Thursday, January 24, 2019

January 21st week with Ms. Selimos

Hello Parents and Students,

On Monday, we sent home the TERM I REPORT CARD PORTFOLIO of work samples for you to look at with your child. Please keep all the work samples at home and return the empty envelope signed.

On Monday afternoon, our Cree Lesson #2 with Elder Jane focused on reviewing greetings, colour words, introducing the numbers from 1 to 10 and then learning the names of a few animals in Cree; wolf =migan and rabbit=wapos

On Tuesday, January 22^nd p.m., Grant Road Grades 1 to Grade 4 students welcomed Regina Pats players #3 Max Paddock, #13 Sergei Alkhimov, #27 Nikita Sedov, #31 Dean McNabb and #22 Duncan Pierce 3 to their classrooms. The hockey players spent time in the classrooms interacting with the students, sharing personal stories about themselves as students and hockey players, reading various hockey books, including the popular Brady, Brady series. The Pats even joined us in our gym class, where we practiced handling a stick and ball and warmed up with the dance; Follow the Leader:

Body break song the kids ABSOLUTELY love = Follow the Leader

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8zzG4n8CpM

Sophia was our amazing Star of the Week. Her favourite colour are gold and black and she likes to eat butter noodles and chicken soup. Sophia enjoys taking dance classes and playing soccer. She had so much fun meeting Mickey Mouse in California. She loves to spend time with her mom, dad, and older brother, Noah. She LOVES dressing up for Halloween and having her mom face paint her. She enjoys drawing a lot! Her favourite movie is Mary Poppins and her best childhood memory is meeting new friends.

Last week we made individual copies of “La Neige”. We each read, coloured, and cut our own to take home. We also created winter scenes on mittens, labeling our clothing in French. Our new song on video was called: La Neige Tombe Sur Mon Nez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5RVcbsNyc

With EA, Ms. Daniels, the Gr. 1s explored liquid capacity in the Staffroom Kitchen, pouring a set amount of water into different containers and comparing the shapes and sizes of the containers.

The Gr. 2s went on a scavenger hunt looking for items in the classroom and in the school using the following measuring tools: 7 straws, 5 paperclips, 10 cubes, 3 markers.

This week, the children also used string to measure length of curved items (length around a water bottle, football, their heads and waistlines, etc.). Next, they straightened the string and measured with non-standard units (cubes, craft sticks, etc.) to find the length.

The math units, focusing on MEASUREMENT, will go home for both grades next week for you to explore and to discuss with your children.

For Writing Traits, the focus has been topics. We discussed our favourite sports, drew them, and then answered the question; Which is the best sport?

Next will be procedural writing using the words: first, next, then, last. Ask your child to orally tell you their bedtime routine using those words in sentences. In class, we wrote about getting ready for school in the morning.

The boys and girls are enjoying our chapter book read-a-loud of And Then It Happened by M & L Wade.

WE WERE SCIENTISTS working through a Science Lab experiment this week, predicting and verifying, and writing up our lab work! First, we did a liquid vs. liquid experiment. The children should be able to explain to you “why oil and water don’t mix.” Oil and water are said to be “immiscible”, because they do not mix. The oil layer is on the top of the water because of the difference in density of the two liquids. Oil is less dense than water and so it is on top. Parents & kids, try the following “SICK SCIENCE” experiment at home using oil and water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzFMvDfBY7Y

Matter games: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/gases.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhhFwdJqvfw MATTER SONG

Valentine’s Day is just a few weeks away. We began a Valentine’s stitchery project last Friday. The children are really enjoying this fine motor activity.

VALENTINE’S DAY: If you choose to have your child participate, please include the entire class. VALENTINE cards and goodies are to be sent and exchanged on THURSDAY, FEB. 14^th. One easy way to label cards or treats is to put YOUR child’s name on each card/treat: From ____. This is an option, if you don’t wish to write each child’s name on the treat.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Stay warm!

