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May Long Weekend!!

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Good Morning Everyone!

Let’s make this short and sweet so we can all enjoy this beautiful Saturday!!!

As you know, our Outdoor Classroom day has been postponed until Tuesday, May 22. We all agreed that it would be much more enjoyable to be outdoors when the weather cooperated AND we really did need that rain!

Here is the ‘plan’ for Tuesday (Note: plans are subject to change šŸ˜‰ )

9:00-9:30:Planting with 126

*IF you have not brought in your seeds and Ziploc bag please do so on Tuesday orĀ  you will not have much of a choice of what you plant. I have soil (and some extra seeds and bags if needed)

9:30-10:00: Math with 122. We have a list of things to find and measure!

10:00-10:30: Observation station with 122 & 126

10:30-10:45: Recess

10:45-12:00: Community clean up/walk and choice time with 122 & 126

1:00-1:15: Mediation with 122 & 126

1:15-1:45: French with 122 & 126

1:45-2:15: Music

2:15-2:30: Recess

2:30-3:00: Learning Buddies with 124

3:00-3:30: Choir with 122&126

Please be dressed for the weather, bring a water bottle and if you are able… try to bike or walk to school today!!

I’m really looking forward to this exciting day of outdoor learning šŸ™‚

Also this week…

-We will continue with our plant/soil/environmental inquiry research

I found a Tweet about waste reduction/recycling/compost that put a smile on my face! I can only hope we follow suit!

-We will continue to read Wishtree. This week we had to take a bit of a break from reading when I lost my voice! We will make up for it next week for sure!

-We will continue our focus of editing, printing, handwriting and typing! We are really working on these skills that we use regularly in our lives!

-Book clubs are coming to an end! It is our second last week! Some groups are creating movie trailers to promote their book, some are ready to start the ‘maker’ project, some are finishing their books and some have a few more chapters to read. Once we are ready, we will do a group share and be ready to start some Drama!!

-We will do Genius Hour on Thursday! Please be ready to create/make/present šŸ™‚

*This weekend’s Ask Me question is to comment about something you have done outside this weekend! Leave me an oral or written comment through Seesaw!!Ā BONUS-post something you did that was kind!

*Let’s keep Conscious Kindness going! This includes being kind to yourself! We found these great ideas to try when you are feeling stress in your life. We know these things work, but sometimes we just need a little reminder šŸ™‚

https://twitter.com/TopDogTeaching/status/996519724044480512

Have a great weekend. See you Tuesday!!

Until next time,

Danielle

#GoJetsGo (hopefully not for the last time)

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

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Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters, close friends and anyone who fills a motherly role in your life. I am so lucky to have some of these people around me since my own mom lives in another province. The ladies at work take care of me by giving advice, bringing me homemade treats and even helping take out pesky stains in my clothes. It takes a village to raise a child…even one who is grown up already! We honour, respect and love you…not only today, but EVERYDAY! I hope you all enjoy your homemade gift and can see the thought and care your child has put into making it for you. Enjoy your day! I’m also lucky to be a puppy mama to my fur baby who is so loyal that she lays beside me as I type this blog post!

 

We have a very busy week ahead of us and I hope everyone takes the time to read this and make sure you are “in the know”!

Let’s get started:)

-Monday: I am away in the morning and Ms V will be in. In the afternoon it is our “Rooftop Photo”. An email was sent home asking students to wear Jets clothing or white or blue. We encourage everyone to join in on the theme! It is also game day, so I’ll be wearing a jersey! If you are enjoying wearing Jets gear/white/blue on game days please continue to do so!

-Tuesday: It’s Bike Rodeo day. A pink note was sent home last week giving you details about a bike safety presentation from MPI (see below)

On Tuesday the Destination Imagination (DI) group is presenting their challenge project to the school! We will be going with 122 to see their incredible display of the 4Cs first thing in the morning (9:10). This is also a last effort for fundraising. Students are asked to bring in a donation if possible. Thanks!

-Wednesday: It’s Conscious Kindness Day! On this day the United Way is asking people to pay it forward through random acts ofĀ kindnessĀ to show how compassion for each other in an effort to make healthy communities.

What will you do today?

-Greet people with a good morning or a kind gesture?

-Do something extra (chore, classroom clean up, community clean up, etc.)

-Make someone a card, write a letter, draw a picture?

-Talk or play with someone new or someone you haven’t connected with for awhile?

There are countless ways to be kind. Kindness is free, so everyone can do it! Need some inspiration? Check out this amazing Superhero!

-Thursday: This is our second round of “We Belong Vertical Groups”. On this day the kids from our group (123,124,125 and Nursery) will rotate to another activity and we (the teachers) will do our dance activity with a different group of students.

-Friday: We are becoming an OUTDOOR CLASSROOM today! The students wrote me a letter trying to persuade me to do the all day outdoor class event/plant day combination and they won! Well actually we all win! We did a full day outside last year to celebrate the 30 day challenge and it was great. I am excited to be doing this year’s full day outside with Room 122 and 126!!

