This Week in Room 21...

Hello and Happy Friday! It's hard to believe the month of September is al.most over! Time sure flies! This has been a busy week with lots of special events and activities. Take a look!

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In Language arts we reviewed the sounds of /s/ and /i/. We continued to build words using our movable alphabet and practiced blending letters to sound out words. We also continued to develop our ear to listen for beginning and ending sounds in words, listen for syllables and break words down into their syllables.

This week in math students were introduced to the skill of subitizing. Subitizing is the ability to count a set of objects at-a-glance rather than one-by-one. In order to do this students must learn to look for patterns or groups in a set of objects that lets them quickly group and count the items. For example, when shown a set of dots for only a few seconds they might notice 2 dots and 3 dots, then mentally calculate that as a total of 5 dots. 

In math students began to use base ten blocks to build teen numbers. They extended their learning of teen numbers being a ten and ____ more to ___ tens and ____ ones. For example, 10 and 2 more is 12. This can also be shown as 1 ten and 2 ones blocks.

Students in grade 2 continued to develop their skills at using skip counting to complete more challenging skip counting puzzles and games.

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In social studies we began looking more closely at the three groups of Indigenous People in Canada-- the Metis, Inuit and First Nations. We watched some videos about each group and then created a chart showing some of the homes, clothing, food, transportation and other things historically associated with each.

We also learned about Orange Shirt Day. What it is and why it is an important day to remember and reflect on past wrongs done to Indigenous people's.  The students watched some videos about the experiences of children in residential schools and attended an assembly commemorating this day.

In gym we practiced training for the Terry Fox Run. On Wednesday, the students got together in their colour groups and ran around the school field to raise money for cancer awareness and research.

Important Information & Reminders:

• Library Day is on Wednesday. If your child misses a Library Day we will try to send them on a different day, however, it will not always be possible to do so. Most times they can simply wait for the following Library Day.

Upcoming Events and Dates to Remember:

Sept 29 - No School

Sept. 30 - National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

Oct. 9 - Thanksgiving/No School

Oct. 10 - School Council Meeting (6pm)

Oct. 19 - Halloween Dance? (TBD) - more info. to come

Oct. 22 - PD Day/No School

Oct. 23-27 - Inline Skating

Oct. 30 - Picture Retake Day

Oct. 31 - Halloween

This Week in Room 21...

Hello and Happy Friday! Thank you to all the families that came out for our 'Meet the Teacher' event on Thursday evening. It was great to meet everyone : )  Here's a sneak peek at our work this week!

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In Language Arts we have been working on reviewing two more letter sounds-- /m/ and /s/. Students again used their moveable alphabet to create words listening carefully to the sounds in each. They also sorted pictures into groups based on the beginning sound and completed an activity sheet identifying words with the same beginning sounds. 

They also learned about "Heart Words". These are words that cannot be sounded out using regular letter sounds because the letters do not follow the normal pronunciation. For example, 'said' and 'the'. We have to learn these words "by heart" (i.e. memorize them). 

Heart Word Magic

In math we have started to learn about the teen numbers in Gr. 1 and are reviewing skip counting by 2s and 5s in Gr. 2.  The students in grade one practiced building teen numbers using a ten frame. They learned that the digits in a teen number each signify something different. For example, the number 13 really means "10 and 3 more".  Understanding the foundation of the teen numbers as "10 and __ more" is important to developing their number sense. Number Sense is the ability to represent, compose (build) and decompose (break apart) numbers in a variety of ways. 

The Gr. 2s completed some missing number activities using their knowledge of skip counting to fill in the missing numbers. Students in Gr. 2 will be learning numbers up to 10, 000 this year. 

In Science, we discussed the change in the season from summer to fall and created some fall art. The students used a technique called 'pointillism' to create some colourful fall trees. They used q-tips to add dots of colour to their trees. 

We also went on a leaf hunt and created some leaf rubbings. Students noted the details that appeared more clearly in the rubbing than on the actual leaf. Developing skills of observation and inquiry is an important part of the science curriculum.

In gym, we continued to play many tag and cooperative games. We also continued to learn about moving in spaces, playing safely and moving in a variety of ways. Here we are playing 'Builders & Bulldozers'. 

Important Information & Reminders:

• Library Day is on Wednesday. If your child misses a Library Day we will try to send them on a different day, however, it will not always be possible to do so. Most times they can simply wait for the following Library Day.

• Terry Fox Run - Next week on Wednesday will be our Terry Fox Run. Students are welcome to bring in a donation (Toonies for Terry) starting on Monday. 

