Have a Great Break!

Here is the short Jib-Jab video that our class really enjoyed:

https://www.jibjab.com/view/make/snowman_scurry/1c02832c-1bc5-482c-aab1-1aa48896eedb

Have a Restful Break!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone on-line on January 5, 2021!

Our Work This Week Dec 7-11

 As we work our way through the month of December, our class is working to make sure that we are thinking of others during this festive time of year.

We began our week with an art project called "Elf Yourself". Students used a photo of their face and then created an elf character.  These elves are wandering the halls of Tuscany School looking for ways to help students and teachers.

We did some amazing elf writing using descriptive words to tell how our elves move and what wonderful things they are doing.

Our Social Studies work this week has been focussed around belonging.  We read a story about how to help everyone feel like they belong.  We talked about all of the people, places, and groups that we belong with and we began working on a visual to show where we belong. 

In Math we did some more problem solving as a group and then on our own.  Students are getting better at using pictures to show their thinking.  We also did work on organizing bigger and smaller numbers and on showing the skip counting patterns on a one hundred board.

We expressed our artistic side through colours and patterns.  We reviewed a number of different visual patterns and students then chose how to express their creativity through placing a variety of designs on either a reindeer or a polar bear.  We have placed our artwork facing outwards on our windows.  Each class in the school is currently displaying their art this way.  Today we walked around the school to view all of the displays.  We encourage families to take time to do the same.

Upcoming

December 14-18 - Festive Wear - Students are encouraged to wear the favourite Seasonal clothes, hats, antlers, etc.

Monday December 14 - Home Reading Exchange

Wednesday December 16 - Winter Celebration (Virtual) - Our recorded celebration will be viewed in school by the students in their classes.  Families will be able to view it at home on that day after 4 pm

Thursday December 17 - Last Day of Classes - Pajama Day!

Friday December 18 - Monday January 4 - No School for students (Dec 18 and Jan 4 are PD )

Tuesday January 5- Friday January 8 - School will be on-line

Monday January 11- Back to school in person (we hope)

Note - We are currently setting up schedules and designing our on-line learning for the week following the winter break.  You will receive an email prior to the holidays outlining what my vision is for this time and what the learning will look like for you child.  

This Week's Work Nov 30- Dec 3

 It is hard to believe that we have made it to December.  This is my favourite time of year in grade one as students are really starting to come into their own.  They have come so far in the past three months and it is exciting to celebrate their work.

In Language Arts this week, we have been focusing on extending our writing.  We are recognizing that more writing is only better if it gives us more information about the topic we are sharing.  Of course, with the holidays approaching, students were eager to write about their family traditions.  We had several discussions around what things we do that are similar to our friends and some of our traditions that may be unique.  I hope that you and your child had a chance to do some writing together this past week for the Celebration of Learning and to look at our writing rubric.  If you have not yet done this activity, please look for it in our Google Classroom.  I will leave it posted until December 6th.

In reading, students are excited to be learning new strategies to solve unfamiliar word in their books.  We have added a few new ones, so here is what we are currently using:

Students have also been working hard to master their beginning sight word reading lists.  Being able to read these high frequency words at a glance really help students develop confidence and fluency in their reading.  Practicing the word lists that are in your child's show and share book are a great way to support their learning.

Our Math work this week has been focused around two main concepts.  We are continuing our work with counting and representing numbers using our Counting Collections.  This week students were organizing their collections so that they could count by 5 or by 10 to make the counting faster and easier.  Students are becoming more proficient and independent in this activity and are able to count large groups of objects quickly and accurately.  They are also working to develop their understanding of what the numbers mean and how bigger and smaller numbers relate to each other.

Our other Math concept this week has been on sorting and organizing objects.  Students are working to recognize attributes and to use this as a way to compare and sort things.  We used a variety of buttons and discovered that we could organize them in a number of different ways: by number of holes, by size, by colour, by shape.

