Thank you all for attending the Student-led Conferences.  It was a wonderful opportunity to talk about all the great gains your child has made as well as a chance to talk about some goals to work towards.  It is always amazing to me how the students identify goals for themselves which I would also choose for them.

Also, a big thanks go to the following parents: Mrs. Risling, Mrs. Varty, Mrs. beBoer, Mrs. Lyle, and Mr. and Mrs. Laing. They all made arrangements and took time to drive us to the Nature Center on Nov. 20^th.  THANK YOU!!!!

Our classroom Christmas celebration:  We will be having our celebration on Thursday, December 20^th in the afternoon.  Thanks in advance to those parents who signed up to send snacks.  The list is outside the classroom if you need to check.  I’ll also send a reminder closer to the date.

           We will be learning about the format of a friendly letter in language arts.  It is to be followed up with writing letters to Santa Claus.  They will be mailed to the North Pole immediately to ensure replies before Christmas break. These will come to the school and students will bring them home. (A photocopy of the letter they wrote will come home as a reference for you.)

         Our school wide Christmas Gala is coming quickly!  You should have received a note about it last week from the office.  The Christmas Gala is on December 13th at various locations throughout our school.

Throughout the week of December 17-21 we will be carolling in the gym each morning at 8:30 and families are most welcome to attend.

The Christmas Season
Our school is participating in two different projects in order to help educate our students of the importance of giving.

Project ONE:
SOCK IT TO ‘EM (to December 13)
The Caretakers & Maintenance Staff in Lethbridge & Area schools are collecting
NEW SOCKS to be donated to local charities for Christmas. Please join them and make someone’s Christmas a little bit warmer!  Our school has a VERY large sock in our office where donations can be hung.  Thanks for your support.

Project TWO:
PULL TOGETHER 
For Ronald McDonald House - Southern Alberta
Our school is participating in a fundraising project. Students can collect and bring clean pull tabs to school from any beverage containers, soup cans, pet food cans, etc. These tabs will be submitted to Calgary in May where they will be recycled by Westcan Recyclers Ltd. with all proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House in Calgary. That’s all there is to it. It’s easy. Just Pop a Top.
We recently participated in an assembly regarding the importance of the pull tab project.  Ask your child about it.  Please join us and collect pull tabs for Ronald McDonald House to help give sick children what they need most... their families.

December Events:

After school skating begins next Tuesday, December 4^th.  (It will be held on Dec. 4, 11, 18, Jan. 8, 15, 22, 29 at NS Arena from 3:30-4:30 p.m.) Teachers will be there to supervise and parents are welcome to attend.  Parents are responsible for getting their child to and from the arena.

13 MMH Christmas Gala!

19 “Dress Like Christmas” Spirit Assembly (8:30 a.m.)

20 Class Christmas Party

Dec. 24th-Jan. 4th -Christmas holidays!  Come back to school Monday, January 7th

Remember to FALL BACK with your clocks on Sunday, November 4th!

Here is an update for the month of November.

 In Language Learning we are continuing to develop reading skills following the framework of the Daily Five.  In an earlier post a link was provided to a power point presentation that explains this framework.  Check earlier posts below. This month we will be introducing the CAFÉ portion to improve reading skills.  The letters in CAFÉ stand for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expand vocabulary. Lessons demonstrate to children how to improve these aspects of reading and provide strategies so that the student can begin to improve in these areas of reading.

In addition to working on reading skills through the use of the Daily Five and CAFÉ, we are continuing to review the Jolly Phonics sounds from kindergarten as well as developing more word families (_et,  _en, _ig, _ot), introducing blends (tr, cr, st, sp ) and daily printing practice.

 Thank you to those parents who are signing the agenda for each home reading assignment.

In Math, we are wrapping up our unit on Patterns and jumping back into the unit on Representing Numbers.  The second half of this unit will focus on numbers 11 to 20.  The focus will be to have students represent and describe numbers 11 to 20, concretely (using physical objects such as blocks), pictorially (using pictures) and symbolically (using numbers). We will also introduce adding and subtracting numbers to ten.

