Click here: Take me to the elf
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Elf stuff, Christmas, Holiday concert
The return of 'Elf on the Shelf'
Well, it happened, we read the book and the Elf on the Shelf appeared the next day bringing little gifts and jokes. I love this picture! My students are so excited to see where the elf is hiding they forget to take off winter coats and boots and just march on in. The name of this elf has been decided...Holly Ginger Winter...sounds like a movie star name :)
The Dreidel game we played to learn about Hanukkah! Lots of fun!
The Holiday concert is scheduled for Thursday December 12th. There is an afternoon concert (1:45 p.m.) that you may attend or an evening concert at (7:00 p.m.). Students are expected to perform at both concerts if possible. I have sent a note home to indicate the dress of the Grade Two students performing as per Mrs Kirk's direction. The gym will be decorated with lots of student artwork so there will be lots to hear, see and do. Students may come up to my room prior to the concert (15 or 20 minutes before is fine) and I will watch them while you get your seats. Then they will be waiting for you up in my room. Some parents like to pick their students up right away so they can see a brother or sister perform later in the show. This is fine if you can do so without too much disruption.
Clubs in January
In January I like to get rid of the winter blahs by allowing my students an opportunity to stay in one recess and do some activities. I'm thinking this year I could do one 'Rainbow Loom' recess and one 'Learning to knit' recess. I do have a number of older students that I have taught to knit that are willing to help us learn. If you think your child might be interested then you will need to get them some knitting needles and wool ( I have some but I find I go through a lot when I do this). I have had great success teaching some students to knit while others may not have developed the fine motor skills and can get discouraged. An alternative that is fun is a 'corking' machine. There are some lovely wooden ones at the store 'Spun' on Fairview Street or I have seen some plastic ones in Walmart. Some students experience great success with this to start and then can move onto knitting when and if they are ready. When I first started knitting club, I assumed only girls would be interested but I was wrong. So, if you are looking for some small little gifts for Christmas then I might suggest the following:
*Size 4 or 5 bamboo needles (smaller ones work well for little hands, double pointed is fine as we can just put elastic on the ends). The older style steel needles are ok but harder for smaller hands as they are slippery, a little large and can be slightly dangerous when running down the hall.
*Wool- medium weight is fine. Acrylic or wool. Don't get the expensive stuff from the wool shops just yet. Some basic wool from Michaels, Walmart or even the dollar store is fine. Just don't buy anything too skinny.
* Corking/Spool knitting (wood or plastic...doesn't matter)
Here is a video to explain what I am talking about
Click here for Spool knitting video
(It's a bit long so just watch a few minutes to see what you need)
Well, it happened, we read the book and the Elf on the Shelf appeared the next day bringing little gifts and jokes. I love this picture! My students are so excited to see where the elf is hiding they forget to take off winter coats and boots and just march on in. The name of this elf has been decided...Holly Ginger Winter...sounds like a movie star name :)
The Holiday concert is scheduled for Thursday December 12th. There is an afternoon concert (1:45 p.m.) that you may attend or an evening concert at (7:00 p.m.). Students are expected to perform at both concerts if possible. I have sent a note home to indicate the dress of the Grade Two students performing as per Mrs Kirk's direction. The gym will be decorated with lots of student artwork so there will be lots to hear, see and do. Students may come up to my room prior to the concert (15 or 20 minutes before is fine) and I will watch them while you get your seats. Then they will be waiting for you up in my room. Some parents like to pick their students up right away so they can see a brother or sister perform later in the show. This is fine if you can do so without too much disruption.
