Monday, November 30

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today! We did very typical "Monday activities" - journal writing, math, spelling, daily 5... however, we're starting to learn about some new topics so I'd like to go into them in more detail than I usually do.

In math, we are learning about 2-D shapes. Each day we will be working on a 'Shape of the Day' activity in which the students focus on a different 2-D shape. We will be using terminology like "sides" and "vertices" to describe the shape of the day, and then we will be looking for examples of where this shape is found in the real world. Today's shape was a square. We talked about how squares are a special kind of rectangle that has four equal length sides. 

Square Club. Be there and be Square.

Journal Writing was pretty standard today. The kids wrote about their weekends. I like doing the same writing task each Monday because it makes it especially easy to see the growth students have made since the start of the year - it's one of our only 'controlled variables' in a way. I am happy to report that there is indeed a lot of writing growth being made!

In the afternoon we practiced spelling together as a class, and as I predicted, this week's words were particularly difficult. Differentiating between vowel sounds is one of the more challenging parts of reading and spelling, especially for early readers. Please think of this week's Spelling as more of a learning opportunity than a test! My hope is that by the end of the week, students will have a much stronger understanding of the roles vowels play in simple words. I'm hoping that they start to have fun switching around vowels and seeing what words they can make. 

For example, when given the letters: B _ T, how many different words can you make by using different vowels? 

Tomorrow we are going to start building shelters for eggs! The kids are very excited to get started. 

If you have not sent back your purple family interview form, please do so sometime this week. If you do not know what form I'm talking about, let me know and I'd be happy to send another one home - I know at least one was left behind but I do not know who it belonged to.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Nov. 29)

This week is a big review of vowel sounds! I am expecting it to be the most challenging quiz so far this year. But I have faith that Jack Hartmann can help us through.

Jack Hartmann Vowels 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Au0bE0WxBc 

Jack Hartmann Vowels 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm-dSg0k9Ho

Vowel Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUSCz41aDug

Good luck!

Friday, November 27

 Hi parents,

Today was a great conclusion to our exceptionally well-behaved week. I ave out more A+'s than ever on this week's spelling quiz, and the students had a lot of fun designing their egg shelters.

We talked a lot today about heat and 'insulation'. We brainstormed reasons why insulation is important, and examples of insulators at home or in the classroom. The students thought it was interesting that insulation could be used to keep things warm or cold. 

We discussed some potential ideas for making an egg shelter. The students understood that their shelters should be small, cozy, and well-insulated, because if the eggs get too cold, they could crack.

We watched this video and paused it periodically so the class could make predictions. Next time, I'd like to actually try the experiment out with the class, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time to get the materials together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbJnLf3G-ao

We ended our day with Daily 5 and the Class Dojo Store, which was a big hit, as usual. 

Please remember to send "building materials" (aka, anything from a recycling bin) to school on Monday! Also if you have not sent back your purple family background sheet, please do so some time next week. 

Thank you and have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, November 26

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today! 

After talking a bit about hibernation and other ways animals change their behaviours in the winter, we discussed the concept of 'shelter', and the different kinds of shelters animals find or make. I was really impressed by how many examples the kids came up with, which included beaver dams, beehives, caves, burrows, gopher holes, wasp nests, bird nests, and more! We talked about how typically, animals prefer shelters that are hidden from plain site, or difficult for other animals to enter. The students wrote down their own ideas about what qualities a good shelter had.

We talked more about bears, and hibernation, and watched a Kids Art Hub video that explained how to draw a sleeping bear. I'm hoping the kids can use skills from art hub videos to help them draw other animals too - for instance, the students noticed that a sleeping bear could easily be transformed into a sleeping reindeer by adding antlers and changing the ears.

I wanted to quickly mention something that happened today that made me feel incredibly conflicted. The students were having a hard time getting their work done because they were completely absorbed in a game they all seemed to be part of, which basically involved making their own pretend Smart Phones from paper. I'm not sure how this started but by the end of the day, I'd heard the words "my phone" about 1,000 times. At first I was kind of horrified because I had never anticipated having to confiscate phones from a grade 1/2 class, but then I started to realize it was kind of cool to see so many kids captivated by this imaginative game. They were also writing, drawing, and colouring harder than ever to ensure their paper phones had all the coolest apps. I hope that the kids continue to develop their imaginations even after they acquire non-paper phones.