Here are some of the planned activities (based on the ideas from the letters)

-Math (we have a scavenger hunt type activity planned)

-Planting (two different stations)

  1. Pumpkins: Each student will take a pumpkin seed home after we plant them at school!
  2. You will plant a seed of your choice! We have talked about this in class and here is what you need to know: Instead of us all planting the same type of seed and watching them grow at school we want the students to each choose something that they are interested in! We will go through the Scientific Method as the seeds grow and learn more about many types of plants instead of just one. *This means that each student will need to bring in the following items BEFORE Friday: a ‘seed’ of their choice. This can be from a package, from a fruit or vegetable (could be part of the vegetable if you want) or from a flower. Please do some research before choosing your seed so you will know if it needs direct sunlight, less sunlight, little water, lots of water, how long it is expected to take to grow, etc. Write down some of these important details (including the name of your plant in your home reading folder) so we can transfer that to our tracking sheets. You will also need to bring in a small Ziploc bag to plant your seed in. We prefer that the bag has been previously used and washed out (but that is not required). We will provide the soil (unless there is something very specific you need!). Students who do not bring in a seed will be given seeds at school, they will just not have as much choice as I will only have a few different types for them to choose from.

-Read to Self/Read to Someone

-Phys Ed (just need to confirm that with Mr Strachan)

-Meditation

-French (just need to confirm that with Madame)

-Community Clean Up (walk through the neighbourhood to pick up trash/recycling). I notice so many straws when I go for my lunchtime walk with Helen….AHHHHH

-Observation Station with your team from 122 and 126

-and…FREE EXPLORATION TIME

How is that for a Friday?! If the forecast looks undesirable we will let families know if our outdoor classroom day will be postponed via Seesaw.

***If you want to spend the day with us please do so! Just let me know, we’d love to have you!!!

 

I think that covers it! I’m looking forward to a really great week!

P.S. Happy Birthday Manitoba!

Until next time,

Danielle

#GoJetsG

 

Cinco De Mayo!!!!!

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Happy Weekend Everyone!

I hope that you find time to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful spring weather this weekend! Let us know what youā€™ve been up to via the Ask Me question on Seesaw or the Home Reading folder!

We have completed the first ten days of our 30 outdoor challenge at school!! Weā€™ve been lucky to have had some gorgeous weather but letā€™s be honest…I think we need some rain to help get the dusty streets and sidewalks under control! Reminder: there is no school on Monday so Day 11 of our outdoor learning will not take place until Tuesday!

Tuesday is also our 3rd running club meeting. As you know, weā€™ve decided to change things up and have run club in the mornings this year (8:10 on Tuesdays and Thursdays). We have had about 40 kids join us so far but would love even more! This run club is about developing/maintaining a healthy lifestyle and getting some fresh air. Being outside before school has actually helped those of us involved get a great start to the day! Itā€™s not too late to join! Students in the run club in grades 4-6 do not have to participate in the Fit Run in June. So if thatā€™s holding you back…donā€™t worry. You can be new to running to join or you can also walk and work your way up to running. Parents: Thank you for joining us! You donā€™t need to commit to coming each session or even each week. You can choose to help supervise, you can walk or you can run. Weā€™ve had at least 5 parents out to each session so far and we really love the community feel that it creates having students, parents, daycare and teachers out together. We hope to see you soon!!!

Hereā€™s a recap of last week at school!

-We finished A Boy Called Bat and have started a new book called The Wishtree. On Friday we actually sat outside our window near a tree which might just become our very own Wishtree! I also finished pre-reading The Wild Robot Escapes and have decided (by request) that it will become our next (and possibly final) read aloud choice. Some students have already chosen to purchase and read their own copy of the book and are aware that there was a chance Iā€™d be reading it to the class. Those students are welcome to bring in their copy and read along with me when the time comes!

-The grade 4 book club was a success. We had 20 kids join us!! I think we have time for one more book… then itā€™ll be summer book club time! We will let the grades 4-6 kids know ASAP about the book choice and the meet/eat/treat time. Grade 3s you will get your chance at a book club in the summer. That one will be open to all students (tell your friends in the other classrooms) šŸ™‚

-Book Clubs with 122 and 126 are going well too! We will finish our books by the end of the month and present a maker piece to the other groups. After that…we will keep this time slot to do some drama!!

-We have been doing a daily edit to help develop editing skills. Each morning the students are greeted by a message on the board. Itā€™s a letter that outlines what is taking place on that day. They get a chance to fix an error before the announcements begin. After the announcements we finish up any corrections as a class until the letter makes sense. The kids love being detectives! Give it a try at home! We are looking for: uppercase letters in the correct spots, punctuation, homophones, contractions and spelling of commonly used words.

Looking for a weekend edit?! Copy this out (be mindful of proper letter formation) and bring it to school on Tuesday. Good luck finding all the errors!

-Multiplication is going pretty well. Some students would benefit from at home practice of skip counting and basic facts. This can be done anywhere and anytime! Out for a walk or in the car or during the intermission of the Jets game…just ask some questions! Example: skip count by 4s to 40, name the doubles facts to 20+20, explain how any factor multiplied by 4 is related to doubles, use flashcards, etc. Throw in some addition/subtraction/compatible numbers too!! This will all help to develop recall and 5 minutes if regular practice can go a long way šŸ™‚

-Our first We Belong Day with our vertical teams was great! We (123,124,125 and PM Nursery) listened to a great story, did some dancing with Mrs. Silk and then wrote down a word that described how dancing made us feel! Next time the kids will change stations and the teachers will repeat the same activity with a new group of students! Great job on remembering to wear clothing that reflected who you are. We loved hearing all the stories about why you chose your outfit šŸ™‚

Whatā€™s happening this week/month?!

-May 17 is Outdoor Classroom Day and May 18 is Planting Day so we are thinking of combining these two themes and spending the day outside (Friday, May 18). Any ideas?! We have some ideas but would love to hear what youā€™re thinking!

-This week we will choose our plant/soil/environment inquiry topic. I will be asking the students to write down their top 5 wonderings and we will go from there!

