Happy Holidays

We wish everyone a wonderful winter break!

Pajama day was a hit!  Kids enjoyed being cosy in their pjs watching Polar Express this morning.  This afternoon we had special Winter/Christmas centres where children needed to use their senses.  They used their sense of touch and hearing to guess what was in some Christmas stockings, tried to build a snowman out of playdough without the use of their sight and played pin the nose on Frosty.  Other kids built shelters for reindeers out of blocks, made patterns and ornaments and had cup stacking races to build a triangle shape.

Look in your communication folder for a winter reading activity to motivate your child to practice over the holidays.

See you in 2018!

Winter is here!

The school started the day getting into the holiday spirit with carolling in the gym.  This festive feel continued through the day playing holiday math games like the Dreidel Game and Reindeer Chase and making pattern ornaments during Montessori Work Period. 









We also finished some winter art using pastels.

 It is hard to believe it the 71st day of school already.  We looked at some cool patterns today on our hundred chart.  We counted to 71 by tens, starting at 1.  We thought of other numbers we could start at and realized that we could get to 71 if we started at any number in the 1s column like 11, 21, 31...
We also decided to explore the diagonal line (71, 62, 53, 44, 35, 26, 17, 8) from 71 and found some awesome patterns.  We noticed it alternated between even and odd.  We observed the tens column decreases by 10 but the ones column increases by ten each square.  We even noticed that the 'digital root" (the sum of the two digits) all equalled 8!!!!!  There are always interesting patterns to be found in a hundred board!

Please look in bags tonight!

Today we sent home lots of important work.

• Swim report cards 
• Social Studies Timelines - Students worked really hard on these timelines. Please have your child share their work with you
• Several art projects

Class News

• The students did a great job at the assembly yesterday. For many students it was their first time using a microphone. 
• We have been enjoying our special centres this week. 

School News

• Caroling was lots of fun today. Some of the teachers performed a song with Kazoos
• Lots of students wore their toques today for silly toque day
• Caroling tomorrow morning
• PJ Day on Thursday

Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather everyday. We go outside unless the weather is below -20 C. 

Updates

Room 4 & 5 News Items

1. Swimming is now finished. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped making our swimming a great success. Report cards should be sent home before the winter break. 
2. We will be sending home some competed work next week. Please send in a bag for your child to bring home their treasures. 
3. We will be presenting at the school assembly on Monday at 3:00 PM. Students are not required to wear anything special. 
4. Tuesday is a spirit day and students are invited to wear a toque all day. 
5. We will be caroling on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. 
6. Thursday is PJ day. Students are welcome to bring a small stuffie with them on that day. 
7. There is no school on Friday. Have a wonderful winter break!

Basketball and Swimming!

We have been getting a lot of exercise! 

This morning students had another great swimming class. Children practiced lots of skills like floating, jumping and improving swimming strokes. Tomorrow is our last swimming day.

This afternoon, boys and girls in room 4 and 5 practiced their passing and dribbling skills in the gym.  Students had fun playing a dribbling game where only half of the students had balls while the other half tried to steal one without touching the dribbler. We also learned that in basketball you cannot hold or bounce the ball with two hands once you start dribbling.  This is called a double dribble.  In our game, if a student double dribbled, they needed to put down their ball and had to go try to steal away another.

Everyone will probably sleep well tonight!

Reminder:  Students in room 5 have started adding our pictures to a class map of the world showing where our ancestors come from.  Children can bring in their information sheet on their ancestors (and any artifact or picture they would like to share) at any time so we can add them to our map! 

Craft Club

Today, students in Room 4 and 5 were invited to participate in a craft club. They were given the choice to work on making a card, decorating an ornament, and/or decorating a Christmas tree.
We're getting into the holiday spirit!

Assembly

Celebration of Learning

This month room 4 & 5 will be presenting at our December Celebration of Learning. Our classes will sing a song they have learned in music and share what they have learned about goal setting. The assembly will take place on Monday, December 18th at 3:00 PM. Parents are welcome to attend. 

Swimming

First Day of Swimming

Our first day of swimming was a huge success. Students were very engaged in their lessons and seemed to be having a good time. Most students chose to stay inside for the lunch recess. Tomorrow both classes will have the opportunity to participate in the Winter Craft Club. Please send all swim gear again tomorrow. 

 One undershirt was left behind in the girls change room. Please contact your child's teacher if it belongs to your daughter. 

