September 27 - Day 18

"We read with bigger kids."  - AA

"We read with them and we met them.  They are our grade 5/6 buddies." - NS

"We made patterns out of blocks.  We had to make a block patterns and on our fourth one it had to have ten blocks." - JGRS

"It was hard." - KR

"It was an increasing pattern." - RG

"We drew pictures of cities and shapes from an oil pastel." - SW

"When we drew the pictures of shapes and cities we were inspired by Paul Klee." - RG


Monday is ORANGE shirt day.  Please wear an orange shirt.  We will be learning about residential schools and our role in reconciliation.  

September 26 - Day 17

Today we . . .

"We started a good jar.  Our gym time was cut short.  We did bowling.  We did science.  We studied about Ralph Klein Park." - JGRS

"We started getting tickets for doing a good job." - SW

"We did math.  We figured out how old a caterpillar was by how many circles." - AA

"We started reading 'Owls in the Family'." - ML

"We did story workshop." -RA

September 25 - Day 16

Today we continued our discussion on feeling worried.  Earlier this week we read the story "Wemberly Worried" by Kevin Henkes.  This was a stepping off point for talking about the impact worries have on school by making it hard to concentrate on learning.  We came up with four small things to help with worries:

1. Tell someone (list the things you're worrying about and tell someone who can help you)
2. Do something fun (distract yourself)
3. Change the words (rephrase your thinking: change my mom won't remember to pick me to my mom always makes sure I get picked up.)
4. Be healthy (healthy food, water, sleep, and exercise)

We also made trouble dolls to help us remember to share our worries with someone.

September 24 - Day 15

Today we . . .

"We went outside for gym because it's supposed to start snowing and raining." -MW

"We did some math.  We learned about the number 7." - NS (grade 1)

"We did learning commons.  I drew a leaf." - AA

"We did story workshop.  My story was about me and K.N. camping in the forest." - WB


Field trips form for Ralph Klein Park are coming home.  Please return forms by September 30th.

Tomorrow is book exchange day, please bring your library books back.

September 19 - Day 13

Today we . . .

"Today we have the potato potluck!" - AA

"Today at gym we played with the scoops." - RG

"We did gym with the scoops.  We did a trick shot where we had two balls and we tried to switch them and catch them." - JGRS

"We wanted to be the boss and have the ball be the boss." - RA (practicing maintaining control)

"We did art.  We made pictures where we made a balloon that we were floating in." - MW

"We went outside." - EB

September 16 - Day 10

Today we . . .

"We did story workshop.  I wrote my story." - JGRS

"We did gym and we played on the scooters." - AA

"We did math."  "We were describing patterns."  "Like sit, stand, repeat." - RA, AA, MW

"We sorted words by rhyming." - KN

"We talked about what being worried meant." - MB

September 12 and 13 - Days 8 & 9

This is what we did:

"We looked for bugs and made a straw that we sucked them up in." - WB

"We did Drumfit with Ms. Scarrow, the grade 3/4s, and Ms. Halima." - RG

"We did today's letter.  It is N!" - NS

"We did D.E.A.R. (drop everything and read) time.  Our goal was to read for 6 minutes." - AA

"We read for 6 minutes and 16 seconds." - WB

"We wrote our blog." - MW

"We caught bugs." - JGRS

We went outside on Friday to search for small crawling and flying animals (bugs).  Students used the simple 'pooters' that they made in the classroom to find bugs and transfer them to an observation container.  Students then sketched their observations in the field study notebooks.

We will be going outside most Fridays for 'fresh air Fridays'.  Please help your child dress for the weather.




Literacy:
Grade 1s have been continuing their review of letter sounds and how to form letters in printing.  So far we have looked at the letters, "S, A, T, P, I, N".  Next week I will introduce the following sight words.

Grade 2s have continued to work on alliteration in creating their own tongue twisters to match our letter study.

Math:
Both grades have been exploring and working with patterns.  The grade 1s have been working on creating repeating patterns and the grade 2s have been challenged with creating increasing patterns.