-We will also continue our research on provinces and territories

-Monday is Day 2 and because there is no school there is also no Genius Hour. Iā€™m thinking about giving the kids time on Friday instead. There are a number of students/groups ready to present their work. So we will make time for that and for a work period as well

-Donā€™t forget to get your book order in if you plan on making an order this month. Iā€™ll be sending that in this week. After that youā€™ll have one more chance to order before summer!

-As many of you already know, Murray is taking a team of Grade 6 students to the Global Finals for Destination Imagination!! If you are interested in supporting this exciting opportunity please visit the GoFundMe page below!

I think thatā€™s all for today! Enjoy your weekend!

#GoJetsGo

Until next time,

Danielle

Happy Earth Day!!

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Hello Everyone!

I’m so excited to be writing this as the sun is shining and the temperature is on its way to 18 degrees! It looks like a perfect day to celebrate Earth Day!

Here is a little recap of the past 2 weeks at school and a glimpse of what to expect this week. I needed a little blogging break last weekend. I had “Winnipeg Jets brain”!

-Our 30 day pledge posters and sign up sheets are on the bulletin boards and people have already started to sign up! The students did a great job creating their posters and we are very excited to make a difference within the Montrose community! The WSD twitter account saw a post I made to spread the word about our action plan and they were inspired by our efforts. They asked if they could post that information on their account!

Take a look!Ā WSD Twitter “moment”

Ā  Ā  Ā 

They also included a few photographs that Murray posted about our inquiry morning last week! Great job Room 123 and Montrose kids šŸ™‚

-The Ask Me question has to do with the calendar that was sent home earlier last week. If you are in Grade 4Ā  you will remember this from last year and if you are in Grade 3 you may have noticed us doing this last year…it is our 2nd Annual 30 Day Outdoor Challenge! The ‘school version’ begins on Monday and the ‘home version’ begins when you see fit! At school we will spend at least 30 minutes per day outside. We will play, read, explore, work, whatever we decide to do! At home you can use the calendar to track what you’ve been up to. If you wish to share photos please do! You can email me or send photographs through Seesaw or Instagram. Have fun šŸ™‚

-The inquiry morning with 122, 126 and Murray was very interesting! We had a lot of objects put out for students to write down their wonderings and things that they noticed. We also had a book browse and a Maker challenge. This will kick off our next inquiry study about plants, soils and the connections to all living things šŸ™‚

The Seesaw reflections that the students did really helped me see the direction they’d like to take the inquiry. Some of the common themes are bees, planting seeds, compost and hybrid fruit. I bet we can come up with some fun ways to learn about these exciting topics šŸ™‚

-We finished The Wild Robot by Peter Brown! It took us 12 school days…that’s pretty amazing! I’m happy to report that the class really enjoyed the book, even those who didn’t like it at the beginning! It is a good reminder that sometimesĀ  you need to keep reading. If you give up on a book too early you might just miss out on something that you could really enjoy! We are currently reading A Boy Called Bat by Elana Arnold. April is Autism Awareness month and we are reading this book to remind us about some of the things Lori shared with us about Autism. It is a great book and I look forward to continuing reading it this week!

-We are almost finished our Time for Times book and we have completed our Mental Math Dictionary. The students are working hard learning their multiplication facts and knowing that if they do not know a fact that they can skip count, start from a fact they do know, turn the fact around (3×9 can be thought of as 9×3 so you only have to double 9 and add one more group).

-We Are Monsters! It is the week of our school musical!! Tomorrow afternoon (Monday) is the dress rehearsal. Students are asked to dress and do their hair as outlined in the emails that have been sent by the costume committee. Jocelyn has also sent a reminder email on Friday! The performance times for Wednesday, April 25 are at 10:00, 1:30 and 7:00. Please wear your outfit and have your hair done on this day too. I have a parent volunteer to help me with make up on Wednesday morning. I’d love a second set of hands if anyone is able to join us. The stage is nearly set and looks great! I cannot wait for the show! Still need tickets? I’m pretty sure the evening show is sold out, but there are tickets available for the morning and afternoon performances šŸ™‚

That’s it for now. I hope you enjoy your Earth Day. I’m headed to the park with Hudson and later I’m going to a special Earth Day Yoga class. I look forward to hearingĀ  how you celebrated!

Until next time,

Danielle

#GoJetsGo

April Snow…Just Has To Go!!

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Hi Everyone!

Iā€™ve heard that April showers bring May flowers, but this April snow just has to go!! Anyone else think weā€™d have more signs of Spring by now? I had this nice picture in my mind that Iā€™d go away for Spring Break and come back to puddles instead of snow hills. Oh well…itā€™ll happen when it happens I guess.

I enjoyed hearing about everyoneā€™s breaks. Whether you went away or relaxed Iā€™m sure it felt great to take a bit of a break. Now that we are back it seems impossible to think that there are less than 3 months before summer break begins. We have so much to learn and discover until then and we arenā€™t wasting any time!!

Here is a recap of last week!

-We started a new book called The Wild Robot (by Peter Brown)

We have mixed reviews about the book so far (we are about 100 pages in). Some kids are really enjoying it, some are waiting to get ā€œhookedā€, some have expressed that it isnā€™t their favourite. Iā€™m so glad that kids are comfortable enough to share their true feelings. I am not offended nor do I take it personally if kids donā€™t love the books I choose to read to them. Iā€™d love for every kid to fall in love with every book I read and recommend, BUT it just isnā€™t realistic. I do put a lot of thought into what I choose to read and the kids totally understand why I chose this one. Have them share whatā€™s happening so far!!

