Sept. 12- 16 SECOND WEEK

We have officially survived our first full week of grade one!

The students and I have been busy practising our routines and talking about the importance of respect. We have been discussing reasons why we have rules at school, home and in our community. The students explained that we need to follow rules in order to stay safe and happy.

Throughout the day, students have an opportunity to place pom poms in our "good actions" jar. When they display an act of kindness or when I catch them being helpful, we bring out the jar. At the end of the day, we talk about our good actions, whether it was during recess, lunch or in the classroom.

We have been using our monkey Poko as a talking stick in order to enhance our listening skills. After 9 days of school, we have finally filled up our jar. We had a vote and the students decided to celebrate by having a dance party. We found videos on Gonoodle.com and had fun dancing for 15 minutes.

This was before we filled it up to the top with kindness and respect

The grade ones began the week with their first journal writing. It is always exciting to find out what everyone did on the weekend. A lot of students went to the Taste of Kingsway which opened up a great discussion. We have started building our reading stamina and so far we are able to read silently for just over 2 minutes! We were proud of ourselves because the first time we tried, we made it to a minute and 40 seconds. This opportunity is teaching students to set goals, stay patient and to keep on trying. We can't all be marathon runners overnight but if we practise, it is definitely possible! We also read a story called, The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes and we talked about our own mistakes that happen every single day. It is always fun to catch Ms. Furczon make mistakes! The other day, I thought we had physed but Ms. McGee was waiting for us in the library! Oops! The kids had a good laugh :) The class is absolutely in love with Dojo videos which we have been watching in class. These videos can be found on YouTube and they discuss the idea of Growth Mindset. Please take a minute to watch some of these videos with your child. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zrtHt3bBmQ

We had our first fire drill practise on Friday morning and the students did ABSOLUTELY amazing. They followed all the steps that we have discussed, stayed quiet and answered with a loud voice when I was doing the attendance. I was so proud of every single one of them!

In Math, we have been playing dice games in order to help students visually recognize groups of dots from 2 to 12. They are learning to quickly recognize the amount while adding the dots together. We have also began playing a group game called, "I have____, who has ____?" in order to practise our number recognition from 1 to 20. Those teen numbers can be tricky!

We had our first reading buddies session with Mr. Iceton's Grade 4 class. The students were all paired up and had a wonderful time playing a "Get to know you" game.


Reminders:

• Picture Day- Sept. 26 (please do not wear green)
• Terry Fox Run- Sept. 29 (volunteers will sign up on signupgenius, please wait for an email from our grade parent)
• Scholastic Orders Representative needed 
• If your child has not brought in a family photo for our family tree, please send it to school
• If your child is participating in any sports before school, please ensure that they have an extra pair of shoes to change into. We have had mud on our carpet and no one likes to sit on a dirty carpet. Thank you for your understanding!
• Please try to pack 2 healthy (easy) snacks for morning and afternoon recess
  
  

  

  Finding tiny sight words

  
   

  

  Counting letters in our names

  

  Wonder Table

  
  

First Week

What a great first week of school! This week, we mainly focused on creating a safe and enjoyable learning environment. The students have been busy getting to know one another and exploring our classroom. Together, we created a list of classroom rules and expectations. We have also created an agreement with a list of consequences for breaking our rules. All week we have been adding pom poms to our "good actions" jar. We have decided that when we fill it up to the top, we will celebrate by having an extended recess.
                   

While discussing the importance of respect and being kind, we have read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? and Chrysanthemum. Additionally, we read the story, The Dot which emphasized growth mindset. Growth mindset is the idea that with dedication and hard work, we are all able to improve and get better at something. It is all about trying hard, using good strategies and asking for help when needed. The students all agreed that practise makes perfect.
                     

Thank you to Sam B. for being our leader all week. If it is your child's leader week, please ensure that you help them choose a household item. Please support them with writing down 3 clues for the class to guess. I will be sending the mystery item sheet home with your child. Please send the item to school in a dark bag so that the item stays hidden. Upcoming leaders have been listed on the side on the blog so please take a look.

Thank you to Kara for bringing a beautiful flower for our science table.
Thank you to all the students for completing their first week of classroom responsibilities. They have been busy stacking chairs, organizing classroom materials, wiping tables, etc.

Reminders:

• During dismissal, the students and I have decided to create a train by holding onto each other's backpacks. Please wait until we are all lined up outside at our usual spot before taking your child. Once I spot a parent or a guardian, students give me a high five one at a time. Dismissal time is quite busy so I thank you for your patience. We were experts by Friday!
• Please ensure that your child comes to school with a full, labelled water bottle. I have been encouraging everyone to drink a lot of water since it has been extremely hot inside and outside.
• We currently have one fan in the classroom and the air conditioning does not seem to be working. If you happen to have an extra fan at home, please drop it off at our classroom before school begins. Our room number is 157. Thank you in advance!
• I have decided that mailbags will only go home on Fridays with students' poetry books and any work. Only the agendas and additional notes will be going home every single day.
• Cross Country begins on Tuesday, September 13th. Practice will be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. A letter went home on Friday. Please bring the completed form to the first practice.
• If you still have forms or a cheque that needs to be submitted to the school, please ensure that I receive it by Monday as I need to submit everything to the office.

• You may check for holidays, PA days and day cycle on page 14 of your child's agenda
• Join us for curriculum night on Thursday, September 15 at 6:00 P.M. on the non- stage side of the gym.

• Picture day is on September 26th.

• Terry Fox Walk is on Thursday, September 29th.

Welcome Back

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone had a fantastic summer with family and friends. My name is Ms. Furczon and I will be replacing Ms. Perrin until she returns to Lambton Kingsway. I am very fortunate to be working at LKS for the third year in a row.

The classroom is all set up and ready to welcome all your wonderful first graders! Your child will receive an information package on Tuesday with important classroom routines and policies. Please read through the package carefully and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I am thrilled to be teaching grade one and I am looking forward to meeting everyone on Tuesday morning!

Leader of the week: Sam B.