Updates & Homework

Monday May 13th

Bonjour!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

A few things to mention:

• We will be at the farm all day Monday and I know students are excited! I had sent out an email on Friday about things to pack for the day.

• I will be out of the classroom on Wednesday. Mme Alexa will be in for me and will be her last visit for the year as she will be graduating at the end of the month and than away for the whole month of June. If your child's after school arrangements change for that day please let the office know. 

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Libray books are due on Friday May 17th.

• If you are placing lunch orders for June, please do not order food for June 20th as we will not be at school that day (feild trip).

• Our end of the year trip will be happening on June 20th. We will be going to King's Castle for the day. Thank you to those who have offered to come chaperone for the day. I think I have enough!

• The weather has still been iffy. Just make sure your child has everything appropriate for the day and weather.

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. Some have been doing very well speaking to me in French but now I want them to speak to their friends in French. I am going to up the anti by giving 2 blocks if I hear someone speaking to a friend in French.  Now once they receive 15 blocks, they'll get to trade those and pick from the prize box.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week I'm going to continue our reading groups but also squeeze in some reading evaluations as some are ready to move to higher reading levels. I'm really trying to find how who needs that last push for end of the year.

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • -et at the end of a word (as in violet)

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Friday*

    • frère, garçon, fille, beaucoup, je suis, je vois

• Writing: This week we will continue our writing unit on small moments. Students are really liking having the chance to simply write whatever they want and not have the structured sentences the same for all. Some are still having a hard time putting ideas down on paper and knowing how to translate what we want to say from English to French. We will continue to work on that strategy.

• Math: This week we will start our second last unit on measurement. This is a fun unit to do nearing the end of the year because there's a lot of hands on activities and easier to understand. We will find things that are shorter and longer than other objects, talk about the height, width & length, find objects in the class with bigger and smaller surfaces, talk about different capacities AND things that are heavier and lighter than other objetcs. Lots of fun!

• Integrated Studies:  This week we will talk about the life cycle of a plant. I have some fun activities planned for this part of the unit that are some of my favorite activities I do all year. We will plant some sunflowers later in the week. We will watch them grow and talk about why the sun and water is important for plants.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. Don't forget about the section about the spelling. Our quiz with the 5 words will be Thursday. I have also added a sheet for math homework. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• May13th - Field Trip to the Farm

• May 20th - Victoria Day (No School)

• June 20th - End of the Year Field Trip to King's Castle (rain date June 25th)

• June 26th - Last Day of School!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday April 29th

Bonjour!

What a beauty of a weekend! I hope you were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine. We are in for a short week this week but a busy week with our projects.

A few things to mention:

• Reminder of the family project due on WEDNESDAY, May 1st. The sheet of information is in the purple duotang. I sent an email last week about parents coming to visit. Parents can come and visit Thursday from 11:15am-12:00pm. Simply sign in at the office before heading down to the class.

• Reminder that there is no school Friday as it is our Area Association Day (I call it our business day).

• We will heading on a field trip to a farm on May 13th. We have been talking about farm animals for the last few weeks and this is always a fun way to end our unit. The cost of this field trip is $7 and has to be paid by May 8th. There is also a permission form in your child's purple duotang that needs to be signed (both sides) and returned by the same date. 

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Please have library books returned by Wednesday May 1st.

• Reminder to please make sure any toys and stuff stay home. Some have still been sneaking stuff into the classroom which has been distracting others.

• With spring finally here, the weather has gotten nicer. I have been letting students go outside in just jackets but have warned about the mud still around our playground. If they have splash pants in their school bags as a jus in case that would be great because it could rain in the morning and we go out at lunch and everything will be wet. So just be prepared.

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. This week we are really going to focus on speaking to Madame in French all the time and move on to speaking to our friends. Some are catching on others are still not seeming to care. So we will see how this goes.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week I'm going to continue our reading groups but also start to do a few evaluations because I feel some are ready to move on to higher reading levels.

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • on pause as the last few sounds that we work on are not quite ready. We will review, review while waiting for the last sounds to be ready.

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Thursday*

    • soeur, bleu, deux, je veux, je peux

• Writing: This week we will be starting a new writing unit. This unit is going to hopefully give the students some more freedom to write whatever they want with some guidance and lessons on what is needed in how to properly write a story. Many are going to have to start taking risks with their writing and come up with their own ideas. This unit is called our "Small Moments" unit which is taking a moment that has happened in our lives and writing about it but also being able to turn it into a story (changing the characters names, adding details etc.). I'm very excited for this unit and I believe many are ready for it. 

• Math: This week we will continue working a last few substraction strategies. Hoping to wrap this unit up this week or even the beginning of next week. The strategies we will work on this week are using a number line and counting back. Two strategies that can be very helpful in figuring out subtraction problems. 

• Integrated Studies:  We will start talking about how things are changing outside for spring. This will lead us into a lot of fun activities that I love doing in spring.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. Don't forget about the section about the spelling. Our quiz with the 5 words will be Friday. I have also added the new sight word list (white) and a sheet for math homework. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• May 3rd - Teacher's Area Association (No School)

• May13th - Field Trip to the Farm (rain date May 16th)

• May 20th - Victoria Day (No School)

• June 20th - End of the Year Field Trip to King's Castle (rain date June 25th)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday April 15th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! The sun tried to come out but was quickly gone again with clouds and rain. Hoping that it warms up soon. Reminder that there is no school on Friday as teachers have a professional development day, so short week.

A few things to mention:

• Easter Seals Ambassador's will be visiting the school on Wednesday May 24th. For a fundraiser we will be having a fudgsicle sale this Thursday. We will be accepting donations for the fudgsicles which will be added to our donation for Easter Seals. The class who raises the most money will have a pizza party. The class who raises the second most amount of money will get an extra recess. 

• All students have been working really hard on working quickly in class and staying on task. They have finally been able to get 10 points which means they get a reward. We had a discussion in class last week and some wanted a pajama day, some wanted a teddy day and some wanted a movie day. I've decided to combine all three since they have been working really hard. So this Thursday, students can wear pajamas, bring a small teddy and we will watch a movie (about the earth for Earth Day).

• Reminder of the family project due in a couple weeks (May 1st). The sheet of information is in the purple duotang. The sheet of information is in the purple duotang. I will send an email next week about the date and time that parents can come in to see the projects (it's looking like May 2nd).

• There will be a note in your child's purple duotang in regards to a family project (will be after the homework sheet). I do this project each year that I teach grade 1 and it is one of my favorites. Please read the sheet and take note of when the project is due in class.

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Please have library books returned by Monday April 15th.

• Reminder to please make sure any toys and stuff stay home. Some have still been sneaking stuff into the classroom which has been distracting others.

• It seems as though spring has finally arrived, so splash pants will be the way to go for outdoor recess. A reminder though that the playground is still very wet, so please make sure your child has extra clothes just in case.

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. I have giving reminders a lot lately and a lot are still not catching on and it's getting frustrating. I may have to think of another way to get them to start speaking French all the time.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: We have gone through all of our reading strategies, so this week we are just going to read. I will be giving reminders when listening to students about what strategy they should/may be using.

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • double consonants (rr, mm, pp, ll, ss, nn)

    • -ent at the end of a verbs (these are silent)

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Thursday*

    • le chat, le chien, chez, cherche, est-ce que

• Writing: This week we will be writing about what we can do to help our planet. We'll do a little art project to go with it. We will talk about things together first then students will have to write on their own what they will do. 

• Math: This week we are finally going to get into subtraction. We are going to start by using a lot of manipulatives to help us visualize and feel what is happening when doing subtraction. We will use manipulatives like marbles, bingo markers to help us figure out these type of questions. This is the first step in our subtraction unit. Once we do this for a few days, we may get into our first strategy which is using a number line. With it being a short week not sure if we will get to this strategy.

• Integrated Studies:  We will be talking about Earth Day and what we can do to help our planet. We will also get outside (hopefully) next Monday to clean up our playground.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. Don't forget about the section about the spelling. Our quiz with the 5 words will be Friday. I have also added a sheet for math homework. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• April 18th - PJ, Teddy & Movie Day

• April 19th - Professional Development Day (No School)

• April 22nd - Earth Day - wear something blue and/or green

• May 3rd - Teacher's Area Association (No School)

• May 20th - Victoria Day (No School)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Tuesday April 2nd

Bonjour!

I guess we're flipping the calendar to April. Crazy how fast the time is flying. I hope you all had a great March break and Easter! I had a busy but still relaxing break in Portland, Maine & Boston but am so excited to see all those little faces tomorrow.

A few things to mention:

• As I'm sure you have heard, Monday April 8th there will be full solar eclipse happening on PEI. Due to this schools will be dismissing 2 hours early. I believe that means that we will be dismissing at 12:30 but I will have to confirm. Students will also be recieving special solar eclipse glasses later this week that they can take home to watch the solar eclipse properly. 

• Many are coming in from recess with wet socks. Please pack a couple extra pairs as we do go out even if the playground is wet. As much as I tell them to stay out of the water it doesn't help.

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Please have library books returned by Thursday April 4th.

• Reminder to please make sure any toys and stuff stay home. Some have still been sneaking stuff into the classroom which has been distracting others.

• It seems as though Spring has arrived and has turned our playgrounw into a mud pit. Snow pants may not be necessary anymore but splash pants for sure. As always, please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the weather (hat, mits, splash pants/snow pants, boots). I always make sure they have everything they need on as well.

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. This week I'm going to start asking students to try and say certain sentences in French when speaking to me. It will be sentences that I know they can say in French. After speaking to you all at interviews I feel as though some may come around and start to speak more French (my hope).

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we will continue talking about different strategies for reading unknown words. I don't have my full document in front of me but I do know that we will be looking at this strategy:

  • • Stop Lights - red light (when the word does not make sense), yellow light (when you have to decode), green light (when you already know the word)

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • qu (as in question)

    • soft c & ç (as in cerise & garçon)

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Friday*

    • toi, tu, un, une, aime

• Writing: This week we will start our week talking about different things we did during the break and write about them. Things we did during the break can be as simple as going to watch a movie, going to a friends house, playing outside, going skating, going on a trip etc. We will also start our unit on transportation. We will talk about the different kinds of transportatiom and what we use them for. We will also talk about if each different mode of transportation floats, flies or roles.

• Math: This week we will continue looking at the doubles strategy for addition. We will play different games to practice our doubles facts.

• Integrated Studies: We will be putting this on pause for the next couple weeks to simply concentrate on other things we have to do in the classroom. I like to pick this unit back up around when spring really starts outside.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. Don't forget about the section about the spelling. Our quiz with the 5 words will be Friday. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• April 2nd - First day back after break

• April 8th - Half Day due to the Solar Eclipse.

• April 19th - Professional Development Day (No School)

• May 3rd - Teacher's Area Association (No School)

• May 20th - Victoria Day (No School)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday March 11th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! 

A few things to mention:

• Thank you to all of you for changing your interview times at the last minute. It was much appreciated!

• With St. Patrick's day happening next weekend, I ask that students wear something green (if they have it) this Friday. We will do some different St. Patty's activities.

• I am sending the new Scholastic Flyer home on Monday with students. This flyer is for the next two months. Don't forget that if you are ordering something to please use our classroom code located at the top of the flyer (RC166771) and that way our class gets some rewards.

• Over the winter months some students have used up their extra change of clothes and with the wet months coming I feel as though some may need to be replenished. Please make sure your child has an extra pair of clothes (maybe even 2 pairs of pants and socks). I know it will be cold for a little bit longer but when that snow melts our playground becomes a mess and mud pit.

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Please have library books returned by Monday March 11th.

• Reminder to please make sure any toys and stuff stay home.

• As always, please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the cold weather (hat, mits, snow pants, boots). I always make sure they have everything they need on as well. 

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. This week I'm going to start asking students to try and say certain sentences in French when speaking to me. It will be sentences that I know they can say in French.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we will continue talking about different strategies for reading words. Here are the different ones we will look at this week:

  • • Inseperable Vowels

    • Word Families

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • e (as in elle)

    • ai (as in j'aime)

    • ei (as in neige)

** All these sounds make the same sound. They are also the same sounds as è/ê.

• • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Friday*

    • sa, se, ses, si, sur

• Writing: With myself missing basically all lasat week, I never had the chance to start our unit on small moments. I'm going to try and squeeze some of it in before the break. We will also be doing different writing pieces about Saint Patrick's day and Easter.

• Math: This week we continue working through our addition strategies. This week we work on one that can be very helpful at making addition go a bit faster. It is making 10! I find once students understand how this strategy works, it is one that students use more often then others. 

• Integrated Studies: We will continue our unit on important changes that happen in life (seasons, animals, ourselves from season to season...). We will be talking about seasons and how things change from season to season. This will be our unit for awhile as we will be having lots of discussions and doing lots of different activities to really think about these things.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. Don't forget about the section about the spelling. Our quiz with the 5 words will be Friday. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• March 15th - St Patrick's Day Celebration - Wear Green

• March 22nd - March 28th - March Break (No School)

• March 29 - April 1st - Easter Break (No School)

• April 2nd - First day back after break

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday February 26th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! That was an unexpected storm on Saturday for sure but turned into a beautiful Sunday.

A few things to mention:

• The portal to sign up for interviews goes live this Monday February 26th. Like last term, I have opened up some slots every day of the week after school. Hoping this will give you more options and not have my Thursday and Friday so busy :) .

• I will be out of the classroom on Tuesday. I will be doing some work with our literacy coach to do some planning of future lessons and work on some stuff for the pilot I am doing on sounds. Mme Alexa will be in for me for the whole day. If after school arrangements change, please let the office know.

• If your child will be absent for a day can you please let myself or the office know. I have to put absences into the system and if I don't know then it goes in as unexcused.

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Please have library books returned by Wednesday February 27th.

• Reminder to please make sure any toys and stuff stay home. Some have been sneaking stuff into the classroom which then distracts them and others.

• As always, please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the cold weather (hat, mits, snow pants, boots). I always make sure they have everything they need on as well. 

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. The block system is working for many but some are still not catching on. Basically if someone speaks to me or I hear someone talking to their friends in French then they receive a block. They have to receive 10 blocks before getting to pick out of my prize box. I need them to simply try saying simply phrases learned in the classroom. We are past saying just one word in the sentence in French. They should know enough now to be able to say 2-3 sentences in French. This is all the process on working towards speaking French all the time and I know we can get there.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we will continue talking about different strategies to reading words. The strategies that we will look at are: double consonant sounds, cover and slide & flexible vowels. I was so close to finish my reading evaluations last week so I will get them done this week.

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • è/ê (as in lève & fête)

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Friday*

    • me, moi, ne, non, on

• Writing: This week we will be doing a lot of free writing as I want students to be able to show what they are capable of writing at this point of the year. We have done lots of work leading up to this about how to sound out words and what we need in a sentence. I know some will be stuck so we will dicuss before hand of some possible ideas they could write about.

• Math: This week ill be a an evaluation week with reports cards and interviews coming up. We have covered and reviewed a lot of different concepts since the holiday break. I know what a lot are capable of doing but I still like to give everyone a chance to show me one more time. We will also continue talking about different addition strategies as we are still working on that unit. This week we will finish up our touchpoints strategy and start talking about making 10. This strategy can help a lot of students really understand what happens when we add numbers. I need everyone to be willing to try all these strategies as we do them and not just resort to one way. I tell them in class that they need to try them all first before knowing which one works best for them.

• Integrated Studies: We will continue our unit on important changes that happen in life (seasons, animals, ourselves from season to season...). We will be talking about seasons and how things change from season to season. This will be our unit for awhile as we will be having lots of discussions and doing lots of different activities to really think about these things.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. Don't forget about the section about the spelling. Our quiz with the 5 words will be Friday. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• March 7th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (Evening)

• March 8th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (No School)

• March 22nd - March 28th - March Break (No School)

• March 29 - April 1st - Easter Break (No School)

• April 2nd - First day back after break

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday February 12th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! It was a beautiful weekend and some of that snow has started to melt but looks like there may be another system coming this week.

A few things to mention:

• We have a few dress up days this week, so please check out the bottom of this update for those days and what students can wear.

• We will be having a little Valentine's Party on Wednesday. I had sent home a list of all student names a few weeks ago (pink sheet) for those who will be making Valentine's for the class. If you are sending in treats, please remember that they have to be peanut/nut free and also we have a girl in our class who is celiac, so please no gluten. 

• I will be out of the classroom Wednesday afternoon as my daugther has a Valentine's concert. Mme Alexa will be in for me and I'm sure the kiddos will all be super happy to have her.

• If your child will be absent for a day can you please let myself or the office know. I have to put absences into the system and if I don't know then it goes in as unexcused.

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Please have library books returned by Friday February 16th.

• Reminder to please make sure any toys and stuff stay home. Some have been sneaking stuff into the classroom which then distracts them and others.

• As always, please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the cold weather (hat, mits, snow pants, boots). I always make sure they have everything they need on as well. 

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. The block system is working for many but some are still not catching on. Basically if someone speaks to me or I hear someone talking to their friends in French, even if it's simply a word or two, then they receive a block. They have to receive 10 blocks before getting to pick out of my prize box. Like I said before, I need them to simply try and say the words that I know they know (saying numbers, colors, certain vocabulary words we've learned). This is all the process on working towards speaking French all the time and I know we can get there.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we will continue talking about different strategies to reading words. The strategies that we will look at are: think while reading and to auto-correct, make sure we say the first, middle and last sound of each word, read slowly to properly decode a word, say the sounds not the letters and use all sounds we have learned to decode words. I'm also working on some reading evaluations as report cards are fast approaching.

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • y (as in Lydia)

    • oi (as in oiseau)

    • t at the end of words (as in dit)

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Friday*

    • et, grand, ici, il y a, je

• Writing: This week we will be continuing to do some free writing. Prior to simply letting them write, we will review some different ways we can start our sentences . We will also do a few examples together. I also want them to take risks with unknown words by sounding out the word and writing the sounds that they hear.  

• Math: This week we will continue looking at different strategies to help us with addition. We will be reviewing our basic strategies (drawing, dice, using our fingers, number line) but we will also start to look at some of our mental math strategies. We will be starting with the strategy of counting on (starting with the bigger number) and also what happens when you add 0.

• Integrated Studies: We will continue our unit on important changes that happen in life (seasons, animals, ourselves from season to season...). We will be talking about seasons and how things change from season to season. This will be our unit for awhile as we will be having lots of discussions and doing lots of different activities to really think about these things.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. Don't forget about the section about the spelling. Our quiz with the 5 words will be Friday. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• February 14th - Valentine's Class Party! Wear anything pink red or white.

• February 16th - Winter Wellness Day. Students can wear a hat/toque all day in class.

• February 19th - Islander Day (No School)

• February 23rd - 100th Day of School! (if no more storms)

• March 7th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (Evening)

• March 8th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (No School)

• March 22nd - March 28th - March Break (No School)

• March 29 - April 1st - Easter Break (No School)

• April 2nd - First day back after break

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday January 29th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Another five day week upon us. Looks like there will be a few cold days to please make sure kids are dressed properly.

A few things to mention:

• I will be out of the classroom on Monday as my daughter has an appointment for her asthma. If there are any after school changes, please contact the office and they will let me sub know.

• Please remember to sign the spelling test (little green scribbler) and send it back in. 

• Please have library books returned by Tuesday January 30th

• Reminder to please make sure any toys and stuff stay home. Some have been sneaking stuff into the classroom which then distracts them and others.

• The cold weather comes at different times of days lately. Please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the cold weather (hat, mitts, snow pants, boots). I always make sure they have everything they need on as well (weather depending). 

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. This week I am implementing a reward system for those speaking French without my prompting. If they say "I went to the store avec maman" that's what I'm looking for. I need them to simply try and say the words that I know they know (saying numbers, colors, certain vocabulary words we've learned). This is all the process on working towards speaking French all the time and I know we can get there.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we are going to get into how to really read words. This week we are going to focus on really reading the word and not guessing. We will also talk about how we have to keep our eyes on the words. Some are looking to me for answers or sounds and not paying attention wo the letters in the words.

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • consonant + r (as in bras, froid, crie, gros, dragon, trouve)

    • an/en (as in enfant)

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Friday*

    • va, ami, avec, j'ai, bébé

• Writing: This week we will be creating a class book about the secret life of snowmen. It will be the first time that I'm going to ask students to write on their own with a little less model sentences. I will simply give them the sentence "Les bonhommes de neige..." and they will have to write something that snowmen do at night (go sledding, drink hot chocolate etc). Later in the week we may start doing some free writing. This will proably be scary for some students but it's that time of year where they have to start writing words on their own. I will be doing lots of modeling and how we create sentences to help them out. 

• Math: This week we will continue talking about 1 more than, 2 more than, 1 less than and 2 less than. Some have caught on pretty quickly but others are getting stuck on the terms "plus et moins (more & less)". We will look at this for a few more days then move on to our addition and subtraction unit. 

• Integrated Studies: We will continue out unit on important changes that happen in life (seasons, animals, ourselves from season to season...). We will be talking about seasons and how things change from season to season. This will be our unit for awhile as we will be having lots of discussions and doing lots of different activities to really think about these things.

• Homework: I have added this weeks homework sheet to the purple duotang. I had added the new section with our spelling words for this week (I forgot the last two weeks). We will always have our quiz on Fridays with the 5 words of the week. Please check it out!

Dates to remember: 

• February 19th - Islander Day (No School)

• March 7th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (Evening)

• March 8th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (No School)

• March 22nd - April 1st - March Break and Easter

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday January 15th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! We made it through our first week back. I'm not going to lie and say that it was tiring. It's hard to get back into routine after the holidays. 

A few things to mention:

• Please return library books by Friday.

• This week, we will be starting our "dictée". This is a spelling test that will be happening each Friday (or Thursday if it's a short week). The spelling test will consist of 5 words. These five words are listed below under "Word Study/Spelling words for the week". We will work on the same five words all week and finish with our test on Friday. There will be 5 new words each week. As much as we practice in class, some may still need to practice at home. These are words that by the end of grade 1 students should know how to write correctly. These are also words that we have already seen during our year and many are from kindergarten.

• Family Literacy Day will be celebrated at Glen Stewart on January 26th this year. This is a day where students can dress up as their favorite character from one of their favorite books. I ask that students also bring in that book to share with the class.

• I have added this months new Scholastic flyer to your child's homework bag. I looked through it myself and there are some really good prices on some books (I may be getting a few for my girls). Don't forget that when you place an order to use the code written on top of the flyer (RC166771) to give our class some rewards. I use these rewards to buy new books for the class and any other materials that I can find.

• The cold weather has arrived. Please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the cold weather (hat, mits, splash/snow pants, boots). I always make sure they have everything they need on as well (weather depending).

• We will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. With the break I know things may be a rusty when students are talking to me but I will remind them and we should be good. I'm now looking for students to be speaking a little French with their friends (saying numbers, colors, certain vocabulary words we've learned). This is all the process on working towards speaking French all the time.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we are going to back up a little and review a strategy that some have forgotten to do while reading. The strategy is breaking up a word to be able to read. Many are freezing when getting to a new word and not even trying, even though there's many sounds in the word that they know. We will work on this by blending random sounds, using flip charts to help us see what is going on and working on big words together.

•  Sounds of the week:

  • • s at the end of word (as in gros) - when "s" is at the end of a word in French it's silent

    • on (as in cochon)

  • Word Study/Spelling words of the week: *test on Friday*

    • mon, ton, son, il, elle

• Writing: This week we will continue talking about what we wear when we go outside. This week the strucutre that we will be using is Je mets.... We will also be talking about what order we put all these clothes on to play in the snow. We will also be doing a fun drawing activity to go along with our writing pieces. 

• Math: This week we will talk about the terms "plus", "moins" & "autant" when comparing numbers. I will be showing numbers in different ways (ten frames, dot cards...) and students will have to show me a number (with blocks) that's for example 2 more than or 1 less than etc. We will be doing this in various ways.  

• Integrated Studies: We will get into our unit about how things change. We will be talking about seasons and how things change from season to season. This will be our unit for awhile as we will be having lots of discussions and doing lots of different activities to really think about these things.

• Homework: I have added this week's homework sheet to the purple duotang. Please check it out!

Dates to remember:

• January 26th - Family Literacy Day - students are to dress up as their favorite character from a favorite book and bring that book into class

• February 19th - Islander Day (No School)

• March 7th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (Evening)

• March 8th - Parent-Teacher Interviews (No School)

• March 22nd - April 1st - March Break and Easter

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday December 11th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! First I want to say how proud I am of all the kiddos for how awesome they did at the Christmas concerts!

A few things to mention:

• I have sent out an email about different dress up and activity days happening this week. I have listed them at the bottom of this message if you don't remember.

• Friday this week, we wil be having a board game afternoon. Please send in your childs favorite board game by Friday. You can send them in any day this week, as long as they are in the classroom by Friday.

• I will be out of the classroom the afternoon of Thursday December 14th for the little ones Christmas concert. It will simply be Mme Alexa in the classroom. If there's any after school changes please either send in a note to Mme Alexa or call the office.

• Please check out the tap at the top of the page called "Classroom Tour" (under 1J Extras). I have finally added some pictures from the year. Click Here for easy access.

• I have added a new tab at the top of the page. It's called Student Sites. These are some sites that we use in the class that the students love. Feel free to use them at home when you want.

• The cold weather has arrived. Please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the cold weather (hat, mits, splash/snow pants, boots). Some have been saying they're cold when coming in. I always make sure they have everything they need on as well (weather depending).

• We continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. I'm now looking for students to be speaking a little French with their friends (saying numbers, colors, certain vocabulary words we've learned). This is all the process on working towards speaking French all the time.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we will continue to work on looking at all the letters in a word to help us figure out the word. We will continue to talk about our strategies we use when we get to a word that we don't know. One thing that I always tell them is that I'd rather you at least say the first syllable then simply guess the word.

•  Sounds of the week: *we work now onto our double and more complex sounds

  • • e at the end of word (as in fée) - when e is at the end of a word in French it's silent

  • Word Study words of the week: * we practice writing them every day

    • vert, petite, frère, tout, garçon

• Writing: This week we write about what kind of decorations we put on our tree. We will use the structure "Sur mon sapin de Noël, il y a...". We always start decorating our own little trees (paper trees) then practice saying the sentences out loud before we begin to write.

• Math: This week we will continue to work on our unit about 2D and 3D shapes. We will be comparing different shapes, talking about the different aspects of the shapes and a treasure hunts around the class to find these different shapes. We will also do some review of past concepts. This will be our unit until Christmas.

• Integrated Studies: We will continue talking about ways to stay healthy and what our body needs. We will talk about physical activites, what we eat and what we need to do to protect ourselves from sickness. This will be our unit until Christmas.

• Homework: I have added this week's homework sheet to the purple duotang. Please check it out!

Dates to remember:

• December 13th - Whoville Day - come dressed in anything that has to do with the Grinch

• December 14th - Holiday Hat/Hair Day

• December 15th - Board Games Day

• December 22nd - Last day before the Holidays and Mme Alexa's last day

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday November 27th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I can't belive we are changing the calendar to December at the end of the week. Lots of fun stuff coming. I love December!

A few things to mention:

• Report cards will be going home next Wednesday, November 29th.

• Thank you to all of you who were able to meet with me and talk about your child. It was great talking to you all and finally being able to put a face to the name.

• Christmas Concert: Our concert will be taking place on December 6th at 1:10pm and 6:00pm. Each student will receive 2 tickets per show. Our principal Lynn will be sending out an email at the beginning of the week explaining how this will work. If any questions please ask. Students are to come dressed in their best concert attire. We will be making festival bears that students will be wearing on stage.

• Later in the week I'll be sending out an email about parents doing a Christmas read aloud to the class in the month of December. It is one of my favorite things to do around the Holidays. Stay tuned for an upcoming email.

