French

• We continue to read traditional fairy tales.
• We are writing in our journals.
• Our focus is the letter c. When followed by a, o or u, it makes a hard c sound as in cake.

The letter c makes the hard c sound (k) when followed by a, o or u, unless we see a cédille below the c.

Science

• We discussed how we find water in different states in our world. Children learned new vocabulary, and categorized ways we find water into solid, liquid or gas.

States of matter.

Self-reflection

• Children chose a new goal this week based on the grandfather teaching of the swan.
• Children write about how they succeeded with their goal in their reflection journals.

Math

• We continue to use efficient strategies to add and subtract.
• We add/subtract to 100: I have 42. I want 100. How many do I need?

Gym

• We have learned badminton skills, and play in partners.
• We play movement games with our stuffies on stuffie day!
• We play games outside with Mme Stafford’s class.

We are a week into the New Year, and this is what we are learning!

French

• Our theme is fairy tales. Children are listening to fairy tales, and reading fairy tales both individually and in small groups. We are learning about the genre, and noticing messaging in traditional fairy tales. Later in the unit, we will explore stereotypes and consider modern messages in fractured fairy tales.
• Our sound this week is the letter c when it makes the ‘k’ sound.
  • Canard, coccinelle, cube. If a c is followed by an a, o or u, the c makes the k sound.
• At home, your child may listen to fairy tales using this link.

Math

• We continue to build our use of efficient strategies for computation such as 7+8… we can double 7+7=14 and add one, 14+1=15.
• We explore the use of an open number line.
• We add and subtract tens to numbers such as 43+20=63.
• We can round a number up such as: 67+3=70.

Science

• What is matter? We will learn that matter is all around us.
• We will explore the states of matter: solid, liquid and gas.

Physical Education

• We are learning badminton skills.
• We apply the grandfather teaching of the swan to kind outdoor play.

Social Studies

• We have learned about the lands that we call Ontario.
• We learned a bit about Ottawa.
• We read a Mohawk legend explaining why the owl and rabbit have the physical traits we see today.
• We read an Algonquin legend about Niagara Falls.

Health

• Hygiene is our topic this term.
• We read about Prince Olivier qui ne veut pas se laver- we made connections with a story about a Prince who did not want to wash or clean up after himself.
• This week, a funny Robert Munsch story about hair will lead to a discussion about washing, combing, and brushing our hair to keep it neat and clean.

Please note that your child can bring a stuffie to class on Friday!

Welcome to the New Year! Thank-you for the heartfelt holiday cards and generous gifts. They warmed my heart, and I hope you had wonderful family time over the break.

Indoor Shoes

• Indoor shoes were sent home during the holidays. If you have not yet, please inspect them to make sure that they are in good condition and fit. Send indoor running shoes back to school.

Extra Clothes

• Extra clothes were sent home from lockers over the holidays. Please send a new labelled bag of extra clothes to school. Suggested items to include are:
  • Extra socks (socks get wet and snowy days).
  • Extra gloves or mittens (in case forgotten at home, lost or wet).
  • Underwear.
  • Pants.
  • T-shirt.

Skating

• Permission forms will be sent home today. Please sign, return and indicate if you can volunteer! Criminal record checks must be up-to-date in order to volunteer walking with us, tying skates, or skating. Thank-you!
• Skating dates will be: January 29th & February 6th.
• On Skating days, students will need:
  • Ice skates IN A BAG.
  • Gloves or mittens (mandatory on ice).
  • Helmet (mandatory- bike helmet or ski helmet is okay if your child does not have an ice helmet).

Calendar

• A January calendar is being sent home today.
• Show and Tell will begin this week.
• Show and tell topic: Something your child did over the winter break! In French please. Your child should prepare and rehearse in advance.

Headphones

• Your child needs headphones to use at school. Please label them and send them in a bag. Please send headphones that do not require charging, and fit over the ears. Thanks!

Lalilo

• Children were introduced to the web site, Lalilo, today. Children tried out their headphones, and participated in placement activities in order to tailor French activities in the program to your child’s individual needs.
• On Wednesday, children will take home their individual codes in order to try Lalilo at home at app.lalilo.com
• For weekly home reading, children will continue reading books IN FRENCH. If your child wishes to practice French on the Lalilo web site occasionally, your child may write “Lalilo” as the book title on home reading log. Please limit entries to twice a week, with the majority of homework continuing to be reading French books. Thank-you! Lalilo is meant to supplement rather than replace reading. There are many listening activities in Lalilo, so make sure that your child uses a device with sound and a microphone.

