Spelling Words (Week of Nov. 1)

 

Good luck and Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 29

 Hi parents,

We had an awesome Halloween celebration day today - it was truly a ton of fun.

In the morning, the students went on a Halloween Scavenger Hunt outside, in which they had to locate seven tiny pumpkins that were hidden all across our school field and playgrounds. They used picture clues to help them find the general vicinity that each pumpkin was in. They had lots of fun and got even more exercise as they ran back and forth across the field finding pumpkins.

We watched a movie called "Spookley the Square Pumpkin" in chunks throughout the day. It was only 40 minutes so we divided it up into four 10 minute blocks. I find that the kids have a hard time sitting for much longer than that, especially when Halloween is just around the corner.

We had our spelling quiz in the afternoon, and then went to the gym to play some Halloween games. We did a "Spooky Smells" science activity, which went much better than our touch activity from earlier in the week. For this activity, the students had to smell a variety of mystery substances, and predict what each one was. 

The class had free choice for the last half hour of the day. 

Tomorrow is a PD Day, so I hope you all have an awesome Halloween weekend!

Zac

Wednesday, October 28

 Hi parents,

We had a much better day today and the class was able to earn back their "Halloween" celebration! 

In the morning, we did a lot of work around 'subtraction'. I noticed that the number one issues that arose was kids accidentally solving the problems I gave as though they were addition problems. Once they started 'taking away' instead of adding, the problems were a breeze. For Grade 1 students, finger counting is a fantastic strategy for solving subtraction problems with numbers up to 10 (which is mostly what they're working on right now).

I'm working with the Grade 2 students on 2-digit subtraction problems, mostly without regrouping (borrowing) but we'll get there soon.

The students wrote the beginnings of scary stories this morning. We talked about how scary stories often take place in scary settings, for example, "a dark and stormy night". Some students were able to get their whole stories completed too! This was our first story writing task of the year and it was cool to see where everyone is at. Usually we do more story writing near the end of the year when the students are more confident with their spelling, but this was definitely a great first effort! 

In the afternoon, we did Daily 5, and it actually went really well today! The students did printing practice with the letter D, and ended the day with Work Period.

Thursday, October 29 - Halloween at Lake Bonavista School

Tomorrow is our optional Halloween Celebration at school. Students are invited to wear their costumes to school. Alternatively, your child could wear orange and black, or just whatever they like. Face paint is also welcome, but keep in mind that we do have to wear masks in the halls, and it might get smudged. There will be no snacks or goodie bags this year. There was talk of an outdoor Halloween parade around the field but I haven't heard any updates on that yet - maybe there will be an email? 

If your child is wearing a costume to school, it should be comfortable enough to wear all day, and appropriate for school (no weapons, blood, etc.)

Tomorrow is also the Spelling Quiz!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, October 27

 Hi parents,

I'm not really sure what was going on today but it was quite a rough one... In the morning, we did what was supposed to be a really fun, scientific Halloween activity, in which the students had to reach into mystery boxes and figure out what kinds of 'spooky' substance they felt. The boxes were labeled as 'eyeballs' (grapes), 'finger nails' (almond shavings), 'boogers' (craisins), 'worms' (spaghetti noodles) and 'spider legs' (pipe cleaners). I was happy to see that a few students really enjoyed themselves and seemed to buy into it, but unfortunately most of the class just didn't participate and wandered around revealing the mystery tubs. So that was pretty sad. 

We has Music in the morning too, and the students did a bit of writing in response to the prompt: "How to Trick or Treat" or "How to Scare Someone", students' choice.

The rest of the day was basically endless talking, calling out, and shenanigans and we weren't able to accomplish much else. There were some shining moments though! The students drew werewolves for their monster books using an "Art Hub" video. I think werewolves were the most challenging one yet so that was pretty impressive. I told the class a scary story at the end of the day and they laughed through the whole thing. I think they must be getting brave! Or they're just finding ways of making scary situations less scary. Good life skills either way!

