May 1- 5th

LEADER: Dylan
day 1. Mon. May 1- library (parent volunteer needed for reading)
day 2. Tues. May 2- health (parent volunteer needed for reading)
I will be having lunch with students who purchased "lunch with Ms. Furczon" with their coins.

day 3. Wed. May 3- reading buddies, physed
day 4. Thurs. May 4- computers, music
day 5. Fri. May 5- physed

Reminders/News:
- New spelling words for the week: www.spellingcity.com/furczona/
- Thank you to our pizza lunch volunteers (Amelia's mom and Samuel's dad). I appreciate your help. Thank you for leaving such a positive note :) The kids were very happy and proud of themselves.
- We haven't had many parent volunteers come in for reading. Please sign up if you are available. Thanks! Please ensure that you have an updated TDSB Police Reference Check (check with main office).
- Please ensure that your child has proper running shoes for gym (converse sneakers and slip on shoes are not safe and do not provide appropriate foot support).
- Our TSO trip was a great success! A HUGE thank you goes out to our volunteers (Rory's mom and Li-Na's dad).
- Please send in old maps/compasses to school as we will be moving onto mapping in Social Studies (I will return everything before the school year ends).

Literacy:
- We made words as a group and individually.
- Students have started writing their new stories. Their old stories are marked and will be sent home on Monday. Please praise your child for all their hard work and discuss ways to improve their writing. I have attached a rubric and feedback.





Math:
- We cut out and sorted paper coins.
- We counted the value of all the pennies, nickels and dimes.
- Some students needed a challenge, therefore they were encouraged to add up all the coins together (including the quarters).
- Please continue to practise skip counting by 5s and 10s.Some students are finding it difficult to add up nickels and dimes because they need more practise with skip counting.
- We continue to use our coins to purchase items from Ms. Furczon's shop on Wednesdays and Fridays. The students are learning how to add their coins and how to save their money for something more expensive. We have a brand new item! For 100 cents/ $1. 00, students are allowed to sit in Ms. Furczon's rocking chair during carpet time! They are very excited about this new opportunity.




Social Studies:
- We have been discussing our needs and services that help us meet those needs.
- The children decided that we needed a mall in our community because clothing is a need. Please welcome our brand new Sherway Gardens. They have also added more trees because we need clean air to breathe.



Science:
Our unit on living and non-living things began with a snail found by Charley. We placed the snail in a glass jar filled with dirt, water and grass. One of the students was about to close the jar which led to a wonderful conversation. Students discussed the fact that all living things need food, water, air and sunlight. Instead of closing the jar with a lid, they decided to tape paper with small holes on top of the jar. As a class, we decided to release our snail friend because he belongs in nature. We tried to imagine what it would be like if a giant picked us up and placed us in a tiny jar! This lesson is an excellent example of a student led inquiry which connects to the Grade One Curriculum Expectations. Student curiosity leads to meaningful learning experiences in our classroom.

April 24-28

Leader: Malena

day 1: Mon. April 24- TSO Trip (half day)
Every student needs to bring a lunch to school on Monday. Once we return from the orchestra, we will eat lunch at the school (around 12). We will not be taking any snacks or water bottles to the orchestra. Food and drinks are not permitted. Everyone must be at school on time. We will be leaving after 9 AM. Parent volunteers will be responbile for small groups of students.
- no library today
day 2: Tues. April 25- health, Ms. Furczon is away all day (Ms. Martina will be teaching)
parent volunteer needed for reading
day 3: Wed. April 26- reading buddies, physed
day 4: Thurs. April 27- computers, music
day 5: Fri. April 28- physed, Pizza lunch

News:
Thank you for coming out to the Inquiry Fair and for making the evening so enjoyable for the children. They practised presenting their structures most of the morning and had an opportunity to visit other classrooms. Students were extremely excited to share their projects with all of you. I will be sending home an inquiry folder with a rubric and photographs once I have marked all their wonderful work.



I kindly ask for parents volunteers to sign up for one on one reading sessions with the children. We haven't had many volunteers lately and we'd love to have you in :) Thank you in advance.

What did we do all week?
- Students wrote about their long weekend adventures. Please continue to practise reading and writing with your child. The expectations are higher now since we are getting closer to the end of the school year. Students have been encouraged to write with more detail, proofread and self-edit their work before submitting it.
- We continue to learn about Canadian coins. Please provide your child with opportunities to count your change, especially when paying for items at the store (up to 20 cents or higher if your child is ready for it). Please help them with skip counting by 5s and 10s when adding nickles and dimes together. I have sent home a song about money.
- We tested our structures for stability, strength and durability. I poured water, turned on a fan, used rocks/blocks and I even sat on some of the structures. The children had so much fun brainstorming ways to improve their creations. Afterwards, they used what they learned to make their structures even better. Our reading buddies helped us with the process.
- We talked about Earth Day and read a story called The Lorax. On Friday, we watched half of the movie.
- We will be going back to learning about our local community in social studies. We will discuss important services and needs within a community.
- In Science, we will begin a new unit on Living and Non-living things.