The new Science unit will be The Senses.  Children will learn about the function of their senses, how they are cared for, how senses could be damaged, and how one’s ability to sense things may differ from those of other people and other living things. 

The aim of the Social Studies program is to promote a sense of belonging and acceptance in students as they engage in active and responsible citizenship.  Values and attitudes we are talking about include demonstrating respect for individual rights and respect for others, a willingness to share and cooperate with others, and assuming responsibility for their own individual choices and actions.  We want students to understand what their responsibilities and rights are at home, at school, in groups and within their community.

  

Thank you to parents who have contacted me to help drive for our Helen Schuler field trip on November 20^th.!

We still need drivers for 10 more students so if you're able to help us out that morning, please email me ASAP rita.johnston@lethsd.ab.ca .  It would be a shame to have to cancel due to lack of drivers.  Thanks

Report cards will be sent home on November 16th, followed by Parent-Teacher Interviews in the afternoon and evening of Thursday, November 22nd and the morning of November 23rd. We will  be doing STUDENT LED CONFERENCES.

You should have received a bright yellow package of papers on Monday, October 29th explaining the process.  Your time preference page needs to be returned no later than Monday, November 5th.  I am excited for this chance to meet with parents and I know you and your child will enjoy the time you spend together looking at their accomplishments.

Nov. 5th We will be getting an Education 3500 student teacher to help in our classroom.  His name is Jeremy Finch and the children met him about one week ago when he was here for his orientation day.

Nov. 8th  Remembrance Day Assembly 10:30 am . 

MMH will be hosting a special Remembrance Day assembly at 10:30 am.  If you would like to attend, you’re more than welcome!

Nov. 8th  Scholastic Book Orders Due.

Nov. 9th and 12th  No school  Fall Break

Nov. 15th Pajama/Teddy Bear Day: Spirit Assembly at 8:30 am.

Nov. 16th  Report cards come home

Nov.21st  Hot Lunch

Nov. 22nd Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences in the afternoon and evening.

Nov. 23rd Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences in the morning.

Nov. 28th Character Education Assembly hosted by grade four team.

DEC. 4 After School Skating 3:30 to 4:30 pm. at NS Arena

Dec. 13th Christmas Gala...more info to come.

Dec. 22nd to Jan.6th Holiday Break

Jan. 7th, 2013 School Resumes

 Sock it to ‘Em” program.  The caretakers and maintenance staff in our district are collecting NEW socks to be donated to local charities for Christmas. If you’re able to donate a pair, please send new socks in with your student to make someone’s Christmas a little bit warmer. Socks will be collected from November 1^st to December 13^th.  This would be a great opportunity to talk to your child about some of the objectives of our social studies curriculum.

 Thanks so much to everyone who sent snacks for our Halloween Party. 

 · ATTENDANCE: Please take the time to phone the school at 381-2211 if your child will be absent or late for school.   **If your child attends BLAST, you must notify them separately of the school office - they are a separate program.

· · Show n’ Share: Please encourage your child to bring items on Friday mornings. Help them to plan what it is they are going to say when they present their item.

Bear Unit:   We are beginning our themed unit on “Bears”.  This theme will encompass all areas of the curriculum.   We will be reading and doing projects with several books about Bears as well as completing a research project on bears. If you have anything (stories, artefacts, photos etc) to share, please send them in. 

Mike Mountain Horse Miistatosomitai
(1888 - 1986), a war veteran, scout and writer.  Born and raised among the Blood tribe, he left home in 1894 to attend an Anglican boarding school.  After his brother was killed in World War One, he joined the Canadian army and served overseas in France.  Upon his return he worked at various Mounted Police detachments in the Lethbridge area and for the Canadian Pacific Railway.  Launching a writing career in the 1920s, he wrote for the local newspapers and prepared a manuscript of the book, My People the Bloods, published by the Glenbow Museum and Blood Tribal Council in 1979.  in the late 1950s Mike Mountain Horse retired to the Blood Reserve where he served one term on the tribal council.

