Thursday

Happy Halloween everyone!

Today was a fun day, but the students got to participate in a bunch of educational and engaging activities too.

This morning, each Grade 1/2 teacher prepared a Halloween-themed activity, and then taught it to each of the other classes. There was a "Spooky Smells" activity, where students used their sense of smell to predict what was contained in several mystery jars. There was a slime making station, where students made slime. There was a halloween dance-along station, a finger painting station, and a pumpkin geometry station too. 

In the afternoon, we had our class party, and of course, the Halloween parade. I urged students not to eat too many treats at the party, because I didn't want anyone to feel sick for the main event this evening. That reasoning seemed to resonate with most of them. :)

We did not have a chance to do our Spelling Quiz, sadly, so I think we'll do it on Monday instead. 

Have a SPOOKTACULAR night! And remember, there is no school tomorrow.

Zac

Wednesday

Hi parents,

Sorry about the lack of a blog post yesterday, somehow I completely forgot... but that's just as well. Yesterday was just an 'okay' day for our class. Today, on the other hand, was an exceptionally good day!

In the morning, we had Explore and Play time, and I was super thrilled to see quite a few students playing their own math board games with their friends! The students also finished labeling their 'plate pumpkins' that they painted yesterday. They are basically pumpkin experts now. I bet they could name just about every part of a pumpkin, and tell you the stages of a pumpkin's life cycle!

The students also did some writing work this morning, once again about pumpkins. This time, they wrote out instructions explaining how to carve a pumpkin. Step-by-step writing tasks are an awesome way to help students develop their understanding of 'sentences', because each step is its own clearly defined idea. A lot of students raised their own personal 'writing bar' with this task, by writing more than they'd written this whole year. :)

In the afternoon, we had Daily 5 time, and then went to an Assembly put on by three other grade 1/2 classes.

Tomorrow is Halloween! 

Which I'm sure everyone is aware of. In the morning, we will be doing some really cool activities, including slime making, Spooky Smells, finger painting, and Pumpkin Geometry. In the afternoon, we will have our Halloween Parade at 1:00pm, and then its party time.

Have a great night!

Zac

Monday

Hi parents,

We had a good Monday today, as usual.

In the morning, the students wrote in their journals, practiced the new spooky spelling words, and worked on our weekly math problems. This is going to be our last week working exclusively on subtraction, so I've given the class some pretty difficult problems. 

The students seemed to really enjoy Music class today! They were singing the Halloween songs all morning while they worked.

In the afternoon, we had Daily 5, recess, and Gym, and after that, we got to do a quick, fun, 'science' activity. For this activity, the students got to taste-test roasted pumpkin seeds, and come up with four adjectives to describe the flavour. Answers ranged from "exquisite" to "too salty", all the way to "disgusting". 

We did a survey afterwards and found that 17 students thought the seeds tasted good, while only 5 thought they were bad. 

Halloween Parade / Celebration - Thursday, October 31

Here are some things to know:

1. Students do not wear their costumes all day. They are asked to change into their costumes at lunch time!

2. The parade starts at 1:00, and parents are welcome to come and watch in the gym.

3. Snacks / Halloween treats are welcome! If you are sending snacks, please send enough for all 22 of the kids in our classroom.  :)

Have a great evening,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Oct. 27)

Spelling List A

Boo	Spook	Moon	Broom
Cat	Dark	Black	Bat

Spelling List B

Ghost	Pumpkin	Vampire	Haunt
Trick	Witch	Costume	Candy

Friday

Hi parents,

Today was a good day for our class, minus a few unexpected twists...

This morning, I walked into the classroom to discover that Jack the Pumpkin had essentially rotted and melted overnight into a pool of disgusting pumpkin juice that covered an entire table. Needless to say, that was quite disappointing for Jack's group, as well as gross for the entire class.

Once that was cleaned up, however, we wrote our spelling quiz, and that went well! After that, we got started on the pumpkin carving. Jack's group was dispersed to team up with the remaining four pumpkins.

When we took the 'lids' off the pumpkins, we discovered that DJ Marshmello, a pumpkin that looked so healthy, was actually severely infected with rot as well, and the inside of him looked a lot like Campbells Chunky soup.