We have currently lost our 'Halloween party' for Thursday but the students can earn it back with exceptional behaviour tomorrow (it is just a bluff!). I have never actually taken away a party before and I don't intend to start, so hopefully the possibility of losing it will help the kids get their act together. We'll spend a lot of time with relearning classroom expectations tomorrow and maybe over the next week or so too. I'm sure it will do the trick and we'll be back on track soon.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, October 26

 Hi parents,

We had a great Monday today! The students wrote about their weekends, learned the new spelling words, and practiced printing the letter 'G'. 

I've been very pleased with how well our new 'Morning Math' time is going. Each morning, the students complete four math problems before they move on to Explore and Play. We still do other math lessons later in the day, but Morning Math helps to ensure students continue to get practice with foundational math skills when our other lessons may be covering topics like shapes, patterns, or graphing (aka, the easy topics). The students are becoming much more confident with addition and I plan to introduce subtraction problems into the mix tomorrow.

The highlight of the day was probably our nature walk, in which we safely walked around the block from Lake Bonavista and found a nice snowy hill. We didn't see many animals or birds today, but the students were very observant when it came to animal tracks. We found a lot of different footprints that the students think were made by a rabbit. 

Here is a video we watched this morning about 'making mistakes': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndvt89ybSSE

While it is not specifically connected to anything we're learning about, in a way it's relevant to everything we do in class!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of October 25)

 

Hopefully the festive factor of List B will distract from how difficult the words are! 

Good luck!

Friday, October 23

Hi parents,

Favourite shirt day was a big success today! 

In the morning, we had the spelling quiz, and watched this video about 'goal setting': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGd0gq5Fgjc 

It is kind of funny and maybe worth watching again at home.

The Spelling Quiz was hands down the best one of the year so far. I think the students have really started to grasp the 'trick' to acing spelling quizzes, which ultimately comes down to knowledge of word families. I always tell the students, "if you can spell 'bit' (for example), you can spell any word that rhymes with it." 

The students drew detailed self portraits. They also did a halloween colour by numbers.

We went to the gym and had a Room 6 "pep rally" where the children chanted each others names and cheered each other on. I hope that everyone left the gym feeling especially appreciated and valued. 

The students took their "'I Am' Sign" pictures and they turned out really well. I think the pictures will be fridge-worthy to say the least.

Stay tuned for next week's spelling words!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Thursday, October 22

 Hi parents,

We had a much better day today! 

In the morning, we had a discussion about 'goal setting', and I was extremely happy when several students brought up Terry Fox as an exemplary goal-setter. We talked about how goals can be big or small, but when you set a goal, it's important to have a plan for how you're going to reach it. Just like how Terry Fox planned to run about 42 kilometres every day.

The students wrote in their journals about their goals for themselves, using the writing prompt: "My goal is ________. I will _______________ to meet it."

After that, we had Music, and after Music, the students did a fun art activity called "Roll-A-Jack-O-Lantern". 

Step 1: Roll a die.

Step 2: Use construction paper and cut out the corresponding shape (use orange for the pumpkin, and black for the features)

Step 3: Add that shape to your Jack-O-Lantern in any way you choose.

You could do a similar activity with drawing as well! The Jack-O-Lanterns were all very unique because of their unconventional shapes. Students had to get creative with how they arranged each shape. We put all of the jack-o-lanterns up on the wall as halloween decorations. I'll post a picture soon!

In the afternoon, we had our first Daily 5 session. Daily 5 is basically just a time where students participate in a variety of literacy activities. One table read by themselves, another did buddy reading, another did 'listen to reading' (using the ipads), and another did creative writing. The fifth station is "Read with the Teacher" which makes it easy for me to get to know each student's individual reading level and help meet them where they're at.