Clubs in January
In January I like to get rid of the winter blahs by allowing my students an opportunity to stay in one recess and do some activities. I'm thinking this year I could do one 'Rainbow Loom' recess and one 'Learning to knit' recess. I do have a number of older students that I have taught to knit that are willing to help us learn. If you think your child might be interested then you will need to get them some knitting needles and wool ( I have some but I find I go through a lot when I do this). I have had great success teaching some students to knit while others may not have developed the fine motor skills and can get discouraged. An alternative that is fun is a 'corking' machine. There are some lovely wooden ones at the store 'Spun' on Fairview Street or I have seen some plastic ones in Walmart. Some students experience great success with this to start and then can move onto knitting when and if they are ready. When I first started knitting club, I assumed only girls would be interested but I was wrong. So, if you are looking for some small little gifts for Christmas then I might suggest the following:
*Size 4 or 5 bamboo needles (smaller ones work well for little hands, double pointed is fine as we can just put elastic on the ends). The older style steel needles are ok but harder for smaller hands as they are slippery, a little large and can be slightly dangerous when running down the hall.
*Wool- medium weight is fine. Acrylic or wool. Don't get the expensive stuff from the wool shops just yet. Some basic wool from Michaels, Walmart or even the dollar store is fine. Just don't buy anything too skinny.
* Corking/Spool knitting (wood or plastic...doesn't matter)
Here is a video to explain what I am talking about
Click here for Spool knitting video
(It's a bit long so just watch a few minutes to see what you need)
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Sharon and Bram, Letter Writing, Fads
What a great way to start the week. We went to see 'Sharon and Bram' perform their famous music for us. Yes, the finale involved the 'Skinnamarink' song! ( I actually looked up how to spell this). You may remember them from the 'Sharon, Lois and Bram Elephant show'. Perhaps you grew up watching them on television.
Letter Writing
We are getting ready to learn about 'letter writing' as a text form. Today, we tried to solve a mystery involving a letter written to us with 11 common errors. Most students found 5 to 8 mistakes which tells me I have some work to do. I will post some pictures of our progress as we go along. We will be writing letters to Santa this year using our Halton chatt website. The focus will be on persuading Santa to visit our house. I'm looking forward to hearing the rationales. Should be interesting.
Fads
Here is the latest fad, which made me reflect on how many fads I've seen in my teaching career.
Ninja turtles (with artist names like Michaelangelo etc)
Power rangers
Pogs
Bey blades and stadium (have made at least two appearances)
Pokemon (I once had students chase me into the washroom, peer under the stall door in order to help me solve a Pokemon crisis involving a bad trade...will never forget this. They didn't even notice what I was doing as they were so focused on the cards)
Digimon
Nano pets (which needed to be fed and if taken away would make dying noises in my desk drawer!)
I'm sure there are more but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
And now...Rainbow looms
Winter
Sounds like we are in for a bit of winter. I recently made this soup and it was wonderful. You really do have to add the crunchy bits - they make it!!! This will absolutely warm you up!
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/pumpkin-soup/
Have a great week and stay warm!
Letter Writing
We are getting ready to learn about 'letter writing' as a text form. Today, we tried to solve a mystery involving a letter written to us with 11 common errors. Most students found 5 to 8 mistakes which tells me I have some work to do. I will post some pictures of our progress as we go along. We will be writing letters to Santa this year using our Halton chatt website. The focus will be on persuading Santa to visit our house. I'm looking forward to hearing the rationales. Should be interesting.
Fads
Here is the latest fad, which made me reflect on how many fads I've seen in my teaching career.
Ninja turtles (with artist names like Michaelangelo etc)
Power rangers
Pogs
Bey blades and stadium (have made at least two appearances)
Pokemon (I once had students chase me into the washroom, peer under the stall door in order to help me solve a Pokemon crisis involving a bad trade...will never forget this. They didn't even notice what I was doing as they were so focused on the cards)
Digimon
Nano pets (which needed to be fed and if taken away would make dying noises in my desk drawer!)
I'm sure there are more but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
And now...Rainbow looms
Winter
Sounds like we are in for a bit of winter. I recently made this soup and it was wonderful. You really do have to add the crunchy bits - they make it!!! This will absolutely warm you up!
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/pumpkin-soup/
Have a great week and stay warm!
