May 31 Well May has certainly been a very "egg"citing month in the first grade classroom. I know you've all heard about the hatching of the chick eggs in our classroom. It sure was a fun few days with watching a few of them actually hatch, finding some new ones in the incubator each morning and then naming and playing with our chicks. We finished off our "egg to chick" unit by answering more of the questions we had about how an egg develops in a hen and also how chickens grow. Today we had a "egg to chick" celebration to end our unit with making chick cupcakes, chick art, "chicken" nastics and reading books about chickens. It certainly was a very fun afternoon. One of the highlights of the unit was definitely heading to Island Hill Farm. Our spring concert was also this month and I was very proud of the first grade students and their singing! The play "Little Mermaid" was also thoroughly enjoyed by all the students at the Confederation Center this month too!
Now we are heading into our last weeks of June. One thing the first graders will definitely do is spend their hard earned money that they made by selling the chicks. They've voted and they decided to use the money by going to Panda Fun Place which is very conveniently located across the street from the school so we will head there one day in the next couple of weeks. A few other dates to keep in mind for June are:
Tues June 13: Track and Field Day at ICS for grades K-3 (running shoes and water bottle needed)
Wed June 14 Emmanuel Bible Camp Fun Day for grade 1-5 This is an all day end of year field trip. Permission forms went home last week. Please return them by this Friday.
Thursday June 8 Teddy Bear Day: Bring your favourite teddy bear to school
Thurs June 15 Graduation Ceremony in the ICS school gym 3pm
Friday June 16 Last Day (School is dismissed at Noon) Students will receive their report cards
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APRIL 26 It sure was an egg-citing day around the first grade classroom this morning. We had some eggs delivered to us from the VanGurp family and they have set up an incubator in our classroom for us to learn about eggs hatching over the nex tseveral weeks. I am excited about the learning that will happen over several subjects over the next few weeks as we explore eggs and chickens. We'll also talk about caring for animals, caring for a growing animal, new life and follow the development of the chicks. May is shaping up to be a lot of fun! Also in May, we will go to see the play, Little Mermaid being performed at the Confederation Center. A permission form with all the information went home today. We will also be doing our MAPS assessment the middle two weeks of May. We've been discussing signs of spring and the first grade students did an awesome job of creating spring poems. I am so proud of them. They are hanging in the hall just outside our classroom if you'd like to come read them. Today, your child took home all of their items from our Family and School Communities unit. You will definitely want to read these items over. They had a lot of great things to say about their families.
The April sunny days have arrived this week! Let's hope they continue. We have been enjoying fluency boot camp during our reading time. Hopefully the timed readings are going well at home too. Our boot camp "graduation" will be on Thursday but I'd like to keep the readings going for homework for another week, until April 21.Thanks to everyone who provided snacks. As I'm sure you know, they've been a highlight of fluency boot camp. Also, on April 21, we will have our Easter assembly here at the school at 9am. Please join us if you are able. This week and next week in Bible, we are concentrating on the Easter story. In math we continue to work on addition, subtraction of two digit number, time and coins. Almost all of the students can tell time! Sometimes they get their hour and minute hands mixed up but for the most part, they are doing very well with this concept! Please note that my reading group will have their spelling test this THURSDAY since there is no school on Friday. Also, in creation studies, we continue to work on our home and school communities. I was very impressed with all the family tree presentations. Also, we will be finishing up the "family" portion of this unit and then move to the "school" portion. Please look for some items the students have worked on about their families. I think you will enjoy reading their family booklets they made.
March Spring? Well the weather this past few days have felt like spring. Students are really enjoying being outdoors with the warmer temperatures. It does make for some wet feet so please leave an extra pair of socks in your child's backpack as they most likely will need them. We had our first skating time last week. It went well and I think getting drives there and back is ideal. The Civic Center is a really big place so having an adult accompany the younger students is really helpful. Please let me know if you can help with drives on our next skating time which will be next Wednesday, March 8. Also this month, we will go swimming at CARI pool. That will happen on Wed March 15 We will definitely need some help getting drives there for that event. This week, we will have two spirit days. We will celebrate "Pink shirt" day on Wednesday March 1 (a day set aside to discuss anti bullying) and then Friday March 3 is "Farm day" where students can dress like a farmer or farm animal. We hope to celebrate the 100th Day of school on Monday March 6. Students should bring a collection of 100 items to school that day. We are just about ready for that special treat of going to McDonald's Play land for a treat. I'm proud of the grade one students and how hard they worked on learning their sight words. We will head to McDonald's on Friday March 3 in the afternoon. Also, parent teacher interviews are happening this month on the evening of March 16. These interviews are by request (not mandatory). So please let me know if you would like to come in for an interview. There will be a sign up sent out closer to the date. Also, if that evening does not suit, we can arrange something for after school if that is better for you.