-The grade 4 Book Club is in full swing. If you are having difficulty finding a copy of


please let me know and Iā€™ll see what I can to do help. I think Iā€™ve had a chance to reach out to all the kids from 123, but I know students from other classes were having some trouble finding a copy. We have 21 kids on our book club list! This is more than expected…so there is a bit of a book shortage in the city! Reminder: we meet once, on April 30, at lunch, to meet/eat and discuss the book!!

-Book Clubs with 122 and 126: This is part of the Ask Me question for this week (posted on Seesaw). We have 73 students split into 12 groups that are led by 6 adults! The students seem to be excited about doing these book clubs and let me tell you…I am too! We meet for an hour on Days 1 and 3, then can use a half hour on Day 5s as a work/ā€˜ketchupā€™ time. Ask your child about the book they are reading, who is in their group and who their book club leader is, etc. We will meet until the end of May and this will replace our WTW sessions. Therefore there wonā€™t be spelling words coming home on a regular basis anymore. We will be doing spelling in other formats for the rest of the year.

-Multiplication Fun: Weā€™ve been having some fun with multiplication this week. Some of the work weā€™ve been doing includes crack the code puzzles, games and creating our own ā€œcolour by numberā€ sheets (multiplication version). Itā€™s a fun way to learn basic facts and students can work on facts at different paces and challenge themselves as they are ready. 2 digit multiplication will be next for those students who are ready. (Below is an example of the type of puzzle we’ve been doing, but is different from the actual puzzles we’ve been solving. It is one that I found onlineĀ  fromĀ https://www.math-salamanders.com/).

-Earth Day Inquiry: I shop a clothing line called 10 Tree (Disclaimer: this is by no means an endorsement for 10 Tree) and was sent an email about an Earth Day initiative. The email was a really neat idea that I wanted to share with the kids. Turns out they liked it too. Iā€™d like to share it with you as well because it serves as the inspiration for our next inquiry project. We are in the planning stage but hope to have our newest (interactive) bulletin board up and running soon!! We plan on using the following ideas (AND 8 more of our own) to inspire our school community to make a pledge and make a change for 30 days! We have been talking a lot about changes weā€™d like to see and how we also need businesses to make initiatives to help people to become more aware. #BeTheChangeYouWishToSeeInTheWorld

Ten Tree Pledge

-The Twitter!: I had many things to share via Twitter with the kids. We had a great time scrolling through my ā€œlikesā€ and seeing what happened around the Twitter world while we were on Spring Break!

-Book order was sent in on Friday and should arrive next week

Whatā€™s Coming Up Next!

-I am away on Monday morning for PD (but will still be in the building). We have a substitute who is new to the school and I expect to hear lovely things from her upon my return. Please show her a warm Montrose welcome šŸ™‚ #BAM

-Swimming lessons for Grade 4s start on Wednesday. The kids are divided into two groups. Half of our class is going with 122 in the first session and the other half is going with 123 in the second session. The first group will eat lunch a per usual and the second group will eat lunch when they return. Please send your child to school with everything they will need for the pool. As for the grade 3s…we will think of something fun to do 😉

-We will try again with Genius Hour this week (also on Wednesday). Last week we had some challenges with remembering how to be active listeners and how to demonstrate expected behaviours. I look forward to seeing a positive change this week 😊

-Book Clubs will happen on Tuesday and Thursday morning (9:30-10:30)

 

-In the next few months we have a LOT of birthdays coming up. Iā€™d just like to remind families of allergies that we have in the class and in the school. Please be mindful of kids with allergies as you decide if youā€™d like to bring in a treat to celebrate a birthday. We want all students to be able to take part in all class activities and student safety is our top priority. Bringing a birthday treat is not mandatory and many students do not bring in anything at all, so please do not feel like you have to send something in. Weā€™ve also been talking a lot about products that have extra (wasteful) packaging and therefore we are encouraging families to consider this before providing a snack. We are challenging families to send in snacks that contribute as little waste as possible (which also relates to snacks with the most Heath benefits…fruit, vegetables, etc.). Thanks for your cooperation!

-Whiteout!!! Letā€™s support our Winnipeg Jets and wear white during the playoffs! Whether you are a hockey fan or not, you might feel yourself getting into the spirit that the community the Jets brings to our city. #GoJetsGo

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Until next time,

Danielle

Oh Deer!

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Hi!

I just had to share my view from my dining room window… (as well as get my Cherry WTW group to think about homophones!)

I ended up with 7 of them in the yard! Itā€™s a nice view and reminds me of how serene it is out here BUT at the same tone I need to remember that too many deer can mean the addition of a scary predator! About two weeks ago a coyote ran through the yard! That was the first time a coyote has been in the yard (that I know of)…and hopefully the last! Studying animals and their habitats has me thinking about things differently. There is a reason that coyote was in the yard. Does it have something to do with a high deer population so close to the city, are they becoming less afraid of human activity, has there been a habitat loss and the coyotes are on the move?! Iā€™m always on the search for tweets, photographs, cool facts, news stories, connections, human impact stories to share with the class. It is my hope that these types of conversations are happening in your homeĀ  as well šŸ™‚

Here is a recap of last week at school…

-We spent an hour each day working in our Literacy Circle/Ecosystem groups with 122. Ask your child whatā€™s he or she is studying and what they have learned so far! We will spend the next week finishing the book as well as the independent projects that go along with it. We have a fun art activity planned once we finish learning about the ecosystems!

-We still have about 7 more Green Screen projects to record and post. Thanks for your patience. We WILL get them all finished!

