First Day of Autumn Party

It has now been a week since our first class party - celebrating the seasonal changes of Fall.  Here are some of the great learning activities (and fun stuff) we did:

We started the day with some good old-fashioned harvest dancing:  The ever favorite chicken dance and some foot stomping, elbow twirling, do-ci-do-ing folk dance!

There is a lot of great math we can do with apples!  We graphed our favorite kind of apples.  We weighed our apples (the heaviest was almost 1 pound!  And the lightest weighed in at 1/4 of a pound!), and measured them with rulers and string and other manipulatives.  Through problem solving, we decided that the most effective measuring technique was to wrap our string around the apple till the two ends met.  Then we could hold the string to our desktop rulers to determine the circumference of our apple.  Boy was that fun thinking!

We did corn patterning and fall leave dot to dot.  We played Autumn Bingo (with fall themed sight words), sang fun fall songs, and painted thumb print fall trees.

To cap off the day, we cut up our red, round fruit and dipped it in a homemade caramel sauce.  What a delicious autumn treat!

End of September Newsletter

Can you believe it’s the end of September?  This has been such an exciting month, and the students have progressed so far in just the first few weeks of school.  I am excited to continue to work, and try, and grow. 

Here’s this week's news:  First, I would like to extend my appreciation to J. M. and K.W. for their contribution of soft, dark gloves.  We use these with our class set of whiteboards to make erasing easier and less messy.  Thanks to these two moms, we now have a full class set. 

  On that note, before you throw anything away, consider if it is something that could be contributed to our first grade classroom.  We are always on the look out for the following items: any children’s books at any level that you were considering just donating to good will; used clean baby food jars or egg cartons; paper towel or toilet rolls (just the cardboard part that gets thrown away; buttons or sequins or any odds and ends; clean plastic milk jug or juice lids (these make great sorting items as they are durable and come in different colors); puppets; Maple Leaf roast containers – cleaned (these are sturdy black plastic trays that make great storage containers or art supplies); ice cream buckets; any recyclable plastic containers cleaned, with or without lids.  So if you are planning on chucking or recycling any of those items, one easy way to be done with them is send them with your child to school!

  I have just returned this weekend from the beginning teacher’s conference in Edmonton.  I am excited to implement many of the skills and ideas I learned into my own classroom.  If there are any parents in the classroom willing to do some volunteer work either in the classroom, or from home, I would welcome your assistance.  Please just let me know by phoning, commenting on the blog, or writing a note in your child’s agenda.  We do a sentence each morning, and by signing the sentence, I know you are looking at the agenda each night.

  On that note, our class is in need of a classroom parent.  If you are interested in this job, or just want more information, please contact Sheila Robinson at (403) 758 – 6077.

  Please also remember to sign the zippy book forms each night, so that we know you have read them with your child.  If they are not signed, we send home the same book.  Zippy books need to come back each day.  Library books come back on Friday.

 Important reminders for the week:

This weeks spelling words are way, her, ask, off, not.  The try-it for this week is:  Look in your favorite books for a scavenger spelling hunt – see how many times in five minutes you can find the words of the week!  Everybody loves a good treasure hunt!

  If you are ordering school pictures from the proofs sent home last week, they are due on Wednesday, October 1, 2008.  This week is also the first scheduled Friday lunch fundraiser run by school council.  If you wish to order week by week, please return the small blue slip that came home by Wednesday morning.

  Also this Friday is the annual Terry Fox run.  Fundraiser kits went home

 last week, and the run will be on Friday, with more details to come as we know them.

The grade one students have earned a teddy bear picnic.  This Friday, we will be eating our lunch on a picnic cloth (either inside or outside depending on weather) with our favorite teddy bear friend (or other cuddly doll, depending on your child).  If anyone wants to contribute treats to this event they are welcome.  If you do choose to send something, please ensure it contains no nut products.

We appreciate your support and hard work.  Have a wonderful week!

First Week of Fall Newsletter

Welcome to the first week of autumn.  We are finishing up our first unit in Science this week so we are having a class party tomorrow!  We will be celebrating the seasonal changes of autumn with a ‘first day of fall party’.  The students may come to school dressed in fall attire (such a coveralls or blue jeans, plaid shirts and straw hats, etc), with an apple of any kind (and maybe send one for a friend if you choose to or have extra).  We will be having fall fun all day!

There are some important updates I need to let you know about in this week’s newsletter:

Firstly, the date for our first celebration of learning has changed.  It will now be held October 9, 2008, and our school book fair will be held at the same time.  For more information on the parent/teacher conferences that will occur that week, please contact the office.  The idea of these first meetings will be to establish deeper communication and relationships between home and school.