Tomorrow is Favourite Shirt Day! Please remind your child to wear something that reflects their uniqueness, values, and personality. Hats and sweaters are welcome too. It is also our spelling quiz. Good luck!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, October 21

 Hi parents,

Today the class was a bit loud and crazy and it kind of detracted from what would otherwise have been a great day.

In the morning, we talked about how belonging to different groups can help to enrich our lives, and affect our sense of self (in less complicated words). We discussed how we are all part of our family, our classroom, our community, and our province, all at the same time. We also talked about how we can also be part of things like Brownies, Sports Teams, and religious groups. The students created detailed pages to illustrate and label the different groups they are a part of. The classroom was very loud but the quality of work was still fantastic. 

We worked on those for most of the morning. In the afternoon, the class regressed to Kindergarten-mode and we had to practice lining up, walking in the hallways, and listening respectfully. I explained to the class that those sorts of mundane practice sessions may not be fun, but they ultimately help to enrich our experience at school. For instance, when kids are constantly talking over me, lessons take twice as long, which means they have to sit and listen for longer, have less time to work, and ultimately miss out on free choice time. When we take forever to line up, we end up losing time that would've otherwise been spent in the gym. That conversation seemed to go over well, but then after recess the students were right back at it. On a side note - it may be worth having a chat about how pencils can not actually be used to administer flu shots.

We ended our day with work period, and another scary story by request. I talked to the class about "Favourite Shirt Day" on Friday, October 23.  They shared a few of their ideas with me at the end of the day, and it was cool to hear their reasoning behind why certain clothing articles were their favourites. I think it says a lot about how unique each person in our classroom is! 

Halloween Classics at Canyon Meadows Cinema!

This has absolutely nothing to do with school, but Canyon Meadows Cinemas is showing a lot of different Halloween classics during October, and on October 23, they're bringing in Monsters Inc. Just in case anyone is looking for something fun to do with the family leading up to Halloween.

http://www.canyonmeadowscinemas.ca/

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, October 20

 Hello families,

We had a great day today! Maybe the best Tuesday of the year in fact.

We started the day off with some addition problems. Students were able to choose which difficulty level seemed best for them.  I've noticed that this group seems exceptionally motivated when it comes to math problems, so I noticed many students challenging themselves to do much more than just the four questions I'd asked them to complete. 

I read a book aloud to the class called "I can". It was about a big brother who was showing his younger sister how to do things. The students wrote in their journals about things that they can do, and things they are still learning how to do. We started with the sentence starters: "I can..." and "I am learning to..."

We had our first official Music class today and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. This year, Ms. Proctor is teaching Music to grade 1/2 students. Due to Covid 19 we are not able to use the music room, so Music takes place in the classroom. We're also not allowed to sing, so I am very grateful to Ms. Proctor for all the hard work she's done around adapting music instruction to fit these non-musical times.

In the afternoon, the students did a great job with Buddy Reading, and then we worked on monster books. Today's monster was a mummy. The students learned a bit about mummies before they learned how to draw them.

We ended our day with a scary story and the class did a great job of listening respectfully, probably because they were scared. 

Friday, October 23: Favourite Shirt Day

This Friday, I am encouraging students to wear their favourite shirts, sweaters, sports jerseys, hats, etc - anything that they feel is representative of who they are. We will talk more about this in class tomorrow. 

Have a nice night!

Zac 

Monday, October 19

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. It was a typical Monday for the most part - student wrote in their journals, learned about the new spelling words, and also did some printing practice for the letter "I i". 

There were some cool new 'additions' to our schedule, so to speak, because we had our first official lesson on addition this morning. I was really impressed by how quickly the Grade 1 students caught on! Thank you to everyone who has already been practicing addition at home - it makes a huge difference, and your efforts were very evident today! 

Today's work involved the students completing eight different addition problems. For Grade 1s, these involved single digit numbers with sums up to 20. For Grade 2 students, these involved 2-digit numbers, and sums up to 100. 