• Truth and Reconciliation Day (aka Orange Shirt Day) - This week we will be learning about the experiences of First Nations children's in Residential School. Students are welcome to wear orange throughout the week as part of our about this important topic.

Upcoming Events and Dates to Remember:

Sept 22 - No School

Sept 27 - Terry Fox Run

Sept 28 - Truth & Reconciliation Day

Sept 29 - National Day for Truth & Reconciliation/No School

Oct. 9 - Thanksgiving/No School

Oct. 10 - School Council Meeting (6pm)

Oct. 19 - Halloween Dance? (TBD) - more info. to come

Oct. 22 - PD Day/No School

Oct. 23-27 - Inline Skating

Oct. 30 - Picture Retake Day

This Week in Room 21...

 It's been our first full week of school! Continue reading to see what we have been up to!

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This week we reviewed the letter /a/ and the sound it makes. We listened for the short a sound in words and built words using our Making Words cards (movable alphabet). The grade 1s built some two and three part words (e.g. an, at, ant) while the grade 2s were challenged to build some harder words (eg. after, antler) using their sound symbol knowledge.

In writing we listened to a story about things you can see at school. Then the students completed pattern sentences ( I see...)  using their letter sound knowledge to sound out words in their writing.

In math we continued to review numbers to 10 and 20 in grade 1 and up to 100 for the grade 2s. We played bingo, completed a 'Write the Room' challenge, built numbers using ten frames (Gr.1) and with base ten blocks (Gr.2). We also worked on accurately counting sets of objects.

Students had to find the numbers around the room and draw the pictures on each card on their sheet.

In gym we have been learning about moving in spaces, safety and playing a variety of tag and movement games. So far 'Toilet Tag' seems to be their favorite! 

Important Information & Reminders:

• Library Day is on Wednesday. If your child misses a Library Day we will try to send them on a different day, however, it will not always be possible to do so. Most times they can simply wait for the following Library Day.

Upcoming Events and Dates to Remember:

Sept. 19 - Picture Day (forms went home this week)

Sept. 21 - Meet the Teacher (4-7pm)

Sept 22 - No School

Sept 27 - Terry Fox Run

Sept 28 - Truth & Reconciliation Day

Sept 29 - National Day for Truth & Reconciliation/No School

This Week in Room 21...

Hello Parents! This is the first blog post of the year. Each week I will be posting what we have been learning throughout the week, as well as, upcoming information about school events, holidays etc. Please bookmark this site so that you can quickly and easily access it at any time for information regarding your child's learning. Thank you!

We have been busy these couple weeks getting to know each other, establishing relationships and building our classroom community. Check out the photos below to see what we have been up to : ) 

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This week and last students have been having fun getting to know each other and learning about their classmates. They worked on creating some art using their names and completing an 'All About Me' booklet. They even worked on a self-portrait with impressive results!

Last Friday, after watching a short video on the history or ice cream, students got a chance to make some ice cream using milk, sugar, vanilla, ice, salt and some manpower of their own. After mixing the ingredients and sealing them in a bag, they placed this bag into a larger bag that contained salt and ice. They then had to shake it until it formed into ice cream. Lastly, they were able to add some toppings and have a taste. (Note: An alternate snack was provided for those that could not have dairy.) They had a great (and messy!) time making ice cream and developed their skills in listening to and following step-by-step instructions. 

In math, students created a graph showing all the birthdays in our class. After that they coloured and cut out a cupcake with their name and birthdate on it. We talked about the parts of a graph and learned that we can use a graph to record data. 

We have also begun some review of numbers-- counting and quantity. We went outside and did a 'Number Hunt'. Students were given an object and a number which they had to find and bring back to the circle. For example, find 5 sticks (Gr. 1) or show me 25 (Gr. 2) using sticks for the tens and rocks for the ones. 

They also began to learn to represent numbers in different ways using the 'Today's Number 'math routine. Students were given a number which they had to show using tally marks, dominos, pictures, on a number line etc. 

Important Information & Reminders:

• Library Day is on Wednesday. If your child misses a Library Day we will try to send them on a different day, however, it will not always be possible to do so. Most times they can simply wait for the following Library Day.

Upcoming Events and Dates to Remember:

Sept. 15 - Pancake Breakfast (put on by Parent Council); more info to come.

Sept 13 - Library Day

Sept. 19 - Picture Day (forms went home this week)

Sept. 21 - Meet the Teacher

Sept 27 - Terry Fox Run

Sept 28 - Truth & Reconciliation Day

Sept 29 - National Day for Truth & Reconciliation/No School