Also, coming home today are Terry Fox Run Pledge Collection forms.  Although the date listed on the forms is for this Friday, our school will be doing the run on Friday, October 3, 2008.  This Friday is a PD day in which students do not come to school.

I will be out of the class this week attending the Beginning Teacher’s Conference in Edmonton starting Thursday.  There will be a sub in the room that day, and the students are looking forward to a guest teacher.

We have been asked to remind parents about the lunch bells.  Lunch now begins at 11:50am, with grade one students that choose to stay for lunch eating in the cafeteria until 12:10, and then going out to play until the warning bell at 12:30pm, with class starting for the afternoon at 12:35.  If your student returns home for lunch, please remind them to come inside the school until the warning bell.  If they arrive back early, have them join the other students on the playground.

Library books are now coming home each week.  Our class visits the library for checkout at 11:30 on Friday.  Each student is allowed to checkout 2 books each week.  I am going to be asking the students to leave one book in their desks for the week and one book to go home.  If they do not bring both books back on Friday, they must wait till the next week to borrow more books.  The library has also implemented a new policy for overdue fines:  If any student has books still unreturned from last year and the library fines have not yet been paid, they will not be allowed to borrow books until all fines are cleared from their names or dues are paid.

Just a quick note about grade one students and extra clothing – it is not uncommon for students at this level to misjudge their need for the bathroom or the time needed to get there.  Accidents are often the result.  Please consider sending a dry pair of pants to be stored in their backpacks or in the classroom if you know that you will be unavailable during the day to assist them should this occur.

Spelling words for the week are:  if, up, of, by and in.  Please have fun reviewing these words each night with your child.  We do a spelling “Try-it” on Mondays, and a spelling test on Thursdays.  Here’s a fun idea to practice spelling this week:  Look for your spelling words in books – it’s fun to be able to sight read words we know!

Last week forms came home to be signed regarding the classroom blog.  Please sign and return these forms to the school.  They let me know important information to build our class website to it’s fullest potential.

The last reminder for the week is about book orders.  The orders sent home the first week of school are due tomorrow.  New orders will be coming home this week.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to contact me.  Thank you!

Mrs. Thomson

Fire Safety Family Assignment

Here's a great link for some fun family acitivities about fire prevention and safety.

Here's what you can do to enrich your child's understanding of fire prevention and fire safety:  Have a family meeting.  Discuss what to do in case of a home fire - how will everyone get out of the house?  Where will you meet?  How do you get help?  Do our fire alarms all work?

Remember to include this critical message - Never go back into a burning building.  Toys, books, clothes, homes can all be replaced.  People cannot.  We cannot risk any life for a possession.  But having a plan is the best way to prepare, and takes a great deal of fear out of the event.  Working together as a family is key to fire prevention!

Have a great and safe weekend!

Falling For Autumn

It's almost autumn, and for our first grade one science unit, we have been studying the seasonal changes that come with fall.  Today we wrote in our agendas to look for autumn leaves - red, orange, yellow.  We would love to see a few at school!

For this unit, some of the things are class has done are:

1.  We've adopted a class tree on our playground.  We had a draw for his name, and now his name is "Woody".  We are going to visit him as often as we can to watch him grow and change through the seasons.  Remember to treat him with great respect.  Trees need our care and attention and they give us many good things in return.  They make our homes, schools and communities beautiful.  They also give us air to breathe.  We can't wait to see how Woody changes!

2.  We've talked about autumn clothes, and made collages or the things we wear in fall weather.  It's sometimes really warm and sometimes slightly cold, so the important thing to remember is to be prepared for anything!

3.  We've made crayon rubbings of fall leaves!  Autumn sure is a beautiful season!

Try this at home:

Here's a poem we learned at school:  Try it till you can read it on your own:

Autumn  F

A

L

L

S     in late September.

A time to savor and remember.

Where did all the green things go,

As autumn tu

mb

led   into snow?

Fall Fun:  As a family, why not work together to rake the leaves, and take turns jumping into the colorful pile?  It's a fun activity to write about in your journal!

Monday Newsletter - Week 3

Welcome to week 3!

It looks as though it will be a wonderfully warm mid-September.  We've had a great start to this new week as well.  Here are the happenings in our Grade One Garden:

There are some forms coming home tonight to all homes - if you attended meet the teacher night, you already have it, so I apologize for any duplication.  The first is a recap of items discussed last Thursday evening.  If you have any questions on these points, please contact me.

The second is a handout from Alberta Learning that outlines all the major topics and areas of study covered in grade one.  There are resources listed on the back for more information, and, as always, I am happy to answer any questions you may have.  

Thirdly, a permission slip should be coming home that I request you to sign to indicate how I may use student information on this blog.  Please return that to me in your child's plastic agenda pocket as soon as possible.

