Work charts for this week

I had a few parents interested in having access to work charts ahead of time so they could review them with their child.  This is not necessary, but know they are here if you would like them.

Grade 1: grade1workchartoct24-28

Grade 2: grade2workchartoct24-28-docx-1

Grade 3: grade3workchartoct24-28-docx-1

Classroom Library System (grade 1s)

This week I will be starting a classroom library system where the grade 1 students will be borrowing levelled books from the classroom.  Each morning they will be responsible to sign out a book and return the book from the previous day.  Each night the student is required to read the book with a parent or sibling or maybe even to a pet!

Halloween

Friday October 28th: Halloween Dance at Tyee Elementary School.

Monday October 31st: On Monday October 31st we will be celebrating Halloween.  There will be a school assembly at 9:15am and I encourage everyone to wear a costume! I have already started making mine! We will have a class potluck.  Bring a snack or treat to share with your classmates.

Growth Mindsets

The students each created their own growth mindset affirmation this past week.  They were very inspiring and creative! Along with our inner mindful ninja’s I hope that we can always be reminded of what we are capable of!

“I am determined to focus.”

Top: “When I get distracted I move to a different table to focus.” Bottom: “When I get frustrated I take a breath and keep on trying until I get it.”

Top: “I will practice running so I will get faster.” Bottom: “I am going to preserver in my spelling. To do this I will practice word study.”

“When I am stuck on my work chart I will look at what I did yesterday and practice again.”

“I am determined to work hard on my reading.”

“I am determined not to rush in my work.”

Classroom Community/Social Responsibility

This week we will discuss how to appropriately respond to potential problems.  We will be working together to determine what a tiny problem looks like compared to a huge problem.

Math

1s: the grade 1 students will continue with their study of numeration and addition.  We are slowly introducing new materials and spending much time practicing.

2s: the grade 2 students will be introduced to dynamic addition and will be practicing with the Montessori materials.

3s: the grade 3 students will be continuing their work with dynamic addition using the materials.

Art

Our leaf rubbing project was a huge success!

Language

All three grades will start a metal inset project this week.  The metal insets are a Montessori material designed to promote fine motor skills and the skills needed to use a pencil for writing.  We will be using these materials to create a booklet that will blend writing and art together.

We will be doing a Know/Wonder/Learn activity around the history of Halloween.  We will discuss as a class what we know about Halloween, what we wonder and later we will close our discussion with what we learned.

The grade 3 students will continue their literature circle reading and discussions.

Culture

This week the students will finish up their solar system posters.  We will do some drama around the order of the solar system and at the end of the week we will be doing experiments to illustrate the science around the different properties of the rocky planets.

Space logbook research.

Finished solar system posters.

There was an incident this morning in the classroom where cashews and peanuts were spilled and out on the floor and in the cloak area. Initially I had said that nuts in the classroom was permissible as long as the shared snack was nut-free. Since we do have a student in the classroom with a potentially life threatening allergy to nuts I would strongly advise not sending nuts in your child’s lunch. 

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Edit: Maisie Scott– October 19th @ 3:00pm

Reminders…

Book Fair: Tuesday October 18th –> 11:15am-11:45am

Students will have time to attend our school book fair in the library.

Parent Teacher Conferences: Tuesday October 18th, Wednesday October 19th

If you haven’t already, please be sure to send your child to school on Monday morning with a time for parent teacher conferences!  Your child should have brought home a confirmation time for our meeting.  If not, they will be bringing one home tomorrow (Monday Oct 17) after school. I look forward to meeting with you and discussing our goals for your child this year.

Reading Foundation: Wednesday October 19th (morning)

I will be away at the Reading Foundation with Ms. Price on Wednesday morning to observe and learn about this program.  I am hoping to gain valuable information, resources and techniques to bring back to our classroom.  This requires having a teacher on call (TOC) in my classroom Wednesday morning.

Cross Country District Meet: Thursday October 20 –> 1pm-3pm @ Trout Lake

Ms. Daphne and I will be at Trout Lake Thursday afternoon to coach the Cross Country athletes participating in the district meet.  This means that there will be a teacher on call (TOC) in my classroom Thursday afternoon.  Good luck to all the runners!!

Professional Development Day: Friday October 21st

No school for students.

This week…

Math

This week we are continuing our study of numeration and addition.

Grade 1 students will continue to work with the cards and counters material, the addition strip board, and the decanomial beads.

Grade 2 and 3 students will be working on their  static addition math workbook.  The students are responsible for working on this book a little bit each day with any Montessori math material they have been introduced to.  The grade 3s will also be starting a dynamic addition workbook.

Card and Counters

Addition Bingo Game

Addition Bingo Game

Stamp Game

Addition Strip Board

Language

The grade 1 students are continuing to focus on their word study and penmanship.  Some students are working with sandpaper letters as well as consistently writing stories in their journals.

Grade 2 Word Study

Story Writing!

The Grade 1s are so excited about writing stories in their journals!

The 2s and 3s got off to a great start on their literature circles last week! They are so excited about these novels that I’m sure it won’t take long for us to read!

Culture

This week we will continue to sequence the solar system in our groups of 2. We have been using materials to illustrate the order of the planets, the size difference of the planets, and the distance between planets in our solar system.  Half the class was paired up to work together to recreate an accurate poster of the solar system. These students will continue their work this week.

The other half of the class will be introduced to this work on Tuesday morning and will have the opportunity to work in pairs to sequence the solar system this week and into next!

Physical Education

Since I was ill last Friday we will begin our Yoga unit for physical education this Monday.  Since we are studying outer space in our culture studies I am hoping that students will also be able to study their inner space.  I hope to link this yoga unit with our Mindfulness education program to incorporate our breathing practices as well as our self-regulation strategies with the zones of regulation.