                  Naming coins


Ms. Furczon's Shop
Students earn plastic coins for positive behaviour throughout the week. They have an opportunity to spend their money on Wednesdays and Fridays. They get coins for:
- being kind and respectful towards their classmates and teachers
- staying focused during independent work time
- helping others/sharing
- listening during class discussions
- being a good role model

This is a great way to learn about money and a fun way to reward my students for their behaviour. I never take any coins away (that's just mean). Some children chose to save up their money in order to bring a stuffy to class or to have lunch with me (so cute!). I will be having lunch with four students (probably the following week) since this week my lunch agenda is filled with school meetings and chess club!

Lunch with Ms. Furczon- First week of May
Rory, Dylan, Aaira, Kara

Bring a stuffy to class- Monday, April 24th
Dylan, Kara, Malena, Li-Na, Charley, Barbara, Ella



A house.


A wood store.


A skatepark. 


A park.


A house/factory.


A bridge and a ramp.


A safety place (bunker).


A cloud shop.

April 18-21

Leader: Victoria
day 2. Tues. April 18- health, volunteer needed for reading
day 3. Wed. April 19- reading buddies, physed
day 4. Thurs. April 20- computers, music, Inquiry Fair
day 5. Fri. April 21- physed
Orchestra Trip- April 24th (we already have 2 volunteers)

News/ Reminders:
We are excited to share one of our school’s learning initiatives this year in a night of student celebration.  Teachers and students have been diving into the Inquiry Based Approach, which is a natural, real-world method to learning.  Students actively engage in questioning and solving problems in response to their wonderings about the world around them as they build knowledge around a particular topic.

Teachers and students from grades 1 to 5 will host a Symposium on the evening of Thursday, April 20th from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Please drop off your child in their classroom at 6:15 before heading to the gym for a short presentation on Inquiry Based Learning. Classroom visits will then follow after the presentation at 7:00 PM.* We had a visit for an architect last week. She showed us various blueprints and talked about structures that she had designed. 

* The students laughed hysterically while watching the Little Red Riding Hood performed by the Dufflebag Theatre. What a fun show- even for the teachers!

Spelling words for the week:
https://www.spellingcity.com/furczona/

Pink Day
I had my students cut out hearts out of pink paper. Next, I told them to scrunch up theirs heart as much as possible. Then I told them to try to get all the wrinkles out of their heart. The kids struggled for a little while and stated that it was simply impossible to get all the wrinkles out. "This is hard, Ms Furczon!" We watched two clips about bullying and talked about ways that we can stand up to bullying. We agreed that it is so important to think before we act because once we hurt someone's feelings, their wrinkled heart never goes back to normal. Words and actions can hurt people and sorry doesn't always cut it. We need to be kind and think before we act.




Videos that we watched in class:
https://vimeo.com/64940210

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/220817187961085713/

Mathematics
We began our unit on money. Students shared what they already knew about money and then they sorted plastic coins in small groups. We talked about each coin, what is on them and their value. By the end of grade one, students are expected to:
- represent money amounts to 20 cents through investigation using coin manipulatives
We have already began to add different coins together. Many students are able to add multiple coins beyond the expectations- wow!
- identify and describe various coins (i.e., penny, nickel, dime, quarter, $ 1, $ 2 coin), using coin manipulatives or drawings and state their value (e.g., the value of a penny is one cent; the value of a toonie is two dollars)

(Number Sense and Numeration- The Ontario Curriculum Document)




Writing/Reading
We finally finished all of our stories. Students had an opportunity to read their stories to each other. They were so excited! :)



Working on our community

Silent Reading 

Hatching our water egg

Anti-bullying Lesson

I have seen this activity online before so I tried it with my students last Wednesday. I dropped one apple on the floor (several times) and said that I didn't like that apple. I said, "This apple looks weird. It has a short stem and it's too small." I told them that because I didn't like the apple, I didn't want them to like it either. I asked them to say mean things to the apple. Some of the kids raised their hands and had no problem telling the apple that it is ugly, looks funny and that it probably takes gross and sour. The rest of the kids looked at me like I am crazy because we talked about pink day and bullying in the morning. It was interesting to hear some kids say things like: "No..this is mean..I don't want to say mean things to the apple. This is bullying. I know what we are doing and I don't like it."

Then I showed my students another apple. I said nice words to the apple and I told the kids that I liked this apple very much. The kids took turns saying nice things to the apple like: "You are so shiny, so beautiful, you probably taste good." We then took both of the apples and talked about their similarities. The kids said that they both had some red and green on them. They were both round. Both of them are APPLES.

