Last Week of Skating - And Next Week Too!

This week is the end of our skating program for this school year.  Grade one students will again skate from 2:30 till about 3:10 on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and you are welcome to come help tie skates and watch their quick progress.  Wednesday is a PD day, so there will be no school for students.  Other activities this week include Tuesday Drama club and Friday Pizza lunch.  Lunch forms need to be returned by Tuesday morning, as there is no school on Wednesday.

Also, I will be attending a PD seminar dealing with the new math curriculum on February 2^nd and 3^rd (next Monday and Tuesday).  There will be a substitute teacher in the room, and I will not be sending a newsletter home.  Here are the important reminders for next week:

-       Tuesday is both Drama and Lego club for grade one students.  Send a lunch if your child is involved in either one of these.  Friday lunch is tacos. 

I am running our spelling words a little differently right now in order to prepare the students for our work in long vowels.  Our spelling lists will revolve around families with long a sounds to begin.  Last week was the ‘ay’ family, with words such as ‘say’ and ‘play’.  This week is the ‘ai’ family, with the words mail, nail, pain, said, again, and star word skate.  Next week, the spelling words will revolve around the long a sound that is created by adding and e to the end of a word, and the spelling words will be game, name, cake, page, take, and the star word will be picked by the students and written in their agendas.  Continue to encourage them to recognize the patterns, especially in words that belong to similar families.  Also, help them identify beginning and ending sounds in these different words, and other words that would rhyme.

Our busy, buzzy goal this week is to ‘bee’ cheerful.  With shorter, colder days, everyone has a tendency to grow more solemn and moody, and children are certainly not immune.  So we are making a conscious effort to find things to be cheerful about.

Our school website has been updated, and is really neat – be sure to go check it out.  There are links on there now for resources for teachers and parents, and links to the school calendar.  It is listed on our classroom website and the school division website.

Have a good week!

Skating Next Week - And Other Reminders

Some important reminders – this week is Tuesday lunch hour Lego club and drama club for our grade ones.  Thursday there will be a special farm safety presentation in our room from 10:30 – 11:15.  Friday is lunch hour tacos for $3.50.

Also a reminder that even though the temperature outside has temporarily improved, weather can turn really fast for the worse.  Please continue to ensure that your child comes to school with inside and outside shoes, proper coats, gloves and hat for winter weather.

This week in grade one we are learning about odd and even numbers, as well as counting by 5 and 10 to 100.  In Social studies, we are learning about the difference between living in an urban and rural community.  We’ve begun the unit ‘building things’ in science, and are reviewing our short vowel sounds and ‘wh’, ‘ch’, ‘ph’ and ‘th’ blends in words such as ‘phone’, ‘what’, ‘that’ and ‘chop’.

Spelling words this week are long, time, good, with, look, and the star word is heart.   The spelling try-it this week is to write the word on a scrap paper or white board and draw a picture to go with it.

Our busy, buzzy goal this week is to ‘bee’ safe.  We want to focus particularly on snow safety – both in playing and traveling and working with. 

Next week we begin our skating unit, Monday thru Thursday starting at 2:30, with the exception of Wed. Jan 28, which is a PD day (no school).  Grade one students progress more quickly when their experiences are as consecutive as possible.  We will head to the arena at 2:30 to get ready and tie skates.  We will get off the ice at approx. 3:10 or 3:15.  Your child needs skates and must have a helmet of some kind.  It is also helpful to have warm clothes like mittens, gloves, jacket and snow pants.  Sometimes two pairs of sock s can prevent blisters.  We would appreciate any help we can get for tying skates, untying skates, and parents that are willing to skate on ice with the children as they are learning to skate or skate with the hockey players.  Thank you for your help and cooperation in this matter.  If you cannot find skates, the school has a few extra pairs available to borrow.  Please let me know ahead of time.

Have a good week!

Back To School After Christmas

Welcome to a brand new year!  I hope that your Christmas was safe and refreshing.  I’m excited to be back, and I hope the students are too!

The spelling words for this week are:  three, ride, this, part, many.  The star word this week is: bells.  The try-it at home this week:  while eating your breakfast cereal, try finding the spelling words on the box – like a cereal treasure hunt.

There are notices coming home today about Friday’s comfy day – if you need any more information, please feel free to contact me.

The school phys. Ed. Skating program will be starting this month.  Grade ones will be going to the arena from January 19 – 29, except for Fridays and Jan. 28, which will be a PD day (no school for students).  Students are encouraged to bring their own pair of ice skates and warm winter wear (we do have a few pairs of skates to share).  This year students will not be permitted to participate without a helmet.  Our scheduled time is from 2:30 – 3:00, however, we will probably make our way to the arena following the afternoon recess, to allow for time to get into skates and tie laces.  If you are interested in volunteering some time to come help out, you are welcome.  Just let me know.

Friday lunch this week is pizza.  I will send the forms home tomorrow – please have them back by Wednesday morning if you want to order.

January book orders are coming home today.  If you are interested in ordering anything, please have them back to the school by January 20, 2009. 

I would like to send a quick thank you to all those parents involved in the Christmas party and the Christmas concert – they were both well done! 

Hope you have a great week!