If you have a chance, check out #tmwyk on Twitter (talking math with your kids).  A good way to tie that with what we're doing in the classroom is to look for patterns that you come across during your day and to point them out to your kids.

September 11 - Day 7

Hello families - I was away at an appointment this afternoon and so today's blog is just me!

Tomorrow afternoon is our school's Terry Fox Run.  Please send your child in clothing that will allow them to be comfortable running outside.  Your child might also like to have a water bottle to take out with them.

Our school will be collecting Toonies for Terry to donate to the Terry Fox Foundation.  You can find more information about this foundation at https://www.terryfox.org/ .

Today was our first library checkout day and your child should have come home with a library book.  We will be visiting the library every Wednesday afternoon.  They can be sent back and forth between school and home in their zippy folders.

I'm also still looking for a few welcome back packages so please send those if you have them.

September 10 - Day 6

Today we . . .

"We learned about attributes." - WB

"We did math.  We sorted treasures into circles and not circles." - KN

"We did maker stations today." - JGRS

"We will be going to the gym." (after writing the blog!) - SW

"We did recess." - ML

Today in math students worked first on sorting objects and then they were asked to explain why they sorted the objects the way that they did.

We also enjoyed our time in the learning commons for the first time working on maker centers.  Tomorrow we will be visiting the Library to sign out books.

Just a reminder that the Terry Fox Run is on Thursday afternoon and students are encouraged to bring a toonie for Terry.  

September 9 - Day 5

Today we . . . 

"We had story workshop, math, recess, and building time at the end of the day." - JGRS

"We talked about how we take care of our school and all around"  (Care for Place) - AA

"We played wax museum statue game at gym time." - RG

"We worked on balances in gym." - MW

"We brainstormed different landforms in Social Studies and then we drew them."

We started on story workshop today and everyone really enjoyed the process of physically building their stories.  The grade ones focused on thinking about a basic story structure (beginning, middle, end) and worked on drawing 4 star pictures using our classroom rubric.  They used a provided sentence starter to help them identify an element of their stories.  The grade twos have been working on developing their characters, identifying a problem, and working towards a solution. 

Just a few reminders for the week - 

Please remember send in all of the forms in the welcome back package that was sent home on the first day of school.

We will be participating in the Terry Fox Run on Thursday afternoon.  Students are encouraged to bring in a toonie to donate to the Terry Fox Foundation.  We are also looking for a few volunteers to help mark popsicle sticks as students finish laps.

We always enjoy visitors in the classroom but please remember that due to safety regulations all parents must check-in with the office before coming upstairs.

September 6 - Day 4

Hello Families!

We ran out of time today to have student reflection on our day - so it's just me!

Today students in grade 1 continued to work on developing their printing skills and recognition of letter sounds - our letter today was the letter S.  So far this week we have also looked at T and A.  Grade 2 students also focused on the letter S as they created their own tongue twisters with a focus on writing complete sentences with capitals and periods. 

Grade 2 students started some work on writing and drawing numbers (die, ten frames, rekenrek beads, tally marks, and base 10 blocks) that will go on the classroom wall as a reference for all students.  Grade one students worked on their "10 Black Dot" booklets as a review of number symbols and number words.

We started working on a multi-media art piece that will eventually serve as covers for our visual journals.  After listening to the story, "Sky Color" by Peter Reynolds, students worked on creating new color combinations with tempra paint to create their own sky background.  Students were encouraged to self-evaluate their work and think about, "how can I make this better."  Can't wait to see the final project!

Also, take a look at our story wall we co-created after reading the book, "You're Finally Here!" by Melanie Watt.

September 5th - Day 3

What did we do today?