We read "The Couch Potato" at the end of the day because the message seemed particularly relevant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSDnt30uJME&t=202s

Have a nice day,

Zac

 

Wednesday, November 25

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today! In the morning, we talked about hibernation, and the students made a "Bear Cave" craft. The students seemed to really enjoy it! Even though crafts may seem simple and maybe less 'academic', they are an awesome way for young students to practice reading and following simple instructions. We followed up our craft with a writing prompt, where students responded to the prompt: "The animal that lives in my cave is..." The class did a fantastic job with this creative, open-ended task.

In math, we've been working more on representing numbers. I'm trying to encourage the students to think of any number as a group of tens, and a group of ones. For example, think of '18' as 'ten and eight', or '236' as 'two hundreds, three tens, and six ones.' Number Blocks does an excellent job of illustrating this concept for numbers up to 20 especially. 

This morning, we watched the short film "Hair Love", and had a thoughtful, meaningful discussion about it. We talked about how everyone has a unique appearance, and it's important to try your best to love and embrace the way you look, even when it's difficult. We also talked about how it's what's on the inside that really counts. The students even connected it back to what we'd learned about Terry Fox! I'm debating making 'film studies' a new subject area. 

Hair Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNw8V_Fkw28

Thank you to everyone who has sent back their purple family forms! 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Freezer Feastival Message

 Hello parents of Lake Bonavista School! 

 

We need your help. Our Freezer Feastival fundraiser has been a success and now we need to get all the purchases into the vehicles! This Friday, November 27, we are in need of 6 more volunteers for curbside pick-up of orders. This will be done safely outside adhering to COVID-19 protocols. The weather is looking lovely for Friday, please come prepared with a mask and appropriate outerwear. 

 

The time slots available are 3 people from 12:00 - 3:15 pm for deliveries, and 3 people from 3:15 - 4:15 for cleanup.

 

These proceeds from our fundraising events benefit our children. If you are able to take the time this Friday, please contact me directly at lbsvolunteercoordinator@gmail.com or if you have received a sign up genius from this address, please sign up there.

 

If you are unable to help this time and would like to be on the volunteer list, please send me a note and I will add your information. This list is used when volunteer opportunities are available.

 

Thank you very much!

Krista

Tuesday, November 24

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today! In the morning, the students had Music, and did an activity about sentence writing. For this activity, they had to cut out pictures, and arrange them in the proper order to form a sentence. We talked about how most sentences contain a subject, an action, and often a time / place. For instance, "The boy played at home." We talked about how a sentence that does not contain an action or subject doesn't really make any sense - for instance, "Played at home" can not exist independently as a sentence.

Sentence writing and grammar can be quite challenging. I think the best way for kids to learn at this age is to start with short, simple sentences, and give plenty of examples and non-examples of complete sentences.

We read the story "Same Difference" this morning and had a great discussion about the message behind it, which is basically that appearances don't really matter at all - it's what's on the inside that matters!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpSLtVXF0Mc&t=13s

We spent a lot of time today with work period time, so that the kids could finish up their work from yesterday. I hope you are all having great conversations at home about family! Thank you to the parents who have already sent their interviews back, I appreciate it!

Have a nice day,

Zac

Monday, November 23

 Hi parents,

We had a great Monday today! It seemed like the students enjoyed their long weekends. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with so many of you during conferences. I was so relieved by how smoothly they all went - honestly I thought there was about a 50% chance that the technology would completely fail and it would all spiral into chaos.

This morning, we started talking in more detail about what it means to be Canadian. We focused on the idea of Canada as a 'multicultural' country, where people can have different beliefs, backgrounds, appearances, cultures, etc., but still accept one another. Here are the videos we watched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spHQcfGAsQU (Small Talk - Differences)

https://www.tvokids.com/preschool/canada-crew-k-2-social-studies/videos/canadians (Canada Crew - Canadians)

The students wrote about their weekends using sentence starters provided by me. 

In math, we switched things up and focused on 'representing numbers'. The students divided a page in their sketchbooks into four quadrants, labeled "Number Block", "Ten and ____", "+", and "-". They chose a number between 11 - 20. In each quadrant, represented their number in a different way. For example, in the Number Block column, they drew what their number looked like as a base ten block. In the "Ten And" column, they showed their number as a group of 'ten', and its corresponding 'ones'. 

