La première année!

 Edition # 6, le 31 octobre 2020   

Le coin français

We finished up with the last of the oral language projects this week and I must say how impressed I am with how the students responded to the first project of the year.  BRAVO LES AMIS!  We have already begun our second project for français intensif and the topic is our family (Voici ma famille).  Students have been learning new phrases in french to describe their family members and a new project sheet will be coming home on Monday for at home practice.  I will also post a sample and video in Google Classroom next week for you to view at home as a guide. 

Les mathématiques

We had a lot of fun this week sorting objects, counting accurately using one to one correspondence, using symbols, creating and extending patterns and isolating the pattern rule (la règle).  We also played some dice games to practice our subitizing skills, worked on a tricky math problem where multiple solutions were required using 7 red and 7 blue "tapis", and we practiced our estimation skills for measuring how tall and large the pumpkin was using a variety of referents (cubes, chains, ribbons).  We also estimated the number of erasers in a jar.  Ask me if my estimations were close or far and what I learned from all of these activities. 

L'halloween

Le champs de citrouilles was so much fun and students enjoyed seeing the creations of other students during our pumpkin patch walk.  Here are some of our favourites along with a link to a video created by Mrs. Glowacki about the pumpkin patch this year. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HhHfC4Jr8e0NxRFihAlT68oMGqumc_8Y/view?usp=sharing

It was also so much fun to see everyone in costume. We had a little costume parade in the classroom, had a dance party, sang our favourite halloween songs, read a story, did a lot of fun halloween math, played halloween bingo and had a photo booth.  What a great day.  I wish you all a happy and safe halloween if you decide to go out trick or treating on Saturday!  Please be mindful of how much candy you bring to school for  "snack/lunch" treats next week ;)

 

Potpourri

Ms. White came to visit our classroom to talk to us about cross walk safety and jaywalking around the school.  We also watched a video about "cluster crossing" so that everyone can stay safe when arriving and leaving school.  Ask your child to tell you one important message they took away from these conversations. 

Ziploc Bags -please make sure you have brought in two ziploc bags with your name on it like the ones in the photo.  Students need a large bag to store their math kit items and an extra-large bag to store their library books.  The extra-large/oversized bag is needed to protect our beautiful and expensive library books as they are transported between home and school.  In the past, far too many books have fallen from backpacks into puddles or snow, or have been victim to leaky water bottles.  Mrs. Mansey really appreciates your efforts to keep our books safe and long lasting. Merci!

  

IMPORTANT COVID UPDATE:

La première année

Edition # 5, le 24 octobre 2020    

Le coin français

We are loving getting to know more about our classmates and the origins of their names.  We are learning so many interesting facts and are creating a "wall of fame" in the classroom with our artefacts and drawings. Nos "étoiles du jour" (star students) are really shining bright!   

Students are also building their reading stamina through "lecture à soi".  We have created an anchor chart to help remind us of our responsibilities during read to self and to keep us on track.  Students have now built up their reading muscles and can comfortably read to self for 13 minutes. BRAVO!  They are also developing their reading skills through pre-reading activities such as picture walks, sharing what their book is about with peers and searching for consonants, vowels and french sight words.  

  

 

Les mathématiques

This week, students created their own Rekenrek math tool to add to their tool kit. They now have five tools in total and we will continue to add more tools as new concepts are introduced.  In order to create the Rekenrek, students sorted, created patterns and counted in various ways to ensure a total of 20 beads.  Students also played two new math games to strengthen their subitizing skills. Which was your favourite and why? Check out this link to find out more about the Rekenrek.  s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgluhL1dVMU

Potpourri

Le champs des citrouilles/Pumpkin Patch  

Tuscany School has a Halloween tradition that we want to continue this year but in a different way due to COVID.  We will be having a pumpkin patch outdoors that students can contribute to if they like.  Students and families are invited to prepare a jack-o-lantern (feu follet) for the pumpkin patch.  Please be mindful that the pumpkins will be on display outdoors.  If you would like to participate, please bring your pumpkin to school on the morning of October 29th and place it in our designated pumpkin patch.  See map below.  We will then take a tour of all the pumpkins across all grades during the school day.  At dismissal, students are invited to collect their pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and take it home for Halloween.  

I am also inviting students to wear a costume on Thursday, October 29th if they would like.  We will have some fun activities planned to celebrate Halloween in a safe way that continues to abide by COVID regulations.  Please be mindful that students are still required to wear a non-medical mask and that costumes with weapons are not suitable.  In keeping with CBE health regulations, please do not send any food, gifts etc. to share with other students.  

Savais-tu? 

Did you know that Wednesday was Take Me Outside Day?  