I'm planning to start each day by giving the students a few quick math problems to solve. I'll give three different difficulty options, so that students can choose the problems that feel like a good challenge for them. One of the advantages to teaching a Grade 1/2 split class is that there are plenty of opportunities for Grade 1 students to challenge themselves to complete Grade 2 work, and there are equally as many opportunities for Grade 2s to teach familiar concepts to their younger peers. 

This week, we're focusing on self-confidence, individuality, and identity. Each day, we will be reading, writing, and discussing things that make us who we are. Today we read a book called "I Have Feelings!", which is basically meant to teach kids to be in touch with their own emotions, and understand that it is okay to feel sad, angry, or worried sometimes.

HOMEWORK ALERT!

Parents - please talk with your child about the things that they like best about themselves. Ask them what makes them special, in their own eyes. Then, have them write a short response (1 - 2 sentences) using this writing prompt: "I am special because..."

Like all homework on the Blog, this is optional. But if your child does choose to complete it, they will earn 2 'homework points'. There is no due date for this task - whenever you have time would be great. :) 

We did some quiet reading in the afternoon, and used the parachute for gym. The rest of the day was spent with work period time.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of October 18)

 

Here are next week's spelling words, in breathtaking HD. Or at least they were, until Blogger turned them into the blurred mess you see above.

Helpful Videos:

Jack Hartmann -  'it' words:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5MSv7R9d9A

Alphablocks - 'Fit': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyRVs-VljlA

Stephen King - "IT": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlSgTMr6dTA

Friday, October 16

 Hi parents,

Today was a pretty good day for the class! The spelling quiz went better than ever. I'm starting to see more and more students understanding how easy spelling can be once you figure out which 'word family' we're working on - you basically just need to know the first sound. As the year progresses, I'll make spelling words more challenging, but for now my main objective is just building confidence in students and helping them overcome quiz anxiety.

This morning we watched a short video about 'migration', following up on our discussions from yesterday. The students learned that birds aren't the only species that migrate. Here's the link in case you want to watch at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMAS4SdPj-w

We tried to learn a math game called "Bump" today, in which students roll 3 dice, add them up, and the cover up a corresponding number square. I think the class had just started to figure it out when we had to stop because it was way too loud. Thankfully math games are rarely a full class activity, so hopefully the students can remember how to play and use Bump as a responsible work choice.

The students completed another page in their "Book of Monsters"'s. Today our featured monster was a vampire. I'm trying to cut back on our screen time in class, so instead of watching a Kids Art Hub video, I tried to lead the drawing lesson myself. I explained to the class that as long as their drawings had fangs and capes, there would be no doubt as to what it is.

At the end of the day, we did a quick writing activity where the students wrote about their 'dream Halloween costume'. They were pretty scary.

Stay tuned for next week's spelling words!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Thursday, October 15

 Hi parents,

I am happy to report that we had a great day today!

In the morning, students we revisited the "I Am" signs from a couple weeks back. We reflected on Orange Shirt Day, and talked about how sad it would be if we were not allowed to 'be ourselves' school. I was really impressed by how much the students remembered about Orange Shirt Day. 

The students decorated their "I Am" signs with marker and they look fantastic now. They are much easier to read and I think they will look great in pictures. The plan is to take a picture of each student holding up their sign, while also wearing their favourite shirt, to celebrate individuality and self-confidence. Hopefully we'll get to do that sometime early next week. 

We read this book today too.

This morning, we went for a walk nearby the school and talked a bit about Canada Geese, and how they fly south for winter. Since we've been doing a lot of 'orienteering' lately, the students were able to quickly identify which direction south was. On our walk, a few students noticed pieces of cardboard that must've fallen out of a recycling truck. Before I could say anything, the whole class was picking up pieces of cardboard off the ground so they could be recycled back at school. I was so impressed - I don't know if I've ever seen such a strong sense of environmental stewardship in any class! Once the students had already picked up the cardboard, I made a point of reinforcing the importance of hand hygiene, especially when handling things you pick up off the ground, and that seemed to resonate with all of them. Luckily most kids were wearing mitts or gloves anyway.