Winter Celebrations

As part of our social studies unit "Moving Forward With The Past: My Family, My History and My Community ", our classes have been exploring how celebrations are an important part of our identities.  Through graphing and discussion we have learned we have celebrations in common such as birthdays and others that differ from each other.  We have explored that each celebration has its own traditions and symbols.  Today both classes explored art with the symbol of the Christmas tree.  Room 4's student teacher, Ms. Herzawy, explored painting evergreen trees.  Room 5 looked at how symbols are used in the world, then created a simplified shape of a Christmas tree which they filled with a mosaic technique to give them the festive feel of a decorated tree. Since card giving is a popular Christmas tradition, we did our art on folded cardboard which we will use as a holiday card. 

We also sent home a letter in the communication folders asking for students to find out about who their ancestors are and how they have influenced them today.  Please return this sheet next week.  We will be mapping our ancestors on a class map next Thursday, as well as sharing any artifacts that students wish to share. If your child chooses to share an artifact, please help them practice speaking about it. (Why they chose it and how it is important). 

School Service Project

Calgary Drop Inn Center

Following a tradition of generosity and compassion during the winter season, CJP will again be collecting new, warm socks filled with toiletries for the Calgary Drop Inn Center. These small gifts of comfort are offered to those in need. By donating a new pair of socks and filling it with useful articles, you will make a difference in someone’s day.

Travel size is perfect. Here are some ideas; small Kleenex, lip balm, shampoo, crème rinse, comb, toothbrush and paste, nail file, disposable razors, hand cream, dental floss, nail file, Q-tips, bus ticket, hand made card with good wishes, hand sanitizer, etc.

Stuffed socks can be brought in anytime before our last day of school, December 21.

Building a Boat

Today, students were challenged to construct a tinfoil boat that carried a load. Many students were successful first time around. Those that weren't, made changes to their plan and tried it again!
Afterwards, students worked in groups and/or individually to choose appropriate materials to create a different kind of boat!

Monochromatic painting

 After reading Snowmen at Night,  children in room 4 and 5 explored using white paint to create tints.
 Starting with a white moon, students explored adding small amounts of blue to white to create concentric circles in darker and darker values around the moon.  It is getting darker outside as we approach Winter Solstice,  but the snowmen are still finding ways to enjoy outdoor fun!  A night time winter walk is a great way to stay fit in the winter.  It is also a great way to look at the beautiful lights our neighbours put up to celebrate the winter season. Confederation Park is hosting its 31st Annual Lions' Festival of Lights on Dec. 2nd and will have light displays up until January 8th.
www.lionsfestivaloflights.ca/ 

In Health today, students started to explore nutrition.  When making healthy food choices students learned that they need to consider both the quantity and quality of the foods they choose.  We sorted different foods based on their qualities (amount of sodium, sugar, fibre, nutrients, preservatives) in everyday foods (foods we regularly include in our breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) and sometimes foods (foods we enjoy during celebrations, as special treats or occasionally in our meals).  For example, the students determined that a fresh apple would be a great example of an "everyday food choice", whereas a fruit roll or apple pie up would be a "sometimes"treat as it is high in sugar.

December Math Skills

Math Skills

Ways to support your Grade 1 Math Student

·      Counting by 1s to 100

·      Counting backwards from 20

·      Recognizing numerals to 100

·      Understanding 1 more and 1 less for numbers to 100

·      Adding single digit numbers

·      Subtracting from 10 (we will be working up to 18)

Ways to support your Grade 2 Math Student

·      All of the grade 1 skills should be mastered

·      Identifying odd and even numbers to 100

·      Understanding ordinal numbers (first, second, etc.)

·      Place value (units, tens, hundreds)

·      Count to 100 by 2s, 5s, AND 10s

·      Addition facts to 10 should be memorized

·      Subtraction facts from 10 should be memorized

·      Adding double digit numbers (without re-grouping)

All of these skills can be incorporated into your everyday life and conversations with your child. For example, counting cars as you drive, sorting laundry, recognizing patterns in the world (i.e. Christmas lights), counting items at the grocery store or while making your lunch/snack. Have fun and be creative; math is all around us!

Goal Setting

Goal Setting

Today we talked about goal setting and creating SMART goals. 

                                          

Students created SMART goals for reading, writing and math. Once they created their goals they thought about what they would do to help them achieve their goal. Ask your child about their goals.