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