Monday, September 21

Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. Mondays are nice because they are very routine-driven. Every Monday, the students are introduced to new spelling words, and write in their journals about their weekends. I encourage students in Grade 1 to try to write two sentences, and students in Grade 2 to write three sentences. Often, I find that students need to be prompted to elaborate on their ideas. For instance, they will write "On the weekend I played.", and then not know what else to write. Encouraging students to focus on one idea and add detail to it is a great way to help them write additional sentences, and it's a good writing skill too.

We watched a video about Terry Fox today and had a brief class discussion afterwards. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BzyHYZgMz8 

I think that is my favourite Terry Fox video because it focuses so much on all that Terry accomplished. Our class will be participating in the Terry Fox Run on Thursday, so we're going to be learning a lot about Terry over the course of the week.

In Math, we continued to focus on the number 10. Today we brainstormed different ways to make 10. Practicing 'making 10' at home is an awesome way to help kids develop mental math skills. Today we did a quick activity where I asked the students to hold up any number of fingers, and then count the number of fingers they were not holding up.  Fingers Up + Fingers Down = 10. They thought that was pretty cool.

We went out to the front of the school and studied the crabapple Trees. I showed the students where the seeds were in each apple. We also talked about how crabapples are different from regular apples.

At the end of the day, we read a book about Lego figures and the students coloured in their own bank 'minifigures'.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Sep. 20)

 Spelling List A

Can	Ran	Man	Pan
Tan	Fan	Ban	Than

 

Spelling List B

For	Sort	Fort	Port
Sport	Short	Corn	Born

Here are this week's spelling words!

These resources might help...

Jack Hartmann 'an' words song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei3dsyr8A20

'or' Words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TKWxjU0UgQ

Friday, September 18

Happy Friday!

Today was quite a milestone day for our class, because not only did we make it through our first spelling quiz, we also made it through our first full week of school.

In the morning, the students used their work period time to complete tasks from earlier in the week, such as 'otter writing', 'journal writing' and all of the Number Spotlight worksheets we did.

We went outside for our daily 'science talk', and this time, I challenged the students to count how many different plants they saw. We talked about different types of leaves, seeds, and pinecones. We also talked about the differences between fog and smoke.

As I mentioned earlier, we made it through our first spelling quiz, which was a bit of a grueling process. It probably took almost 45 minutes. This is pretty typical for the first quiz though, because for most Grade 1s, it's the first time they've ever written a quiz! I noticed that the students seemed to be pretty comfortable with spelling the words, they just needed help figuring out where to write them. Lots of quizzes looked something like this:

1. catrat sat pat mat hat

2.

3.

4.                     chAT

I'm confident that the next quiz will go more smoothy. :) And I'm proud of the class for persevering through the whole process!

At the end of the day, we finished our otter-themed week with a step-by-step otter drawing lesson.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Zac

Thursday, September 17

 Hi parents,

Today was a bit of a crazy day but a good day nonetheless. In the morning, we had a "Virtual Assembly", where each classroom in the school connected to a Google Meet using a microphone and webcam. It was pretty fun and the kids thought it was cool how they could see so many of their friends from different classes! Ms. Jones and Ms. Durnford showed the school how to make sanitizer in a very 'mad science' sort of way, which was entertaining and fun.

We watched a Wild Kratts episode about otters, since we've kind of been having an otter themed week so far. After that, the students wrote sentences following the format: "Otters are... Otters are not ..." Most students did not finish this task on time, so we'll keep working on it tomorrow. It will be a good opportunity to show students how they can use time during the Montessori Work Period to complete unfinished tasks from earlier in the week. 

In the afternoon, we had our first Fire Drill. We practiced for it earlier in the day, so the students knew what to expect. Still, it is always impossible to anticipate how loud and awful the bell is... 

I thought the class did a great job overall. They were quiet, responsible, patient, and followed each instruction they were given. 

When you see your child after school today, you may notice they look like they came from the set of a 90's rap video. That's because the students were all given their own school T-shirts today! I thought it would be a good idea to get shirts that are a bit on the baggy side so the kids can grow into them. Hopefully the shirts will still fit in grade 6.

Along with the shirts, students were given envelopes containing a lot of important documents for parents to review today. 