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Interviews, Reports and Visualization books
On Monday, Progress Report cards will be coming home. This is an indicator of how your child is progressing both academically and socially. During the interview, your child will be sharing their 'Learning Skills' booklet which is a very important aspect. A student may not always be able to control their marks (e.g., if your child is a struggling reader then getting an 'A' may not be attainable in the first term), however understanding their role as a learner is imperative to success. The interviews will be 20 minutes in length and will be run for the first 10 minutes by your child so it is important that they accompany you. The last 10 minutes will be with all of us, and we will need to discuss goals as per the bottom portion of the report. Please consider in advance what is a realistic goal for your child. Here is a link to the post I created last year if you would like to read more information.
CLICK HERE
Visualization
We have been using the reading strategy 'Visualization' for creating mental images. Why is this important?...well according to Debbie Miller (Reading with Meaning) "evoking vivid mental images helps readers create vivid images in their writing". As children develop schema and understanding through both personal experiences and shared experience (reading, conversation, doing) they will be able to increase both their reading comprehension and writing abilities. Here are 3 great books to use for visualization. We read 'Tough Boris' with Mrs Homewood this week. Students had to listen to the story without benefit of pictures (we put the book inside another book when reading). Then students were challenged to draw what they think 'Tough Boris' looked like based on the descriptors the writer provided. When the pictures were revealed, students were amazed how accurately they visualized how the main character would look. This naturally led to a discussion on adjectives and how important it is to provide them in our own writing.
Here is a sneak peak at some art we are working on. Each student has created a different piece based on the letter of their first name. It is also really helpful for us to understand the math concepts of 'flips, slides and turns'. Hopefully we can get them ready for when you visit us this week for interviews.
Aren't the finished art pieces amazing! Can you see the first letters of their names used as the template?
CLICK HERE
Visualization
We have been using the reading strategy 'Visualization' for creating mental images. Why is this important?...well according to Debbie Miller (Reading with Meaning) "evoking vivid mental images helps readers create vivid images in their writing". As children develop schema and understanding through both personal experiences and shared experience (reading, conversation, doing) they will be able to increase both their reading comprehension and writing abilities. Here are 3 great books to use for visualization. We read 'Tough Boris' with Mrs Homewood this week. Students had to listen to the story without benefit of pictures (we put the book inside another book when reading). Then students were challenged to draw what they think 'Tough Boris' looked like based on the descriptors the writer provided. When the pictures were revealed, students were amazed how accurately they visualized how the main character would look. This naturally led to a discussion on adjectives and how important it is to provide them in our own writing.
Here is a sneak peak at some art we are working on. Each student has created a different piece based on the letter of their first name. It is also really helpful for us to understand the math concepts of 'flips, slides and turns'. Hopefully we can get them ready for when you visit us this week for interviews.
Aren't the finished art pieces amazing! Can you see the first letters of their names used as the template?
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Shows, assemblies and fun!
Math Jam
This week was so busy with all the wonderful drama experiences organized for us. We started with 'Math Jam' a fantastic interactive show that combines music, acting and math concepts for all grade levels in attendance. I have to say, I have seen a variety of these shows over the years and this one was one of the best. Kudos to the young actor and actress who really held the primary students spellbound.
Boris Brott Orchestra Trip
Then we travelled to Mohawk college to see the Boris Brott youth orchestra. They taught us about each instrument in the orchestra and about music from around the world. For me, watching the artist paint on a large silk canvas as each song was played was fascinating. I think the breakdancers were a highlight for the students. Their finale included spinning on the top of their heads (no hands) for a few minutes. When we got back to class and went out to recess, I had to intervene when a few inspired students decided to try this move in the grass...yikes!
At the end of the day we had a presentation about Ecology. We learned about the 3R's, Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. The presenter from Halton's waste management had really interesting slides that explained where our recycled waste goes and how it is re-used. Did you know that polar fleece is made from recycled plastic pop bottles?
Whew, busy week.
This week was so busy with all the wonderful drama experiences organized for us. We started with 'Math Jam' a fantastic interactive show that combines music, acting and math concepts for all grade levels in attendance. I have to say, I have seen a variety of these shows over the years and this one was one of the best. Kudos to the young actor and actress who really held the primary students spellbound.