In the + and - quadrants, the students wrote as many different addition and subtraction equations as they could think of that equalled their chosen number. This is where I really noticed the Morning Math skills kicking in! The kids did an excellent job. I am so happy to see how far they've come with basic facts. While there is a lot more to math than just adding and subtracting, it is impossible to deny how beneficial it can be to have a solid understanding of basic facts.

In the afternoon, we basically did our new afternoon routine - Mindfulness, Spelling Practice, Gym, Daily 5, and Work Period. I am quite pleased with how this routine has been working out. I think giving the students a designated time for spelling practice has helped make sure everyone is actually writing out and reading their spelling words. I will look for ways to make this more interesting as the year progresses. 

Family Culture and Identity Interview (Family Homework!)

At the end of the day, I sent home a purple sheet of paper with each child with the heading "Family Culture and Identity Interview". This interview is part of a larger project that we'll be working on to complement our work around multiculturalism, identity, and self-esteem. If you can find some time, please fill out the interview with your child. Your child does not need to do the writing, but I think it would be great if you could talk about each of the questions with them. There is NO RUSH to complete this task! Please send it back whenever you are done. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at zalink@cbe.ab.ca .

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Nov. 22)

 

Jack Hartmann -un Words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCF_zfflsD0

Blazer Fresh - "Wizard of Words" https://family.gonoodle.com/activities/wizard-of-words (this video touches on the idea of a prefix, but not -un, unfortunately )

Thursday, November 19

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today! It was a nice way to end our week. I am looking forward to virtual conferences this evening and tomorrow. This is the first time I've ever used Microsoft Teams (for anything!) so please bear with me if there are any technical difficulties. Honestly I would be quite surprised if there aren't...  If, for whatever reason, your conference time is disrupted, I am more than happy to find another time to meet in the near future.

Talk to you soon!

Zac

Wednesday, November 18

 Hi parents,

We had yet another great day today. I have felt exceptionally grateful to the students for their hard work, kindness, and creativity this week. It is easy to look past all of the negativity in the world when you're teaching a Grade 1/2 class.

In the morning, we reviewed the concept of hibernation, and then the students responded to the writing prompts "I WOULD like to hibernate because..." or "I would NOT like to hibernate because..." 

We had a fun and interesting discussion about the questions first. Some students said they'd be happy to hibernate because it would be like a huge buffet followed by a nice, long nap. Others realized that hibernation would mean sleeping through their birthdays, or Christmas, and that was absolutely unacceptable.

The students completed their November Learning Books today, and hopefully were able to safely deliver them home today. As I wrote in my email yesterday, I hope that the books help to spark some conversations at home. I thought it would be cool to send home work that featured a little bit of everything, rather than just focusing on one subject.

Tomorrow is our first day of conferences, and as such, Friday is a day off. That means tomorrow is our spelling quiz! I have high hopes for this one because we have practiced harder this week than in previous weeks.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, November 17

 Hi parents,

We had another great day today, especially for a Tuesday. The students started the day off by working on November Learning Books, which I am planning to send home tomorrow. The books are intended to highlight some of the learning the kids have done this year. Of course a 4 page book could never even begin to scratch the surface of the vast, immense amount of learning we've done since the start of the year, but I'm sure you will enjoy them nonetheless.

Our morning Nature Walk was very cool today because the freezing fog created little ice spikes all over the fences, goalposts, and trees. I've added some photos below.

The students had Music class, and then we read a book called "Animals in Winter". The students learned about 'hibernation' today, and played a quick game where they acted out hibernation as a variety of animals.

In the afternoon, we practiced spelling, went to Gym, and did Daily 5. The students ended the day with Explore and Play because we worked through it this morning. 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Virtual Book Fair ON NOW!

 

Scholastic Book Fair

Save The Date 

Our school’s Book Fair is going online, so save the date! 

From Monday, November 16th – Sunday, November 22nd discover the newest books hot o the press, from the comfort of your home. Bonus: Every purchase supports our school and keeps kids reading. 

https://virtualbookfairs.scholastic.ca/pages/5148539 

 

Literacy Committee  

Monday, November 16

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today, but it was a very typical Monday and I don't have too much to report.

In the morning, students worked on their weekend journals, did some addition and subtraction, and did a quick activity that reviewed some of the big concepts we've learned in math this year. We're going to be doing a lot of work this week in preparation for conferences, so that the students have some new activities to share at home.

We practiced this week's spelling words, did Daily 5, and read some stories. We've been spending a lot of time practicing routine tasks, like journal writing, Daily 5, and spelling practice, because these tasks lay the foundations for a successful Montessori classroom. One thing I am really working on with the kids is spelling practice. At the start of the year, the students were just getting it finished as quickly as possible, but now they're writing the words out more carefully, and reading them aloud. I've noticed that this has helped many Grade 1 students build confidence not only with their spelling, but with their reading too! All around I'm quite pleased with how things have been going since our tough days in previous weeks.

Also - I am in the process of sending out updated Google Classroom information, as I was required to reset passwords over the weekend. Stay tuned for an email with your child's new info.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Nov. 15)

 

Jack Hartmann offers his take on '-en' words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o-SPIIjEGE

Alphablocks "Pen, Pet, Peg": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0h_NGJEUJA

Friday the 13th

 Hi parents,

We had a great Friday! The students did an excellent job on the spelling quiz - it was the best one yet! 

We watched another basic video about gravity and friction, and how playground equipment is affected by these forces. For instance, the students learned that through friction, they are able to slowly descend a fire pole, rather than just falling to the ground. They also learned that gravity is the force responsible for allowing them to descend at all! We went outside to the playground for some hands on learning.

When we got back to class, the students wrote about a time when they felt 'unlucky'. We talked about how 13 is often seen as an unlucky number (even in Number Blocks!) while 7 is seen as lucky.

I've wanted to start teaching the class more about how addition and subtraction can help us make sense of real world situations, so today, I showed the students how they can use pictures to represent word problems. The kids really liked the activity and I think it would work well at home too, if anyone is interested in trying it.

Basically, you could start by giving your child a number statement, such as: "There are six bunnies in a field." Give them ~1 minute to draw a simple picture of the bunnies, then make up something that happens that changes the number of bunnies. For example, "4 more bunnies show up", or "3 bunnies leave", or even "suddenly there were twice as many bunnies". Your child can adjust their picture to represent the situation, by drawing more bunnies, or crossing some out. This process helps them visualize the process of adding, subtracting, or multiplying, and make connections to how they can use these operations to find math problems in the world around them!

If you happen to try this activity out over the weekend, please feel free to send it with your child on Monday and I could probably give out some homework points.

Also, here's a homework question for parents: Who is the villain in the movie "Friday the 13th"?

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

Thursday, November 12

 Hi parents,

We had a fantastic day today, probably one of our best this year! Maybe we should consider having no school every Wednesday...

In the morning, we spent some more time talking about Remembrance Day, and watched the music video for "Highway of Heroes" by The Trews. I'm hoping the kids will understand that taking the time to be thankful to veterans is something we can do throughout the year, and not just on Remembrance Day. I've also noticed that our 'social studies' this year has kind of been centring around the idea of being a 'hero' - from Terry Fox, to community helpers, to veterans, we've spent a lot of time talking about the sorts of qualities that make people heroic!

The students drew pictures of guitars in Music class today, and then we watched some videos about the importance of 'play'. First, we learned about how basic physics concepts can be applied to common playground structures, such as swings, see saws, and trampolines (not a common structure but we all wish it was). We watched another short video and learned about how the idea of 'playing' is not just relevant to humans - animals enjoy play too! The students learned that playing helps humans, and animals, learn about socially acceptable behaviour. It also helps children and animals develop movement skills, get exercise, and stay healthy!

The students responded to the writing prompt: "My favourite place to play is...." A lot of students did their best writing of the year with this prompt! I gave out miniature dictionaries to the Grade 2 students so they could edit their own work and fix spelling errors. I couldn't believe how well they used them - I always think of editing as being the biggest hassle, but I guess that's just me...

We practiced spelling in the afternoon, did Daily 5, and finished the Poppy art that we started a couple days ago. They turned out really well!!

Remember that the Spelling Quiz is tomorrow! Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, November 10

 Hi parents,

Today was a pretty good day for our class! The students did an excellent job sitting quietly, attentively, and respectfully during the virtual Remembrance Day assembly. I think all the videos, books, and class discussions made a big difference in how the students processed the assembly. I hope that they're able to share everything they've learned at home too. :)

The students had Music in the morning, and we spent a lot of time today working on spelling practice. I've decided to change the way we do spelling in the classroom because it seems many students are forgetting to practice their words, are simply not dedicating the time to really make that practice meaningful.