-We made it outside twice this week for gym class! It has been so beautiful and I love it so Iā€™m crossing my fingers this forecast of a storm is incorrect…or perhaps it will miss us!

-We watched some videos and discussed multiplication and why we would make the change from addition to multiplication. Donā€™t worry if this is new for you. We will be doing lots of practice! I recommend listening to the Multiplication Mash Up that I posted to Seesaw the other day!

-We talked about Canadaā€™s North in relation to art, culture, language, animals, climate, food, population, the creation of Nunavut and more! I love that we understand that people live in the North (despite the cold, the high cost of groceries, long and dark winters, the distance to large cities, etc.) because of culture and language. The culture of Canadaā€™s North is unique, interesting and important. These are things that make people feel at home. It is important to pass on stories and traditions to keep culture alive. I have yet to travel anywhere in Northern Canada… but one day I will get there!

-Wednesday was Pink Shirt Day (Manitoba participates in two Pink Shirt campaigns each year). Kindness Matters. You Matter. We ALL Matter!

 

-Weā€™ve had two Genius Hour presentations and they were both great! It sounds like more students are ready to present on Friday (our next Day 2)

We were treated to some amazing movies!!!

A working clock!!! How ā€œtime-lyā€ since weā€™ve been working on telling time!!

-MTYP performed The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Montrose! Itā€™s so incredible that they can perform such detailed plays with only a few props, costumes and actors. Job well done MTYP!

The Library has new furniture! As our Library transitions to a Centre for Inquiry and Innovation you will begin to notice some changes! The new furniture arrived on Thursday and needs to last a long time. We talked about what we need to do as a school to care for this new equipment and use it as it is intended to be used!

-Ask me this weekend is to do another food log. This time we will try and follow the guidelines set out by Canadaā€™s Food Guide. Choose one day (Saturday or Sunday) and eat well! Afterward, write a response in your Home Reading folder about this experience. I look forward to eating well and comparing the experience with everyone on Monday!

Link to Health Canada

Whatā€™s coming up next week?

-More Literacy Circles with 122 (all week, an hour a day)

-Yoga and Library on Monday!

-Thursday, March 8 is International Womenā€™s Day. Something we will chat about šŸ™‚

-Book orders are due this week

-Friday is Genius Hour (come prepared to work on your project)

-We will also start to prepare for Student Led Conferences…no hints quite yet šŸ˜‰

-If the weather cooperates we will continue to go outside for gym on Days 2 and 6 (if not more!)

One last thing I wanted to share with you…

I came across these stats online (Jane Bairdā€™s Twitter account @janebaird123) and wanted to talk to the kids about it.

I read to the kids daily (unless there is a conflict in schedule) and as Iā€™ve said before…it is my FAVOURITE time with them. I can read books that are more challenging because we take the time to learn new vocabulary, to explain concepts, to make connections, etc. I get to model accuracy, how to self correct, fluency and expression. We have discussions that demonstrate comprehension. The kids learn from each otherā€™s predictions, questions and wonderings. I let the kids relax. They donā€™t have to sit if they donā€™t want to. I want them to be comfortable, itā€™s how I like to be when I read. If you arenā€™t reading to your kids, I suggest you give it a try. They arenā€™t too old. They love it! They want you to read to them (I asked and there were many hands up!). Take turns reading or model reading like we do in school. Read a favourite you had as a child or find a new favourite together. There are so many impacts from reading (writing, vocabulary, spelling to name a few). If you arenā€™t already doing so…make time for daily reading šŸ™‚

Have a great weekend and GoJetsGo!

Until next time,

Danielle

 

 

Jam Packed ā€œHalf Weekā€!

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Hello Everybody!

I’ve decided that this week was more like a half week! Let me explain that! No school on Monday, half the class absent on Tuesday and Wednesday, Winter Fun Day all afternoon on Thursday and a pretty regular Friday! I think if you add that up it left us with a ā€œhalf weekā€! Donā€™t get me wrong…that time we had together was very well spent!

Letā€™s Recap!

-Green screen projects are about 2/3s completed and weā€™ve posted the finished projects on Seesaw. I love the parent comments!! If your child doesnā€™t have a video posted yet, it is likely because he or she was absent at some point of the week or we simply ran out of time. Donā€™t worry…more are coming! Thanks to the students who have taken on this leadership role. Your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated!

-Research projects on our animal/habitats is going really well. I think we could use one more day of research and then can start writing about our animals and where they live!

-We have found some really great tweets about animals, habitats, adaptations, human impact (positive and negative) and natural disasters. Itā€™s my hope that your child shares some of this information with you at home!

-WTW was a bust this week! We cancelled on Tuesday since 25/73 students were missing (and a teacher and an EA!) and on Thursday it was Winter Fun Day. Tests will happen on Monday…for sure! Please review the words since it has been awhile!

-Grade 3s started their Mental Math Dictionaries. Ask your child what it means to ā€œUse 10 as a Referent when Estimatingā€

-We are making progress with telling time! Please continue to practice at home. Ask your child what time it is and how many minutes until the next hour. It will help them build confidence with telling time and it only takes a few seconds!

-It was Support Staff Appreciation Day at Montrose! We are so fortunate to have an amazing team of clerks, EAs and custodians. Room 123 kids each made a personalized card for each of the support staff to thank them for their hard work. A kind word can go such a long way šŸ™‚

-We had a lot of fun learning how to read nutrition labels. The kids are learning what those labels mean and I wouldnā€™t be surprised if they start looking at everything in your cupboard or tell you when something is healthy/unhealthy! They may even want to measure their portions out! Please let it happen if you can šŸ™‚ Iā€™ve compiled what we learned and what we brainstormed with Anna a few weeks ago and put it up as the beginning of a new bulletin board!