Boris Brott Orchestra Trip
Then we travelled to Mohawk college to see the Boris Brott youth orchestra. They taught us about each instrument in the orchestra and about music from around the world. For me, watching the artist paint on a large silk canvas as each song was played was fascinating. I think the breakdancers were a highlight for the students. Their finale included spinning on the top of their heads (no hands) for a few minutes. When we got back to class and went out to recess, I had to intervene when a few inspired students decided to try this move in the grass...yikes!
At the end of the day we had a presentation about Ecology. We learned about the 3R's, Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. The presenter from Halton's waste management had really interesting slides that explained where our recycled waste goes and how it is re-used. Did you know that polar fleece is made from recycled plastic pop bottles?
Whew, busy week.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Halloween, Bats and Pudding!
Just a quick post today...
I wanted to capture a few moments from today. For science, the students worked on 'Procedural Writing' as they worked through 'how to make pudding'. This group really had the 'teamwork' concept.
This pudding didn't last long!
Out looking for teasels to create our bats today.
Found some perfect ones for the bodies of our bats.
Hard to get the bats to stay still for a picture...they kept flying around the room!
Have a Happy Hallowe'en!
Looking forward to seeing the Halloween parade tomorrow after announcements. Remember we will be having our parade upstairs. It usually only takes about 15 minutes or so...not very long.
I wanted to capture a few moments from today. For science, the students worked on 'Procedural Writing' as they worked through 'how to make pudding'. This group really had the 'teamwork' concept.
Have a Happy Hallowe'en!
Looking forward to seeing the Halloween parade tomorrow after announcements. Remember we will be having our parade upstairs. It usually only takes about 15 minutes or so...not very long.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Technical Difficulties
Well, of course it is Progress Report card writing time and right on schedule my laptop dies. Not a slow death...instant, and according to my technology people...fatal! No problem, but then my printer decides it can't align labels either so that is why I had the children write their 'Dreambox logins' for you...sorry about that.
Picture Day
We all looked lovely for picture day on Thursday. Can't wait to see the class picture. Here is mine from Grade three (couldn't find grade two pic)...can you find me?
Clue: I'm wearing purple and very close to the teacher :)
We also really enjoyed reading this book. It's hilarious...
Hallowe'en
You will notice that there will be no homework this week. This is to accommodate Hallowe'en falling mid-week and the excitement of candy high and lows :)
Parade
The Florence Meares school tradition involves a parade first thing in the morning right after announcements. I will send more information once I have met with the primary division on Monday. We usually invite students to come in full or partial costume. Students walk around the school and show off their costumes to each other. Parents are welcome to come for photo opportunities if you would like.
Random facts about my class...
Did you know that most children in my class tried 'saurkraut' as part of our Oktoberfest 'traditions and celebrations' social studies reading? Guess what...many students actually liked it! When I have done this in other years, it was more like an episode of 'Fear Factor'. This class is so open to trying new things!
Have you noticed that the children are actually eating the apples in their lunch? I have an apple slicer at school and for some reason this has become motivation to bring apples to school and actually eat them. Fine with me...apples are a healthy snack!
Picture Day
We all looked lovely for picture day on Thursday. Can't wait to see the class picture. Here is mine from Grade three (couldn't find grade two pic)...can you find me?
We also really enjoyed reading this book. It's hilarious...
Hallowe'en
You will notice that there will be no homework this week. This is to accommodate Hallowe'en falling mid-week and the excitement of candy high and lows :)
Parade
The Florence Meares school tradition involves a parade first thing in the morning right after announcements. I will send more information once I have met with the primary division on Monday. We usually invite students to come in full or partial costume. Students walk around the school and show off their costumes to each other. Parents are welcome to come for photo opportunities if you would like.
Random facts about my class...
Did you know that most children in my class tried 'saurkraut' as part of our Oktoberfest 'traditions and celebrations' social studies reading? Guess what...many students actually liked it! When I have done this in other years, it was more like an episode of 'Fear Factor'. This class is so open to trying new things!
Have you noticed that the children are actually eating the apples in their lunch? I have an apple slicer at school and for some reason this has become motivation to bring apples to school and actually eat them. Fine with me...apples are a healthy snack!
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