"We learned about germs and watched 'The Magic School Bus'." - MW

"We learned what starts with the letter 'Aa'." - AA

"We made a self-portrait of ourselves and learned the most important thing to not get germs or sick is to wash your hands!" - JGRS

"We cleaned up the classroom." - OV

"We learned ordinal numbers" - RG - grade 2

"We wrote the number one" - ML (grade 1)

One of my favorite back to school activities is to have students draw a self-portrait in the first week of school.  These pictures are something that I tuck away for the year.  On the last day of school, I have students draw their self-portraits again and then bring out their first week portraits.  It's always fun to see how much they've improved in their drawing skills and the kids' reactions are always priceless!

Just a reminder to send back the welcome package forms and tomorrow is a short day with dismissal at 12:41pm.

September 5th - Day 2

Today we . . .

"learned what begins with the letter T" - AA

"learned that we should be nice to kids and not boss them around." - RG

"made a story with loose parts." AZ

"we traced the letter T." - UT

"we did letter tongue twisters." JGRS

Hello Families!

I hope that everyone is adjusting well and getting back into the routine of school!  I just wanted to remind everyone that a "Welcome Back" package went home yesterday with forms to be filled out.  I will send home the zippy folders tomorrow for students to bring back the forms.  

Today was our first day of school!  Some of us had our first whole day at school.  This is how we felt:

"I was excited!" - AA

"I was happy!" - AZ

"I felt excited!" - SW

"I feel good, tired, hot, excited!" - AS


Some of the things we did today were:

"We had an assembly when we first came in." - KR

"We saw the crab.  It was one of my favorites." - NS

"We played puzzles and doing coloring and played with building." - AC


My favorite part was:

"The gym." - EB

"Recess." - ML

"Playing with the animals." - AR

"The gym." - AZ


Tomorrow I hope:

"We go to the gym a million times!" - SW

"Three recesses." - MW

"We go outside for gym." - RG

Welcome to Grade 1 / 2!

Dear Families,

Welcome!  I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are ready for a great school year.  I know I am!  I look forward to working with you and helping your child grow to his or her fullest potential.  I am confident that you and your child will find Room 5 and Ramsay School to be safe and caring places, filled with wonderful learning opportunities for your child to engage in. 

Dismissal

I will bring students down to the main foyer each day after school.  I will be asking each student to give me a high five when they see their parent or caregiver and before they leave the school.  Please let me know as soon as possible if someone else will be picking your child up after school.  For same day changes I would appreciate it if you can call the office and leave a message with Ms. Calhoun as I don’t regularly check my email during the school day.

Volunteering

Volunteering is a wonderful way to connect with your child and their learning journey.  Please consider filling out the paperwork to get your volunteer clearance if you have not done so already.  Stop by the office and Mrs. Calhoun can lead you through the process.

Indoor Shoes

Please send a pair of indoor shoes for your child to keep at school.  In highlighting "Care for This Place", indoor shoes will help keep our school clean as the floor gets wet and mucky.  Please also ensure that footwear is appropriate for gym activities.  Crocs and sandals make running difficult!  It will also be incredibly helpful if your child is able to completely put on and take off their own shoes.

Water Bottles and Snacks

Students are welcome to bring a water bottle each day and also extra snacks that they can eat throughout the day.  Please try and send snacks that are nutritious and that will help fuel your child’s brain for learning.

Birthdays

Birthdays are a special time for many students.  We would prefer that students save their birthday cakes and cupcakes for home.  If you do decide to send in birthday treats, please remember that there are students with both peanut and tree nut allergies in our classroom. Please also make sure that there are enough treats for all students in the class.  

Contact Information

If you haven’t already done so, please consider signing up for CBE’s School Messenger.  This is a great way to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the classroom and school.  I will periodically send updates on what we are working on in the classroom.  Our class will also be maintaining a blog with classroom updates.  It can be found at Ramsaysroom5.blogspot.com or through the school’s website via the “Teaching and Learning” tab and “Classes and Departments” sub tab.

Please feel free to contact me at any time with any question or concern you may have.  I can be reached by email at ctparadis@cbe.ab.ca or by calling the school at (403) 777-6790. 

I look forward to meeting all of you and working together to ensure a successful and engaging school year for your child!

Sincerely,                    

Ms. Cheryl Paradis