-This is a nice lead in for the Ask Me question (as also posted on Seesaw). This weekā€™s question asks students to keep a food journal (either Saturday or Sunday). Write down all food that is eaten for the day and record it in the Home Reading folder. Donā€™t ā€œfake itā€ and just eat super healthy to impress the teacher šŸ˜‰ Be honest! We are going to do an activity with this information next week!

-Thanks to everyone who helped create our Olympic themed bulletin board AND to everyone who stopped by to take a look. This has been one of our most successful boards to date! I noticed so many students, staff and parents check it out and talk to each other about Canadaā€™s performance at the Olympics!

Letā€™s see how many more medals we can get this weekend! Let’s shatter our previous record count!

Some things weā€™ve learned through the 2018 Olympics:

-How Canada is viewed by other countries

-How the media plays a role in how we receive and interpret information

-How much Math there is in sports! Some of us got very good at reading and understanding decimals as we watched replays of bobsledding, skiing, figure skating, etc.

#GoCanadaGo

Here is the plan for next week…

-Helen and I have planned another round of literature circles for the students. It will run similar to what we did with Rocks and Minerals, but this time it will be about habitats/ecosystems. We will have mixed groups with 122. When you arenā€™t working with your adult (Helen, Ginny or myself) you will be doing some fun activities with your group members (including ā€œWhat if you had…animalā€ art, food chains and ecosystem posters). This will run from Monday to Friday!

-We couldnā€™t read Magic Misfits with so many of our friends missing…so if you were away donā€™t worry…you havenā€™t missed any of the book! We will pick up where we left off next week!

-We will continue our healthy lifestyle inquiry next week as well. I wonder see where itā€™ll lead us?! One thing for sure is we have discovered a great math connection (that was very evident when looking at portion size). Reading the labels has helped us with fractions, decimals, repeated addition, multiplication, division and percentages! I love making math connections to our everyday lives šŸ™‚

– We will look at some more Inuit culture and language next week and look at this resource I found on Twitter. We will also look more closely at the map of Canada and what is considered Canada’s North.

Inuktut Language Month

-Genius Hour will take place next Thursday (March 1st). Please be prepared to work on your project.

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the beautiful weather (that has been forecasted anyway)…and #GoJetsGo!

Until next time,

Danielle

Louis Riel Weekend!!

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Hi Everyone!

Iā€™m not sure about you…but after such a busy week Iā€™m super excited itā€™s the long weekend! I hope you all have a chance to relax and spend some time outdoors. Thatā€™s my plan anyway!!! Oh…and read. I just started a new book and Iā€™d love to finish it this weekend!!!

Here is a recap of our busiest week yet!!

-Genius Hour is still going strong. Some students are almost ready to present their first project! As students finish their projects they will share and start a new inquiry! The next Genius Hour work period will be on Wednesday. Please come prepared to work!!

-The Circle of Life performance was truly amazing. I hope that those of you were able to attend enjoyed it as much as we did. Seeing things come together was such a neat experience. Now I know what 1000 kids on stage looks like! Thanks to Ms V for all her hard work. She did an awesome job teaching us 17 songs with coordinating actions. That is quite a feat!!! Iā€™m also pleased to report that your children were fantastic Montrose ambassadors. They did everything we asked of them and more! Great job remembering to arrive early, wear the black shirts, hair up and pack a lunch!!!! #BAM

-We had a fun, yet relaxed Valentineā€™s Day! The students came up with so me pretty fun valentine holders and showcased the 4Cs as they created and executed their plans! We made kindness cards for each other, exchanged cards and had a few treats. I opted out of giving traditional cards and put up a picture of a heart I found in nature and wondered what the reaction would be…to my surprise the class told me I brought enough joy to them and they didnā€™t need a card. How sweet! Iā€™ll take it šŸ˜‰ !!! A few students chose to make their own homemade cards and some wrote their name in handwriting. Good job everyone!

-Winter Fun Day was postponed again. The weather hasnā€™t been kind to us šŸ™Ā  Iā€™ve heard it might be this upcoming Thursday and will confirm that later on this week.

-Art with 122: The art looks amazing. Anyone who has missed or not completed a task will have a ā€œmake up dayā€ sometime very soon!

-The green screen project with Murray is…what should we say…a work in progress! We have 3 videos completed BUT we have a few students who know how to create these mini movies (which contain the love letters to our favourite food) and they will work with all the other students to finish those up next week! These will be posted to Seesaw…you are in for quite a treat!

-We are about 70 pages into the Magic Misfits. The kids seem to like it so far and we hope to read more next week!

-The Ask Me question is posted on Seesaw. Iā€™ve attached the blog link again so you can access this easily and get some ideas. Basically the kids and I thought that after a busy week it was fitting to write our Top 3 Things About the Week! Please write the responses in the Home Reading folder!! Speaking of which…no luck in bringing the Home Reading folders more regularly in February šŸ™ Sometimes I donā€™t see folders for weeks and weeks. I like to know what the kids are reading at home so I can make suggestions for reading material, have them make reading suggestions to other kids, see if regular reading is happening and the folder is a great tool for taking notes back and forth between home and school. Itā€™s a communication tool that helps keep things organized. Letā€™s put forth a better effort in using our folders for these purposes. Also, if you havenā€™t Ā updated your monthly reading graphs please do so. Itā€™s much, much, much easier to record the monthly reading IF we are current with the daily recording. Please remember that the students are more than capable of recording their own data and being responsible for bringing the folders daily.

