Mystery Reader

We have been really really really busy lately! So busy that I haven't had much time to do any blogging. But here is a make up for it :)

We at SES are so grateful for our Mystery Readers. We learned many things through this program. We learn about clues (inference), giving back, and understanding expression through different readers.

I want to thank all the parents who have volunteered so far! I hope to launch this again in February for "I Love To Read" Month. Here are the exciting pictures of our Mystery Readers:

            

Whew... What a busy week!

We at SES have been really really busy!

This week, we had Mystery Readers, Advent preparations, report cards going home, and more Mystery Readers. On top of that, we're going on our very first mini field trip tomorrow! The kids have been working hard on writing letters to Santa. We talked about how Santa is our St. Nick! In fact, today was the feast of St. Nick.

Thank you to the parents who have signed up for Mystery Readers. All slots are filled up! If you really enjoyed the experience, don't hesitate to sign up again in February for "I Love to Read" month.

Pictures to come...

Writing Letters and Extravagent Adventures

This previous week, our class has been focusing on how to write a letter. We are preparing ourselves to write letters to Santa. In fact, we're actually sending them to the North Pole!

Our children have been working on what a letter looks like and the three components to it.
1) Dear ____________
2) Body
3) Signing off

We looked at a few samples, and will be receiving Elf letters each week! (shhh... keep that a secret parents :) )

We also had a student spend the week in Florida at Disney World! Oh how I wish we all got the chance to go. Perhaps he can put me in his suitcase next time... Here are some pictures of his excellent presentation.

 

Sense of Touch

Phew, student led conferences are finally done and now its time to take a nice deep breath... until report cards!

SES grade 1 kiddies are working hard on using their sense of touch. Last week, we did a touch activity where students placed their hands into mystery bags and mystery socks. I had quite the good laugh with some of their reactions and their imagintive thinking.

Yuck! What is in that?!

 

It was interesting what the children guessed. I used jello, cold spaghetti, mashed banana, pudding and glue in the mystery bags. They had to describe what they felt on their recording sheet.

 

 

Our Class Surprise

Our class was shifted all over the school on Thursday November 8. The kids were in much anticipation to wondering why we weren't in our room. Using the clues that they saw (the white board was removed), they came up with:

Jack: We're getting a chalk board?
Amaani: They're cleaning the wall
Erin: They're painting the walls!
Kobey: Are we getting a smart board?

Here are the much anticipated looks before walking into the room

As I slowly led them into the classroom, they saw the surprise! We got a smartboard!

Look how excited they are!

Pumpkin Investigation

Its... Halloween season! And our children at SES are super pumped to be doing a lot of Halloween activities. Today we did a few jobs. We predicted whether a pumpkin will float or sink and these are the some of the predictions that the children made (we compared it to a small basketball and a few coins):

Juleah: the pennies were different kind of shape. The ball is round, that's why it floats

Chase: the coins are made out of metal

Gavin: if you put holes in the pumpkin, it will sink

Rocco: the seeds inside are making the pumpkin float

                  Hmmm.... interesting predictions!

We also did a pumpkin estimation! We had two sizes of pumpkins, a small one and a big one! Can you guess which one has more seeds?

Big pumpkin

Small pumpkin

What are the children counting by?

Inference

What has the Grade 1s been working on lately?

IN-FE-RENCE (try saying it!)

Inference is using good clues to make good guesses. This is a reading strategy that the students are trying out! Try it at home with their home reading

Busy Week Ahead Of Us!

Hi Parents!

I haven't had the chance to blog lately about the classroom. We have been working a lot on behaviour issues.

On a good note, it is Friday! Your child has a few things to work on this weekend. We have the Weekend Web, and the -an Word Family worksheet. Those are to be completed for Monday.

It is also picture day on October 15. Please wear something nice but no blue jeans allowed. Bring a nice big smile!

Playdough Recipe

We have had some curious workers during literacy center time. They have been wondering about how to make the playdough we use in class. Here is the recipe I used!


Kool-Aid Play Dough


Ingredients:
• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 pkg. unsweetened Kool-aid (just the dry Kool-aid, don't mix it into juice)
• 2 cup boiling water (Can heat it in microwave)
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
1. In a bowl, mix flour, salt and Kool-aid.
2. Stir in water and oil
3. Knead with hands for about 5 minutes.
4. Store in ziploc bag for up to 2 months.
5. Use like playdough.
6. Smells great and will be brightly colored.

(Cut the recipe in half if you don't want a large ziploc full of playdough)

Rainbow Words

Dear Parents,

I've noticed a few confusions regarding the spelling homework from last week. This is what rainbow spelling looks like. Your child is going to write the assigned spelling words in the 'Word' section, and copy it a few times using different writing utensils. They are more than welcome to use different colours to spice it up!

Leaf Hunt

We went on a Leaf Hunt! The grade ones took all their knowledge of what they know about leaves and went out to hunt for colourful leaves that represent the fall season.

Here is a sample picture of our adventure today. What colours do you see?

Letter Printing

Our class is currently working on letter printing and number printing. Each day, we strive to write neater and neater. You are welcome to try these apps on your iPad. Remember, practice makes perfect!

ABC Tracing
Alphabet Tracing
Pocket Phonics/ abc lite


All of these apps are free!

Welcome!

Welcome to our class blog! We will use this blog to communicate the adventures that we have in our Grade 1 class! Please be sure to check regularly to see any new updates. Students will have the opportunity to put their thoughts and opinions on here. I look forward to sharing our learning adventures together