Field Trip Forms are due as soon as possible!

Note: I am looking for 2 parent volunteers to join us

Please email me at hlangille@vsb.bc.ca if you are able to volunteer on Thursday March 2nd.

Riddle of the week: “Forward I am heavy; backwards I am not. What am I?”

Reminders

Monday February 27th: Celebrating Ms. I’s 50th birthday in the classroom.  We have been making cards and gifts to celebrate her 50 years! Feel free to bring a treat or snack to share! 

Thursday March 2nd: VSO “What a Wonderful Life” field trip.  Field trip forms due early next week!!! 

March 7 and 8: Student-led conferences, 2-6pm

Work Charts

Grade 1:February27-March3_grade1workchart

Grade 2: February27-March3_Grade2workchart.docx (1)

Grade 3: February27-March3_grade3workchart.docx (1)

Science with Ingrid last Monday

Math

Grade 1: some grade 1 students have started learning multiplication using the decanomial beads.  Others are still practicing their 3D solids and working on their addition.

Grade 2: students are working hard on their multiplication decanomial bead layout projects.

Grade 3: students are practicing their multiplication using the checkerboard and some have been inspired to do their own decanomial bead layout project.

A grade 1 uses the golden bead material to practice addition.

A grade one student learning basic multiplication using the decanomial beads.

Grade 1 students working on their version of the decanomial bead layout project.

Golden bead material work.

Grade 2 students working on their decanomial bead layout.

Language

Grade 1: the grade 1 students have been practicing their orthographic knowledge.  Last week we created a group image of “the dolphins swam near the boat”.  The students then drew the image that we had created together and wrote about these dolphins.  We will continue these lessons to further develop our ability to create pictures in our minds when we hear words (or when we read).

Grade 2: the grade 2 students are busy wrapping up their literature circle this week.

Grade 3: the grade 3 students have been working on their literature circle tasks

Grade 1 word study.

Grade 3 parts of speech using the grammar boxes.

Word Study.

Culture

A grade 3 student was inspired to create British Columbia while she took a kinetic sand break.

Grade 2: mapping North America

Grade 3: mapping BC

Grade 2: mapping North America

Grade 2: mapping North America

A grade 1 student practices her knowledge of the continents.

Grade 3: mapping BC

Grade 2: mapping North America

Grade 3: mapping BC

Classroom Community

We just finished reading “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, the second Harry Potter book in J.K. Rowling’s series. We have just started the third book, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”. This will be the last book in the series that we read in class. Books 4-8 become much older and quite scary. I have explained this to the students and they are aware that this is the final Harry Potter book for this year.

We have a tea station and many students drink tea throughout the day.

We are running low on tea in the classroom.  If you are interested in donating tea to the classroom please send it to school with your child!

Thank you!!

Reminders

Thursday February 23rd: Our next skating day is this Thursday February 23rd at Trout Lake Rink.

Friday February 24th: Curriculum Focus Day – no school for students

Work Charts

Grade 1: February20-24_grade1workchart

Grade 2: February20-24_Grade2workchart

Grade 3: February20-24_grade3workchart

Valentine’s Day

Supply station.

Working on their valentine bags.

We decided to hang the valentine bags from the ceiling for our exchange!

Math

Decanomial bead layout.

The decanomial bead layout project.

Skip counting using the short bead chain.

Language

Grade 1 word study lesson.

Grammar box work.

Culture

This week we will continue our mapping projects.

Classroom Community

I asked for a kidney bean teaching table back in the fall and it finally arrived this week! We are so excited to have a new set-up for our small group lessons.

“A seven letter word containing thousands of letters.”

“What is as big as an elephant, but lighter than a feather?”

Reminders

Monday February 13th: BC Family Day – no school for students or teachers

Tuesday February 14th: Valentine’s Day – we will be doing a Valentine exchange in the classroom.  If your child chooses to make Valentine cards to give out, they must make one for every student in the class.  I have sent your child home with a class list and there is a digital copy posted here: ClassList-Division5

Work Charts

Grade 1: February13-17_grade1workchart

Grade 2: February13-17_Grade2workchart

Grade 3: February13-17_grade3workchart

Math

Grade 1:grade 1 students have been learning about 3-D solids from their older classmates and will continue practicing the names and parts of these solids.  Students will continue using the golden bead material to practice large number addition.  We will begin learning multiplication this week using the golden bead material.

Grade 2: the grade 2 students will be practicing their multiplication facts using the decanomial beads.  They will be illustrating their knowledge by creating the decanomial bead layout using large graph paper.

Grade 3:grade 3 students have been teaching their younger students 3-D solids.  They have also been practicing their multiplication using the checkerboard and will be learning how to use the flat bead frame.

Language

Grade 1: the grade 1 students will be practicing their orthographic knowledge with our group visualization lessons and we will be explicitly learning the “th” and “wh” using our sound charts.

Grade 2: the grade 2 students will be practicing the adverb grammar box, journaling about the bee lesson they received early last week, finishing up their sound charts and preparing for our Lit O discussion on Friday.

Grade 3:the grade 3 students will be practicing the conjunction grammar box, journaling about the bee lesson they received early last week, finishing up their sound charts and preparing for our Lit O discussion on Friday.

Culture

This week we will continue our mapping project.  The grade 1 students will begin learning about the world and our 7 continents.  The grade 2 students will be learning about North America. The grade 3 students have a great understanding of Canada and have chosen a continent to study.  Each student (depending on grade) will re-create their map according to a set of criteria.

Science with Ingrid – Friday February 17th

On Friday, Ingrid will be joining us in the classroom to do some science! It is always exciting to have her join us for the morning.