Whatā€™s Up for Next Week?!

-No school on Monday (Happy Louis Riel Day)!!

-Tuesday: Students in Helen and Ms Solomonā€™s WTW groups have spelling tests. They were asked to transfer their words this week and in case they have forgotten I have attached the word lists to Seesaw. The cherry group has a test on Thursday (unless there is Winter Fun Day) and the word lois has also been sent via Seesaw. The actual list and instructions of how the test will be done will be sent home Tuesday.

-Math: Some students have brought home some subtraction work to complete or correct. Grade 4s are to do any 15 questions per page of the subtraction and Grade 3s are asked to do 8 questions per page! Please have the books ready to hand in on Tuesday!!

-Time! We talked about what we know about time and here is what we came up with…

Some students are able to tell time easily and some cannot yet read the clock. Check in with your child this weekend to see what your child knows about time! It seemed like a good ā€œtimeā€ to bring my this up since the Olympics are on and we need to know what time it in in Korea!!

Here are a few flashcards and a new magnetic clock we have at school to help learn how to tell time (not to be confused with ā€˜timesā€™ which is actually known as multiplication;)

-The grade 3s will start working in their Mental Math Dictionaries and start to do multiplication this week. So far we know that multiplication is repeated addition. It is easier to learn how to think of numbers in groups than it is to skip count. It is also time saving AND sometimes in math we look for shortcuts and get to be ā€œlazyā€! Choosing to multiply instead of skip counting and doing repeated addition is one of those opportunities!! Being able to skip count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s will be very helpful for now. Need some practice at that? Spend a few minutes each day skip counting on paper or orally!

-The grade 4s will continue to work in their Mental Math Dictionaries with Helen. They will also review subtraction and work through some reminders for multiplication before they jump into some new concepts.

-For health we are ready to talk about the food groups and learn to read nutritional labels. Please send in any labels you can so we have an assortment to choose from. We will talk about calories, vitamins, serving size, etc. We will also talk about what kind of nutrition athletes need in order to train and compete!

-On Tuesday we will have some time in the lab to do some research for our animal/habitat projects. IF you have your recording sheet at home please bring it back to school. Throughout the week weā€™ve seen some cool tweets about animals and the impact humans have on their life. Iā€™m attaching a link that Helen found that has some good information on many different animals! Feel free to check it out!

http://www.arkive.org/

Thatā€™s it for now!!! Have an excellent weekend!

#GoJetsGo

Until next time,

Danielle

 

Welcome February!!!

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February already AND I hear there are 6 more weeks of Winter?! If the next 6 weeks go as quickly as the last 6…itā€™ll be melted snow and green grass in no time!

Here is a recap of our shortened week!

-The letters the kids wrote to Austin were really great! Iā€™m sure heā€™s going to be inspired to create even more amazing inventions. I love how the students are starting to see themselves as writers and are able express themselves through the written word

-The last of the addition Math practice was given to the students last Monday (January 29). Iā€™ve written each student a note saying which pages they need to complete by Monday, February 5. We had some time at school to work on the remaining pages and many of the students have already handed their completed work in, while others have chosen to finish on the weekend. If your child does not have any math work with them at home, it should be in my possession, ready to be checked by me! I wanted to give the students lots of time to complete the work and for them to have the responsibility for completing the work by the due date. We have also worked through subtraction with regrouping and practiced our basic facts to help build recall. I urge you to use flashcards for a few minutes each day to develop recall. We watched a new Math Antics video. This one was about polygons! Ask your child what a polygon is!

-We finished Pax!! It was a tear jerker but also a bonding experience for us as a class. I know we are always hoping for a happy ending, but I think Pax ended as it should have. It was happy in its own way. The book also taught us about character development and maybe a little about ourselves!

-We are about half way through Shout Out To The Fitzgerald-Trouts! Itā€™s pretty cool having this sneak peek. I think weā€™ve found 4 mistakes so far! Estaā€™s message about editing was pretty valuable. Itā€™s like being detectives as we read these first few chapters!

-The art weā€™ve done so far is quite beautiful…see for yourself!

-Wednesday was #BellLetsTalk day! We had some important messages to share with each other, the school an the world!

We were very excited to hear that almost $7 million was raised this year and almost $100 million raised to date. Letā€™s keep talking and listening each day and let everyone know that they matter šŸ™‚

-We got to touch a polar bear skin!!! How cool is that?!

-The Ask Me Question was posted on Seesaw and is to be answered in the Home Reading folder! Itā€™s is all about celebrating reading and coincides perfectly with World Read Aloud day and I Love to Read month! Itā€™s also a good opportunity for the students to practice their oral reading skills and for parents to hear the growth in accuracy, fluency and expression that their child has made. I read some of The Fitzgerald-Trouts without stopping at punctuation and then when only stopping at the end of a line, not at punctuation and then lastly without expression! Let me tell you…it was NOT a hit with my audience. Practice, practice, practice! Take turns reading to each other. It might just be the favourite part of your day too šŸ™‚

-Animal/Habitat inquiry topics have been decided! All students who brought in their top 5 choices were given an animal that they were interested in. Students who didnā€™t submit any choices have been given a topic and if there are any concerns will have to make arrangements to speak with me. We tried to cover animals from a variety of animal types who live in a variety of habitats.

Upcoming plans!

-We will finish the Fitzgerald-Trouts and begin our next reading adventure…

Itā€™s a great story about belonging…with a little bit of magic!

