Christmas Fun

Everybody loves Christmas.  But nobody loves it more than grade one.

We worked hard to write letters to Santa - and he wrote back!  The letters were still cold when they were delivered to our room - straight from the North Pole.

We pinned the nose on the snowman...

Made Christmas bead wreaths...

And enjoyed a much deserved winter break.

Eating Waffles

To celebrate the end of our shape unit in math, we made waffles.  There were two types - square waffles that could be cut into rectangles or smaller squares, and circular waffles that could be cut into triangles.  But most importantly - they tasted yummy!!

Everyone helped to measure, pour and mix the ingredients (we made our waffles from scratch).

They made the air smell yummy while they cooked on the waffle irons.

Decorating them was almost as much fun as eating.

Hurray for math!

Gingerbread Geometry

We used recyclable materials and a variety of shapes and craft supplies to construct gingerbread houses.  This meets some goals and objectives in our study of geometry and the scientific study of building things.

Those almost look good enough to eat!!!

Snowflake Shapes

For our study of shapes in math, we used different materials, 2D and 3D shapes to make snowflakes to reflect the freshly falling snow of December.  Here are some exemplary examples of student work.  Check out the patterns and shapes they used.

Last Week Before Easter Vacation

This is going to be a short but exciting week leading up to Easter vacation.  Tuesday will be drama club as usual at lunch.  Thursday is our last day of school until April 20^th, so we will be holding a class party the last hour of the school day, and completing some fun spring and Easter activities throughout the rest of the day. 

 In Social for the next couple of weeks we will be studying our last unit for grade one:  changes in my world.  We will be talking about the various way kids and families change (family members are born and die, brothers and sisters grow up and move away, family members such as grandparents move into our homes, new cars, new homes, new jobs, new looks, etc.), as well as the way communities and cultures change over time.

 I would also like to ask for some volunteers to take some time and come in to talk about jobs in and around our community.  If you or someone in your child’s extended family have a career or occupation they would like to come share with our grade one class, I would gladly welcome it.  Please contact me to arrange a time.  This activity will be a lot more meaningful to the students coming from you then from a book.

 We will also be finishing studying long 0 in phonics this week.  Any unfinished work your child has will be coming home to be completed at your pace.  Please return it to me when it is done.

 Spelling words this week are from, them, which, want, because, and the star word egg.

 Our busy, buzzy goal is to ‘bee’ happy.  This is an easy goal for all of my grade one students to achieve – they are naturally happy and cheerful.  But it is still a good habit to practice finding the good in life (especially when the nice spring weather is still late…..).

 Walk run club is starting again this year right after Easter break.  Watch for details to come home on a pink handout.  It’s a good excuse to get outside and get active.

 Have a good week!

Second Report Cards

I want to begin by thanking all those parents who were able to make it to our celebration of learning and book fair last week. I found it to be a very positive experience, and would love your feedback on the event. I know that the students put a tremendous amount of work and thought into the evening, and were so proud to show you what they have learned. I am proud of each of them as well.


Tomorrow our second report cards should be coming home. Please sign and return the envelope, but the report card is yours to keep. Remember that they are just one reflection of the skills and abilities your student has gained and improved. If you have any questions or comments, please ask, or arrange a time when we can meet.

As we move into spring and warmer weather, it is very important to ensure that your student as two different pairs of shoes/boots to wear at school - one to stay inside, and one to stay at the boot racks for wet/muddy recess breaks. It has become an increasing problem in our classroom that students with only one pair of shoes are tracking in dirt through the library and classroom, and trying to complete activities in gym with gumboots and sandals. Help your child be responsible for knowing which boots stay inside at school all the time, and which can be worn outside.

On Wednesday we will be doing a science activity looking at opaque vs. transparent materials. If you could send some clean empty cartons that are both solid color (can't see through) and transparent (can see through) it would give us a wide selection to look through.

Friday we will be dying Easter eggs to finish our colors unit in science. Please send your child with 2 or 3 hard boiled eggs to school. If we have any parent volunteers who would like to help out the last hour of school with this activity, please let me know.

Other important reminders for the week include pizza lunch on Friday ($4.00), and April fool's day on Wednesday.

We are going to be starting a new unit in gym this week doing belly baseball, and looking at the long O sound in phonics.

Our spelling words this week include: coat, show, note, rope, soap, and star word:

Our busy, buzzy goal this week is to 'bee' true - to do what we know is right and stand up for what we believe. It also means to be a true friend, and to show true respect for others. A very important quality that will make us all better people.

The last thing I wanted to touch on this week is in regards to a topic that I have been discussing a lot lately with parents and other teachers in the school, and that is printing skills (penmanship). Grade one curriculum requires that students develop an understanding that print moves from left to right across and page, and top to bottom down, and that words in sentences must be separated by spaces. There is no curricular connection to how a child learns to hold a pencil, or even forms their letters. However, we also believe that in order for a person to effectively communicate in writing, their needs to be an ease and skill in getting those words from mind to paper. Penmanship used to be a large part of a child's education. While we do address it as a grade one team, there are not very many resources available and just not enough time to give it the emphasis that it used to have.

If you are concerned about your child's printing skills, and are wondering what you can do to help them, I did want to pass along this resource. I attended a workshop at teacher's convention last month and liked what they had to say about it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me about it, and I can give you more information. The resource is called Handwriting Without Tears, and the website is www.hwtears.com, and I am also adding it to the side bar under resources.

Hope you have a great week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We have spent most of the last two months in science working on our building things unit.  To culminate this topic the students embarked on a final class project - building the ultimate leprechaun trap.

First they studied them....

(Here's a link to our favorite one)  Clever 8 year old builds trap...

Then they planned, gathered materials, voted, discussed and debated ideas, constructed and decorated.

To lure the leprechaun to our room, we left shoes on our desks (leprechauns are known to leave money in shoes).  The students figured that this would make our little green friends a little tired, so they made a leprechaun hotel, complete with comfortable bed, table, food, artwork, and of course, a fake floor.  The trap was set with sticky duck tape, so that once the leprechaun fell in, he would not be able to get back out.  And what leprechaun could resist that 'pot of gold'?

Then we closed up the room, turned out the lights, and waited for the morning bell.

Here's what happened:  We caught ourselves a leprechaun.... and then he got away!   He did leave behind his coat however (it was good and stuck to that tape - he must have wriggled out!), and while he took off with our 'fake pot of gold' he left behind a little treat, a quarter in each shoe, and a note.  

We learned a lot from building this trap - maybe next year we'll have better luck!

Happy St. Patrick's Day.