Monday, November 2

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today! In the morning, we had a long work period to finish up work from last week. Then, the students added a written explanation to their 'water safety and care' comics from last week. I don't know if I even mentioned those in the blog. But basically, the students made comics to capture various points from our discussions around safety and care for bodies of water. 

In math, we started working on the standard algorithm for subtraction. As we work through the steps, I'm making a point of reminding the students of how these same steps would play out with the stamp game.

We went over the -ir words for spelling this week. Last week's quiz was the best one we've had so far this year, so please keep studying at home, its making a huge difference!

In the afternoon, we played Halloween Trivia, after learning about the history of Halloween. This was meant to happen last week but sadly we didn't have time. It was just as fun today.

We also met up with our buddy class and did some quick buddy activities. 

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Nov. 1)

 Spelling List A (Oct. 30 – Nov. 6)

sir	firm	girl	bird	dirt
stir	hurt	far	her	corn

 

Spelling List B (Oct. 30 – Nov. 6)

first	shirt	dirty	swirl	chirp
skirt	burst	were	shark	worn

 

Spelling List C (Oct. 30 – Nov. 6)

thirty	circle	circus	thirst	confirm
twirl	purple	person	aren’t	worms

This is a pretty challenging week for spelling as the -ir words are all pretty uncommon. I intentionally stayed away from the -ire sounding words (fire, virus, etc.) as there will be a whole other list on those later in the year. Good luck!

Wednesday, October 28

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. In the morning, the students used their 'Wilbur Webs' from last week to help them write paragraphs about their favourite pig. We had our first official 'paragraph writing' lesson today, and talked about how a paragraph is a collection of sentences on a single topic, and how a good paragraph features variety in sentence structure.

In Math, we did more work with the Stamp Game. I'm really happy with how these lessons have been going. Slowly but surely the kids are getting the hang of subtraction with regrouping!

In the afternoon, we built on our lessons on 'bodies of water' from a couple weeks ago, and talked about how to preserve and protect bodies of water, as well as how to be safe around them, both in Winter and Summer. The students filled posters with their ideas, and then we went over them as a class.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Monday, October 26

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. Of course the highlight was the walking field trip to Fish Creek Library. The kids loved browsing the massive selection of children's books and checking out books for themselves. They also enjoyed listening to a choose-your-own-adventure read-aloud and learning about the many programs the library offers.

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, Music, and Spelling. We talked about this week's words, focused on the -ur sound, and the students worked on their Art Cards.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Oct. 25)

 Spelling List A (Oct. 16 – 23)

turn	surf	burn	curl	blur
fur	hurt	ever	star	more

 

Spelling List B (Oct.  16 – 23)

burnt	sure	urge	bury	lurking
murky	burst	after	party	sports

 

Spelling List C (Oct. 16 – 23)

burden	absurd	rural	urban	purple
luxury	returned	suffer	scary	chord

We're keeping with the trend of r-controlled vowels, and this week's words are focused on -ur.

There are also three review words, now shaded for your convenience!

Good luck!

Friday, October 23

 Hi parents,

It was great getting to talk with you all this week! Sorry for the lack of Blog posts. 

We've been doing a lot of art this week. Many kids were able to finish their art card artwork today, and many more will finish early next week I'm sure. Here are a couple finished ones:

As you can see they're a little all over the place, which I think makes them great cards for any occasion. 

The Work Period wall was once again full this week, and today the students had a ton of time to finish up things from earlier in the week.

We also did our spelling quiz. I'm not done marking them all yet.

Our Walking Field Trip is on Monday! Please ensure your child is dressed for a chilly walk, and also send them with their library card, if they have one.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, October 21

 Hi parents,

We've had a pretty good week so far. It's been very art-centred.

The students have been working on watercolour lions with colourful manes. I'm hoping we can use them for Art Cards! This activity has also been a good way to practice blending paints, and using the bristles of a paintbrush to create hair-like textures.

In Math, we've been talking about fractions, and how fractions can apply to groups of objects rather than just a singular object (for example a pizza) being divided up. For example, the students in Room 3 are all 'whole', but if you look at the class as the whole, then the students all become fractions of it. Today we had 24/26 kids in class.

In the afternoon we did Daily LA. We also started a second art project, kind of an Art Cards backup plan, in which the students zoomed way in on a flower and focused on sketching and shaded carefully to illustrate the different textures and colours.

For writing, we've been doing "Same Topic" Spelling Sentences. This helps to build paragraph writing skills, by connecting each sentence to one main topic. 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Halloween Parade

 

Spelling Words (Week of Oct. 18)

 Spelling List A (Oct. 16 – 23)

germs	over	very	ever	term
herd	verb	fern	barn	corn

 

Spelling List B (Oct.  16 – 23)

perk	were	order	after	water
enter	river	later	sharpen	short

 

Spelling List C (Oct. 16 – 23)

anger	opera	boxer	sewers	person
mother	Germany	suffer	snarled	force

Here are the spelling words for this week. The theme is '-er'. I've included a couple review words from the previous two weeks too!

Good luck!

Friday, October 16

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today, and it was pretty much all work time.

The students got a lot accomplished for sure. We also did some reading with our buddy class, and visited the book fair.

Please let me know if you're interested in volunteering for our walking field trip on October 26! Also, let me know if you need help booking a conference - the first day of conferences is on Monday!

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

Thursday, October 15

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today!

In the morning, we reviewed fractions in math. Students were tasked with dividing different 2-D shapes into equal quarters. This was hard with triangles but they eventually figured it out. I bet they could show you!

For Printing Practice, we discussed proper nouns and practiced the capital letters C, D, and E.

In French, we learned the names of family members. 

In the afternoon, we used the Montessori Bodies of Water Material to help with sketching and labelling different types of water bodies, using academic vocabulary. The students are doing an excellent job of this, and the room stayed quiet the whole time - always a good sign that they're focused and enjoying the work.

Walking Field Trip - Fish Creek Library - October 26 (Volunteers Wanted!)

We will be going on. a walking field trip to Fish Creek Library the morning of October 26. More information will be sent out tomorrow or early next week, but if you're interested in volunteering, please let me know! Its a free field trip, similar to what we did last year.

The spelling quiz on -ar is tomorrow! 

Have a nice night,

Zac