Jan. 5

In Reading, we are focussing on understanding what we are reading through a variety of strategies. One of those strategies is by retelling.  We have read many stories and looked at what most stories have in common: a beginning where we meet our critical characters and setting, a middle where we are introduced to the problem, and the end where the problem is solved.

We have been retelling with more and more detail and eventually this will lead to us using these elements for our own storytelling.  Over the last two days, we have been dissecting the story: The Mitten by Jan Brett.  We practiced retelling the story using ordinal numbers (first the mole went into the mitten, second...).  Today we practiced retelling the story by acting it out.  This was a great way for students to practice retelling the story with the help of their peers to ensure they got all the key parts.

Coming up:
Field trip forms and report card envelopes tomorrow
Denise Miller: Swansong Storytelling - Tuesday
Glenbow Field Trip - Wednesday

Jan 4

Thank you to everyone who already sent back report card envelopes and field trip forms! We got over 1/3 of them back already today!

Over the last couple of days, we have been doing a lot of review of important classroom routines and talking about why we do what we do each day. For example, today we had an excellent classroom discussion about why it is important to read. Many of us realized that we need to read in order to understand text messages, we read for enjoyment, and we read to learn new things.  We also talked about how we become better readers and we once again revisited this amazing diagram that shows that the best way to to become a better reader is to READ!

During reading, many of us had the chance to set some new reading goals.  We reviewed our previous reading goals and discussed what some new goals would be.  Some of our new goals include: using our knowledge of word sounds and applying them to new words, using a dictionary to learn the meaning of new words, and using punctuation to help us add expression to our reading.  Over the next few days, each of us will get to read with me, confer about reading and set some new goals. Please chat with your child about what these goals are and don't hesitate to contact me if you want more information about how to help with these goals at home!

Coming Up

• Field trip forms and report card envelopes due Friday (you can keep the report card)
• Glenbow Museum Field Trip - Jan. 11

Dec. 6

It is hard to believe that we are less than two weeks away from the winter break!  I am having a hard time understanding where September, October, and November have gone!!

This week we started a short two week study on different Gingerbread stories. We have a collection of different versions - everything from the traditional Gingerbread Man story to Catch that Cookie, Gingerbread Pirates, and the Gingerbread Girl.  Over the next couple of weeks we will vote on which story we would like to see and then take some time to compare our stories with the others.

We are currently reading the original story so that we have a basis for the characters, repeated words, and storyline.  We have been focussing on not only the problem and solution of the story, but also the critical characters, settings, and objects of the story.  We will use this giant gingerbread house that is on our classroom wall as a template to help us compare these components.

As a way to incorporate math, science and even more writing, we plan to bake cookies next week using a lower sugar, healthier recipe.  There will be no nuts in the cookies.  Please advise if your child has any restrictions with the ingredients below:

 unsalted butter, softened

brown sugar

 unsweetened applesauce

egg

dark molasses

whole wheat flour 

 baking soda

 ground ginger

ground cinnamon

 allspice

 ground cloves

Calories: 56.4 • Fat: 0.8 g • Carb: 12.4 g • Fiber: 5 g • Protein: 0.9 g • Sugar: 6 g
Sodium: 30.3 g  

This recipe does meet the CBE requirements for "choose more often grain" snacks as outlined here: 

With these cookies we will definitely be eating them, but first we will do some sensory writing, looking at the changes before and after baking, and completing some graphing.  We are so excited to use cookies as a learning tool!

Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions!

Oct. 20

Unfortunately not much to write about today as I ended up going home early as it seems I have finally come down with the back to school cold/flu. I will be back tomorrow though!

This morning, we continued to work on our reading skills through our daily 5 reading. We have all set some reading goals and your child should be coming home with some information shortly about their goal and how you can help at home. We also continue to learn new strategies to help us in our reading. Today we talked about reading fluently and a strategy to help us with that. One strategy that we will work on is learning our common sight words.  We will do this through our writing, games, and daily reading practice.  How can you help at home? You can help by spending a few minutes a night playing some games or practicing reading the sight words.  You can even have your children make the words out of lego, alphabet beads, or magnetic letters. Here are a few websites that can help you get started:
Sight word Games
Sight Word Bingo
Sight word Games 2
Sight Word flash cards

Your child may come home next week with some cards to practice and some easy games you can use as a family to make it fun.

Coming up:

• Special playground presentation tomorrow
• Popcorn treat day continues tomorrow
• Early Dismissal tomorrow.

It was so nice to meet and talk with everyone last night at our Parent Night. I know not everyone could make it, so I have attached the Presentation below as a link. Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have. 

Parent Night Presentation

Today was a short day, but a productive one!  We have spent some time over the last few days talking about checking for understanding when we read.  As we read, we take random breaks and think about what we have read through summarizing, asking questions, and retelling. 

Here is a poster we have been using. Starting next week, each student will have these in bookmark version that students will keep with their book bins.  Feel free to print this out and use this at home as well during their home reading time. Don't limit checking for understanding to only these questions - make up your own!