Thursday, June 21, 2012

VIPs

Today we completed our VIP passes for the Cherrywood Talent Show.
Thanks to Ava for bringing in her dad's VIP pass from the Nik Wallenda Walk this past weekend.  We used it as a model for our own event.
We are looking forward to enjoying the show on Wednesday!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Axton!  Axton won the Great Canadian Mail Race!
Several weeks ago we received a letter from a Grade Two teacher in B.C. asking us to join the Great Canadian Mail Race.  She asked us to write a letter to a student somewhere in Canada and to ask that student's teacher to join the race, too.

The students were assigned a province or territory, located a city on the map of the province, and then used the internet to find a school in the chosen city.  We wrote a letter to a Grade 2 student.  All our letters were posted through Canada Post on the same day.  We have been anxiously awaiting for a response letter for weeks.  The first student in our class to receive a letter is the 'winner' of the Great Canadian Mail Race in our class.

This project was a wonderful follow up to our field trip around Niagara Falls.  One of the criteria for the letter was to include information about our local community.  The students wrote about the various attractions and features of our own city, Niagara Falls. 

We have been contacted twice to join the race. A school in Markham, Ontario wrote to us two weeks ago.  Every student wrote a letter to Sufyaan!  What a surprise for him to receive 20 letters from Cherrywood's Grade 1/2 class.

Yesterday we received two pieces of mail.  Axton received a letter from a Grade 2 student from New Brunswick!  He won the Great Canadian Mail Race.  We hope to receive more letters before the end of the year.  Any letters arriving after the end of school will be passed along to returning students in September.

What was our second piece of mail?

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Just Nine School Days Left?

I can't believe that there are only nine school days left until our summer vacation begins!  Each day we will be popping a balloon to reveal a special activity (some of which are already on our calendar) or portfolio to bring home to keep.  Parents can start to watch for our subject portfolios to start coming home over the next two weeks. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Trip Day Today

It looks like we might need to trade our sun
screen for raincoats and umbrellas this morning!
Remember to pack a lunch and snacks and water to drink.  We might need to bring rainwear in lieu of bathingsuits and towels.

We will receive our wristbands this morning at school before leaving on the bus.  It is helpful if supervisors come to the classroom to get their wristbands and information before following the bus to our destination.

Let's not let the cloudy skies get us down - we are going to have a great day!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Licorice to Share!

Yesterday we opened two 454g packs of licorice.  We learned that 454g = 40 sticks of licorice!
Our challenge was to figure out how we could share the licorice equally at our tribe table.  Here are some photos of our problem-solving.  Ask us how many each of us received when we were finished solving the problem.
 





Sunday, June 3, 2012

Exploring Multiplication, Division, and Fractions

Over the next few weeks we will be exploring multiplication, division, and fractions.  We started to solve problems this week that required us to find all the possible ways to make equal groups with a given number.  Here are some photos taken during math class when we were trying to determine all the ways we can arrange OURSELVES (a class of 20 students) into equal groups. 
We work with partners a lot!  That's 10 groups of 2!


We have always sat in tribe groups of 4.
This month, we will try 2 groups of 10!

June News

We are in our final month! It has been such a busy time that it really has not seemed that we have been working together for nine months already! This is a brief post to give everyone a quick glance at our June activities. I would like to thank all the parents for welcoming me to Cherrywood this year and for sharing your children with me. I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful group of children in our class! I have enjoyed teaching AND learning with them this year; it has been an incredible journey. They have blossomed into readers, researchers, and responsible Cherrywood citizens. It has been a joy and privilege to be their Grade One/Two teacher.
I want to encourage all of you to continue to read, write, and mathematize over the summer months! We have come so far this year, and it is important to keep our skills sharp during the summer hiatus. I will be sending home a summer newsletter on the last day of school with some suggestions for helping your child “keep sharp” over the summer.
I also want to remind parents that with the warm and sunny weather, it is important to send a hat to school for your child to wear outdoors during the fitness breaks. Your child should have his/her sunscreen applied before school. Showing your child how to reapply is recommended. On extremely warm days, students may also keep a water bottle (spout-cap) on their desk. We have talked about the importance of remembering to bring it home each day to be cleaned and refilled.

Several children have been bringing money to school to buy treats at the school store. Students are returning to class with bags of chips and ice cream and not eating the healthy snacks that are packed for them. Therefore, if your child has your permission to go to the store, please send a note letting me know that they have permission and what they are allowed to purchase (ie. milk).


Dates to Remember
 June 5 – all library books due
 June 12 – Year – End celebration ~ trip to Niagara Safari (permission form with information included sent home Thursday)
 June 20 Roots of Empathy – baby visit We will have our final “baby visit” with Anthony this month. We thank Mrs. Giallonardo and Anthony for sharing this special year in Anthony’s life with us! We are planning a special celebration and making a “wishing tree” for Anthony.
 June 21 – last day for Take Home Reading Programme – please return all books and book bags on Friday, June 22
 June 26 – report cards sent home; please send response portion to school by June 28th
 June 27 – Talent Show
 June 28 – Last day of classes for students (9:00 awards assembly; 1:40 playday)