Back in class, the students responded to this writing prompt: "I am not afraid of _______. I used to be afraid of ____." The class did an excellent job of sounding out the words they needed for their own responses. I think a lot of students realized they were a lot better at spelling than they thought!

In the afternoon, we had a Lockdown drill, which looked a bit different this year due to Covid restrictions, but still involved the students hiding quietly under tables for a long period of time. They did a great job with this and the whole class earned a couple of bonus points. 

We brainstormed "M" words today, met "Mimi Mermaid", and filled in printing practice sheets with the letter M. Due to Copyright, I can't upload our printing practice worksheets to the Google Classroom. If you're at home and looking for equivalent activities, I recommend just writing the letter in Upper and Lower Case form (10 times each), and then brainstorming 4-6 words that start with that letter and drawing pictures of those words.

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz! I have a good feeling about this one. It is also a school spirit day, so children are encouraged to wear their school shirts.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Wednesday, October 14

 Hi parents,

Today was a decent day for the class, a little bit crazy in the afternoon though.

In the morning, the students watched a funny video that taught them about the history of Halloween. The video covered a lot of information, so I'd be curious to hear how much they retained from it. Basically, we learned that Halloween was originally a Celtic harvest festival, in which people believed ghosts could enter the world of the living. The celts apparently wore costumes to disguise themselves from the ghosts, and also put out food and drinks as offerings. We talked about how Halloween today is different from how it was in the past. I encourage everyone to continue this discussion at home! A big downside of the "Covid 19 classroom" is that we are not allowed to come together for a class discussion, so often our discussions get cut short because kids can't hear each other and they get distracted more easily.

In math, we continued to work on building counting skills. Students in Grade 1 are working on counting, starting from various starting points between 1- 20. Students in Grade 2 are working on the same thing, but from starting points up to and exceeding 100. 

Thank you to everyone who completed the Blog homework last night! Looking back, I should have offered a more challenging option too. In case you're working on counting at home, and it's starting to become too easy for your child, here are some other ways to count that might be a bit more challenging (in order of difficulty):

1. Count up to 20 starting at a random number.

2. Count backwards from 20.

3. Count by 2's, 5' and 10's.

4. Count by 2's starting at an odd number.

5. Count backwards by 2's from 20.

6. Count backwards by 2's starting at an odd number.

I encourage students to count using a number line before attempting it using only mental math. Anyway, those aren't homework but I hope they are helpful. :)

In the afternoon, we learned about the letter 'A", and the students coloured in "Actress Annie". We did not get to use Ipads for reading today due to excessive silliness, which sometimes bordered on rudeness.

At the end of the day, the students learned how to draw a ghost kitten, and filled in the first pages of their Halloween Monster Books.

Have a nice day!

Zac

Tuesday, October 13

 Hi parents,

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving weekend!

We had a good day today. The students responded to the prompt: "On the Thanksgiving weekend, I..." in their journals. I introduced the class to this week's spelling words, using a Jack Hartmann video to get everyone super pumped up about spelling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9FL2-cSRuE

We went for a nice walk in the neighborhood near the school, keeping an eye out for colourful plants, birds, and of course, traffic. The chilly morning was a perfect time to talk to the class about 'frost'. When we walked through the neighborhood, we noticed that frost wasn't just on the grass, it was also on the windshields of cars. The students were pretty excited about this. Once they start driving, they will realize how un-exciting it really is.

In math, we took a closer look at the concept of 'before' and 'after' in terms of numbers. I showed the students how they could use a number line to easily determine these. I think the best way to practice this is just by writing out the number sequence from 1 - 20, and saying the numbers out loud. 

In fact, I will give 2 bonus Dojo points to anyone who writes out the number sequence up to 20 at home and brings it to class tomorrow. This is your optional "blog homework".

