Spelling Words! (Week of Feb. 16)

Spelling List A

Tell	Bell	Well	Sell
Fell	Yell	Smell	Shell

Spelling List B

Rush	Wish	Push	Dish
Fish	Smash	Trash	Slash

Happy Family Day!

Tuesday

Hi parents, 

We had a good day today, but I don't have too much to write about it!

In the morning, the students wrote paragraphs about their experience at the Leighton Arts Centre. Students who did not get a chance to go yesterday wrote paragraphs about why being sick is no fun at all. I'm trying to help the students develop their ability to write cohesive paragraphs by giving them a few sentence starters to get them going. For example, today I asked them to start their sentences like this:

• At the Leighton Arts Centre, we...
• We also...
• The best part was...

The students also practiced their spelling words, because as I reminded them, their quiz is in about 17 hours. We went to the library, and ran around outside for Gym because we were too loud for the gymnasium.

In the afternoon, we had Music and Daily 5. The students also put together some Valentines bags for the 'party' tomorrow. :)

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday (Field Trip Day!)

Hi parents,

We had a great day at the Leighton Arts Centre today! 

This morning, the students learned about 'landscapes', and used clay to create their own landscape sculptures. They used a bunch of different tools to create unique textures in the clay. After that, we went for a walk to "Echo Hill", which has a breathtaking view of the mountains, and is an excellent place to create echoes.

We also got to take a tour of the Leighton house, which serves as an art museum as well as a piece of Alberta's history. Finally, the students did a weaving activity.

The students were not able to completely finish their art pieces today, but we'll be sure to finish them up as soon as we can in class. :)

Here are some important events coming up this week (they are actually all on Wednesday):

Room 6 Valentines Party - Feb. 12 (AM)

Students are encouraged to hand out valentines to their peers! We will be creating 'valentines bags' tomorrow in class. Please make sure to send enough valentines for everyone, if you choose to send them. I'll be sending out a class list (first names only) later tonight in case your child did not bring one home already.

Literacy Event! Feb. 12 (PM)

On Wednesday, February 12^th, 2020, students at Lake Bonavista School will be celebrating Family Literacy Day!

The theme for Family Literacy Day 2020 is “Let’s Read Together”. Students will gather together to participate in a whole-school literacy assembly in the afternoon, followed by an opportunity for families to come and read together in our school environment.  

Please join us on February 12^th, 2020 starting at 2:00pm and “Let’s Read Together”!

Family Dance Wednesday, February 12 @ 6:30 pm

Have you got your tickets to the Lake Bonavista School Family Dance? Purchase tickets online at: lakebonavista.yapsody.com  Tickets are available until February 11. Contact lbstreasurer1@gmail.com if you would like to buy tickets with cash or cheque.

Everyone loves the Cake Walk! Add a donation of a cake, cupcakes or cookies online, too.

What a busy Wednesday! Have a nice day,

Zac

Spelling Words!

Spelling List A

Pen	Men	Ten	Hen
Den	Then	When	Open

Spelling List B

Lunch	Bench	Wrench	Pinch
Catch	Which	Ranch	Watch

This week there are only three days of school, and one of them is a field trip, so practicing at home is going to be a game changer! We're focusing on 'ch' words and the ever-controversial 'en' words. I put the word 'Watch' in bold because it is actually one of the most commonly misspelled words in our classroom.

Have a nice weekend!

Zac

Friday

Hi parents,

We had a really good day today!

In the morning, the students presented Ms. Infante with the secret gift that they'd made her, which was basically a book talking about how much we all appreciated her time in our classroom. Sadly today was her last day here. We all hope she comes back to volunteer soon!

The students did a great job on this week's spelling quiz, and then we went to play Netball in the Gym. Today, the students got to play actual games on netball, which was really fun. Netball is an awesome team sport because you are not allowed to move when you have the ball. This makes passing essential, and ensures that everyone on the team gets a chance with the ball.

We had Daily 5, and then the students went to Music. As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that today was definitely a pretty easy day.... maybe that's why it went so well? Regardless of why, it was a nice way to end our week. :)

Please remember that our Field Trip to Leighton Arts Centre is on Monday. A significant amount of the field trip will be outdoors, so please ensure your child has boots, a jacket, hat, and mitts, as well as a water bottle, lunch, and snack.