We carved the remaining pumpkins, and scooped out all the seeds. We'll be counting the seeds on Monday!

The students were once again having some real issues with listening to instructions today. The tipping point was when I asked 4 students to come and look at the rotting pumpkin, and the entire class stood up and swarmed the desk! I got the whole class to meet at the carpet and made them go through "Listening School" before we got to do any more fun activities. Listening School consisted of practicing sitting quietly on the carpet, listening to all of the instructions, and walking peacefully down the hall.

After that, the kids were much better behaved. :)

Have a great weekend!


Zac

Thursday, October 24

Hi parents,

We had another good day today! In the morning, I gave the students time to finish their weekly math work, aka "The Math Boss", and almost everyone was able to get it finished. I like how to Montessori Work Period allows kids to work on what they want, when they want, but sometimes it's nice to get the whole class working on the same task at once. It makes it easier for them to help each other out, and challenge themselves to complete the work at the same time as their friends.

The rest of our day was spent doing pumpkin stuff. And by that, I mean that the students completed mini books about pumpkin life cycles, and then learned about the parts of a pumpkin. They had to label a pumpkin diagram too. I was amazed at how quickly they were able to complete these jobs! Hopefully your child will be able to tell you at least one interesting fact about pumpkins tonight.

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz! Good luck!

Have a good night,


Zac

Wednesday

Hi parents,

Today was much better than yesterday!

This morning, the students worked more on their board games, and then we started our Pumpkin science activities. First, the students attempted to measure their pumpkins with rulers to find their height and width. How does one measure a round, lumpy, asymmetrical object with a straight ruler? Very inaccurately. But that's alright - this was our first time using rulers to measure this year, and I think the students did really well.

After that, the class made predictions about how much their group's pumpkin weighed. They used a scale to weigh themselves first, to get an idea of how much less a pumpkin might way. Unfortunately most students actually thought the pumpkins weighed significantly more than they did, so these predictions were not incredibly accurate. It turned out that most of our pumpkins only weighed 10 lbs!

The last activity we did was the simplest. The students guessed whether their pumpkins would sink, or float. Then we tested it. They all floated!

Thank you for taking the time to talk to your students about listening and being respectful in class. :) I think it must've helped!

Have a good night,


Zac

Tuesday

Hi parents,

Today was a very, very difficult day for our class, and we'll be spending lots of time over the rest of the week practicing how to sit on the carpet, how to clean up after work period, and how to show respect to teachers and peers.

I feel like most students seem to think that things like cleaning up, participating in gym, lining up at the door, and joining the class on the carpet are "optional". And unfortunately, when so many students choose to ignore instructions, the rest of the class tends second guess what they heard, and end up not following the instructions either.

I am so sorry for ranting on the blog! But I think that after today, every student in the class could benefit from a quick talk at home...

Anyway, in spite of behaviour issues, we did get some work done today. The students worked on their board games in the morning, we went to the library, and in the afternoon, we had a class discussion about pumpkins. We're going to be doing lots of pumpkin activities this week, so each table now has its own pumpkin in the middle of it.

Have a good night,


Zac

Monday

Hello parents,

Today was a typical Monday for our class - the students wrote in their journals, practiced spelling, went to Music class, and worked on their weekly math problems.

This morning we got Explore and Play back! But a bunch of students just wanted to keep working on their board games, and testing them with their friends. So that was great to see. :)

We are still working on subtraction in math. I think the class is doing exceptionally well with it so far! I've showed the students a lot of reliable methods they can use to solve subtraction problems, from drawing pictures and crossing them out, to counting on their fingers, to using Montessori materials. From here, it's pretty simple - practice, practice, practice! And any extra practice at home is always extremely helpful too. :)

At the end of the day I sent home Scholastic Book orders, once again. If you are interested in ordering, please do so by the end of the week! Thank you!

Have a great night!


Zac

Spelling Words!

Spelling List A

In	Fin	Win	Pin
Chin	Shin	Skin	Thin

Spelling List B

Loud	Proud	Sound	Shroud
Foul	Sour	Hour	About