In the afternoon, I showed the students how to access Raz-Kids at school. We also practiced writing using spooky, slime letters. The students are going to writing Halloween Monster Manuals, so today, we did the titled pages for those.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Oct. 11)

 

Here are the spelling words for next week. Good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrims!

Thursday, October 8

 Hi parents,

I am going to be away this afternoon so I thought I'd update the Blog now. We've had a pretty good day so far!

We watched a Canada Crew video about the four seasons and the weather in Canada. It actually felt more like a science lesson than social studies. It talked a lot about how rain is important, even though most of us don't like rainy days.

We went for a walk to a park that is about 100m away from the school. We did not get to go on the playground, but the students explored the space and had a lot of fun finding big leaves and sticks. I challenged the students to imagine they were explorers, pioneers, or indigenous people, who were the very first humans to ever set foot in this park. We talked about what we might name a place like this. The students came up with some awesome ideas: "big leaf park", "see saw park", "Trees Park" were a few I can remember. I explained the to class how the names they came up with are a lot like the sorts of names early people would have given places as well. We talked about how the Blackfoot people gave the name  "Mokinsis" to the area that we now know as Calgary, because Mokinsis is the Blackfoot word for "elbow", and Calgary is built beside a river that bends like an elbow.

All around it was a pretty cool discussion! We also had some great opportunities to practice crossing the road safely. And, we saw a woodpecker. 

When we got back to class, the students did their final Number Spotlight page on the number 20. I think we're going to pause here for a while and spend some time building a stronger understanding of numbers up to 20. I think the students could use more practice with identifying numbers that are "one more" or "one less" than a given quantity. For the Grade 2's, I plan to focus on "10 more" and "10 less", and "5 more" and "5 less". Any math practice that you do at home will also go a long way - in terms of building basic 'number sense', you really can't go wrong. Addition flash cards, counting, skip counting, drawing tallies, writing numbers, counting backwards, mad minutes, rolling dice... you name it, it all helps! If it involves numbers in any way, I am all for it. :)

We reread the book "School for Dads" and the students responded to this writing prompt, "What would you teach your mom / dad?" Their responses were funny and cute.

We also had the Spelling Quiz!

I'll post next weeks' words tomorrow (which is a PD Day - no school!) Have a nice weekend!

Zac

 

Wednesday, October 7

 Hi parents,

As soon as we did Explore and Play this morning, I could tell today was going to be a great day for the class. I couldn't believe how peaceful and quiet it was. Everyone was busy with something, and there was a lot of talking, but somehow everyone was able to keep their voices low. We didn't get a single noise warning.

On our "nature walk", we talked about the importance of trees as building materials, and we also talked about things that are not made from trees. We had a good discussion about where metal comes from. I think Minecraft has greatly increased this generation's knowledge of mining and ore. Will that knowledge comes in handy? Only time will tell.

We spent most of the morning working on a Thanksgiving Turkey craft. The students wrote things that they were thankful for on the turkey's feathers. I was very impressed by the overall level of perseverance with this task - it involved a lot of colouring and a lot of cutting!

Here's the link if you're interested in trying it at home (I'm not sure if you'd need a TPT account. It's free so maybe not).

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-Turkey-Writing-Activity-905187

In the afternoon, we studied the letter T. We brainstormed T words, the students heard the story of Timmy Tiger, and they also practiced writing T's in their printing practice books.

Featuring everyone's favourite Alphablock

Timmy Tiger is one of the creepier Animated Literacy characters.

There is no school on Friday, so that mean tomorrow is our Spelling Quiz! The students seem to be pretty well prepared for this one, but just in case, it wouldn't hurt to rewatch the Jack Hartmann video and write out some -ot words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ZghKzfJE0

Have a nice night!

Zac

Tuesday, October 6

 Hi parents,

We had a relatively good day today, although the afternoon was a bit unruly. Last year, Tuesdays were always a bit off, for some reason, so maybe the trend is continuing.

This morning, we talked more about Thanksgiving, and the students watched a "Bookflix" video called "Giving Thanks". It was an indigenous story that expressed gratitude to the natural world. In their journals, the students responded to the writing prompt: "I can say thank you when..."

We brainstormed ideas about everyday situations in which we should say "thank you". Most student responses were something along the lines of "I can say thank you when my mom / dad helps me _____". So hopefully you're all hearing an adequate number of "thank you's" at home, and if not, feel free to remind your child about this writing task. :)

In math, we did a Number Spotlight on the number 18. I'm noticing that many students are struggling with the concepts of 'before' and 'after' in terms of numbers. I think we need to practice counting some more.  I want it to be like second nature to the students by the end of the year.

In the afternoon, we revisited our "I am..." sentences from last week. I asked the students to choose their favourite of the three they had written, and write that sentence in big, neat, letters on a piece of cardstock paper. This proved to be a bit challenging because students had a hard time determining the optimal sizing for their letters, which is fair. 

The plan is to take a picture of each student holding their sign, and put them up outside of the classroom as a shining beacon of self-confidence, positivity, and individuality. I'm looking forward to seeing how they all turn out!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, October 5

 Hi parents,

We had an awesome Monday today! 

In the morning, we did typical Monday activities. The students wrote about their weekends, learned this week's spelling words, and reviewed our words from last week. We went for a "Nature Walk" around the block nearest to the school, and the students were respectful and safe the entire time. We saw a family of deer in somebody's front yard! We watched them eat for a few minutes. We talked about how you can often tell if a deer is male or female based on whether or not it has antlers.

I wish I had taken a picture today!

We watched a Canada Crew video about the significance of Railroads and Trains in Canada. We also watched two videos about the first Thanksgiving in America. The story of the first Canadian Thanksgiving is very similar to America's, but it's much harder to find resources about, so I stepped in a few times to explain how Canada's story is different.

In the afternoon, we did a Number Spotlight on 17. I think the class is starting to grasp the idea of 'teen numbers' being a group of ten and some extra ones. It's really helpful for kids to build this understanding because it helps them establish 10 as a "friendly number". That in turn will make it easier for them to solve mental math problems, among other things.

If you are looking for a simple, yet effective way to help your child develop their early math skills, I recommend challenging your child to say the number sequence up to 20, and write down each number as they go. Even doing this once each night for a week will make a huge difference. When it comes to math, practice really does make perfect, and there is no way to become comfortable with numbers without spending lots of time working with them. :)

Have a nice night!

Zac

The "Fall Page" from Last Week. Some students are still working on this.

Spelling Words! (Week of October 4)

 

Blogger is doing this really cool thing where it turns all tables into really blurry images. Hopefully you're still able to decipher the words for this week. They're all from the 'ot' family! I'm hoping this slightly different approach will help encourage students to try both lists. I'm trying to encourage Grade 1 students to challenge themselves to attempt some words from list B so I can see how they're doing with inventive spelling. 

Jack Hartmann Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ZghKzfJE0

Alphablocks 'O': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MUJPxCJEuI

Friday, October 2

 Hi parents,

We had a fun day today due to the Class Dojo Store, and of course, the spelling quiz. 

In the morning, we watched a Canada Crew video about flowers in Canada. I was disappointed that the video didn't explicitly mention Alberta's provincial flower, so we talked about the wild rose after that.

The students watched a SciShow Kids Fall Compilation video that covered all sorts of science topics related to fall. You can watch it home too if you like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB2DiiAOpCg

Although the video covers a ton of information is a short time, we'll be looking into many of the topics covered in more detail over the course of October. Maybe we'll even do some pumpkin experiments, in spite of last year's fiasco... If your child was in my class they will probably know what I'm talking about. If not, you could sum it up with four words: "rotten pumpkin juice puddles".