Hi everyone! I hope you’re enjoying this fine fall weather!

Just a reminder that Monday is the LAST CALL for any Fire Escape plans! If you’ve misplaced the paper, just do it on a blank piece. Your child should be able to explain the map of your house, and know the two escape routes planned!

As our first class party is coming up, I’ve listed the details below so you know what we’ll be up to on that date. I will send a little reminder home for those parents who signed up to send a snack. If you have any questions, you can email me ... rita.johnston@lethsd.ab.ca

Don’t forget that Hot lunch is on the 24^th, and that our class is visiting the Scholastic Book Fair on Thursday the 25^that 9:00 am, and Friday the 26^th at 9:00 am. Please check the blog post below for Book Fair protocol.

Home Reading
Thanks so much for participating in the Home Reading program. There will be a slight change to this program. Beginning Monday, students will be self- selecting books from our classroom library. We have been working on the "I- PICK" component of Daily Five and students have been practicing choosing "just right" books. "Just right" books are not so challenging that the reader is solely occupied with figuring out the words, but not so easy that they are unlikely to learn anything new.
You can tell if your child has chosen a "just right" book by listening to your child read a page or two. Here's what to watch for:
1. The reading should be fairly smooth.
2. Your child will have trouble with no more than three words on the first two pages.
3. Your child should be able to tell you what he or she read.
4. Your child should not appear uninterested.
Please continue to let me know in the agenda if the the book is too easy, too hard, or just right.

FEED THE BUG!
Our Feed the Bug campaign will run from October 22-26. I absolutely LOVE this time of year. Feed the Bug is a drive for the Lethbridge Food Bank. Children are taught about what the food bank is, and about being grateful for the IMPORTANT things. We talk about having enough food to keep us healthy, a warm place to sleep and live, families that love us etc. There will be a box placed in our classroom where we will collect non-perishable food items that children bring from home. Each time the box is full, we will take it down to the foyer. It is so fun to see all the donations in the school pile up! At the end of the campaign the Food Bank will come and we will create an assembly line to load up the food!

Here’s our plan for Halloween Day:
8:30-11:15am Halloween Centers. Students will travel to each Grade One classroom, participating in a different activity at each stop. These will include, art projects, games etc. 15 min recess at 10am.
11:15-11:45am Lunch Recess Break We are going to switch things up a bit today so we are not rushed to eat and get dressed. Students will play outside early on this day. If you're wanting to take your child home for lunch on this day in order to help them get ready, you can come and get them at this time, and return them by 12:20pm. Please let me know if this is something you are planning to do.
11:45-12:05pm Eating Lunch Students will eat lunch in the classroom PRIOR to putting on their costumes. Hopefully this will help to keep them clean!
12:05-12:25pm Getting Dressed Students will change into their costumes at this time and get ready for the Halloween Parade.
12:30-1:30pm Halloween Parade The entire school takes part in a costume parade so we can see each other's awesome outfits! You’re invited to grab a spot in the hallway and watch all the classes go by!
1:30-2:00pm Party/ Snack Time!2:00-2:15pm Recess
2:15-2:30 In Class Activity
2:35-3:05pm Music with Ms. Nevels

Helen Schuler Field Trip
Our class will be going to Helen Schuler Nature Center on the morning of November 20th (9 to 11 am.) to investigate seasonal changes. We are in need of parent drivers in order for us to go. If you are able to help out please let me know ASAP.  If your child is under the age of 6 AND less that 40lbs, they need to be in a full carseat. If you think this includes you, please come and talk to me ASAP.  If you are willing to drive, please let me know how many children you can transport. (Students can NOT be in the front seat) If you are not going to be driving and would like your child to ride in their booster, you are welcome to send it on that day.