We also spent a lot of time cleaning out cubbies and trying to unlearn some of the 'hoarder' mannerisms that have emerged over the course of the year. Due to Covid, we are not sharing materials like we typically do in a Montessori classroom. Somehow that has resulted in students amassing huge quantities of pencil crayons and glue sticks.  We were in dire need of some redistribution so I'm happy that we got that sorted out today.

I have been trying to be a bit more strict lately around classroom expectations, particularly in terms of rough, 'hands-on' play. As a result, I ended up walking with almost half of the class today at recess as a consequence (even for minor offenders). My hope is that by clearly reestablishing classroom rules and expectations, we can avoid more of those crazy days moving forward, and ultimately ensure our classroom remains a safe, peaceful place.

Remember that there is no school tomorrow!

Have a nice night and Wednesday,

Zac

Monday, November 9

 Hi parents,

We had a bit of a crazy day today, and I'm not really sure why! Tomorrow we'll have to spend a bit of time going over the classroom expectations. 

I'm noticing that a lot of the behaviour issues we've been having in class seem to be happening as a result of some students finishing their work very quickly, and then having to occupy themselves while other students catch up. Typically in a Montessori classroom, students would be able to move on to responsible work choices when their main work tasks are complete. Unfortunately, with Covid restrictions, most of the responsible work choices from last year are no longer usable, so the kids have a limited number of options when they complete their work, and I think that's one reason why they end up getting a bit antsy. If your child has a favourite book at home, a colouring book, a workbook, or another educational sort of activity that they could work on quietly when their work is complete, feel free to send it to school with them! 

Today the students wrote in their journals, did some math problems, practiced spelling words, and learned about the letter 'e'. In the afternoon, we did some poppy artwork using oil pastels. 

We watched the music video for Terry Kelly's song "A Pittance of Time". It's a nice song with a very powerful message about Remembrance Day, and it is a great way to introduce kids to the idea of a 'moment of silence'. Here's the link if you want to watch it at home (sorry the quality is so bad) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kX_3y3u5Uo .

Tomorrow our school is having a Remembrance Day Virtual Assembly. Here's a message from the Grade 5/6 students, who are hosting it:

Dear Parents,

Rooms 16 and 17 are hosting a virtual assembly for LBS students on November 10th at 10:40 am, in honour of Remembrance Day.

Did you know that every year from the last day of October until November 11th, tens of millions of Canadians wear a poppy as a visual pledge to honour Canada's veterans and remember those who sacrificed for the freedoms that we enjoy today.

Students will be given a poppy on November 11th and can give a donation at the school office. If you would like to support out local veterans, the Legion is encouraging people to donate online this year. Please follow the link: https://legion.ca/donations to donate to the Legion's Poppy Fund.

 Thank you from Ms. Mumford & Ms. Burnham's students.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Nov. 8)

 

In case you haven't already downloaded Jack Hartmann's entire discography, here's a link to his video about -et words:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMj9SKh611g

Good luck!

Remembrance Day

 Dear Parents,

Rooms 16 and 17 are hosting a virtual assembly for LBS students on November 10th at 10:40 am, in honour of Remembrance Day.

Did you know that every year from the last day of October until November 11th, tens of millions of Canadians wear a poppy as a visual pledge to honour Canada's veterans and remember those who sacrificed for the freedoms that we enjoy today.

Students will be given a poppy on November 10th and can give a donation at the school office. If you would like to support out local veterans, the Legion is encouraging people to donate online this year. Please follow the link: https://legion.ca/donations to donate to the Legion's Poppy Fund.

 Thank you from Ms. Mumford & Ms. Burnham's students.

Friday, November 6

 Happy Friday!

We had a great day today. In the morning, we rewatched the beautiful animated short that I posted earlier in the week, with the animals, poppies, and war. This time, we stopped the video every few moments to really analyze it in detail. We talked about how the music changes throughout the video, how the changes in weather affect the mood, and how the helmet represents how soldiers protect others. 

If you'd like to watch the video at home, here's the link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeR5JWaIcpo

We went outside for a quick break, and the students were fascinated by the way the gravel on our playground had frozen together into big chunks. It was pretty cool actually.

Our Spelling Quiz was my favourite part of the day because the class did better than ever before and with significantly less hints! 

