Friday, November 4, 2011

November News

Our October Trip
Thanks to all the parents and family friends that volunteered to accompany us to the St. John’s Outdoor Center this past month. It was a beautiful day for a nature hike. Mrs. Stewart was a fabulous guide and the children were engaged the entire time. It was a great learning experience!

Hallowe'en Activities
We enjoyed working in multi-grade groupings in the morning.  We played Hallowe'en Bingo in Mrs. McDonald's Classroom.  We created "Funky Witch Shoes" in Ms. Sinclair's Classroom with oil pastels.  We watched a video and played a game with Mrs. Zelic.
We enjoyed a plethora of goodies yesterday, too! It was amazing! Our parents are so thoughtful and generous. We had a wonderful parade throughout our neighbourhood– another perfect day!
What are we doing in class?
We are continuing to work on writing descriptive pieces that enable our readers to “visualize”. We will have our ‘presentation copy’ of our gourd writing up on our Writing Bulletin Board for interview night this month.
On Wednesday, we welcomed Mr. Kore to our classroom. Mr. Kore joins us from Niagara University and will gradually be taking over more teaching responsibilities as the month progresses. He will be with us until mid-December.
Please continue to practice high frequency “lightning” words with your child on a regular basis. Reading every evening for 20 minutes has a dramatic effect on your child’s development as a reader – it benefits him/her in so many ways from attitudinal to vocabulary development and comprehension – it is one of the most effective things you can do for your child!
Please continue to support your child’s efforts to retell fictional stories and non-fictional information throughout the school year. The ‘story-bit’ bag will continue to be filled and sent home on a regular basis.

A New Math Game to Try
Let's play “Guess the Mystery Number”! We have practiced this game in class using a number line (see photo), a 0-99 chart, as well as a 1-100. You may like to try it at home. Ask your child how to play this game.


Cold Weather Reminders
The cold weather is coming! We have two 20-minute sessions outside each day, so it essential that your child come prepared with warm, winter boots, snow pants, a hat, and mittens. On snowy days, it is a good idea to have a second set of mittens packed.


Dates to Note
November 11
Remembrance Day assembly
November 17
This evening has been set aside for parent-teacher interviews. Please try to return your interview request page by November 7.
I would like to meet and talk with everyone once the progress report is sent home. I hope you will keep in mind that this report reflects only the first 8 weeks of Grade One or Grade Two. Your child will receive his/her first comprehensive report card that is reflective of a full term of learning at the beginning of February.


Thank You to Our Volunteers
Mrs. Brenda Grimo visits us every Friday afternoon to listen to the children read their Take Home reading selections. We appreciate all her help in making this program successful!
Take Home Reading Programme
I think I finally have a system for managing the Take-Home Reading requests that I am comfortable with.  The students go down to the ‘book room’ at the beginning of the day, just after announcements while we are doing our ‘bellwork’ to replace their books. I am so sorry it has taken me so long to find a system that works for us.
Spelling Homework
Because of our Hallowe'en activities, spelling words and homework books were not sent home this week.  We will resume our homework program on Monday, November 7.













No comments: