Embedded Files
November 2nd-4th:
Hi Families!
The kids had a busy, fun filled week last week! Halloween is always an exciting time in grade one! I was sad to have missed it this year, but there were several highlights throughout the week for the kids, including our grade one hallway stations on Thursday. The children were mixed up into groups and they got to circulate through the stations with friends from different classes. There were lots of laughs and memories made! On Friday, we participated in a costume parade throughout the school. In the afternoon, we mixed up with our grade one friends again and watched a Halloween movie. Mrs.Tonya (guest teacher) and Mrs.Mac both commented how fantastic the kids were and Mrs. Mac shared some pictures of their costumes. Click here to see them.
This week will be a short one, as there is no school on Thursday and Friday. Next week, I hope to be back in the classroom. I will continue assessing students on the learning goals I have taught so far. This is in preparation for the first set of report cards and Parent Teacher Interviews which are later this month. I am looking forward to meeting with you at the end of the month to discuss your child’s progress so far in grade one!
**Save the dates - Christmas Concerts**: Our Christmas Concerts are just around the corner; we wanted everyone to be aware of the schedule so these dates can be saved. More information about tickets will be shared at a later date.
*Tuesday December 8th - Kindergarten performances - 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
*Wednesday December 9th - Grade 1 performances - 11:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
*Wednesday December 9th - Grade 2 performances - 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Front
Monday: Day 2 Phys.Ed
Tuesday: Day 3 Phys.Ed, Music
Wednesday: Day 4 Phys.Ed, Learning Buddies
Thursday: NO SCHOOL
Friday: NO SCHOOL
Words of the week - do, all **We will practice reading and writing these words**
Fundations: We did our final check in for Unit 3 (digraphs) last week. I am so proud of all the students and their continued hard work in each unit. They impress me every day with what they have learned! We will begin Unit 4 tomorrow.
In unit 4, we will teach the following concepts:
The bonus letter spelling rule. If a one-syllable word ends in f, l, s, and sometimes z, and there is a short vowel sound before it, the consonant gets doubled. Your child will learn to read and spell words with bonus letters. Examples: puff, hill, miss, buzz
Glued sound all. The sound of ‘a’ changes to the short vowel sound /o/. Your child will learn to segment and and blend words with all to read and spell. Examples: ball, tall, fall
Cool Kids Fundraiser for Make A Wish Foundation - Wednesday, November 4th: Our Cool Kids Club is a group of Grade 2 students who hold several fundraisers throughout the school year for various community groups. For November, they have chosen to support the Make a Wish Foundation with a hat day on Wednesday, Nov.4. Please see more details about our first fundraiser in this video: Cool Kids Club - Crazy Hat Day Video.mp4
Reading Homework: Your child will have the same 3 practice books from last week. I figured since I am out of the classroom this week, it made most sense for them to keep their books and re-read them as this will build their automaticity (reading a word as a whole quickly without having to blend or tap and blend it first); as well as their reading fluency (scooping words into 3-4 word phrases). Reading the same book over and over is a great way to practice building these skills.
Learning Goals: Click here to read over November's learning goals.
Dates to Remember:
Wednesday, November 4th - Cool Kids Fundraiser for Make A Wish Foundation - HAT DAY
Thursday, November 5th and Friday, November 6th - PEITF Convention (No School)
Monday-Friday, November 9th-13th - Scholastic Book Fair
Thursday, November 12th - Scholastic Book Fair Shopping Party in the evening (6pm-6:45pm)
Wednesday, November 11th - Remembrance Day (No School)
Friday, November 13th - Picture Retake Day
Monday, November 16th - Report Card Day (no classes)
Thursday, November 26th - Parent Teacher Interviews (3-7pm)
Friday, November 27th - Parent Teacher Interviews (no classes)
Have a great week!
October 26th - October 30th:
Hi families,
The kids had a fun time on Friday using their imaginations and creating halloween characters out of toilet paper rolls. Click here to see them. I will send them home tomorrow, Monday.
We have a big week ahead! This week, we will be having some Halloween celebrations. On Friday, October 30th, we will celebrate Halloween at Glen Stewart. Students can feel free to dress up in costume! We do ask that you please avoid costumes that are very scary! Also, masks and weapons are not permitted. Please make sure that the costume allows for movement as students will still have recess.
On Thursday and Friday, students will be doing “Spooktacular” activities during their physical education class.
On Friday, in the morning, we will be doing a costume parade where we walk through other classrooms to show our costumes. Other classes will come walk through our classroom to show their costumes, too! We are also going to be doing some fun hallway stations in the grade one hallway. The students will get to participate in fun Halloween activities in each of the grade one classrooms! It should be a very fun day!
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Back (Merry-go-round Wednesday at big recess)
Monday: Day 3 Phys.Ed, Music
Tuesday: Day 4 Phys.Ed, Learning Buddies
Wednesday: Day 5 Library, Music
Thursday: Day 6 Phys. Ed, Chromebooks
Friday: Day 1 Library *Book Exchange Day*, Music
Words of the week - you, your, there, where **We will practice reading and writing these words**
Fundations:
We will be finishing Unit 3 of Fundations this week and doing our unit check in. In class, we are working on consonant digraphs. A consonant digraph is two consonants together that make one sound such as “s” and “h” together make the sound of /sh/. We will be working on learning the following consonant digraphs:
wh - whistle - /w/ ch - chin - /ch/ sh - ship - /sh/
th - thumb - /th/ ck - sock - /ck/
Reading Homework: Your child will have 3 practice books that they can read throughout the week. Please return these books on Friday. If I don't receive your child's books back, I will wait until they return to school before I send new books home. There are a limited number of books and we need to cycle them through the class. I understand it's easy to forget some Fridays, so just send them back on the Monday. Thanks for your support in this! Midweek, I will send the Unit 3, Week 2, Fluency sheet home for your child to practice a few times to build their fluency. The sheet you can keep.
Halloween at school on Friday: If you would like to send in treats to share with our class, please ensure they are peanut free. No pressure to do so, though! Please see details above in regards to costumes.
Dates to Remember:
Friday, October 30 - Halloween celebrations
Thursday, November 5th and Friday, November 6th - PEITF Convention (No School)
Monday-Friday, November 9th-13th - Scholastic Book Fair (more info to come)
Thursday, November 12th - Scholastic Book Fair Shopping Party in the evening (6pm-6:45pm)
Wednesday, November 11th - Remembrance Day (No School)
Friday, November 13th - Picture Retake Day
Monday, November 16th - Report Card Day (no classes)
Thursday, November 26th - Parent Teacher Interviews (3-7pm)
Friday, November 27th - Parent Teacher Interviews (no classes)
Have a great week!
October 19th - October 23rd:
Hi Families!
A few highlights from last week were the two painting crafts we did on Thursday and the field trip to Orwell Corner on Friday!
For the art projects, the kids made a a tree out of part of their arm and their fingers, then painted fall colored leaves using q-tips. They, also, painted variety shapes and sizes of pumpkins on cardstock (inspired by Spookley the Square Pumpkin read aloud I did and the short movie we watched previously).
The kids had a fantastic time on their field trip, as I am sure you probably already heard all about! I want to give all the kids a huge shoutout for being so kind, respectful and cooperative. The guest teacher, Mrs. Mac, and various other staff members messaged me at the end of the day to tell me how incredible the kids all were. Though, this doesn't surprise me as I already knew how amazing they are. You should be very proud of your children! They had tons of fun meeting the animals, exploring the historic village, playing outside and building scarecrows. Apparently they named a scarecrow after me, haha. I almost feel like I was there, but I definitely would have joined them in that potato sack race had I been. I'm all for the games! Thanks to Mrs. Mac and a few other staff, I am able to share lots of pictures with you all highlighting a lot of fun from their day together. Click here to see the pictures!
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Front
Monday: Day 4 Phys.Ed, Learning Buddies
Tuesday: Day 5 Library, Music
Wednesday: Day 6 Phys. Ed, Chromebooks
Thursday: Day 1 Library *Book Exchange Day*, Music
Friday: Day 2 Phys.Ed
Words of the week - or/for, down, want, out **We will practice reading and writing these words**
Fundations:
We are about halfway through Unit 3 of Fundations. In class, we are working on consonant digraphs. A consonant digraph is two consonants together that make one sound such as “s” and “h” together make the sound of /sh/. We will be working on learning the following consonant digraphs:
wh - whistle - /w/ ch - chin - /ch/ sh - ship - /sh/
th - thumb - /th/ ck - sock - /ck/
Reading Homework: Your child will have the Unit 3, Week 1, Fluency sheet; as well as 3 practice books that they can read throughout the week. Please return these books on Friday. The sheet you can keep. Thanks to those who returned their books from last week. For those who didn't, please return as soon as possible as I need them to rotate through the class.
School Photos: *** Reminder: The deadline to order school photos with free shipping will be October 22nd. ***
Dates to Remember:
Friday, October 30 - Halloween celebration(more details to come)
Thursday, November 5th and Friday, November 6th - PEITF Convention (No School)
Wednesday, November 11th - Remembrance Day (No School)
Friday, November 13 - Picture Retake Day
Have a great week!
October 13th - October 16th:
Hi Families!
We had another wonderful week in grade one! Thank you to everyone who took part in the International Walk To School Day.
We enjoyed our reward day on Friday. The kids enjoyed cuddling up with their stuffies and watching the short film "Spookley the Square Pumpkin".
We completed our check-in for Unit 2 on Friday and the kids did an amazing job spelling cvc words and writing sentences with correct sentence structure and writing conventions (uppercase to start, spaces between words, and punctuation at the end of the sentence).
These past few weeks, we started doing literacy centres and math centers while I do small group work at the blue table. I am really impressed to see that with each day we practice, the kids are becoming more indepenent and understand what is expected during this time, including a quiet classroom to do our best learning.
We also spent time talking about gratitude and sharing the things we feel thankful for. They all did a wonderful job with their thankful turkeys ( I sent these home on Friday in their homework bags.)
The students had their photos taken on Thursday. I sent home cards from the photographer (Everest Solutions). You can scan the QR code or enter the online code to view your child’s photos. The deadline to order photos with free shipping will be Thursday October 22st.
I added a couple photos from last week. Click here to see them.
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Back (Merry-go-round Thursday little recess)
Monday: No School ( Happy Thanksgiving)
Tuesday: Day 6 Phys. Ed, Chromebooks
Wednesday: Day 1 Library, Music
Thursday: Day 2 Phys. Ed
Friday: Day 3 Phys.Ed, Music
Words of the week - as/has, we/he/she/be/me **We will practice reading and writing these words**
Fundations:
We completed Unit 2 of Fundations. We will began Unit 3 of Fundations this week. In class, I am working on consonant digraphs. A consonant digraph is two consonants together that make one sound such as “s” and “h” together make the sound of /sh/. We will be working on learning the following consonant digraphs:
wh - whistle - /w/ ch - chin - /ch/ sh - ship - /sh/
th - thumb - /th/ ck - sock - /ck/
In class we will be working on tapping and blending to read and write words containing these consonant digraphs. We will also be working on “qu” which is referred to as the “buddy letter” because “q” always has it’s buddy “u” right beside it in words in the English language.
Reading Homework: Your child will have 3 practice books that they can read throughout the week. Please return these books on Friday. Thanks to those who returned books from last week. For those who didn't, please return as soon as possible.
Orwell Corner:Thanks to those who have sent back their permission forms and money. For those who haven't, please do so before Thursday. Thank you.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, October 12 - Thanksgiving (no classes)
Thursday, October 15 - 1A and 1B Orwell Corner Field Trip
Friday, October 16 - 1C, 1D, and 1E Orwell Corner Field Trip
Friday, November 13 - Picture Retake Day
Have a great week!
October 5th-9th:
Hi Families!
We had so much fun during our field trip last Friday to Cotton Park. The weather cooperated nicely and the children had so much fun playing and exploring! I was so proud of how kind, respectful and patient they all were. We had such a fun morning together. As a result, we added our last few marbles and we have filled our marble bucket! Stay tuned for what we will do as a class reward this week. I added some photos from last week. Click here to see them.
We will be kicking off our homework reading routine this week. Your child will come home with 3 books on Monday. These books may be a variety of levels. Your child will also have a Fundations Fluency review sheet that you can use to reinforce the skills that are being taught in class. They can independently, or with support, practice reading the words and sentences on that sheet. Our goal in Grade 1 is for homework to be a calm and easy activity each evening. Please see the chart at the end of this update for some fun reading activities!