Tomorrow the gr2s can purchase items from the canteen!

• 1 or 2 items may be purchased for 2$ each.
• bring a non-breakable mug/to go cup (stable- will not easily fall over OR has a lid) if your child wishes to purchase hot chocolate.
• Items will be purchased with lunch, so send a morning snack!
• label any coins in a bag; I suggest putting money in the agenda pocket, mug or lunch bag.

Locker clean-out

Lockers need to be cleaned out for the holidays. Extra clothes will be sent home. Check if they fit/ if you need to change to winter appropriate spare clothes for January. Send socks too! If your child is leaving before Friday, your child can clean out the locker tomorrow. Please put extra clothes in a plastic bag so they don’t get wet/dirty on the locker shelf from wet mitts & outerwear.

Headphones

Please send in labelled headphones in January if you have not done so already.

Theme Days

Tomorrow: Dress like a holiday decoration.

Friday: Wear your favourite holiday attire/sweater.

This week, here is what we have been doing and learning!

French

• Our sound of the week is eau as in bateau. It makes the long o sound as in nose.
• We have been using plural endings in our journal writing:
  • Nouns ending in eau have an x as in les jumeaux.
  • Many nouns and adjectives have an s at the end as in les jumelles.
  • Many verbs have a silent -ent ending as in ils portent.
• We are wrapping up books in our guided reading groups, retelling stories and increasing our vocabulary.

Math

• We can place numbers on a number line.
• We use efficient strategies to add and subtract numbers.
• We can identify tens and ones in 2-digit numbers.
• We learned a new game- LNH! (a hockey game).

Science

• We are learning about life cycles of living creatures other than salmon.

Indigenous Activity

• Mme Jules came to our class so that children could make decorations for home using the colours of the medicine wheel.

Art

• We used markers to make stained glass inspired evergreen trees.

ADST

• We learned how to go to google classroom on a chromebook.
• We learned how to use the trackpad to drag and drop, and how to get back to your screen if you left by accident.

Music

• We attended the grade 6/7 band concert.
• We are practising our songs for our concert next week.

December is here! We are having fun with festive winter vocabulary.

Gym

Students imagined they were candles, snowballs, gingerbread cookies and Whoville characters as they moved around the space!

We played snowman tag.

Writing

Students are writing about the best cookie in the world!

Sound of the Week

Our sound this week is au like the long o sound in nose, which is also the sound Santa makes when he laughs.

Health

We move vigorously and notice that we breathe faster and get warmer. Our heart and muscles get stronger!

We learned about protein, omega-3s and the nutrients that meats, nuts, fish, seafood, beans and fish provide.

Math

We choose a 2-digit number and…

• build it
• write it
• name the tens and ones
• add 10 to it
• take away 10 from it
• decide if it’s odd or even

These skills will be evaluated later using our school district’s Number Sense Assessment.

Week of Dec. 16th Spirit Days:

Monday, Dec. 16: School wide-pyjama day! Festive pjs or any pjs, bathrobe, morning attire. No slippers or stuffies please.

Tuesday, Dec. 17: Tinsel Toe Tuesday: children wear fancy attire for their concert, but are encouraged to wear festive fun socks as well! We will have a dress rehearsal, an afternoon concert and an evening concert. Make sure children are well-rested and well fed before our big day begins!

Wednesday, Dec. 18: Whoville Wednesday: Inspired from the story, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, students can dress as characters for the book/film. Some ideas are long toques, scarves, mittens, grinch costume, sparkly clothing, festive headbands, braids, striped socks or tights, festive shirts, bow ties, and bows.

Thursday, Dec.19: Twinkle Thursday: Dress like a holiday decoration such as:

• Shine bright like a holiday decoration
• Holiday lights – necklace etc.
• Wrapping paper
• Bows
• Ribbon
• Anything shiny
• Costumes

Children can also bring 2$ in a labelled ziplock or change purse to purchase a holiday drink or treat.

Friday, Dec.20th: Festive Friday: Wear your festive sweater or anything festive.

Technology

• Students learned how to enter a username and secure password in order to log into chromebooks.
• Please send in heaadphones that have a jack to plug into chromebooks & tablets, as we will be doing listening activities in the new year. LABEL the headphones and send them in with a bag or case. They will be returned to you at the end of the year, or if you need them for holidays. This could make a good stocking stuffer!

French

• Our sound last week was ei as in neige. This week’s sounds are ê in tête and è in mère. All these letters make the short e sound as in bed.
• We are reading books about food, salmon, and Indigenous Peoples.

Math

• In preparation for the district’s grade two numeracy assessment this winter, we have become very good at choosing a 2-digit number, and then…
  • Adding 10
  • Taking away 10
  • Drawing tens and ones
  • Pair/ impair? (Is the number even/ odd?)
    • For children who have found this concept difficult, drawing a picture of the ones (unités) and imagining a story has really helped: if one is lonely, the number is “impair”; if each one has a buddy, the number is “pair”.
• We are building our ability to use doubles as a mental math strategy.
• We are wrapping up our measurement unit, and workbooks are being sent home once completed to share with parents.

Food

• We continue to encourage trying new foods! We have had another student share photos of making our brussel sprout muffin recipe at home!
• We are reading about foods from different cultures such as ramen and rice, as we learn about different types of cereals.

Science

• We have completed our learning about the life cycle of the salmon.
• We are reading books to review our learning.
• We are thinking about ways that we can help protect salmon and their waterways.

Social Studies

• We are learning about Saskatchewan and Manitoba, including landscapes and First Peoples.

Roots of Empathy

• We had Baby Finley visit us last week!
• We have learned about why babies cry and what it’s like to get new teeth.

Open House

• Thanks to everyone who attended our student-led open house! I was very proud to see our students’ leadership skills.
• Children shared a page from their reflection journal, which will be referred to in the December report card. If your child was absent, this was photocopied and sent home along with 2 other items that your child chose to share.

Healthy eating

We read a fun story today, about Albertine who will NOT eat Brussel sprouts at the start of the story… The story concludes with a fun recipe your child might like to try, Brussel sprout muffins! We will send a copy of the recipe home. Children notices what green fruits and vegetables they have in their lunch bags today.

Also, as part of our sciences and social studies unit on salmon, we read Mom, How Do You Make Smoked Fish? We are learning the significance of salmon as an indigenous food, and learning about different ways to eat salmon.

If your child was absent today, your child is encouraged to listen to the “Choux de Bruxelles” story.

Gym

We have been working on throwing and catching skills with balls and beanbags. Being active is also connected to our health!

Roots of Empathy

Baby Finley visited us on Friday for our pyjama day! We learned about why babies cry.

Math

We are continuing to measure in centimeters and in meters.

We are increasing our efficiency adding and subtracting, and applying mental math strategies to our computations.

French

Our focus this week is the sound eu in feu, as in the sound put.

We are reading fun stories about food, Indigenous legends and books in small groups with the teacher this week.

Children can silent read in the mornings for 12 minutes! Bravo!

Book Fair

We will be attending the book fair on Tuesday as a class. Parents may come with children before and after school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Remembrance Day – Jour de Souvenir

We will be painting poppies this week in art. On Friday, we will recognize Remembrance Day with a school assembly. There will be no school on Monday in order to honour this day.

Tuesdays and Thursdays this week and next week, treats will be on sale for 2$ each.

Wednesday is dress like your teacher day. Children can dress as any teacher, past or present. This is a spirit day to add a little fun to our school day!

What have we been learning?

Gym

• We have been using beanbags and balls to build throwing and catching skills.
• We have learned new outdoor games with Mme Stafford’s class.

Science

• We have learned about young salmon, tacons.

Social Studies

• We are learning about the Pieds-Noirs, the Blackfoot people.

Math

• We have been measuring in centimetres, and learning how to use a ruler.

French

• We are in the Hallowe’en spirit, with a focus on Hallowe’en words and stories.
• We have learned the sounds ain, ein and in sound the same.

Health

• We learned to appreciate the foods we eat during the autumn at harvest time.
• We are reading about where our food comes from.
• We wrote about foods we eat and like!
• In our nutrition unit, we will encourage children to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, to include a variety of textures and to try new foods!

We are using a French bookmark to reinforce reading strategies. Our focus has been the first three strategies on the bookmark:

• Regarde et touche le mot. Look at ALL of the letters in a word, and follow under the letters with your finger.
• Trouve les parties du mot. Look for sounds we have learned in class such as é in bébé, in in lapin.
• Glisse les sons. Once a child has sounded out parts of word, slide the sounds together to say the whole word. See if it is a word that you know!