Ms. Selimos and Ms. Daniels

Thursday, January 17, 2019

January 14th, 2019 week with Ms. Selimos

Hello Parents and Students,

We “warmed up” the school week with a Social Studies/Health lesson on the topic of GENEROSITY; one of our 4 Circle of Courage goals. The bulletin board in the hallway features personal paragraphs about generosity and how generosity has applied to each of them this 2018/2019 school year. Thank you to Hana, Malika, and Leila for reading their paragraphs over the intercom to the ENTIRE school. So proud of you!

On Monday morning, Ms. Holtby came for a visit! It was SO NICE to have her with us in the classroom.

We have moved on to UNITS 4 in Gr. 1 and 2 of Math Makes Sense. This unit is the MEASUREMENT UNIT for both grades and involves children reading dates on a calendar and solving problems involving the number of days in a week and the number of months in a year. The children will also use non-standard units to estimate, measure, compare and order objects by length, height, distance around and mass. Non – standard units (no cm rulers) = using cubes, craft sticks, paperclips, and more for measuring.

We focused on the calendar for math last week with the Grade 2s. Your child should be able to READ the days of the week and the months of the year. Here are some questions to ask your child: How many months are there in one year? How many days in this month (show them a month on a calendar at home)? Name the month BEFORE April. Name the month 2 months AFTER May. How many days are there in one week? How many days in two weeks? If today is Tuesday, January 24^th, what is the day of the week 3 days later? Which is the second month of the year? In which month is your birthday? Which month comes before your birthday? We played a “Months/calendar” game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPeAo1hz8GA Calendar song

On Tuesday we measured the GINGERBREAD MAN using craft sticks, after predicting his length and then we compared our own body lengths to his. We did a fun activity on Tuesday afternoon with our Learning Buddies, where we measured body part lengths using cubes.

On Wednesday, the Grade 1s explored area using letter size paper (large unit) and individual card from a deck of cards (small unit). They investigated the surface of their desks and chairs, making predictions and then covering them to see how much space they took up.

The Grade 2s used 2 different units: cubes and colorful links to measure length of different objects. The children concluded that the larger the object of measurement, the better it is to use a larger unit to measure with. Example: Use craft sticks to measure the classroom door, rather than cubes. Cubes will take forever! The number will be smaller. On Friday we will go on a scavenger hunt looking for items in the classroom and in the school using the following measuring tools: 7 straws, 5 paperclips, 10 cubes, 3 markers.

Our latest SCIENCE UNIT is MATTER (solids, liquids, gases). We watched the Brain Pop video about matter and created a chart on the whiteboard of our background knowledge about matter. We discussed vocabulary including: properties, characteristics

Matter games: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/gases.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/solid_liquids.shtml

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhhFwdJqvfw MATTER SONG

Watch the following video with your child: http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/states_of_matter/molecules.swf Ask your child if the particles are closest together for a solid, liquid or gas. ANSWER: solid Ask your child which particles move the fastest. ANSWER: gas

Our phonics letter of the week was Mm. Malika thought it was an awesome letter. ;) We brainstormed many food words beginning with Mm, explored rhymes and solved mystery sentences. They children were able to successfully figure out the sentences with “m” words.

New French action song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5RVcbsNyc La Neige Tombe Sur Mon Nez Please act out WITH YOUR CHILD.

Our new PWIM (Picture Word Inductive Model) poster this week focuses on our February winter trip experience. Read the PWIM words (see photos) at home with your child. Choose 5 to 10 words and see if your child can place them in alphabetical order. The children are SUPER excited about this hiking/cooking adventure in February. More details to follow. I NEED PARENT VOLUNTEERS. So far, we have two parents joining us.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ms. Selimos and Ms. Daniels

Friday, January 11, 2019

Happy New Year 2019 January 7th, 2019 week with Ms. Selimos

Happy New Year 2019 everyone!

We “warmed up” the school week with our first journal writing activity of the New Year. The children wrote about their December holiday break. Who do they play with? What television shows did they watch? What favourite toys and games did they play? What did they eat? How did they celebrate Christmas and/or the New Year? Etc. They were SUPER EXCITED AND MOTIVATED to use their own brand new personal dictionaries, which Ms. Daniels and I gifted to them, as a New Year’s gift of language arts.

Our Writing Traits focus is details and that good details make pictures in your mind. We looked at an ‘Ocean Park’ scene, a ‘Fair’ scene, & The Three Pigs and chose the good details (sentences) in each picture.

On Tuesday afternoon we welcomed Cree Saskatchewan Organization of Heritage Languages (SOHL) teacher, Jane Carriere to our classroom room. Elder Jane wears many hats. She is a Metis storyteller. She is a recently retired Metis nurse, originally from Cumberland House. She is also an entertainer and sings. We are very excited to have her in our classroom for 8 weekly language sessions from January to March 2019. Tuesday’s lesson was focused on a little biography of her life and then learning how to say hello (tansi), introducing ourselves (_________ is my name = ________________ nitisiyihkasan), and learning the colour words in Cree. See attachments.

I hope you have all had a chance to view the January calendar which was sent home on Monday and which is available on line on my class website. Check FUTURE DATE for Boggy Creek Valley day trip (Mon. Feb. 11th), where we will be “camping” and preparing lunch over an open fire. Payment is NOW available on PARENT PORTAL ($3 = bus cost). We WILL need parents to join us on this trip. Our new PWIM (Picture Word Inductive Model) poster, which we will begin next week, will focus on this winter trip experience.

Kate was our cute Star of the Week. Her favourite colour is gold and she enjoys eating noodle soup. She has an older brother named Kolten and a four year old dog named Dash. She love to camp and to travel with her mom, dad, and brother. She is presently taking swimming lessons and is beginning skating lessons this week. She enjoys soccer and cheering on The Pats hockey team. Two of her most favourite hobbies are cooking/ baking and art.

Our phonics letter of the week was Ll. Leila and LaMarcus thought it was an awesome letter. We brainstormed over 20 high level words beginning with Ll, explored rhymes and solved mystery sentences. They children were able to successfully figure out the sentences with “l” words.

Our new French unit in January involves winter vocabulary: toque, ski pants, neck warmer, snowsuit, scarf, boots, and more. This week we have had 3 French lessons about winter clothing and have played Battleship and 7-Up, dramatized the clothing, and worked on reading sentences and speaking in a complete sentence (winter strip activity). We sang Frosty the Snowman and learned another song about winter to the tune of Frere Jacques.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNstRJIwseg Frosty le bonhomme song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skR9Xqc42Qw Winter clothing words review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnCNKMBO47M Winter vocabulary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_C8JvQi0lk Winter song

Our latest SCIENCE UNIT is MATTER (solids, liquids, gases). Please ask your child to sing you the Matter Song. Ask them some questions: What is a solid? How do the molecules move? Is snow a solid, liquid or gas? Is a bubble a solid, liquid or gas? This week we created a chart on the whiteboard of our background knowledge about matter. We discussed vocabulary including: properties, characteristics and watched the following matter song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C33WdI64FiY

HOME READING PROGRAM: See Daily Reading zip lock bag. Bring back book(s) EACH morning for a new book(s). The children choose book(s) from my HARD, HARDER and HARDEST reading buckets to be exchanged as necessary, depending on their reading level. Ex: Mini phonics books exchanged daily. Early chapter book reading will be kept at home longer. Please take good care of the books, as most are from my own personal collection. Please keep them in the zip lock bags! REMEMBER to record the reading in your HOME READING LOGS. Parents, please help me out by TOTALING the minutes read for me at the end of each month. See on line class calendar for READING LOG due dates each month.

Friendly Reminder: Return your note re: FNMI Art Night being held on Wednesday, January 30^th in the evening. We hope to see you at Grant Road School for this fun, interactive art evening.

We are anticipating your child’s participation in the 100 Day Celebration Project. An email was sent to you this week and I am attaching the Word Document to this email explaining the simple, fun project for you to do with your child at home. Please send to school by Friday, February 8^th.

If any of you are able to donate a ball of wool for a special Valentine’s stitchery project, in the next week or so, we would greatly appreciate it. We are looking for bright colours (red, pink, purple, etc.). We do have ‘child friendly’ sewing needles we have purchased, to stitch with.