I then cut both of the apples in half. The apple we'd been kind to was clear and juicy inside. The apple that I dropped and said mean things to was bruised and all mushy inside. The kids were stunned. I explained that the bruising is what happens inside every one of us when someone is mean to us. Earlier this morning we talked about taking the time to think before saying or doing something mean to someone else. * Think before you act. It's hard to fix a wrinkled heart*

When people are bullied, they feel horrible inside and sometimes they don't show or tell anyone how they really feel. If we hadn't cut that apple, we would have never known how much pain we caused it. The kids were silent for several minutes as they processed what we just did.

April 10-13

Leader: Charley
Mon. April 10- Dufflebag Theatre (Little Red Riding Hood at 9:30), physed
Tues. April 11- computers, music
Wed. April 12- International Day of Pink (wear pink to school), physed
Thurs. April 13- Parent volunteer needed for reading, library
Fri. April 14- Good Friday (no school)
Mon. April 17- (no school)

April 20th- Inquiry Fair from 6:15- 7:30 PM
Teachers and students from grades 1 to 5 will host a Symposium on the evening of Thursday, April 20th from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Please drop off your child in their classroom at 6:15PM before heading to the gym for a short presentation on Inquiry Based Learning. Classroom visits will then follow after the presentation at 7:00 PM. Please join us in celebrating student achievement and success. We look forward to a fantastic night.

News/Reminders:
- Please ensure that your child brings outdoor AND indoor shoes to school. We are trying to keep our feet dry and classroom clean. Thank you.
- New spelling words: https://www.spellingcity.com/furczona/
- Wear pink on Wednesday for anti-bullying day
- Thank you to our amazing volunteers and for all the recycled materials

Mess? What mess? We are building !!



You know the kids are having fun when one of the students says:
"Ms. Furczon....I'm not sure why I'm not wearing any shoes!"



Mathematics:
We have started our mini unit on temperature. The students had an opportunity to use a thermometer in small groups. We made predictions and placed our thermometers in hot and ice cold water.

Writing:
We have completed our stories. Our good copies are all done! We will share our stories with each other on Monday morning. Everyone worked so hard :)

I let my students work wherever they wanted to as long as they stayed focused. The classroom was so quiet! I had to snap some photos because they were too cute!







Word Work Activities:



Using magnifying glasses to find words


Bubble Gum sight word game

April 3-7

Leader: Barbara
Mon. April 3- reading buddies, physed
Tues. April 4- computers, music
Wed. April 5- physed
Thurs. April 6- library
Fri. April 7- health

April 20- Inquiry Symposium at LKS (Grades 1-5) 6:15- 7:30 PM
Students will be presenting their investigations. Our inquiry is on structures and materials.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are excited to share one of our school’s learning initiatives this year in a night of student celebration.  Teachers and students have been diving into the Inquiry Based Approach, which is a natural, real-world method to learning.  Students actively engage in questioning and solving problems in response to their wonderings about the world around them as they build knowledge around a particular topic.

Teachers and students from grades 1 to 5 will host a Symposium on the evening of Thursday, April 20th from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Please drop off your child in their classroom at 6:15PM before heading to the gym for a short presentation on Inquiry Based Learning. Classroom visits will then follow after the presentation at 7:00 PM.

Please join us in celebrating student achievement and success. We look forward to a fantastic night.

Reminders/News
- Please send your child to school with appropriate outdoor shoes. Several children wore running shoes on Friday and they were soaked. They had to wear their wet socks and no shoes in the classroom which isn't very safe, especially if we have a fire drill.
- Spelling words for the week: https://www.spellingcity.com/furczona/

- Thank you to our pizza lunch volunteers (it was a wild rainy day)
- We are still collecting recycled/dollar story materials for our structures inquiry ***
- Thank you to Barbara's mom for coming in to read with the students (please sign up online if you are interested in volunteering)
- Crazy hair day was a success! We took some great photos but they are on my camera. I will share them once I develop all the photos.

Ms. D did a wonderful job teaching the class for the two days that I was away. It was unfortunate that some students took advantage of the fact that I was away. We talked about all the positive behaviour and all the silliness that went on in the classroom. Most of the children were rewarded and had an opportunity to play class games before lunch time. After the big talk, we had an amazing Friday!


Math:
We have completed our mini unit on "time". Please take the time to ask your child to read the time throughout the day. Tomorrow, we will have a quick review and the students will complete an independent task to see what they have learned. We will be using thermometers and continuing to measure temperature for the next week or so.

Language:
The students continued to work on their stories with Ms. D on Wednesday and Thursday. This week, we will work on adding more details, proofreading and editing our work.





Drama:
Reader's Theatre- The students have been working in small groups and practising their scripts for the last two weeks. On Friday, every group had an opportunity to present their stories in front of the class. Everyone did an amazing job!