Students took their learning outside to the Tuscany Community Gardens and practiced patterning and writing in the snow.  There was also time for some free play because the snow was so magical.  We are really enjoying exploring our school grounds and have found so many great places for learning and play.  Ask you child to share which is their favourite outdoor space at school.   

FYI - PHOTO RE-TAKES are

October 27th. 

PD Day Friday, October 30 (no school)

La première année!

Bienvenue à l'édition  # 4, 16 octobre 2020

Le coin français

It's always so lovely to hear students using simple words and phrases to communicate in french.  Students are doing an excellent job of responding in full phrases during attendance and when practicing français intensif.  

Our message of the week allows students to practice listening skills and choral reading and speech.  Some students are even taking risks to come up to the Smartboard and read some sentence aloud with support or independently. This activity helps them understand how to track words from left to right. This week's message contained some special words.  Ask your child to tell about some of the "mots globaux" that were in the message.  Parents can also support this learning at home by checking out the "mots globaux" words lists in Google Classroom under the Lecture Tab found under "classwork".  Instructions are provided in the material notes on how to proceed. 

Les mathématiques

This week, students continued to work through the problem solving checklist as a way of developing their math strategies.  They continued to learn and explore patterns, skip counting by 2, 5 and 10 and the role of  place value.  Take a look at the charts we use to develop our number sense when counting the days of school as well as a few of the problems of the week. Some are open questions and others require a precise answer.  

         

      

Études sociales

Belonging is an ongoing focus in social studies and students are now learning about "la famille". They are learning key vocabulary and how to use it in a sentence.  Ask you child to tell you difference between the words maman and mère & papa and père.  Did you know that mami and papi are two terms of endearment used to describe grandma and grandpa in French?  You can also say grand-maman and grand-papa!  Learning about our families is a fun way to share and create our classroom community.  The November oral language project will focus on the family and everyone is looking forward learning and sharing. 

We are also very excited about our October oral language projet "Me voici" with presentations starting this week. Please see the schedule below for your child's presentation date. 

Scholastic Orders

The mini version of the October Book Club Flyer is coming home today.  You can also access a much larger selection of books in English and French by looking at the DigiFlyers for Reading Club and Club de Lecture. Click here   Our Class Code is: RC180147.  Please order your books by the end of October.  You can have them mailed directly to your home.  A new flyer will come out each month and your purchases help build our classroom library. Merci!

Library Book Return: 

Please return all library books on Monday as we will be visiting the Learning Commons again.  

Potpourri

"Oki"!  Hello!  Students enjoyed a wonderful afternoon in the Coulee with Elder Saa'kokoto and exploring with Mme Ireland.  We sat in circle and listened to the wisdom of our Elder as he shared the wonderful colours Na'a paints the land with and the important role of plants as food and medicine across the seasons.  Ask you child to share their favourite memory of the Coulee with you. 

Il neige!

We also welcomed our first snow of the year on Wednesday!  Many thanks to all who sent students to school with the proper clothing for outdoor play.  We were able to get outside three times! Thanks for ensuring students are warm, comfortable and prepared for the ever-changing and unexpected weather!

La première année!

 Bienvenue à l'édition # 3 le, 9 octobre, 2020

Le coin français

Students are working on the first group of "les consonnes longs". This week we learned about Ll and Rr.  We also blended these consonants with the vowels to read syllables.  Look at our little song: 

L avec A fait LA, L avec E fait LE, L avec I  fait LI avec O fait LO avec U fait LU! LA, LE, LI, LO, LU!

What do you think é, è and ê would sound like if you blended them with L and R?  

How might you sing the vowel blends with the letter R? 

When printing an upper case L and R, what do you notice is the same/different? 

Can you brainstorm any new L and R words or share some of the words we came up with this week? 

Français/Art/Science 

Students completed their collages and shared their interpretation of Seasonal Changes - C'est l'automne!

They also created an art installation for Thanksgiving - l'Action de grâce

Student thinking was activated by the story Merci Automne and their own personal experiences to generate ideas for sentences.  They were asked what they would say thank you for.  Take a look at some of our "belles feuilles d'automne" to see our messages of thanks. 

  

  

 

Les mathématiques

Students worked on "Le problème de la semaine" and got to test out some math games to develop their subitizing and counting skills, created their own 10 frames (cadres de dix) and will be learning a game next week with these cards and graphed the leaves we used to create our art installation.  

Coulee Trip Reminder!

Please remember that we are off to the Coulee on Tuesday, October 13th. Dress accordingly, as we will spend the afternoon in the trees, listening to the wise words of Saa'kokoto and furthering our learning in math and science with some fun activities that Mme Ireland has planned. 

Je vous souhaite une bonne fin de semaine 

et festin de l'Action de grâce!