Important Dates in October
Monday October 22nd- 26th: Feed the Bug Campaign
Wednesday October 24th- Hot Lunch
Thursday October 25th - Scholastic Book Fair @ 9:00
Friday October 26th- Scholastic Book Fair @9:00
Monday October 29^th- Picture Retake Day
Wednesday October 31st - Halloween Party

Welcome to Our New Blog Site!

Hi everyone and welcome to our classroom blog!  Here you will find the latest news from our classroom as well as upcoming events.  This blog is intended to be an information source for parents. When the blog is updated, I will email the parent group.

 September Learning

In Language Arts, we have been reviewing letter sounds, and early sight words. Please take a moment and have your child read the sight words that are written in the agenda.  The goal is for students to be able to read and recognize these words quickly. We call them popcorn words because students should be able to say them as quickly as a kernel of popcorn pops. This will help to create fluency and improve comprehension later on when children begin to read longer texts.

We have also begun work on word families and have completed -at,cat, pat, rat etc. -in,” pin, fin, etc and -ap, tap clap snap etc..  Printing and drawing lessons for the letters “s,a,t,i,p,n,c” have been covered.  The children are enjoying the drawing aspect of these lessons and are looking forward to sharing their “masterpieces” at our “Student-led Conferences” in November.

 Have you heard of the Daily Five?  The Daily Five is a framework used to teach Reading and Writing.  Here is a link that provides a good summary of the approach. We have been learning about the first element called Read to Self. 
Click HERE to check out a power-point presentation on the Daily 5. 

All grade one classrooms are using this framework to promote independence in language skills. Each day as a class, we time how long we can “Read to Self” properly and then chart our progress. The students are really excited as we are building stamina every day! We talk about how they are 3 ways to read a book:  Read the Pictures, Read the Words, as well as Retell the Story. the children khow how to do this, so try it with a picture book at home! 

In Math, we have been working on Number Sense with numbers 1-10 both printing and representing.  We will soon begin a unit on “Patterns in Our World”. 

In Science we have been focusing mostly on the unit Creating Colour but have also been talking about Seasonal Changes. 

For Social Studies, we have been talking about “Friendships” and  “Belonging to Groups”.

We have had three guest teachers this past month. Mrs. Kitagawa our school counselor came to talk to us about friendships, Candace Bradford, the FNMI teacher, stopped in to teach us about colours in our natural world. She had interesting information to share about the significance of colour in the Metis Sash.  Students then created their own sash. The third guest teacher, Mrs. Baker, the Learning Coach for MMH, visited on Wednesday to give us a sensory lesson.  This lesson taught the children how to get “just right” for learning.

Thank you for filling out and returning all the forms that were sent out at the beginning of September! I know that the first few weeks of school are often filled with lots of paperwork so I appreciate your help with that.  For those of you who signed up as a volunteer, I will contact you when we need your help in the classroom! 

Also,thanks to those parents who have signed up to bring snacks for parties!  If you haven’t yet, please sign up outside the classroom door to help bring snacks and treats for parties throughout the year! When it comes time, you will receive a reminder for what you’ve signed up for. 

I know that in the past, we have allowed parents to bring cupcakes or special treats to celebrate birthdays.  This year, the Grade One team has asked that parents do not send cupcakes or treats on your child’s birthday.  We will make sure that your child’s special day is celebrated, and students will do an activity in honour of the birthday person!  We have lots of special days throughout the year where students will have treats.  We hope to alleviate some of the stress on parents, especially since not all parents are able to bring treats.  Thanks for your understanding!

October

Our first week of October will be a busy one!  

(Show and Share will begin this week.  Every Friday your child may bring an item from home that they would like to share with the class.) 