SOPHIA IS STAR OF THE WEEK JAN. 21st, 2019. Bring your poster.

Happy New Year!

Ms. Selimos and Ms. Daniels

Friday, December 21, 2018

Greetings Parents and Students,

It was a quick week before the 2 weeks of holidays! Great Grant Road School Spirit with gingerbread house making, Golden Mile bowling, Ugly Sweater Day, & carol singing.

Kintley was our incredible Star of the Week. Her favourite colours are pink and purple and she loves to eat apple pie. She enjoys spending time with her mom, dad, and older brother. She often goes to the farm to visit her grandparents and loves to ride on the combine with her grandpa. She likes to play soccer and baseball. She went camping to Buffalo Pound and is a lucky girl, as she went to Disney World and met two princesses. She shared her very first stuffed animal for Show and Tell and her first baby clothes (when her parents took her home from the hospital).

On Tuesday Ms. Holtby read the story “The Bead Pot” by Thelma Poirier. Students discussed the various articles of beaded Powwow regalia. As a class, they looked at beaded moccasins, earrings, broaches and more. The students then had the opportunity to bead their very own bracelets. They were reminded to think about using beads for meaning and creating a pattern. Some students decided to write their name or make a surprise for a special person! We hope you enjoyed your surprise!

We wrapped up our Grade 1 Math Unit; facts to 12 and will complete the Grade 2 Math Unit; facts to 18 the first week of Jan. 2019. Please practice +/- facts to 12/18 over the holidays with your child. Many of the photos this month were of math strategies we have been working on over the past weeks. Have your child explain the DOUBLES STRATEGY, NEAR DOUBLES STRATEGY, MAGIC 9 STRATEGY and TENS STRATEGY. Use the photos to help your child explain. You can easily make ten frames at home using paper/pencil or an egg carton with 2 parts of the egg carton cut off.

The children used TEN FRAMES as a visual to SEE ten in numbers.

EXAMPLE: 7+6 = (7 + 3) + 3 = 13 EXAMPLE: 5 + 9 = 4 + (1 +9) = 14

Math photos are based on a math lesson reinforcing minus 1 and minus 2 math facts (NEAR DOUBLES). Try some of these questions at home with your child. Please send Unit 3 Math Makes Sense booklets back to school, completed (if your child missed a lesson) and SIGNED in the New Year.

We began Wednesday morning with a school parade honouring Mrs. Bonnie Ewing, our amazing Administrative Assistant who is retiring. She was presented with roses and cards from each of the children at Grant Road School. We took this opportunity to sing her our LOVE SONG about her, once more.

On Wednesday morning we held our Multicultural Feast in the classroom. Delicious! Informative! Fun! The children are doing a fabulous job sharing about their own personal celebrations this week, presenting their written articles, and enjoying our breakfast feast. They were extremely proud to share and to tell us about their dishes. We used our Starblanket mats as settings. Thank you VERY much parents, once again, for your help in making this special feast such a success.

Our French focus this week continued with Christmas vocabulary through LOTO/ BINGO, French story about a lonely Christmas tree and the song:

Notre Arbre de Noel; www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81AK0-s7xM and Quand le Père Noël https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynt7aO8CuGw

We also created ‘Garfield’ PWIM cartoons.

We had an incredible time at Golden Mile for bowling gym fun on Tuesday afternoon. Glow in the dark bowling and dancing for 90 minutes was the best! It was wonderful to meet Saria’s new baby sister, Pippin and her mom at the bowling alley.

Ms. Holtby ended her First Nations Traditional Art Expression unit with a fun lesson of

‘beading’, on Monday afternoon. What a beautiful keepsake! Ms. Holtby will be returning to the University of Regina, back for classes, for one more semester, before she receives her degree. We hope she enjoys the book of pictures we created and ‘love letters’ we wrote to her. We will miss her SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

Thank you parents for the beautiful Christmas cards, wishes, baking, chocolates, gift cards, ornaments and so much more. We look forward to continuing our Grade 1/2 journey with your children in 2019!