Tomorrow is our first Spelling Quiz! Students have practiced their words in class over the course of the week, but additional practice at home will go a long way. Because it is our first quiz, my main focus will be on introducing the class to the format of a spelling quiz, and showing them how to organize their work. I will give many hints too. I want everyone's first quiz to be a positive experience.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, September 16

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today! I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but each morning, we go for a walk around the field and talk about nature, the weather, and seasonal changes. Today during our "Nature Walk" we had a great discussion about how some plants are edible while others are not. We talked about how many plant parts, like grasses and leaves, are not good for humans to eat, but some animals can eat them. We also talked about how dangerous certain types of mushrooms are, even if they look similar to the mushrooms we'd find at the grocery store.

Following up with our Otter activity from yesterday, the students wrote in their journals about the ways in which they can show kindness to their classmates. We practiced our spelling words using rainbow letters, slime letters, pointy letters (which some may recognize as 'Slayer' letters) or bubble letters. I find that using methods like this help students to slow down when they are practicing, and pay more attention to the actual letters that make up each word. 

In the afternoon, our 'math spotlight' was on the number 9. These spotlight pages have been a big hit so far! I am thrilled by how well students are picking up the concepts of 'even' and 'odd'. Usually those are trickier for students to grasp.

At the end of the day, we read "The Bad Seed", and made sketches of our own 'bad seeds'. We talked about the basic shapes that the seed is made of.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, September 15

 Hi parents,

Thank you to everyone who commented on the last post! It seemed to fix the view counter too. I really appreciate that so many of you are keeping up with what we're doing in class.

Today was an awesome day for our class. In the morning, we reread the story "Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late!" and the students wrote down their own ideas for pigeon stories. "The Pigeon" is a character created by Mo Willems who is a very trendy children's author right now. The students had fun coming up with their own pigeon related situations, and drawing the pigeon.

In math, we practiced using tallies, and talked about the number 8. We also had a cool discussion about why the number 7 is lucky, especially when rolling dice. We talked about the different ways we could make 7 using two dice. Hopefully this knowledge comes in handy for future trips to Las Vegas.

In the afternoon, we read a story called "Do Unto Otters". It teaches about the importance of being polite, kind, and respectful to others, and treating people the way you would like to be treated.

The class brainstormed this list of how they would like their classmates to be:

Have a nice night!

Zac

Monday, September 14

 Hi parents,

We survived our first Monday of the year! It actually was quite a good day too.

In the morning, the students watched a video that taught them a bit about Canada's national sports, Hockey and Lacrosse. We went outside and did a quick "nature walk" around the field, making observations about the weather and seasonal changes, and predicting the ways in which the field will look different in a few weeks.

The students wrote about what they did on the weekend in their journals. After that, I introduced the class to 'spelling practice', and we brainstormed some 'at' and 'ar' words. I showed the students how to practice their spelling words by writing them out in their spelling books. As I mentioned in the post yesterday, practicing at home is always encouraged! 

As students become more confident with spelling, they also become more confident with writing. In my experience, many students who are 'reluctant writers' are just nervous about making spelling mistakes. Spelling Practice is a great way to overcome this nervousness by giving kids the foundational skills they need to spell words from memory, or attempt the spelling of unfamiliar words.

In the afternoon, the class continued to work in their Math duotangs, and we focused on the number '7' today. Just like with spelling, I am trying to make sure the kids have a solid understanding of basic numbers before we start learning things like addition and subtraction. I've been really impressed by their work so far, so we might get to move on to more complicated topics earlier than I expected!

Have a nice night!

Zac

PS: If you've been following the blog, I would really appreciate if you could leave a comment on this post. My 'view counter' always shows up as zero, for some reason, so I want to make sure everyone has been able to access it. Thank you!

Spelling Words (Week of Sep. 12)

 Spelling List A

Cat	Hat	Sat	Rat
Bat	Mat	Pat	Chat

 

Spelling List B

Car	Bar	Far	Art
Star	Char	Scar	Start

Here are the spelling words for this week. Students are asked toe choose one list to practice for the week, based on which list feels like a good challenge for them. Typically, List A is derived from Grade 1 spelling words, and List B from Grade 2, but it is not uncommon for a Grade 2 student to feel more comfortable using List A, and vise-versa. I will adjust the difficulty levels of each spelling list if I notice that students are finding them too easy or too challenging. Also, trying both lists is a great way for students to challenge themselves!