-Art round #2 starts on Monday! The grade 3s will work with me and the grade 4s will work with Helen! We will learn about the artists and practice their style and the following week we will create our final products!

-Anna (our student teacher) is going to be doing a lesson with us to kick off our next health unit. Weā€™ve talked about a healthy mind for months and I think the students have learned some great strategies to help them cope with anxiety, fear and stress that we experience in our daily lives. We will continue to practice mindfulness each day at 1:00. Mindfulness is called a practice because we need to work on mindfulness just as we would work on skating or math. Some of the kids have asked about the app I use in class. Here it is as an FYI!

The plan is to link having a healthy lifestyle to the Olympics! We can compare what we need for optimal health to that of an athlete! This week we will work on creating a bulletin board to track Canadaā€™s successes inĀ Pyeongchang! #LetsGoCanada

-We will begin our animal inquiry project research in the lab and see where it takes us. Thatā€™s the beauty of inquiry. Itā€™s not all planned out…the direction is influenced based on the interest of the students šŸ™‚

-There is no Day 2 this week so therefore there will not be a Genius Hour work period until Monday, February 12th

– Words Their Way (WTW)…students are responsible for bringing home their words after their WTW leader tells them they are finished with the sort. Then they are told when the test day is. It was a coincidence that all groups had a test on the same day last week. Words are sent home as each group completes their tasks. We will try our best to also post words in Seesaw, but ultimately the students are responsible for transferring their words to the Home Reading folders to take home and practice before the test šŸ™‚

-Book orders for February are due on Friday, February 9. It is also Winter Fun Day on Friday afternoon. As we receive more information we will let you know! Thank you for returning the Circle of Life permission slips and for returning tickets if you are not able to attend the evening performance. Itā€™s almost show time!!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!!!l

Until next time,

Danielle

All that AND a trip to the zoo!!

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Happy Weekend Everyone!!!

Whew! That week zipped right by! We didnā€™t even have time to post on Seesaw!! Next week we better get on that!

Here is your weekly recap!

-No school on Monday meant teacher learning time! If youā€™ve seen our Instagram posts you may have noticed some Chatter Pix photos. We figured out how to use that app as well as a green screen app. Fun things to come!

-We have been working away on our Northern artists project. Each student has learned about two artists and their style of work. On Tuesday we will produce an art piece inspired by what weā€™ve learned so far!

-We have finished our research on the white-tailed deer and have decided on some categories for our own personal inquiry. These kids are excited to get started on that! Choosing their animal is part of this weekā€™s Ask Me question. The kids were asked to name their Top 5 choices and say why theyā€™ve chosen those animals. The Ask Me question was posted on Seesaw as a general post to all students and should be answered in the Home Reading folders.

-Zoo field trip!!!! What a great day! I know itā€™s lots of walking (I heard some chatter about that) BUT how lucky are we to have a gorgeous day to be outside…in January…in Winnipeg?!! I really loved doing the program. Our guide, Bran, was very knowledgeable and gave us great tips, facts and inside scoops about the Arctic animals at the zoo. Iā€™m glad we decided to change it up and allow the kids to choose the program that was most interesting to them. It gave them voice and choice and now we have ā€˜expertsā€™ from all 3 programs in each class!

What are your favourite animals to learn about?!

-Circle of Life Performance: Notes/Tickets went home on Thursday and we are asking that permission slips are returned on Monday. Please read the note thoroughly as there is a lot of information! Our rehearsals have been going well and it is going to be a spectacular event!

-We are almost done reading Pax! There is a lot to talk about and I am really proud of the connections that the kids have been making between the book and world around them.

I loved hearing the kids calling the fox from the zoo Pax! (I was doing it too!!!)

-We heard from Esta Spalding!!!!

We are starting to read our sneak peek on Monday!!!! Seriously…this is THE coolest!

Looking ahead…

-Read aloud, read a lot….because we CANNOT wait to finish Pax and our special sneak peek of the Fitzgerald-Trouts!

-Subtraction city! That is our focus for the next few weeks before we move to multiplication.! We’ve done lots of hands on practice and are ready to put those skills into practice. Don’t forget to practice those basic facts (for addition and subtraction) if you need to! Just a few minutes a day can make a big difference! I am marking the rest of the addition practice this weekend. IF your child needs more practice I will indicate that on their booklet so you know and there will be more practice pages for them to do at home.

-Tuesday afternoon is ART day! The grade 3s will be doing some painting, so please wear clothing that is “art appropriate”!

-We are writing letters to Austin (a former student who shared his passion for “making” with us). It was so motivating to have a talented, young student share his ‘inventions’ with us! I’m sure he will be excited to hear our responses!

-Wednesday is Bell Let’s Talk Day and we will be doing some extra mindfulness practices together. It also Outdoor Education day so please dress for the weather!

-On Thursday we will do Genius Hour (because there is no school on Friday, which is our regular Genius Hour time). If your child is bringing anything from home that I should hold onto for them please talk to them about it about making sure that I have that for safe keeping.

-We will try our best to get our monthly Seesaw posts in! It’s nice to have the reading and writing samples each month to set goals and see our progress throughout the year šŸ™‚

-Mr. Stefaniuk wanted to know if we were doing Global School Play Day! The answer is Y.E.S!!! I’ve registered our class and we will make a plan sometime next week. February 7th is a Day 5 in the school cycle. The kids should start thinking about the things they’d like to so on that day (outside? Genius Hour? games? choice time? I’m open to suggestions!)

Have a great weekend!

Until next time,

Danielle