Social Responsibility/Classroom Culture

Peace Circle– During our Peace circle on Friday, each student spoke about a challenging moment that they faced this week.  We discussed how learning and moving through this world presents us with many struggles and how we feel when we succeed.  The students are recognizing that failing and struggling is part of the learning process!

This is a reminder that our next skating day is this Thursday, February 9th from 1:00pm-3:00pm.

Please ensure that your child is equipped with the proper outdoor wear to walk from Tyee to the Trout Lake rink in this messy weather we have been experiencing.  We have a parent volunteer who will drive the gear over, but all students are still expected to walk.

Reminders

Skating: Our next skating day is Thursday February 9th from 1:00pm-3:00pm.

**Library Exchange/Home Reading: It is your child’s responsibility to bring home a levelled book to read with you (or a sibling or a pet). Your child is also responsible for making sure that book is placed back in their backpack so that it returns to our classroom. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding library exchange.

Work Charts

Grade 1: February6-10_grade1workchart

Grade 2: February6-10_Grade2workchart

Grade 3: February6-10_grade3workchart

Math

Grade 1: grade 1 students have been learning about 3-D solids from their older classmates and will continue practicing the names and parts of these solids.  Students will continue using the golden bead material to practice large number addition.  We will begin learning multiplication this week using the golden bead material.

Grade 2: grade 2 students are practicing multiplication using the many Montessori materials they have been taught (stamp game, golden bead material, multiplication board).  Students are also learning and reviewing 3-D solids with the help of their older classmates.

Grade 3: grade 3 students have been teaching their younger students 3-D solids.  They have also been practicing their multiplication using the checkerboard and will be learning how to use the flat bead frame.

Language

While reading in the classroom, I am encouraging the students to visualize and make pictures and images in their mind (orthographic knowledge).  We have been practicing forming images individually while reading Harry Potter, but also practicing forming images together using colour, shape, texture, size and perspective.

Students have been busy creating sound charts that they can use as reference tools for their story writing.  These sound charts are meant to encourage thinking of letters working together to create sounds and to help improve spelling.

Culture

Rock Painting: students chose a rock that inspired them and painted that rock at the end of last week.  They worked diligently to represent their chosen rock accurately.  They were focused and I was impressed with their work and their ability to work as a team with the clean-up required after a painting project.

This week we will start our mapping project.  The grade 1 students will begin learning about the world and our 7 continents.  The grade 2 students will be learning about North America and the grade 3 students will be learning about Canada.  Each student (depending on grade) will re-create their map according to a set of criteria.

Social Responsibility/Classroom Community

Collaborative Inquiry

Showbie update: The grade 3 students were introduced to Showbie (an online portfolio) this week and began working on their first iPad project.  They are each creating a book in Book Creator about the Rock Cycle.  So far, it has been a positive experience.  The wifi in the school seems to be the limiting factor making it difficult for the students to have reliable internet.

Reminders:

Monday January 30th: Pro-D day, no school for students

Skating: Our next skating day is Thursday February 9th, 1-3pm. A parent has kindly volunteered their time to drive the skating gear over to Trout Lake.

February Snack Schedule

March Snack Schedule

Work charts 

Grade 1:January30-February3_grade1workchart

Grade 2: January30-February3_Grade2workchart

Grade 3: January31-February3_Lessons (1)

So much finished work!

Math

Grade 1: The grade 1 students have been practicing their big number addition using the golden bead materials.  This week the older students will be introducing them to 3-D solids.

Grade 2: The grade 2 students have been practicing their multiplication using the golden bead material as well as the stamp game.  This week they will review 3-D solids and learn the multiplication board.

Grade 3: The grade 3 students have been practicing their multiplication using the checkerboard.  This week they will be learning the flat bead frame for further practice.

Language

Grade 1: The grade 1 students will be learning the ‘th’ digraph.  I will be working with the grade 1s on visualization and making images in their mind while reading.  Creating pictures is key to becoming a good reader!

Learning about verbs!

Verbs!

Grade 2: The grade 2 students will be learning about homophones and focusing on their literature circle tasks for our discussion and meeting on Friday morning.

Grade 3:  The grade 3 students will be practicing their singular and plurals and focusing on their literature circle tasks for our discussion and meeting on Friday morning.

Grammar Man.

Culture

Our rock display in the Culture area of our classroom.

This week the students will be introduced to the rock cycle.  Students have been familiarizing themselves with the three types of rocks and exploring the materials in our culture area.  At the end of this week the students will choose a rock that inspires them and they will create a painting of this rock.

The Rock Cycle.

Social Responsibility/Classroom Community

As part of a collaborative inquiry that I am pursuing with other teachers at the school, I will be introducing the grade 3 students to Showbie.  Showbie is an application that we have on the school iPads that allows students to create a digital portfolio of their work.  Students have been especially inspired by stories and have been writing stories independently and together.  My goal is that the grade 3 students will learn how to use Book Creator (another iPad application) to create their final copy of a story they have written and then save their work to their Showbie account.

Last week, I asked the students what would make them happier at school. They anonymously wrote their wish on a slip of paper. The wishes ranged from things like, “can you bring the exercise balls back?” and “can we have an umbrella bucket?”, to requesting a kidney bean table so that we have a designated lesson table.

Smelling tubes.

We had an amazing experience at our Arts Umbrella field trip today.  Thank you to the parent volunteers!!

The students participated in two workshops.  All students took part in the theatre arts workshop and had the option of either doing visual arts or media arts.  The theme of the day was to be a “Champion of the Environment”.  The students used the story of the Lorax for readers theatre, they learned about symbiosis between different living things, and used their favourite animals to make their media arts creations.

Below I have included a photo of every child’s artwork.