Also coming home today is your child's first zippy books!  Remember, at least ten minutes a night reading to your child will make a huge difference in their early literacy development. Explore the pictures and practice sounding out words, and let your child do as much reading as they can.  Most importantly - have fun!  Reading is fun!

The spelling words this week are listed in your child's agenda in the word box on the right page, and also on the side bar on this blog.  Practice them nightly until your child is most comfortable with them.  This week, try this:  pop a bowl of unbuttered popcorn and work together to spell out the words using these yummy kernels.  Then enjoy a spelling treat!

Book orders for September went home the first week of school.  If you are interested in ordering anything this month, please return your order to Mrs. Thomson by Tuesday, September 23, 2008.

The last two points - as a grade one team, we strongly encourage each child to come to school with a waterbottle.  It lessens the disturbance of children always needing to leave for a drink, and it keeps their brains hydrated.  I send the bottles home every friday to be cleaned.  If you would like them home more often, just let me know.

Lastly, we have two students in our classroom (and there are others in the grade and in the school) that have nut allergies (to peanuts and other nuts).  We would like to ask you to consider not sending foods containing these products for your child's lunch and snacks, especially on Friday when we eat together in the classroom.  Your cooperation on this point will help make our school a safe and caring place for every student.

Thank you again!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Meet The Teacher

Tonight is Meet-the-teacher night at Magrath Elementary School.  Sessions will run from 7:00-7:20, 7:25-7:45, and 7:50-8:10, with a new family orientation at 6:30 in the library.  Parents of grade one students will now meet in Mrs. Hatch's room, which is the first classroom after the library in the main elementary hall.  If any parents are wishing to meet with Mrs. Thomson, she will be available till 9:00pm in her room after the sessions conclude.

For those unable to make the event tonight, watch for a curriculum handout to come home with your students, as well as a permission form regarding information used on this website.  The curriculum handout outlines everything that the Alberta Education program of studies mandates teachers instruct in the first grade subject areas.

Here is a little bit about Mrs. Thomson:

This is my first year teaching and also my first year in grade one, so just like your child I have a lot to learn!  But I am just as excited to be here.  I earned my Bachelor of Education and my Bachelor of Science at the University of Lethbridge, and I spent the last year subbing in the Lethbridge and Westwind school districts.  I love teaching and have a particular fondness for early childhood literature.

I was born in the Northwest Territories, Canada, but I was raised in Southern Alberta and now reside in Magrath with my husband and two children.  As a family we love to read, watch good movies, play board games and go for walks.  In my spare time I read a lot, write and sew, and I am working hard at running, bicycling and swimming as I have set a goal to participate in the Magrath Triathlon next summer.

Before I was a teacher I studied marine biology in sunny Hawaii and even worked with two bottlenose dolphins and 18 African Blackfooted Penguins at the west Edmonton Mall.  I really enjoyed those opportunities, but I am so pleased to be here now at this wonderful school.

I can't wait to get to know each of my students better.  I am enjoying their personalities and marvel at the wonder they see in the world.  This will be a wonderful year to grow in Mrs. Thomson's Grade One Garden!

Spelling Words

Every monday, our students will receive a list of spelling words.  We do a "try-it" in class with our spelling notebooks, before writing the words in our agenda in the weekly words column.  I would then encourage you to spend a couple of minutes each night reviewing the words with your child.  Each week I will leave tips on fun and creative ways for children to do spelling.  Give them a try!  Thursday mornings will bring our weekly spelling tests.

Proper spelling is a strong basis for reading and writ

ing success, and though computers and modern spell checkers are a wonderful thing, they are not fool-proof.  Good spelling is a strong literacy skill for every student to develop.

Here are this week's spelling words (which will also be listed on the sidebar):

1. am

2. no

3. so

4. I

5. us

Try this at home:  Some students learn best by turning visual cues into kinesthetic (or physical) cues.  A good exercise to try is writing the spelling words on each other's back while speaking the letters aloud.  Not only does it feel nice, but it's a great way to learn how to spell!

Welcome Poem

Welcome children, I'm glad you're here.
We're all going to have a wonderful year!
We'll draw and we'll write,
We'll sing and we'll play,
We'll paint and we'll build,
And learn new things each day!

Wish List

We are always looking for supplies in our first grade classroom.  If you are trying to get rid of any of the following items, please consider donating them to our supply closet for use in our projects and centers:

• any children's books
• baby food jars
• ice cream buckets
• small cartons with lids
• puppets or dress ups

Look Who's 'Growing' Into Grade One!

Welcome to Grade One!  We look forward with great excitement to the first day of school for the 2008/2009 school year.  Keep checking back for important updates and information!

Mrs. Thomson