Tuesday, November 10

 Hi parents,

We had a really good day today. I was so impressed by how respectful the students were during the Remembrance ceremony. 

We finished watching Charlotte's Web, and then had a great discussion about the differences between the movie and the book.

After the Remembrance Day assembly, we talked about ways to be thankful throughout the day, and week, for the veterans. The students wrote and drew pictures of times in their days when they would make a point of remembering soldiers and feeling gratitude for the peaceful and happy lives we live.

We listened to 'Ridin' With Private Malone' and had a good conversation about that too.

Most of the rest of the day was dedicated to work period. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Fall break!

Zac

Monday, November 9

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. The students did their good copies for the Simile Writing we did last week with Ms. Philippi. They're turning out really nice.

Of course the highlight of the day was watching the Charlotte's Web movie. It's actually quite good, the cast is star-studded. The kids were laughing out loud and quick to notice any time the plot deviated from the book.

Tomorrow is our school's Remembrance Day assembly. We will be talking about and doing work centred around remembering and honouring veterans. Please talk with your child at home too about this important topic - conversations are often the most powerful way to teach about it.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Nov. 6 - 20)

 Spelling List A (Nov. 6 – 20)

year	team	each	hear	deal
weaker	heat	arms	term	orb

 

Spelling List B (Nov. 6 – 20)

peaches	treats	dreaming	teacher	steam
least	cheap	stir	farmer	north

 

Spelling List C (Nov. 6 – 20)

leaves	beaches	wheat	reached	nearly
defeat	reveal	purple	stared	shorter

Next week is a two day week, so these words will carry over into the one after that too. We're starting to turn our attention to 'vowel teams', and 'ea' is one of the most common ones. I have included just three review words on each list to keep the main -r controlled vowel concepts relevant.

Good luck!

Friday, November 6

 Hi parents,

We had another great day today. In honour of our new novel study, Pocket Bear, the students shared and wrote about their stuffed animals' stories and origins. It was really cool to hear about some of the older ones that belonged to parents or grandparents previously.

For Art, we did some sketching about the story Jeff Stockton shared with us yesterday.  The students were so immersed. The room was silent for a long time while everyone drew.

The spelling quizzes are about half-marked. So far they've been quite good!

This week we had four employees of the week. I was happy to see students taking their classroom jobs so seriously.

Next week will be the busiest two day week ever. Along with learning about Remembrance Day, we will be watching the Charlotte's Web movie!

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

Thursday, November 5

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. The highlight was probably that we met with Jeff Stockton, who will be working with our school this year with a focus on expressive storytelling. Jeff is an expert storyteller, and captivated the students today with riveting stories accompanied by beautiful harp playing.

In Writing, Ms. Philippi read the class the book 'Eyes That Kiss in the Corners'. The students learned about similes, and came up with ideas for their own uplifting similes about themselves and their families.

We did a long and challenging math check-in. It forced the students to apply their knowledge of addition, subtraction, and place value in new ways.

Tomorrow is a PJ Day and Stuffy Day. I have asked the students to bring in a stuffed animal with a special story, as we will also be starting 'Pocket Bear', which is a book about old toys with sentimental origins.

It is also our spelling quiz tomorrow!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, November 4

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. In the morning, we finished reading Charlotte's Web. I honestly really loved reading this book aloud. I hadn't read it since I was a kid, and its even better than I remembered. The students seemed to love it too, and I was happy to hear them laughing at all the right moments.

For our writing today, the students wrote Newspaper Articles about one of several amazing animals in the novel - Wilbur, Templeton, and Charlotte. The students pretended they were reporters who had just learned of the compassionate and kind actions of the animals in the book. We talked about using Headlines to catch the audience's attention, and including quotes from characters in the book to add more depth and authenticity. 

In the afternoon, we used the Stamp Game to practice subtraction with regrouping across zeroes. The students have been doing great with these lessons so far. I appreciate their patience, as these materials can feel pretty slow and inefficient at first. They're fantastic though, once you get the hang of them.

We also had Music and a Fire Drill today.

Have a nice night,

Zac

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!