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

PS: We watched this episode of NumberBlocks today, and it may be the best explanation of multiplication I've come across!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6CLcctoQWY

Sad Thursday (PJ Day Cancelled, Spelling Quiz still on)

Hi parents,

We had a pretty challenging day today, but there were definitely some good points!

For example, in the morning, we had a lockdown drill, and the class did an amazing job of staying quiet and remaining hidden in the corner of the room. They also did a very good job following along with a yoga video that was intended to help them stay calm during the lockdown.

In the morning, the students wrote down lists of their classmates names, to help them with their Valentines cards. We will be having a small Valentines party / exchange on Wednesday, Feb. 12 - I'll put more information about that at the bottom of the post!

The students also did some writing about their favourite room in the house, and why they liked spending time there. In the afternoon, the students did some independent quiet reading because they were too loud and crazy for Daily 5. We watched a Bill Nye video about gravity, and had an interesting class discussion. The students were supposed to write a brief description about what life on earth would be like without gravity, but by this point, the energy levels were very high and only a few students completed it.

BAD NEWS: PJ Day Cancelled!

At the end of the day, I had already given about 20 reminders to the students about staying on task and being respectful, and told the students that if I had to keep giving them reminders then we would lose our party for tomorrow. I asked the students to put away their work and start the end-of-the-day clean up. I watched carefully for a bit to see who was following instructions, and sadly, even after 5 whole minutes, not a single student had started to clean. Many had actually started making more messes by throwing things around, ripping up paper, taking out Magic / Pokemon cards, or playing tag. So needless to say, I felt pretty disheartened by this, and I let the class know that they had really let me down, and they had lost their Pajama Day privileges. I've also decided that cards will not be allowed in class for the next week, because they have been quite distracting lately.

Hopefully we will have a good day tomorrow, even without the pajamas and toys. :(

Valentines Party Info:

When: Feb. 12, in the morning

Students have the opportunity to hand out valentines cards to their classmates. If you are sending Valentines with your child, please ensure they bring enough for everyone in the class! I will send home lists with students who were unable to complete them this morning. Snacks are welcome! But since this is a morning party, and the afternoon is intended to be a reading / literacy time, it might be better to keep them on the healthy side....

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at zalink@cbe.ab.ca

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday

Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. In the morning, the students finished their Polymon books! I have to admit, I am a bit amazed by how well they turned out. Each student has now completed eight unique 'Polymon', and somehow, the quality of work has remained consistently great. I feel like this class has possibly gained a more thorough understanding of 2-D and 3-D shape attributes than any class I've taught so far - maybe I need to relate everything I teach to Pokemon?

We went outside for gym, because sadly we don't get to do Netball again until Friday, but the weather was pleasant and the students had a lot of fun. When we came back in, the class completed a Quiz about magnets. I guess technically it was a pop quiz, because they didn't know about it beforehand. I thought it would be nice to give the students some experience with quiz writing, because they'll probably see a lot more of it as they move on to higher grades. I even marked the quizzes with red pen. Don't worry - this quiz will play virtually no role in determining anyone's final science marks. :)

In the afternoon, the students worked very hard on a secret project, and then went to Music. 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday

Hi parents,

We had a great day today! The students had a lot of fun for our first day of Netball.

We did our typical Monday routines (journals, spelling, Music, Daily 5...) and worked more on the Polymon books too. Today, I showed the grade 1 students what a 'Rhombus' looks like, and the grade 2s learned about triangular-based pyramids.

Thank you to everyone who has brought back their Leighton Arts Centre forms! And also for all of you who have offered to volunteer. I've tried to send home the yellow volunteer forms with everyone who was interested - please let me know if you did not receive one yet. :)

Thank you also for returning your report card envelopes, and for letting me know that you're still reading the blog. I really appreciate it - I'm sorry it's always the same on Mondays. Tomorrow's will be much more interesting.

Friday, Feb. 7 - PJ Day!

The students have collected all of 26 of the alphabet stickers once again, and they've earned another PJ Day as a result. As usual, they are allowed to bring one toy / stuffy to school as well. No electronics please! We will have some Fun Friday time at the end of the day where the students can play with whatever they've brought, or with the materials we already have in class. :)

Have a nice night,

Zac