• If you or someone you know has a little one ready for kindergarten next year, please remember to register them as soon as possible. Simply drop by the school (or school in your area).

• I have added a new tab at the top of the page. It's called Student Sites. These are some sites that we use in the class that the students love. Feel free to use them at home when you want.

• The cold weather has arrived. Please make sure to pack appropriate clothes for the cold weather (hat, mits, splash/snow pants, boots). Some have been saying they're cold when coming in. I always make sure they have everything they need on as well (weather depending).

• We continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. I'm now looking for students to be speaking a little French with their friends (saying numbers, colors, certain vocabulary words we've learned). This is all the process on working towards speaking French all the time.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we will work on looking at all the letters in a word to help us figure out the word. Some are still guessing the words and not fully looking at all the letters. Others don't always recognize words in books but do on their own. We will try and find strategies to help us remember our sight words from our lists and be able to see them in books.

•  Sounds of the week: *we work now onto our double and more complex sounds

  • • ou (as in hibou)

    • eu (as in bleu)

  • Word Study words of the week: * we practice writing them every day

    • leur, neuf, bleu, soeur, veux

• Writing: This week we will do our first Christmas writing piece. One song that I always listen to for Christmas in the classroom is "Quand le Père Noël viens me visiter". It's a song about what Santa wears. We'll been listening to the song and writing about what he wears and what order he puts it on. 

• Math: This week we continue comparing numbers. We will talk about putting numbers in order from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest, and start talking about numbers being bigger or smaller then other numbers. We will also continue to review stuff we have already learned such as counting by 2, 5 and 10 each day as a warm up.  

• Integrated Studies: We will continue talking about ways to stay healthy and what our body needs. We will talk about physical activites, what we eat and what we need to do to protect ourselves from sickness. This will be our unit until Christmas.

• Homework: I have added this week's homework sheet to the purple duotang. Please check it out!

Dates to remember:

• November 29th - Report Cards go home

• December 6th - Christmas Concert 1:10pm & 6pm

• December 22nd - Last day before the Holidays and Mme Alexa's last day

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Tuesday November 14th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great long weekend! It's a very short week this week, so a few things are conitnuing from last week.

A few things to mention:

• Scholastics - you will find November's flyer in the purple duotang. As always I have indicated our class code at the top. If you are looking for some books for Christmas there are some great ones in the flyer. If they are a gift please send me an email and I'll keep it a secret.

• Interviews are just around the corner. Mrs. Dunn sent you the link in an email (on Sunday). That link will go live this Tuesday morning (the 14th). Please sign up for a time slot as soon as you can. You will notice that I have openings all that week for interviews. I always open time slots on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday just in case you can't come Thursday or Friday. Choose which ever day and time works best for you.

• If you know that your child will be absent, can you please send me a quick email. I have to keep track of absences and have certain codes to enter. Knowing why a student is out makes it much easier.

• Students have been coming in from recess muddy lately. With the weather being so unpredictable in PEI, please ensure that your child is dressed properly and has extra clothes. Sneakers are just not cutting it for playing outside right now. The ground is usually always wet and some play games/soccer in certain areas that are are quite muddy. 

• This week we will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. Some have caught on to certain phrases really quickly and don't need any reminders to use them. Others are still asking to go to the bathroom in English, which is something they learned in kindergarten. I remind those students to try again or ask them how do we say that in French.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week with it only being a short week, we will continue to work on strategies we have already worked on when we get to an unknown word (at least sounds out the first few sounds and look for known sounds).

•  Sounds of the week: *we work now onto our double and more complex sounds

  • • c/g (as in corbeau & gorgée) - we have already worked on the sounds for these two letters but now we will work on combination of letters that help each letter make the sound (ca, co, cu, ga, go, gu, cr, cl, gr, gl)

  • Word Study words of the week: * we practice writing them every day

    • est-ce que, pas, oui, non, mère

• Writing: This week we will do some writing about animals. We will describe an animal using different characteristics. 

• Math: This week we start comparing numbers. This is our next unit. We will talk about putting numbers in order from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest, and start talking about numbers being bigger or smaller then other numbers. This will be our unit until Christmas. We will also continue to review stuff we have already learned such as counting by 2, 5 and 10 each days as a warm up. 

• Integrated Studies: We will start talking about ways to stay healthy and what our body needs. We will talk about physical activites, what we eat and what we need to do to protect ourselves from sickness. This will be out unit until Christmas.

• Homework: I have added this week's homework sheet to the purple duotang. With only two days I kept it very simply. Please check it out!

Dates to remember:

• November 16th - PEITF Convention (No School)

• November 17th - PEITF Convention (No School)

• November 23rd - Parent Teacher Interviews (Evening)

• November 24th - Parent Teacher Interviews (No School)

• December 6th - Christmas Concert 1pm & 6pm (I have to double check these times)

• December 22nd - Last day before the Holidays and Mme Alexa's last day

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday October 30th

Bonjour!

Happy Halloween! I hope you all had a great weekend! Is was lovely to have such a beautiful day Saturday but I think the colder weather is here to stay now. It's going to be along week this week especially with Halloween being at the begining of the week. 

A few things to mention:

• Halloween Tuesday - Kids are allowed to dress up in their costume but there should be no masks or weapons. We will also have a classroom party with some treats and fun!

• We will have library on Thursday, so please send your child's library book in by Wednesday.

• If sending treats in your child's lunch this week, please limit the amount. I always say that 2 treats are enough. I will also not allow them to eat the Halloween treat at snack, it must be after they have finished their lunch.

• Photo retakes will be happening on this Friday November 3rd. If you would like your child to have retakes please let me know.

