A Fairy Tale Week of Words

The words of the week for this week reflect our focus on Fairy Tales:

hero

villian

fairy tale

tragedy

trespass

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all!!! The kids in 1A are very lucky to have you!

On Friday, we had a wonderful time making flowers for our Moms. Take a look and enjoy your day...

Clifford the Dog Pays a visit!

Clifford the Dog paid a visit to our classroom yesterday to kick off Elmbank's annual book sale. The book sale continues until Friday, April 30. The children thoroughly enjoyed his visit and gave him a great big hug!

Earth Day Words of the Week

This week's spelling words are:

reuse
reduce
recycle
environment
steward

A Busy Month of April

We've been working hard on learning about word families in the classroom. In addition to reading lots of rhymes, we have also been building our own personal word walls. Ms. Maola has returned and the focus on numeracy continues. This week in Media Literacy we will be learning about logos.

Reminder: Earth Day is on April 22. Check out the following link for more information. http://www.earthday.ca/pub/

In like a lion...March 2010

Words of the Week:

little
small
medium
large
giant

Queens' Plate Bus to Elmbank

Parent Teacher Interview

Dear Parent(s)/Guardians,
Report Cards for the second term will go home on Tuesday, March 2, 2010. I will be available to meet with you on Thursday March 4th in the evening and on the morning of Friday, March 5. Please complete the Interview Form that was sent home today in your child's home folder. If your schedule does not allow for a meeting on either of these dates, please indicate an alternate date and time for us to meet or talk on the telephone on the form. I would very pleased to meet with you on another date. I look forward to seeing all of you again to discuss your child's achievement and success during the second term.

Deb Smith-Cuscuna

The Shortest Month of the Year?????

Wow, we certainly have accomplished a lot this month. The highlight was definitely our visit to the Ontario Science Centre. The girls and boys had a wonderful time exploring and investigating the wonders of science. The day was filled with a range of exciting, hands on activities. A special word of appreciation to all of the parents who joined us to help with supervision. It is so wonderful to have so much support from our parents. Thank you so much.

Here's a look back at our amazing day.

A Great Day at the Etobicoke Field Studies Centre...

Thank you to Watershed on Wheels.

Today Alex from the Watershed on Wheels program visited our classroom. The morning began with a lesson about conservation. The boys and girls then immersed themselves in animal movement; sounds; growth and the needs and characteristics of living things. Also; through sensory activities, they learned about the five senses. It was a wonderful morning filled with laughter and learning. Thank you so much to Alex - we really enjoyed your visit.

Pajama Day is this Friday, January 29!!

This month's Dress Down Day is Pajama Day at Elmbank JMA. Please remember to donate $1 for charity if you participate. Many thanks in advance.

Happy Family Literacy Day!

Family Literacy Day takes place every year on January 27 and was created by the ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation to encourage families to read and learn together.

Literacy is more than books. There are so many ways to help your son or daughter strengthen their literacy skills -all it takes is practicing for 15 minutes every day. Reading, writing, playing a game, following a recipe or even singing a song all help prepare your child for challenges ahead. It also helps sharpen your skills as an adult reader.

Here is a great resource, The Family Literacy Day activity book and remember to keep reading every night.

Well, we are well into the swing of things after the holidays. We began our new unit this week - "I can make a difference." For the next few weeks, our focus will be strenthening our inferring skills and making connections. The boys and girls will learn how to improve their reading by using specific strategies like making connections between what they know and what they are reading.

Our spelling quiz is tomorrow. Our Words of the Week are:

Martin Luther King Jr.

parade

speech

courage

difference

In addition, to our spelling words of the week, it is crucial that each grade one student learn the a list of common words. These words are referred to as Dolch sight words. You recieved a list of these words at Curriculum Night and just before the holidays. Please ensure that your child is practising at least five of these words nightly.

This week we read the book, Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport. This was a wonderful lesson to introduce our "I can make a difference" unit. The boys and girls were very interested in King's life and learned a lot about how he made helped affect change in a peaceful way.

