, number word, picture, number equations and a variety of other ways to depict their number.  Ask your child about which number they chose and how they represented their number. Social Studies  - we talked about celebrations that we share with our families.  We brainstormed a list of ideas and then proceeded to make a list of their own celebrations in their visual journal.  Have a conversation with your child to see if they remembered all the special celebrations you might share. Healt

( The three labelled black cards you will find in your child's communication backpack.  Please remove them tonight, complete the activity then return them completed before Nov. 20th.) Celebrating Us!    Our classroom is made up of a unique mix of children with a variety of histories, passions, hobbies, families and celebrations.  To help build community, it is important for the members of the class to learn about each other.     To find out what we have in common and how we are unique. This term we will be exploring the  Social  Studies unit: 1.2 Moving Forward with the Past: My Family, My History and My Community General Outcome:   Students will demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of how changes over time have affected their families and influenced how their families and communities are today.                                                             –Alberta Program of Studies This unit focuses on the children learning about their families’ hi

Today in preparation for Remembrance Day we read The Peace Book by Todd Parr.   It is a great book that delivers positive and hopeful messages of peace for kids.  We learned that peace can mean different things to different people.  The students brainstormed what peace means to them.  Then we recorded our ideas in the format of a Peace poem.  You may see some of our ideas on display at the Celebration of Learning on November 21st as well as our poppy art. Reminder that there is no school on Monday as it is Remembrance Day!!

On Tuesday students brought home the book, My Heart Fills With Happiness. This book is a gift form TD for your child to keep. Grade ones usually receive the books however, because we are multi-aged, both grade ones and twos received the book.

Blue Folders Today Please remember to keep your child's communication folders  (the blue folders) in your child's bag everyday. We use it to send home notices and for parents to send in notices. Today coming home are: 1.Science sheet - please sign and return 2. Raz Kids login information 3. Some students have sight word sheets and a list of fun activities to practice these sight words. Increasing the number of sight words your child can recognize and read automatically really help improving reading!  Also, we are having trouble keeping our shoes neat and tidy  in our classroom Could you please send a plastic or cloth bag to school with your child tomorrow to hang on his/her hook for indoor shoes. Thank you for your support!