• This week we will continue to work on speaking French as much as we can. Little things like saying "Ma maman..." instead of "my mom..." is kind of what I'm looking for. Basically if they know the word they should be able to say it in their sentene even if the sentence is half French and half English.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week I'm going to hopefull finish evaluting the red list words and move on to evaluating their reading. In the middle of all that we will continue to talk about what we do when we get to an unknown word.

•  Sounds of the week: *we work now onto our double and more complex sounds

  • • • We will work on one sound for 3 days. I am only starting the day after Halloween so this week we will only work on one sound. Our double and complex sounds are really what help us read French words. Students have to pay attention to some sounds as it puts two letters together to make a new sound.

    • é (as in éléphant)

  • Word Study words of the week: * we practice writing them every day

    • je vois, crie, il y a, je suis, est

• Writing: This week we will finish our writing about haunted houses. The students have been doing very well with this writing piece. Some are taking a little longer because they keep losing their place when writing, and one of the strategies we have been talking about is being able to copy the words that Madame wrote. We've also been watching how we form our letters. I've also been very picky with their letters simply because we have been working very hard on them.

• Math: This week we will simply continue our work with representing numbers. I'll be doing some evaluating as well this week to see how students are able to count and represent numbers in certain ways. 

• Integrated Studies: We will resume our integrated units of study after Halloween. I have lots of stuff planned for this week.

• Homework: I have added this week's homework sheet to the purple duotang along with the new orange sight words and sentences. Please check it out! I have changed a few things this week in preparation for soon sending books home.

Dates to remember:

• October 31st - Halloween (Kids can dress up)

• November 13th - No School (Remembrance Day on weekend)

• November 16th - PEITF Convention (No School)

• November 17th - PEITF Convention (No School)

• November 23rd - Parent Teacher Interviews (Evening)

• November 24th - Parent Teacher Interviews (No School)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday October 16th

Bonjour!

I hope you all had a great weekend! The weather was a bit chilly. We had a busy weekend running around doing PEI Marathon stuff for my girls and my husband, so I'm glad the weather wasn't too bad.

A few things to mention:

• I will be out on Thursday for my husband's grandmothers funeral. Mme Alexa will be in class with students. 

• I have been adding some pictures of activities we have been doing to our Classroom Tour page. Take a look by visiting the Classroom Tour tab or simply click here.

• Reminder that if you would like to purchase some books from Scholastics that the flyer I sent home is still good. Don't forget to use our class code (RC166771).

• Please have all library books returned by Monday (the 16th), if you have not done so already.

• We are still working on controlling the volume in the classroom. Some are using almost outdoor voices in the classroom and trying to yell across the class at their friend in the middle of doing our work. We are also working on concentrating on our own work and not worrying about what others are doing. Some get distracted by others instead of doing their work and then run out of time to finish the task.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we continue to practice our red list of our sight words. I feel as thought their are some that are ready for the next words so I'm hoping to find some time to evaluate some of them this week. I have noticed that practicing these words is helping them with some reading. They are recognizing them in their books which is great. We have also been "reading" each day where students look at their books, read words they know and maybe trying to figure out other words based on the pictures. Right now they are "reading" for 5 minutes, we will build on that time and hoping to eventually get their stamina to 15 minutes (that could take awhile).

•  Sounds of the week: *we work on 3 sounds a day for 3 days

  • • f (as in froid)

    • b (as in bébé)

    • r (as in renard)

    • g (as in gorgée)

    • v (as in voler)

  • Word Study words of the week: * we practice writing some every day

    • petit, sur, jouer, et, les

• Writing: This week we will do a little descriptive writing. We will be writing about monsters. I will be giving students a modeled sentence and they simply have to fill it in. They will have to descrbe what their monster looks like (how many eyes, ears, arms and what color they are). This may be a little scary at first because they will not be copying Madame this time but we will do some practice together orally and some shared writing to help us out.

• Math: This week we will continue representing numbers. We will focus more on representing numbers with tens and ones (10 ones is the same as 1 ten). This can be hard to comprehend at first becasue there's a lot of manipulating with materials and sometimes it's hard for students to visualize what is happening.

• Integrated Studies: This week we will continue to talk about how everyone is different, unique and have different interests. 

• Homework: I have added a new homework sheet to the back of the purple duotang. Please take a look at what I have asked to do each night this week. Please remember to return the purple duotang to school each day in the homework bag.

Dates to remember:

• October 27th - Professional Development Day (No School)

• October 31st - Halloween (Kids can dress up)

• November 13th - No School (Remembrance Day on weekend)

• November 16th - PEITF Convention (No School)

• November 17th - PEITF Convention (No School)

• November 23rd - Parent Teacher Interviews (Evening)

• November 24th - Parent Teacher Interviews (No School)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Tuesday October 3rd

Bonjour!

I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful fall weekend!

A few things to mention:

• Library books are due by Wednesday.

• I will be sending home the October flyers from Scholastics this week. If there is something you would like to order, please remember to use our class code written at the top.

• Please, if you have not already, send in a pair of headphones by Friday for your child to use when we use the computers. With no headphones all the sounds can be heard from computers and it can get kind of loud in the classroom. Preferably headphones and NOT earbuds.

• Students are starting to settle into classroom routines and expectations. One thing that myself and Mme Alexa are noticing is that some students like to simply blurt out answers instead of raising their hand and not sharing the answer with the whole class. This is something that we will continue to focus on a lot this week. 

• A reminder to check homework bag each night! Please remember to keep the purple duotang IN your childs homework bag. This is where I add sheets for home and where I will add each weeks homework. I check for them each morning.

• Utensils - When packing your child’s lunch, please make sure to include any utensils necessary. There will be no disposable utensils available this year.

• Clothes- with the weather now a little cooler, please make sure your child is dressed accordingly. I know it can be cooler in the morning and warm in the afternoon. Also, please make sure your child has a change of clothes in their school bag. You never know when they might need something.

