As mentioned in December, I have decided to use this blog rather than a printed monthly newsletter as one method of communicating with families. My hope is to update the blog each week with a summary of the topics being covered, titles of books, descriptions of activities, suggestions for home, upcoming dates, Show and Share, special events and other 'happenings and hoopla'! I will include photos of student work, but I will NOT post photos of the students. I am new to 'blogging' so this is a work in progress and will evolve as I learn to navigate the many features! I am really looking forward to sharing our news with you and I hope that you will find the blog helpful and informative.
Warmly,
Ms. Cox
Week of January 10-14th
Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday. The children have slipped comfortably back into our classroom routines (not always easy after a long break) and have started 2011 with energy and enthusiasm!
For the next few weeks our focus will centre on snowmen, snow and winter. This week, we are reading a mini-book titled "Let's Make a Snowman!". Please read it with your child when he brings it home and have him find words that he knows (we've been working on the sight words 'the' and 'and'). The children are also working on addition problems. Some are learning how to say the equation or 'sentence' (ex. "2 plus 2 equals 4") whereas others are ready for more of a challenge. Meet your child where they are and reinforce with simple addition activities at home. We will also be making paper bag snowmen puppets (focusing on cutting on the lines, colouring carefully and gluing with precision...fine motor skill development!). Students will also be learning winter-related vocabulary and recording new words in their journals. Our Shared Reading (big book) this week is "Snowman" and we are focusing on the sight words 'a, and, the'. We are also learning some new songs with actions!
As always, there are a variety of centres available once students have completed their small group work. This week, they may choose from 'snowman sponge painting', the measurement sort box (heavy or light?), Mr. Tayler's Repair Shop (dramatic play), musical instrument centre (with a focus on playing forte or piano---loudly or softly), the sand table, the MEC builders and a retelling of "There was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow" (children use the props to retell this popular story).
SHOW AND SHARE
Our January Show and Share is off to a great start thanks to Kyle's super clues...it took us 3 guesses to figure out it was a pencil! Clever clues, Kyle and great reading! Tomorrow we will start tallying our guesses. Please follow the schedule and watch for the 'Surprise Box'!
NO SCHOOL JANUARY 14th
Please remember that there is NO SCHOOL on Friday. This is a Professional Activity Day for teachers to work on report cards.
TRAVELLING BOOKS
As you have probably noticed by now, the children are very keen readers and writers! Enthusiasm, fun and lots of praise are key to early literacy development. One way I encourage our young learners is to take their work and compile it into different books. They LOVE seeing their work in a book! It makes them feel proud and special. And, most importantly, it helps them see themselves as readers and writers. Please continue enjoying these books with your child---they work hard on them and they love to share them with you.
OUTDOOR PLAY
Please remember to send snow pants, hat and mittens every day. It is cold, but sunny in our yard!
SCHOOL FEES
I still have a few parents who have not submitted the $35 fees. Please make the cheque payable to Carleton Heights Public School. Thanks in advance for your attention to this!
AT HOME READING PROGRAM
Our At Home Reading program has started up again and the kids are excited! The program was a huge hit last year and received a lot of positive feedback from parents. As I mentioned, this is just one part of your child's literacy development. Continuing to read a variety of high-quality, high-interest fiction and non-fiction is crucial. The pattern books that are used in this program help children develop confidence and sight-word recognition. They are not meant to replace all the great books out there! Please remember to return the book, duotang and Ziploc bag every THURSDAY.
Thanks again for your continued support and have a great week!
MAKING CONNECTIONS
One final note...we are focusing on 'making connections' to what we read. Connections can be 'text to text', 'text to self', or 'text to world'. Please help your child think about what they've read by asking them what it reminds them of. Some questions to ask include: What does this story remind you of? Has this ever happened to you? How do you think the character is feeling? What would you do? Essentially, we want to move beyond a simple retelling and into more thoughtful and analytical responses. The best way to do this is talk, talk, talk and model, model, model! Have fun!
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