This week's Social Studies work had us really looking at how people all around us are unique, but that we all belong.  We are working to develop the students' ability to appreciate that people may have physical, emotional, or learning challenges, but that everyone has something to contribute to our community.  Every student in Tuscany School is creating a fabric art piece that expresses how they are unique.  All of these pieces will be quilted together to make a Belonging Quilt.

In Phys. Ed. we have been working on our dance moves.  The students have been getting a good work out and expressing their creativity through dancing to some high energy music.  For our Virtual Winter Celebration, students in Mrs. Hamm and Mrs. Batchelor's class have created their own dance to the song "Celebrate" By JoJo Siwa.  We will record the students dancing on Tuesday December 8th.  Students are asked to dress up to record their "dance party" on that day.  We welcome any kind of special party clothes that students can dance around in.

Upcoming

Friday December 4 - No School for Students - Conferences

Monday December 7 - Home Reading Exchange

Tuesday December 8 - Recording for Winter Celebration

Thursday December 10 - Home Reading Exchange

This Week's work - November 23-27

 It has been a beautiful week to be taking our learning outdoors.  Here are some of the ways we have been exploring our learning in our indoor and outdoor environment:

In Language Arts, we have been working on responding to literature.  Students have listened to a story read by the teacher and written a response about what the story makes them feel, what it reminds them of, and what their favourite part was.  I hope that everyone will have an opportunity this week to go into the google classroom and celebrate their child's work in this area through our celebration of learning.  Please remember to fill out the survey here once you have done this activity with your child.

Our Science work has been centered around using our senses to collect information about our environment.  We listened to the story "The Listening Walk" and then did a listening walk around the school to collect the sounds that we could hear.  We also did this activity during our walk in the coulee.  We were amazed at the variety of sounds we heard.  If you would like to listen to this story with your child, you can find it here.

We have been using our senses of sight and touch to document the growth of our pumpkin plants.  Students have done an amazing job of creating a scientific sketch with labels and short notes in their visual journals.  These plants will come home today and we encourage students to continue to care for them at home.  They will need transplanting to a larger container as soon as possible.  We have also provided a few extra seeds to each student in case they wish to plant again at home.

We were excited to meet with Saa'kokoto this week and hear a new story.  Originally, we were supposed to go to the coulee with him, but due to current restrictions, we switched to an on-line meeting.  We are hoping to go back to in person meetings with him in the future.

Of course, our trip to the coulee was a real highlight of the week.  Students participated in observational experiences, a "See, Think, Wonder" activity at the tipi ring, and an opportunity to do some sketching.  This work provides students with a rich shared experience which helps us connect our classroom work with what is happening in the real world.  It also allows us to develop our descriptive vocabulary in a meaningful way.

In Math, we had our very first written assessment.  This was a brand new experience for our students, but it gave us some great information about what students could demonstrate about their understanding of patterns, numbers, and counting.  Next week, students will bring this home for you to see.  I ask that you review it with your child and sign it.  I would like you to return it to me in the blue folder.

We needed some time this week to finish our patterned artwork that we began last week.  The patterned fish and eels turned out amazing!  My class really enjoyed the chance to explore their math patterns in a more artistic way.

Note - Following Tuesday's announcement, we are busy planning our post-break on-line work.  Our school has PD on Friday December 18th, so our last day of classes will be Thursday December 17th.  Following the break, we have PD on Monday January 4th.  Students will be expected to attend school on-line Tuesday January 5th-Friday January 8th.   If you are requiring help with technology in order to have your child attend school online, please email me as soon as possible or tell me during our upcoming conference.  I can then make arrangements to get your family the support you require. 

Reminder - I have been asked to remind families that the playground areas are closed before and after school.  This is done so that there will be less chance of large groups gathering in our schoolyard spaces.  We are also not allowing students to bring stuffy animals or toys to school as this is a high contact item that can cause problems around our covid protocols.

