October 23

Global Connections

Something special happens when you can connect with another classroom about the same book. As you know, we are reading Stella Diaz Has Something to Say, the Global Read Aloud selection this year.

We are enjoying our book and love to Skype with our friends in California! There is a 3 hour time difference  between us so when it’s 1pm for us, it’s 10am for them!

We love learning about their school, their weather, what life is like in California, and so on. We have so many questions for them such as how many recesses do you get? How many teachers do you have? Do you have a class pet?

We discuss our favourite parts of the book, making personal connections to parts of the book, sharing our understandings of the book, and more.

We can’t wait until next week when we connect with our friends again.

 

Category: 2019-2020, Reading Workshop, Teacher Talk | 1 Comment on Global Connections
October 22

Cheers for Chess

Last Thursday, Mr. Lee, our Chess instructor, came to visit our classroom and dove right into the very beginnings of how to play chess. We listened intently as we learned about the different names of game pieces and how they move on the board. We started with a simple game using just the pawns, playing with a partner after our lesson.

According to whitbyschoolorg, there are many benefits to playing chess including:

  • Problem Solving. In its most simplistic form, chess is quite similar to a large puzzle
  • Abstract Reasoning
  • Calmness Under Pressure
  • Patience
  • Sportsmanship
  • Creative Thinking
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Strategic Thinking

We look forward to seeing Mr. Lee for the next several weeks! Thank you to Parent Council for providing us and many other classes this opportunity!

Have you ever played Chess? What is YOUR favourite board game?

Category: 2019-2020, Teacher Talk | 3 Comments on Cheers for Chess
October 22

Books Are Delicious

Last Friday, our classroom was transformed into a sort of literary cafe as students were invited to their very first BOOK TASTING event of the school year. A book tasting gives students the opportunity to sample some juicy reads in a short period of time and come away with a wish list of titles. It’s a great way to let young readers sample different authors, genres, and series. After all, books are a lot like food—you won’t know if you like something until you try it!

Chef Sully made an appearance, flying in from France. Students noted she looked a lot like her sister, Mrs. Sullivan. They even shop at the same clothing stores!

We ‘sampled’ several different genres of books including:

  • Poetry
  • Picture Books
  • Books in a Series
  • Nonfiction

 

At each table sat a pile of 10-15 books of a particular genre.

After checking out the front and back covers and inside flaps, students spent a few minutes browsing through the book to develop their first impressions. When time (about 10 minutes) was up, students wrote down observations and made note of whether or not they want to add the book to their wish list.

They rated the book out of 10 and jotted some notes about various things including what they thought of the book, what did the author do to hook them, and so on. It’s a perfect way for kids to nibble on a book and decide if they want to devour the whole thing!

Students rotated through 4 different stations in total. Afterwards, we enjoyed some yummy refreshments!

It was so much fun and we all went away with perhaps a few books we would like to read, maybe even from a genre we have never explored before.

Our next Book Tasting will be sometime before Christmas.

Category: Book Talks, Reading Workshop, Teacher Talk | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 15

Reading is Thinking

What does reading look like in our classroom? What should it look like?

Reading is a very special time in our day. Reading is thinking, afterall. We read to learn and we read for pleasure. We fall in love with our characters, we get to travel to distant lands, and it is fun!

In our class, we’ve talked about 3 types of reading: reading by ourselves, reading with a partner, and reading in groups. When by ourselves, we agree that we should read quietly, save talking for later, and stay in one spot. Many times, we get to pick a spot to read anywhere in the class. Other times, we read at our desk.

There are soooo many benefits to reading such as stress relief, it exercises our brain, increases vocabulary, improves our writing skills, and more! The list goes on and on.

Our first official Book Tasting event is this coming Friday and I get the sense they’re pretty excited. Stay tuned for pictures and a recap of the event.

By the way–parents, if you’re reading this, your child is never too old to have a book read to them. Reading together, no matter how old anyone gets, can be an amazing shared experience. Snuggle up with your child under the covers with a flashlight or on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. Reading is a blast!

What is your favourite place to read if you could pick

anywhere you wanted?

Category: 2019-2020, Reading Workshop | Comments Off on Reading is Thinking
October 12

Turkey Trot and Turkey Bingo

Today, Grade 1-3 students participated in the 2nd annual Turkey Trot which they’ve been practicing for since early September. The Grade 4s did a great job assisting with making the event run smoothly. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. The sun was shining and students were gearing up for their turn to run their 3 laps on the course (1.8 km). The grade 2s did 2 laps and the grade 1s did one lap.  Parents, students, and staff cheered all the students on as they worked hard to make their way to the finish line. Mr. Turkeyrullo even made a special appearance. Can you find him in the video below?

Congratulations to each and every one of you for giving it your all! I am so proud of you and you should be proud of yourself!

In the afternoon, we gathered in the gym for our Turkey Bingo event. A couple of our classmates, Romeo and Julia, won some prizes. We enjoyed playing our 3 Bingo cards. Mr. D and Mrs. Lucier did a great job leading us through the game.

Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones.

Category: 2019-2020, Health & Physical Education | Comments Off on Turkey Trot and Turkey Bingo
October 8

Food Chain Fun

What’s a food chain? How does energy flow from one thing to the next?

A food chain shows us how each living thing gets its food.

A fun game we played together in class today showed us how a food chain works and gave us a chance to make our own food chains in small groups. Give it a try! Click here to try it for yourself. (Make sure Adobe Flash is up to date).

 

Here is some vocabulary we’ve been exploring:

  • producers (make their own food, such as plants)
  • consumers (cannot make their own food, such as animals)
  • decomposers (break down food and eat dead plants and animals, such as bacteria, fungi, worms)
  • herbivores (plant eaters)
  • carnivores (meat eaters)
  • omnivores (both plant and meat eaters)

What type of eater are you?

Here is a short video about food chains and food webs.

 

Category: 2019-2020, Science and Social Studies | Comments Off on Food Chain Fun
October 8

Word Study

In our class, we have started our Word Study program. Based on a diagnostic spelling test each student did in September, 3 different Word Study groups were established. We have one large group and 2 smaller groups, each receiving their own lesson and their own sets of words.

Students are given a new sort each Monday where they learn about different aspects and features of the words they received. Throughout the week, students are asked to complete various activities from their ‘Homework Menu’ to practice using their words in different ways, and on Friday, we will have a spelling assessment.

I encourage you to ask your child to talk about their word study words with you!

Category: 2019-2020, Teacher Talk, Word Study | Comments Off on Word Study
October 6

Orange Shirt Day

Last Friday, students and staff at our school took part in Orange Shirt Day.

 

 

 

Orange Shirt Day is an event that started in 2013. It was designed to educate people and promote awareness about the residential school system and the impact this system had on Indigenous communities for more than a century in Canada, and still does today.

As a class, we discussed what is a residential school, how it affected indigenous communities in Canada (and in other parts of the world), and why it’s important we learn about it.

We read a beautiful picture book called Shi Shi Etko by Nicola I. Campbell. It tells the story of a little girl who is leaving for a residential school in a few days. The book is the lead up to that day. She learns to imprint on her heart and in her memories all of her surroundings, teachings, traditions, and so on.

Check out the story below.

Students decorated and designed their own paper orange t-shirt which is now displayed in our school hallway.

We read about a woman named Phyllis Webstad, a survivor of the residential school system. She also explains why we wear the colour orange.

Listen to her here:

Every child matters.

Category: 2019-2020, Teacher Talk | Comments Off on Orange Shirt Day