The First Week Back...

Well the first week back was a great one. We learned about the 5w's - who, what where, when, why and how. The children also began blending consonants. We watched some fun phonics videos that helped us understand that when we put two consonants together we get one sound. We also read a wonderful book about a bear that loves trees - "Big Bear Hug" by Nicholas Oldland- I think it may be one of our favourites this year.

Tomorrow is our Spelling Quiz.

Please remember to return your child's trip form for our trip in February.

Words of the Week

Here are the words of the week:

snowflakes

new year

resolution

jacket

gloves

Our quiz will be on Monday, January 10.

Ready, Set, Go!!!

I hope everyone had a restful few weeks away from school. During this first week, students will receive their homework books and calendars. Please write a note in your child's planner if you have any questions or concerns. I wish everyone a happy 2010!

Gingerbread Houses

The children built yummy Gingerbread Houses to take home. Thank you Ms. Maola for organizing the building of the houses - the kids loved learning how to build their special homes. It was a wonderful way to see "real life" Math in action. I hope you all have a wonderful break and I look forward to seeing you in 2010!

Mr. Danyluk's Bake Sale

The children really enjoyed Mr. Danyluk's Bake sale on Friday.

Character Education in a bucket!

We liked the idea of "filling buckets" so much that we decided to give everyone in our class a bucket. When we fill each other's buckets, we put pom poms in them to show all of the good feelings that result. We can also keep track of any "bucket dipping." The children are learning the consequences of good and poor behavior in a very tangible way. They are also having a lot of fun with the buckets.

A Classroom of Bucket Fillers

Recently, I received a copy of the book, "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids" by Carol McCloud. As I scanned the book, I had no idea what an impact this simple book would have on our class.

This is a book that helps children understand how they can find happiness by spreading happiness. The premise is that we all carry an invisible "bucket." This bucket is full when we feel good about ourselves and empty when we have low self-esteem. We can also affect whether we add to someone's bucket ("bucket filler") or take away from someone's bucket ("bucket dipper"). A kind person is a "bucket filler." A bully is a "bucket dipper." Say a kind word to someone? You have helped to fill that person's bucket. Say something nasty? You have dipped from that person's bucket.

The girls and boys thought that they would like to become "bucket fillers" and soon it was decided that everyone would have their own buckets. Tomorrow, I will post some pictures from our Bucket wall so you can see how we are using this book to learn some very important life lessons.

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Tuesday December 8

Homework:

Use each Word of Week to make a sentence.

holiday
snow
celebrate
tree
family

Write your sentences in your blue writing book. Remember to use capitals and punctuation.

Monday, December 7: A Busy Day.

What a full day we had! Our Learning Buddies visited and we made a list of words that mean the same thing as the word "cold". The boys and girls were very excited all day about the prospect of snow.

We had Gym and Library followed by our spelling quiz.

Our new Words of the Week are:
holiday
snow
celebrate
tree
family

In the afternoon, Ms. Maola and the girls and boys began writing their stories about frogs with a beginning, middle and end.

Computer Lab Day

This morning we worked in the computer lab practising our alphabet and keyboard skills.  The children really enjoyed a program called "Alpha Munchies Typing Game" where they had to find the letters and icons on the keyboard.  They also enjoyed the Alphabet Match and Computer Vocabulary programs.  These educational games can be found at abcya.com. 

We also enjoyed singing along to "I Had a Dog" - a wonderful ryhming song.  Have a look at it here and enjoy  http://www.watchknow.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=3387.

Have a safe and Happy Weekend.

At the Movies...

Today the Grade One student's were treated to a special viewing of a short film made by a Grade Eight student.  The movie, "The Beauty and the Beast" was brilliant and the children really enjoyed watching his work.

Report Cards go home today.  Please return report card envelopes at your earliest convenience.

Thank you to everyone who donated a loonie for our Dress Down Day - your support is greatly appreciated.

Please note: There will be no school on Friday, December 4- parent/teacher interviews begin on Thursday evening. 
                                         I look forward to seeing you!