Next week, we will be going on our field trip to Orwell Corner! Our class will be going on Friday, October 16th. This is always a highlight of the year and lots of memories will be made! Please make sure that you do not order hot lunches for our field trip day. Please keep an eye out for the permission slip coming home this week!
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Front
Monday: Day 1 Library, Music
Tuesday: Day 2 Phys. Ed
Wednesday: Day 3 Phys. Ed, Music
Thursday: Day 4 Phys. Ed. Learning Buddies
Friday: Day 5 Library, Music
Words of the week: see, little, play, was **We will practice reading and writing these words**
International Walk to School Day: International Walk to School Day is an annual event supported by the Town of Stratford. It is a mass celebration of active transportation and its related issues. To celebrate this day, Glen Stewart will be hosting a walk to school day on Wednesday, October 7th. Families who would like to participate in this event are to meet at the Stratford Town Hall by 7:35 a.m. with departure at 7:45 a.m. sharp. We are asking that a family member accompany their child on the walk to school. Families will gather on the trail adjacent to Shakespeare Dr. across from the Stratford Town Hall prior to the walk. There will be volunteers that will be helping students to cross both Shakespeare Dr. and Glen Stewart Dr. Snacks will be provided to all participants in the gym after the walk.
Picture day: Thursday, October 8th
Homework: Your child will be bringing home 3 books and a Fundations Fluency Sheet this week. Please return the 3 books on Friday. You can keep the fluency sheet for practice at home. Please see the variety of ways to share in your child's reading from the chart below.
Learning Goals: Click here to see October's Learning Goals.
Dates to Remember:
Thursday, October 8th - Picture day for Grade 1 English
Thursday October 15th - 1A, 1B to Orwell Corner / Friday October 16th - 1C, 1D, 1E to Orwell Corner
Monday, October 13th - Thanksgiving (no classes)
Have a great week, everyone!
September 28th-October 2nd:
Hi Families!
We had another great week in 1E! The kids enjoyed the Terry Fox walk/run on Friday. Thanks for making a donation. We have been building our reading stamina and I am loving seeing the kids interests in books. We finished the week off with flashlight Friday (where I turn off the lights and the kids get to read in the dark with mini flashlights). I snapped a few pictures, click here to see them. Also, we finished our first unit of Fundations, which was a review of consonant sounds, vowel sounds, and letter formation.
I will be sending home a permission form tomorrow, Monday, September 28th, for our class to go to Cotton Park on Friday, October 2nd. The grade one English classes will be walking to Robert Cotton Park to participate in some fun and educational activities. We will be leaving the school at 8:45AM. We will be returning to the school by lunchtime (12:00PM).
The trip date will be weather dependent. If the weather isn’t cooperative, we will plan an alternate day to go. I will touch base later this week to confirm the date. Part of our science curriculum is seasonal changes, at Cotton Park, we will engage in a variety of educational activities that will integrate literacy, math, and science curriculum. We will have a picnic snack, use binoculars on the trail to look for signs of fall, complete a fall scavenger hunt, create nature patterns, play games and use our imaginations in the Wild Child play area!
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Back (merry-go-round Tuesday big recess)
Monday: Day 3 Phys.ed, Music
Tuesday: Day 4 Phys. Ed
Wednesday: No School
Thursday: Day 5 Library, Music
Friday: Day 6 Cotton Park, Chromebooks
Cotton Park Field Trip: Please sign and return the permission form that is going home in your child's homework bag on Monday, September 28th.
Words of the week - come, here, his, of **We will practice reading and writing these words**
Learning Goals: Each month I will outline the curriculum outcomes and learning we will be exploring. Click here , or visit the "monthly learning goals" tab at the top of this website.
Fundations: We are working through Unit 2. In this unit we teach/review how to tap and blend three-sound short vowel words (consonant-vowel-consonant AKA CVC; example: sat). We will teach how to read and spell CVC words.
Homework: We will begin homework routines later this month, stay tuned for more information!
Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, September 29th - Orange Shirt Day at school
Wednesday, September 30th - No classes (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)
Friday, October 2nd- Grade 1 Field Trip to Cotton Park in the AM
Thursday, October 8th- Picture Day
Have a great week, everyone!
September 21st-25th:
Hi Families!
We had a great week last week. The kids really enjoyed their Show and Share on Friday. I was really proud of the respect and patience they showed as they waited their turn. Also, the kids did a great job getting up in front of our class and sharing something about what they brought. There were some really great questions asked as well!
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Front
Monday: Day 4 Phys. Ed, Learning Buddies
Tuesday: Day 5 Library, Music
Wednesday: Day 6, Phys. Ed, Chromebooks
Thursday: Day 1 Library *Book Exchange Day*, Music
Friday: Day 2 Phys. Ed
Words of the week - my, is, look, and **We will practice reading and writing these words**
Learning Goals: Each month I will outline the curriculum outcomes and learning we will be exploring. Click here, or visit the "monthly learning goals" tab at the top of this website.
Terry Fox Donations: In support of cancer research, you can make a cash donation by sending money in with your child in their homework bag. Please label that it is for Terry Fox Donation. Or, you can make a donation online using the following link: https://schools.terryfox.ca/GlenStewartPrimarySchool
Homework: We will begin homework routines later this month, stay tuned for more information!
Dates to Remember:
Friday, September 25th - Terry Fox Run
Tuesday, September 29th - Orange Shirt Day at school
Wednesday, September 30th - No classes (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)
Thursday, October 8th- Picture Day
Have a great week!
September 14th-18th:
Hi Families!
We had a great first four days of grade one! We are learning lots of new routines, building friendships and getting to know each other. We discussed that we are a class family and that we all have an invisible bucket that we carry around every day. We talked about ways we can fill each other’s buckets up by being respectful, kind, responsible and doing our best. To finish the week off, on Friday morning during Free Choice Play, we had an “open house” in our grade one hallway where the kids were able to visit and play with friends from the other classrooms. This was a lot of fun! It was nice for them to connect with each other and see each other’s space.
This week, we will continue to practice routines and establish expectations.
Here's what's happening in 1E this week:
Playground: Back (Merry-go-round-Wednesday)
Monday: Day 5 Music, Library
Tuesday: Day 6 Phys. Ed
Wednesday: Day 1 Music, Library
Thursday: Day 2 Phys. Ed
Friday: Day 3 Music, Phys. Ed
Words of the week - go, to, went, can **We will practice reading and writing these words**
Learning Goals: Each month I will outline the curriculum outcomes and learning we will be exploring. Click here or visit the "monthly learning goals" tab at the top of this website.
Forms: Thanks to those who filled out the forms that were sent home on the first day of school. If you haven’t done so already, please send them back as soon as possible.
Photos: I’ll be taking photos of the students engaging and the various activities we do in 1E. I will post these photos under the "Our Classroom" tab at the top of my website. Click here to see some pictures from free choice play last week.
Meet the Teacher: You're invited to come into our classroom this Wednesday, September 16th from 6:20-6:35pm. This is a great chance to see our classroom and meet other parents. I'll have a quick slideshow to go over some information about grade 1!
Hot Lunches: Our Hot Lunch program will begin Monday, September 14th. To place these orders, you will need to create a new account (even if you had one last year) and place your orders for next week by 9pm on Sundays.
Here is the website to register and order: https://glenstewartprimary.hotlunches.net/admin/?action=register-form
Monday: Cheese Pizza (Domino’s)
Friday: Cheese Pizza (Stratford Pizza Corner)
Microwave: We have a microwave in our classroom to warm up food for lunch! Due to class size and limited time for lunch, each child is limited to 30 seconds for the microwave. Please don't send KD cups or frozen dinners as they take a long time to heat up and then cool down to eat!
Homework: We will begin homework routines later this month, stay tuned for more information!
Breakfast Program: Our breakfast program begins this week and is open for all students! Toast with butter and toast with jam are always available. Additionally there can be various options such as apples, bananas, cheese or yogurt. Breakfast is available between 8:00 and 8:25 daily.
Dates to Remember:
Wednesday, September 16th - Meet the Teacher (6:20-6:35pm)
Wednesday, September 30th - No classes (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)
Have a great week, everyone!
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