In Language Arts, we will continue to work on sight words , printing, word families, and our Daily 5 program.  I PICK good fit books will be the focus this week. I - I choose the book  P - What is the purpose (enjoyment, fact finding) C - Comprehension (do I understand what I am reading) and K - do I know most of the words.

In Math, we will finish up Number Sense with the numbers seven, eight, nine and ten.  Later in the week we will begin the unit Patterns in Our World. 

In Social Studies, we will continue to learn about belonging to various groups and the rights and responsibilities that go along with belonging.  An important group all children belong to is their family group.  We will begin discussing families. Perfect timing I’d say, as we also prepare for the Thanksgiving weekend!  Keep your eyes out for a special surprise coming home at the end of the week. I know the students are going to be very proud to be taking this home for the long weekend!
 

In Science, we will begin mixing primary colours with a sticky lesson involving corn syrup and food colouring.  We will also be reading a story entitled “Mouse Paint” followed by a colouring activity to show how we get the secondary colours of orange, green and purple.

We’re excited to have a guest Fire Fighter come in to talk to us about Fire Safety on October 3rd!  Fire Prevention week is from October 8^th to October 12^th and the theme this year is “Have 2 Ways Out”.  We’ll be sending home some Fire Safety information and activities that you can do with your entire family. 

Here is information about school wide events:

On Wednesday Oct. 3^rd, we are having our first Character Education Assembly of the year.  There will be a number of these throughout the year, as we are focusing on Character Education across our school.  We began this last year, and what happened was all of the students (grades 1-5) were divided up into “Families”.  Each Family consists of 1 teacher and approx.  25 students from all grade levels.  We meet monthly, do fun activities together, and gather in the gym to celebrate the month’s theme. 
Since your kids were in Kindergarten last year, they weren’t placed in a “Family” yet, so this is a big step for them!  On Wednesday afternoon they’ll meet their MMH Family which is pretty cool, as this will be their Family until they leave MMH after Grade 5.  I’m looking forward to catch up with my Family from last year, and also welcome the new Grade 1s to the bunch! 

October 18^th is “Dress Like Your Favourite Book Character” Day!  It will be exciting to see what our Grade 1s can come up with!  If a favourite book character has a really difficult costume, consider bringing a prop in that you could be used to explain.  

Another day you’ll want to mark your calendars with is the Scholastic Book Fair on Oct. 25^th and 26^th.   Ms. Renner has been busy organizing this, and the book fair always has an amazing selection.  Our class will visit the book fair on both days.  Usually, the first day we just go and LOOK and write down titles and prices on a wish list.  Then, the second day, if the student has brought money they can shop.  Please feel free to come visit and shop in the book fair yourselves!  It will be open from 8:30-11:45, and again from 12:30-3:30 on Thursday, and 8:30-11:45 on Friday.  You are welcome to visit the book fair with our class, or you can go at your own convenience.  If you choose to send money with your child, let me know via email or agenda if there’s a specific thing they’re SUPPOSE to buy.  If there’s no instruction, I usually tell them they have to purchase at least 1 book so that they don’t spend all their money on erasers and posters.  Due to the book fair, I will not be sending home a Scholastic order for October. 

Dates to remember at a glance…

Monday October 1^st- “Walk to School” Week begins!

Wednesday October 3rd- Guest Speaker about Fire safety

Wednesday October 3rd- Character Ed. Assembly @ 12:30 & MMH Family time

Monday October 8^th- Happy Thanksgiving! No school

Tuesday October 9^th- Professional Learning Day: No School

Wednesday October 10^th- School Council Meeting @ 6:30

Thursday October 18^th- Dress Like Your Favourite Book Character Day!

Thursday October 18^th- Professional Learning day in the PM-students dismissed @ 11:45

Friday October 19^th- Professional Learning Day- No School

Thursday October 25th- Scholastic Book Fair

Friday October 26th- Scholastic Book Fair

Monday October 29^th- Picture Retake Day

Wednesday October 31^st- Happy Halloween! Halloween parade in the pm and class party