Students will practice their spelling words three times in class over the course of the week. I also encourage additional practice at home, which is why I will post new spelling words on the blog each week! This is completely optional of course.

At the end of each week, we have a very casual, 'just for fun' spelling quiz. I think these quizzes are an excellent way of introducing students to the idea of a 'test setting', in which they must complete their work independently and without the help of classroom materials. The skills students develop through writing spelling quizzes in early grades will help them feel comfortable when taking more formal tests later on. These quizzes also help me identify which letters or letter blends seem to be causing problems for students, which will help me to teach more effectively.

Our first spelling quiz will be on Friday, September 18. 

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

Good luck!

Friday, September 11

Happy Friday!

We had a great day today. 

We started the day off with Explore and Play, as usual, and then we used Google Maps to learn about where Lake Bonavista School is within our city, province, country, and planet. Google Maps has a satellite feature that the students really enjoy. It can be fun to zoom in on different places around the world, kind of like a virtual vacation. It also gives the kids some perspective of how large Canada is, and where the provinces are relative to each other.

We went outside for gym and a bit of a nature walk around the field. We talked about the sun, shadows, weather, and plants. When we got back inside, we had snack and watched Number Blocks.

Number Blocks is a TV series for kids that teaches all about numbers, and in my opinion it is fantastic!! It does an amazing job of illustrating basic number concepts in a way that is typically very difficult to teach. The Number Blocks combine, break apart, and reposition themselves in a way that helps kids visualize concepts like addition, subtraction, and the commutative property. I am a big fan.

The students wrote lists about the things they would like to do on the weekend. We also did some work with the number '6'. 

I noticed that many students were unfamiliar with representing numbers using 'tallies'. This is a very easy skill to learn but it does take a bit of practice, so even just asking your child to practice writing tallies at home could be a big help.

Near the end of the day, we read the book "Our Class is a Family" and talked about the positive qualities of our classroom.

Have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, September 10

Hi parents,

Today was a great day to write this year's first official blog post about. The students did an excellent job completing work, following classroom expectations, and treating each other with kindness and respect. 

We started our day off with "Explore and Play" time, which looks a bit different this year than it did last year. Each table has been given a set of fun, educational materials that students can use individually at their tables to warm up for the day. Materials include things like Lego, Magnet Kits, Math Games, Puzzles, etc. 

After that, we watched an episode of "Canada Crew" that taught the class a bit about what it means to be Canadian. The class learned that Canada is a unique country because of it's exceptionally diverse population. 

The students went outside for Gym and played a game of "noodle tag", which is one of the only examples of a game that Covid-19 has actually succeeded in making more fun. 

When the class returned, we did math worksheets that focused on the number '5'. The students had to identify whether 5 was even or odd, list the numbers that fall before and after it, illustrate a quantity of 5, and write 5 as a tally. However, the most challenging part of the activity was learning how to put the worksheets in the duotang (we don't usually do worksheets like this!)

The class wrote sentences about someone in the class that they thought of as their friend. As an added challenge, they were asked to find something that they had in common with this friend. 

Finally, I gave the class some drawing lessons to show them how to draw people and landscapes. In a very simple way.

At the end of the day I sent home Scholastic book orders as well. Please let me know if you have any questions about ordering.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Welcome to the Room 6 Blog!

 Hi parents,

Welcome to the Room 6 Classroom Blog! 

Following this blog is a great way to stay caught up on content covered in the classroom, as well as upcoming events at Lake Bonavista School. 

I will do my best to update the blog every day, usually between 3:00pm and 5:00pm, with a summary of what we did in class. Talking with your child about their school day is a great way to help them retain new learning, and stay enthusiastic about school. Sometimes reading the blog as a family can help kids remember details about their days that they otherwise may have forgotten.

Finally, if your child has to stay home from school, following the blog is a great way to help them stay caught up with the work we're doing in class. 

If you have any questions or would just like to say 'hi', please do not hesitate to email me at zalink@cbe.ab.ca. 

I'm looking forward to a great school year!

Zac