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we are really focusing on listening to the first sound of a word. We are also doing some blends of random sounds to help us with our reading. Students will also receive books for the class this week. As I told them, Madame is not looking for you to be able to read the books right now but able to simply look at the books, find sounds and find words.

• Sounds of the week:

  • • e (as in je)

    • c (as in corbeau)

    • k (as in koala)

    • p (as in pluie)

    • s (as in serpent)

    • j (as in jongleur)

  • Word Study words of the week: * we practice writing them every day

    • j'aime, le, un, la, une

• Writing: This week we will continue working on our printing of lowercase letters. They are really starting to catch on as to when to use upper and lower case letters. We will also do some writing about Thanksgiving. We will talk about what we are grateful for and use those ideas to create a turkey with what we are grateful for. It's a bit a writing and art mixed together.

• Math: This week we will continue with our counting but also start representing numbers, whether it be with a drawing, just the number or ten frames. As for counting, we're kind of stuck on numbers 11-20 because students are forgetting those very easily or when I say a number they don't which one I'm saying. So we will continue to work on those every day now that they each have a white board in their desk.

• Integrated Studies: This week we will continue to talk about how everyone is different, unique and have different interests.  

• Homework: I have added a new homework sheet to the back of the purple duotang. Please take a look at what I have asked to do each night this week. Please remember return the purple duotang to school each day in the homework bag.

Dates to remember:

• October 9th - Thanksgiving (No School)

• October 11th & 12th - Picture Day

• October 27th - Professional Development Day (No School)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa

Monday September 18th

Bonjour!

Welcome to our first update of the 2023/2024 school year!  I am so excited to have your child in class with me! Each week there will be three sections to my updates.

A few things to mention:

• Thank you to those who were able to come to meet the teacher last week. It's good to finally put a name to the face. Those who were unable to attend, I placed some sheets in your child's purple duotang (in homework bag). Please look over them and email if you have any questions.

• Terry Fox walk will be happening Friday (rain date next Monday).

• This year I am piloting a program in my class for the second year. I seen last year how much this program helped students achieve goals and really learn how to read. It focuses on breaking words down into sounds and being able to hear all sounds in words as well as write them. Due to this, I will from time to time have training sessions to better help students move forward. We are actually starting the first part of the pilot on Monday, which is a review of letters and sounds and learning how to write the alphabet in lowercase. We don't write in uppercase in grade 1 unless it's at the beginning of a sentence and the first letter in our name.

• There has been a little confusion on which door we use when entering the building in the mornings (off the bus or being dropped off). Our class is to use the main doors. The ones that take you right to the office/lobby. 

• This week we will continue to work on our routines sush as lining up, walking in the halls, raising our hands, waiting our turn and controlling classroom volume.

• Please, if you have not already, send in a pair of headphones for your child to use when we use the computers. With no headphones all the sounds can be heard from computers and it can get kind of loud in the classroom. Preferably headphones and NOT earbuds.

• A reminder to check homework bag each night, as I've been adding sheets from the office. I will be placing a purple duotang in your child's homework bag this week to prepare for homework. Please remember to keep the purple duotang IN your childs homework bag. This is where I add sheets for home and where I'll be adding sheets for homework. I check for them each morning.

• Utensils - When packing your child’s lunch, please make sure to include any utensils necessary. There will be no disposable utensils available this year.

• Change of clothes- please feel free to send in a change of clothes (in a bag).  It's always handy to have a spare pair of pants, socks, shirt and undies. We can keep the clothes in the class. Also a reminder to label your kids clothing.

• A reminder that if you pick up your child at the end of the day to wait in the parent pick up area. Now that students are familiar with end of the day preparation we will be leaving the classroom around 2:27. So we might be one of the last classes to get through the bus loop but we will get there. Also, I have told students to say bye to me before leaving that way I know they have located whoever is picking them up.

• I also try to have my Google site updated by Sunday evening (Monday after school by the latest) and I'll send out and email to let you know. 

• My email address is mabutler@edu.pe.ca and I check it as often as I can. If you have any questions or concerns please send me a message!

This week in the following subjects:

• Reading: This week we will continue to review letters and sounds of the alphabet. We will also start putting consonants and vowels together to make blends. This will get us going in the right direction to help us read some books. 

• Sounds of the week: *we work on 2 sounds a day

  1. • i (as in souris)

     • l (as in langue)

     • o (as in micro)

     • a (as in acrobate)

     • t (as in tambour)

• Writing: This week we will start our writing block by practicing our printing of lowercase letters. We will talk about letter formation, lower case letters and when to use them. Many have been rushing and siply not following direction, which leads to a lot of letters being erased and having to start over. We will also work on creating sentences. We use modeled sentences, find the words needed to make the sentence and put it together by adding a vocabulary word at the end. It's called our "Fantastic Sentences".

• Math: This week we will be doing some counting. Right now we are counting from 1-20 but this week we'll add in counting backwards from 20-1. We have to make sure we know these numbers the best as they help us with bigger numbers to 100. We're going to also look at certain numbers, how to properly write them and how to say them correctly in French. We will also work on finding mistakes in a number line, fill in the missing numbers and maybe add in counting to 30 (we'll see on this one).

• Integrated Studies: Our science, social studies, technology and art curriculums have been integrated into units. One of our units talks about how everyone is different, unique and have different interest. It fits really well with many back to school activities that can be used to create a positive and good working classroom.    

• Homework: There will be no homework this week. Once I have a good review of where students are with letters and sounds, I'll start to send home some activities (I'm thinking next week).

Dates to remember:

• September 22nd - Terry Fox Run

• September 28th - Orange Shirt day

• September 29th - Professional Development (No School)

• October 2nd - National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (No School)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mme Melissa