The students received their Visual Journal Sketch Books, which are fancy versions of their regular sketchbooks. I'd like to use these books only for school work and not for casual drawing since they have really nice paper. Today, we used them to create "Fall Pages" on which the students wrote and drew all things Autumn. We talked about seasonal changes, fall attire, important events, etc.

We went outside in the field and looked for different kinds of leaves. I challenged the students to arrange leaves in order from lightest to darkest. We also had a "biggest leaf" challenge, and a "crunchiest leaf" challenge. We saw a garbage truck that was driving way too fast. The kids thought it was cool but it was a bit scary.

At the end of the day, we did the Class Dojo Store activity. Looking back, I should've definitely spent more time practicing subtraction with the class leading up to it. Still, it was a big hit. Everyone seemed so excited about their purchases. 

Alberta Health Services Disclaimer: Students were required to clean their hands before browsing the store (which is just my desk), they were adequately distanced while lining up, and all items in the store were thoroughly sanitized. 

This isn't really related to anything, but I want to say how incredibly proud I am of the students for their patience, positivity, and resilience during this unusual return to school. They have been doing an excellent job of following the Covid protocols while also being respectful and kind to one another, and trying their best on every work choice. I was nervous that students would be disappointed about having to come back to school, and resentful of all the new rules and expectations. I was prepared for a rough September because I thought it would take weeks for them to adjust to being back in school. But they're doing an amazing job. So parents - thank you for raising such great kids!

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

Thursday, October 1

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today, as I predicted we would in yesterday's blog. In the morning, we watched an episode of Canada Crew about the different kinds of food in Canada. A very broad topic to say the least. After the video, we talked about our own favourite restaurants, and did a class survey to determine which one was the most popular of all. Needless to say I was pretty pleased with the results although I do think Wendy's got robbed.

Today the students wrote "I am" statements in their journals. These statements had to be positive and strength focused. We had an awesome discussion about the qualities and skills that make each of us unique. I'm planning to get students to choose their favourite sentence to use as part of an upcoming art project - I'm really excited for it! If your child was not able to be here today, please feel free to help them write their own "I am" statements at home. But don't feel obligated to - I'll make sure they're caught up when they get back.

We went for our first neighbourhood walk today! It was very, very short, but the students were still so excited. We saw some willow trees along the way, which were interesting, and made the walk feel more like a field trip. We focused on safety, and the students took our talks very seriously. There was no silliness the entire way.

In math, we had our very first lesson on subtraction. I feel like it is easier for students to learn subtraction before addition because subtraction problems typically involve smaller, more familiar numbers. For example, if I asked a student to solve 10 - 8, they could simply hold up 10 fingers, and then put down 8 to find the answer. On the other hand, to solve 10 + 8 on fingers, a student would need to be comfortable with the idea of 'counting on', which is actually a lot more complicated to teach than it sounds. The other reason I like to teach subtraction first is because it comes in handy for our Class Dojo Store!

The Class Dojo store is an activity I typically do at the end of each month, where the students have an opportunity to spend their Class Dojo Points on fancy erasers, pencils, pencil grips, and anything else that seems like a good deal at the dollar store. I think the Dojo Store is a fantastic way to help kids develop basic money management skills. Since the items at the store are all different prices, students have to figure out their purchasing options. Should they buy several cheap items, or one more expensive one? Or, should they just save their points for the next time, so they can buy something that they currently can't afford?

At the Dojo Store, I ask the students three questions:

1. How many points do you have?

2. How many points are you spending?

3. How many will you have left?

Using the subtraction strategies we learned in class today, I'm hoping most students will be able to set up a subtraction equation that will help them determine the answers to each of these. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also our spelling quiz! Students have built a lot of independence around practicing spelling, which in a Montessori classroom, is an excellent thing to have. It's gotten to the point where I usually have to just say "practice your spelling" and they'll take out their books and get started. Hopefully that means tomorrow's quiz will be our best one yet.

Have a nice night,

Zac