We had Daily 5 and then had the Class Dojo Store. The students did better this time with the math, and I think that is largely due to all the practice we've had with subtraction lately through 'Morning Math'. Most students are comfortable solving subtraction problems by drawing circles to represent a quantity, and then crossing out circles to show the process of subtraction. While this is by no means the most efficient way to subtract, it is a reliable, easy to understand way for kids to solve problems while also being able to clearly visualize each step. Once students clearly understand that subtraction is a process of 'taking away', I encourage them to use mental math or written algorithms to solve problems.

Stay tuned for next week's spelling words!

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

Thursday, November 5

 Hi parents,

Today was another great day for our class. I feel like we are fully back on track now after a few off-days. :)

In the morning, the students had Music, and watched a video read-aloud of "The Story of The Poppy". We talked about how poppies are sold to raise money for veterans, and the students made connections to have Terry Fox also raised money to help those in need. We had a discussion about what the word "Veteran" means and I think it would be good to follow up with that one at home, because a lot of students may still be mixing it up with veterinarian.

On our nature walk this morning, we happened to encounter someone cutting down their withered, giant sunflowers. Many students picked up the severed heads (of sunflowers), put them in bags, and took them home. I hope that if nothing else, the kids are starting to realize that taking time to explore their surroundings can be a lot of fun! 

We watched a short video about why humans shiver when we're cold. The class wrote down ideas and drew pictures of the other ways people stay warm in the cold winter months.

In the afternoon, we read the story "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie", and then the students brainstormed their own ideas for a formulaic children's series. The ideas were so awesome that some kids are going to actually turn them into books tomorrow! It's always nice to find activities to extend into bigger projects, and in a Montessori classroom, it's extra easy to give those extension options to students who are interested.

We had a fun and rainy recess and a saw a double rainbow - a very clear one too!

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz - good luck with your last minute studying!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, November 4

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today! 

In the morning, we watched two short videos about Remembrance Day, which I will include links to below, and we had a great class discussion about them. The students really impressed me with their 'inferential' skills. After watching the second video, I asked, "Why do you think the boy is thanking his grandpa?", and a student answered, "Because his grandpa was in the war. He is thanking him for helping to make the world a nicer place."

Bell Poppy Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ESRBMk36E

Dieppe Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd1FNPx_YN4

Watching the videos we watch in class is an awesome way to help students reflect on our discussions, consolidate new learning, and put ideas into their own words. I'm sure they would enjoy explaining the videos to you as well. :)

I've mentioned before that class discussions are a lot more difficult this year because we can't meet together at the carpet, but today's discussion gave me hope!

The students wrote in their journals in response to the writing prompt: "Peace means..." Students who finished quickly attempted to write acrostic poems with the word PEACE.

We learned about the letter "J" today (I'm trying to pick up the pace with our Animated Literacy lessons...) and practiced spelling.

In the afternoon, we had Gym, Daily 5, and an art lesson where the class learned how to draw a soldier. 

I'm happy to report that due to the nice weather, we've been going outside for snack and body break, which has allowed us to cut back our daily screen time to only about 10 minutes!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, November 3

 Hi parents,

Today we talked more about Remembrance Day, this time focusing on the importance and history of poppies. We talked about the idea of 'remembering', and the students responded to this writing prompt: "I remember when... I felt..."

We learned about the letter 'K' today and did some Halloween math worksheets (I didn't want to let them go to waste!)

Sorry for the very short blog today. I'll make sure tomorrow's is loaded with details.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, November 2

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today and spent a lot of time outside, enjoying the surprisingly nice November weather.

In the morning, the students wrote in their journals, learned our new spelling words, and practiced addition and subtraction. 

We also started to talk about peace, war, and Remembrance Day. I am planning to spend some time each day this week and next week doing work with the class around Remembrance Day. Just like Orange Shirt Day, the topics we're covering are very broad, impactful, and often emotional, so I think it's best to spread out over a couple of weeks. I know that students have lots of meaningful questions, and I want to make sure to leave lots of time for class discussions. I think having discussions at home is a great way to help students understand the importance of Remembrance Day as well.

Today, we watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOT5CDnYHEs 

I really recommend that everyone give it a watch - it's really moving, but also age appropriate.

In the afternoon, we had Daily 5 and Gym, and then learned about the letter 'N'. 

Have a nice night!

Zac