Happy Thanksgiving Division 5 families!

On Friday during our weekly peace circle we talked about what Thanksgiving means to us.  There were a variety of answers.  The students shared things like:

“Thanksgiving to me means spending time with my friends and family”

“Thanksgiving to me means eating good, healthy food and being happy”

“Thanksgiving to me means being grateful for my health”

“Thanksgiving to me is showing the people I love that I care about them”

“Thanksgiving to me means getting together with my friends and having a play date”

I’d like to encourage all Division 5 families to incorporate the growth mindset at home.  At school, during our work choice I encourage the students to make wise decisions about the work that they will accomplish that day.  I have noticed that our work choice cycles need extra reminders about the importance of practicing skills and time spent on the process of working with the Montessori materials rather than the product.  Of course, this mindset and all learning takes time and it would be wonderful if the students could hear it at school as well as in the home.

This week…

Math

This week we are continuing our study of numeration and addition.

Grade 1 students will continue to work with the cards and counters material, the addition strip board, and the decanomial beads.

Grade 2 and 3 students will be starting a static addition math workbook.  The students are responsible for working on this book a little bit each day with any Montessori math material they have been introduced to.

Language

The grade 1 students are continuing to focus on their word study and penmanship.  Some students are working with sandpaper letters as well as consistently writing stories in their journals.

The 2s and 3s got off to a great start on their literature circles last week! They are so excited about these novels that I’m sure it won’t take long for us to read!

Culture

Our Space Station within our culture material! Each cubby has its own planet information. The students use this information to do research. The students write keywords on little slips of paper to then form sentences in their space logbooks.

This week we will continue to sequence the solar system in our groups of 2. Last Monday we used materials to illustrate the order of the planets, the size difference of the planets, and the distance between planets in our solar system.  Half the class was paired up to work together to recreate an accurate poster of the solar system. These students will continue their work this week.

The other half of the class will be working on their space logbooks or doing other work during this time and will have the opportunity to work in pairs to sequence the solar system later this week and into next week.

Physical Education

This week we will begin our Yoga unit for physical education.  Since we are studying outer space in our culture studies I am hoping that students will also be able to study their inner space.  I hope to link this yoga unit with our Mindfulness education program to incorporate our breathing practices as well as our self-regulation strategies with the zones of regulation.

Art

On Wednesday morning we will be going on a walk to collect leaves for a leaf rubbing project.  We were inspired by two grade 3 students who shared a beautiful leaf rubbing project on Friday morning!

This is a reminder that Division 5 will be joining Ms. Nina’s class on a trip to our community library tomorrow, October 6th. Please pack your child’s library card if they wish to borrow books!

Van Go: Division 5 students are participating in the Arts Umbrella Van Go workshop on Monday October 3rd from 10:30-12:00 in the Tyee gym.  Students are encouraged to wear active wear (no frilly party dresses and ballet slippers) as they will be working on the gym floor with paints or chalk or other art materials.

Kensington Public Library visit: This is a reminder that Division 5 will be joining Ms. Nina’s class on a trip to our community library on Thursday October 6th.  Please pack your child’s library card if they wish to borrow books!

Math:

This week we are finishing up our pattern work! We begin our study of numeration and addition.

Grade 1 students will start to work with the cards and counters material, the addition strip board, and the decanomial beads.

Grade 2 students will be working on their math facts, using the decanomial bead material, playing the addition bingo game and doing mad minutes to test their math fact skills.

Grade 3 students are finishing up their challenging pattern work and will move on to their addition and math facts mid-week.

Language:

The grade 1 students are continuing to focus on their word study and penmanship.  Some students are working with sandpaper letters as well as consistently writing stories in their journals.

The 2s and 3s will be starting Literature Circles this week.

The 2s will be reading ‘Flying Low’ by Alain M. Bergeron. We will be reading 1 chapter a week and meeting every Friday morning to discuss the book. Each grade 2 student will have a job/task to bring to the chapter discussion. These jobs include: word wizard, creative connector, super summariser, illustrator, discussion director, and passage predictor.

The 3s will be reading ‘The Lemonade War’ by Jacqueline Davies. We will be reading 1 chapter a week and meeting every Friday morning to discuss the book. Each grade 3 student will have a job/task to bring to the chapter discussion. These jobs include: word wizard, creative connector, super summariser, illustrator, discussion director, and passage predictor.

Culture:

This week we begin sequencing the solar system.  Monday afternoon we will be using materials to illustrate the order of the planets, the size difference of the planets, and the distance between planets in our solar system.  Half the class will be paired up to work together to recreate an accurate poster of the solar system.  The other half of the class will be doing other work during this time and will have the opportunity to work in pairs to sequence the solar system next week.

Share/Show and Tell:

Last Friday was our first Share/Show and Tell morning.  We had 4 students bring in items and stories that they wished to share with their classmates.  It was such a success that we will have 4 students sign up each week to share first thing on Friday mornings.

I would like to issue a classroom policy of  no toys from home in the classroom. I have noticed that many students are bringing Shopkins as well as other belongings from home and this is becoming quite distracting during instructional time.

If the students would like to do a share/show and tell we can arrange that. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

This is the snack calendar for the month of October. Please take the time to find out when your child’s snack day is and plan to send a healthy snack to class to share. The snack should be simple enough for your child to prepare and serve independently. Please no NUTS. Please let me know as soon as possible if your child has any other allergies or food intolerances. Healthy cookies or muffins, cheese and crackers, bagels and jam or cream cheese, salsa and chips, fruit and vegetables are some snack ideas.

Birthday (BD) snacks will happen either on or as close to your child’s birthday as possible. If you forget to send snack, please send an “emergency” snack for us to serve when others forget theirs.