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!