Thursday, September 24

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today! The Terry Fox Run was a big success. We ran from about 8:30 - 9:15. I think that's longer than usual but there didn't seem to be any complaints. :)

Before we started the run, we talked about why we were running. It's not about the number of laps, or how fast you go - it's about trying your best, just like Terry did.

When we got back inside, we had our second Spelling Quiz of the year. It went pretty well. Better than the first one for sure but many students still get mixed up about where to write the words. That's why this is such a good skill to learn in Grade 1! Nobody wants their first 'test' to be a provincial exam.

The students drew pictures of Terry Fox, and we brainstormed adjectives as a call that describe him. 

Today's Number Spotlight was on the number 13. These Number Spotlight worksheets are a really big hit for some reason. They are basically just 'Morning Math' sheets (which were hugely unpopular this year!) so I don't really understand the appeal, but the students are consistently doing excellent work using them, so I'm not going to question it. I'm trying to reinforce the idea that '13' is basically just ten and three. I'm hoping that will help students to build their understanding of place value.

For today's Nature Walk, we went to the front of the school and counted the number of different plant species we could see. We talked about the traits that make it easy to differentiate between different plants. For instance, leaf shape, size, colour, etc.

I sent the students home with two forms today. One of them is promoting our upcoming School Picture Day on Tuesday, September 29.

The other form is regarding Walking Distance Field Trips, which I'm hoping to do more of in the near future. Basically, we will walk to different parts of the neighborhood and explore. I will be sure to let you all know when we're planning to do our first walking field trip. I don't feel like the class is quite ready yet because we need to talk more about sidewalk safety.

Tomorrow is our Virtual Open House! I am putting together a video that talks about classroom routines, layout, work choices, and things like that. While it won't be the same interactive experience as the Open House usually is, I think it will be fun for parents and children to watch together. Hopefully the students can fill you in on anything I may have forgotten to include!

I will be making phone calls to any parents of students who are brand new to our school. However, I'd be more than happy to arrange phone calls with anyone else who is interested! Please let me know if you would like to set something up.

Have a nice night,

Zac