It's February! Wow, the month of January sure flew by. We have lots of exciting things happening this month. First of all, students have been working hard on the sight word lists. Just about all the students are close to finishing or have finished. As a reward to the class for their hard work, I will be taking them to McDonald's for a treat and to play. We will hope to walk over there one afternoon in the next couple of weeks. This week's spelling words will be studied for TWO weeks instead of one. This is because of the MAPS testing that is happening this week and next week in grades 1-5 classrooms. This month, we will also have some winter activities. You should have all received the list with dates and permission form. Please send that back in to school as soon as possible. Please remember that for skating, students are not permitted on the ice without a helmet. So please remember to send helmets, skates and warm clothing as we will be walking to and from the skating rink. Parents are always welcomed to attend.
We'll need lots of help tying skates! JK-5 will be skating on Feb 22 and March 8. Our sleigh ride for K-3 is on Wed Feb 8. Grandfriend's Day is also coming up this month, on Tuesday, Feb 14. Students are encouraged to invite their grandparent or "older" friend to join them at school for a fun filled morning. In the afternoon of Feb 14, we will have our Valentine's Day celelbration. Students are welcomed to bring Valentine cards for each person in the class. If you need a class list of names, please email me. Another exciting day coming up this month is the 100th Day of School! I will keep you posted but right now, it looks like the 100th day of school for first grade will happen on Friday, Feb 24. Students are encouraged to bring a collection of 100 things to school that day.
Happy New Year from First Grade!
January 9 Happy New Year! I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas and a restful break. I'm sure the grade one students are eager to get back to school! We will start the year with a theme of Winter and celebrating a new year. First grade students will have some new responsibilities with a new year. We will now start weekly spelling words which will be pasted in your child's agenda. The test will happen on Fridays. Also continiue to work on sight words (just to read) which are in the orange duotang in your child's agenda. We are continually working on these at school too and learning these words will help your child become a more fluent reader! And your child always has a book to read for homework! I am looking forward to an awesome 2017 and I am sure lots of growth will be seen in these first graders. This winter , we will also look forward to doing some winter activities outside. More information to come soon in the Beacon about skating, swimming and sleigh ride!
November 21 It was great to have some time with you over the parent teacher interview days. It is always a valuable time to communicate about what is going on at home and school so thank you for taking the time to come in. The next five weeks of school are all five day weeks so I am looking forward to getting much accomplished while having fun too! The students each brought home "sight word books" last week. They should bring these back and forth to school as we will be practicing them at school too. Once they know how to read a list, they colour the animal on that page. They can let me know when they are ready for a new list. Another goal that we will focus on in reading is leaning our letter cluster sounds (ex. ch, sh, er) We have now finished reviewing the short vowels and will move onto letter clusters. Also, we have started some extra writing time and the students are just loving writing in their writing binders. We had our "movie" and treat time for winning the food bank challenge. We also look forward to our Christmas concert which will be held on December 15. So we will be doing lots of practicing for that too!
October 24 Our Story Book Dress Up Day was a huge success. It was fun to see everyone dressed up and excited about literacy. In our class, we have been focusing on fairy tales for our literacy unit. The students are really eager to discuss the elements of a fairy tale. As well, it is a good time to introduce the different elements of a story such as characters, setting, problem and solution. As well, we will be working on our retelling skills. As part of this unit, we have read two different versions of the book STONE SOUP. The students are super excited to make our own stone soup at school. So on Wednesday of this week, we would like to make our own soup at school. I'll bring the crock pot and the broth. If each student could bring an ingredient for the soup, that would be great!
WINNERS: The K/1 class was the winner of the Thanksgiving food drive challenge. Their prize is a movie afternoon with popcorn in the Jr High Room. That will take place sometime in the coming weeks.
MAPS TESTING: Your grade one students each wrote the Math and Reading tests in the last couple of the weeks. The results are coming home this week. Please look for this in your child's agenda on Monday, October 24. This is a test done on the computer that measures math skills and reading comprehension skills.
WINNERS: The K/1 class was the winner of the Thanksgiving food drive challenge. Their prize is a movie afternoon with popcorn in the Jr High Room. That will take place sometime in the coming weeks.
MAPS TESTING: Your grade one students each wrote the Math and Reading tests in the last couple of the weeks. The results are coming home this week. Please look for this in your child's agenda on Monday, October 24. This is a test done on the computer that measures math skills and reading comprehension skills.
October Update It is hard to believe we are into October already. We are working hard to review all our single letter sounds. We will finish up with that review this week. We will then concentrate on short vowel words. I'm impressed with students remembering to read at home each evening. Believe me, this practice will pay off and you will be able to see growth in their reading. This week we are starting MAPS testing which is an international reading and math test that we do with our grades 1-5 students three times a year. This test measures their math skills and reading comprehension skills. It is done on the computer so students in first grade are doing some practicing with their computer skills this week too. This week is Thanksgiving week at ICS. We are collecting food for the food bank. Also, our Thanksgiving assembly is this Friday October 7 at 9am. Please join us as we give thanks to God for all our blessings. The first grade students will be singing and reciting a poem. This month will be our Storybook Character Day. Students come to school dressed as a character from a story book. This is always a fun day to celebrate reading and literacy. Stay tuned to the Beacon for a date. Also, there are two PD Days this month on October 27-28 where the teacher's will be focusing on developing their teaching skills so there won't be school for students on these two days.