Upcoming

November 25 - December 4 - Celebration of Learning available in the google classroom

November 28 - Booking for Conferences opens in PowerSchool

November 30 - Home Reading Exchange

December 3 - Early Dismissal (12:40) -Conferences Begin - Home Reading Exchange

December 4 - No School for students - Conferences

This Week's Learning - Nov 16-19

I am really excited about how much growth I am seeing in student work this week.  I gave everyone a chance to show what they knew how to do with some independence and they all rose to the occasion.  Here are some of the work we were exploring:

In Math, our ongoing work with patterns took us to exploring how to use colours to create patterns and then record the pattern using letters.  We also demonstrated our understanding of the core of the pattern.

Another Math challenge this week was working on an open ended word problem.  This is a problem that has more than one solution.  Students used their counters and drew pictures to find possible answers.  This really shows their level of Mathematical thinking.

In writing, we are working on using a new rubric to guide our work.  Students are looking at examples provided and identifying which one looks most like their own writing.  They are then looking at the next step to set a goal to improve their work.  We look forward to sharing this work with you next week in our Virtual Celebration of Learning.

Our Social Studies work has been focused on how to make ourselves and others feel better through acts of kindness.  We read the books "How Full is Your Bucket" and "Have you Filled a Bucket Today" to help students develop their understanding of how acts of kindness can make others feel better and that it makes us feel good too!  Students demonstrated their understanding through drawing pictures and writing about things that they can do for others.

 Upcoming

Monday November 23 - Work with Saa'kokoto - Home Reading Exchange

Tuesday November 24 - Trip to the Coulee

Wednesday November 25 - Virtual Celebration of Learning - Information coming next week

Thursday November 26- Home Reading Exchange

This Week's Learning Nov 9-13

With Remembrance Day being this week, our focus on learning has been on developing our awareness of the world around us.  Here are some of the things we have worked on:

We have continued to develop our understanding of Remembrance Day and ways to express our appreciation to the members of the military that have served our country.  This has included sharing stories related to peace and war, such as "Finding Winnie" and "The Butter Battle". Students appreciated being able to view the slideshow of members of the military who are/were related to Tuscany families and to show their respect through participation in our Virtual Remembrance Day Ceremony.  We hope that our friends and family members were able to view this ceremony and that everyone was able to take some time on Wednesday to observe this special day.

In Language Arts this week, we have been working on extending our beginning reading strategies.  These are some of the ways we use to solve unfamiliar words in the texts that we are reading:

Eagle Eyes - Look at the pictures for clues

Lips the Fish - Make the sound of the first letter to give you a hint

Stretchy Snake - Say each sound slowly, stretching it out so you can hear the word

We have nearly finished reviewing the sounds of the consonants and vowels and are using our sounds and our sight words (list words) to help us read simple text independently.

We have spent the past few weeks in Phys. Ed. working with scoops and balls both in the gym and outside.  Students have been able to explore throwing and catching activities and to develop their hand-eye coordination.

Our pumpkin seeds from our jack-o-lanterns were successfully germinated over the weekend, and students were able to study, sketch, and plant them.  We will be making observations over the next few weeks and learning about what plants need in order to grow.

Our Math this week has been focussed on how to represent numbers in a variety of ways.  We have been using our beaded number lines to show two digit numbers and explore the way our number lines help us to see the groups of 5's and 10's inside a number.  If you would like to make a beaded number line at home, you can find out how by clicking this link.

Our Virtual Book Fair is now available for everyone.  Our book fair sales are one of the ways that our school raises money to buy new materials for our library, so please consider supporting this event.

https://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/Tuscany/about-us/news-centre/_layouts/15/ci/post.aspx?oaid=122c2b5d-a175-4fdf-afcd-cfc8552fcb17&oact=20001

Upcoming

Monday November 16 - Home Reading Exchange

Thursday November 19 - Home Reading Exchange

Friday November 20 - PD - No School for Students