Tuesday, 1 April 2014

April Newsletter



Important Dates to Remember

April 2- World Autism Day at MMH Please wear blue today! 

April 3 5:30-7:30 Spring Dance in the Gym: Fairytale Theme!           

April 4- Professional Learning Day/No School for students

April8-10-Dental Screening Days

April 9- 9:00-10:00 Drumming          

April 4, 10, 17 Spelling Test Days

April 3, 10,17, Sharing Days  

April 16-AirBand 12:30 in gym 

April 17-8:30 Dress Like Easter Spirit Assembly/ Easter Sock Hop 12:30-2:00

April 18- 27: Easter Break

April 28-First day back after break

April 29-Hot Lunch Day for gr. 1-3
 
Words of The Week
April 1-3          our, round, how, now, know 
April 7-11        boy, there, then, them, of  
 
April 14-17      over, under, after, her, yesterday 
Science
We will be finishing up our Building Unit and starting a plant/animal unit very soon! The children get to grow their very own plants and learn which parts of a plant we like to eat and what plants need to survive and much more!
 
Easter Sock Hop!
The kids have been working on their dances and are excited to get together with all the ones and twos to boogie
 
Language Arts
We will continue writing & editing with our Fairytale Unit until Easter and I have posted the spelling lists on Spelling City so you can preview over the break if you like. We’ll be looking at ou/ow, oi/oy,and the er sisters! The kids are  always working on reading strategies and zipping along with Daily Five!
Social
We will be starting a quick little unit on caring for our environment that ties in nicely with Earth Day! After the break  we dive into a big unit called Moving Forward With the Past! This unit will include a fieldtrip to the Galt Museum and bussing will be provided. 
Gym
Skip-a-thon mini unit has started along with our Dance unit.
 
 Math
We will soon be starting a BIG unit called Numbers to 100.  This unit includes place value, using the mental math strategy of making 10 for adding and subtracting,  grouping numbers to 100  by 2, 5, and 10 , comparing, representing and , describing numbers to 100 and so much more!
 Skip-A-Thon
MMH is having a skip-a-thon which is a school wide fundraiser to help provide extra-curricular activities, learning resources, and other items for MMH students. More information and pledge forms will be coming home soon

Thursday, 27 March 2014

The Magic of Reading!

We had a very busy Thursday today but I took a minute to snap a few pictures of the kids this morning during our Language Arts time. One of the kids said, " I L-O-V-E reading!"  Music to every teachers ears!  We had tons of kids volunteer to read their writing at the front of the room today!  Very brave and such great writers! Nice job Grade Ones! Enjoy the photos!
Complete Comfort!
Hard at Work!
Laser Focus!
Super Smartboard Speller!
Wrapped up in reading!
Got them all!
Someone loves red!
 
Writing about Lego!

Monday, 17 March 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here are a few fun pics from today! The spirit cup challenge was to take a photo in the shape of a shamrock--you can see all the kids on the carpet in a clover shape! Check out these funny faces!

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

March Newsletter!

It is time for Mrs. Payne to buy a new computer! Sorry it has taken a while to get this posted, hopefully you have relied on the hard copy that came home in mail boxes to tied you over. My old laptop is not running blogger very quickly so I am forced to blog from the school after hours! It's a little tricky with the new set up but I think we've got it dialed in! Thanks to everyone who has signed up for the celebration of learning Thursday night 5:30-7:30pm. The kids have been working like crazy to make all kinds of things to show you!  See you soon!


Important Dates!

March 4:Home Hardware fieldtrip

March4,11,18,25: After school skate at Nicholas Sheran 3:30-4:30

March  7,14,20,28:  Spelling test days 

March 17:Spirit Assembly @12:30 WEAR GREEN!!!! 

March 13 Celebration of Learning 5:30-7:00PM 

March 14: Report Cards come home! 

March 20 & 21: Usborne book fair

March 20:P/T evening interviews/regular classes

March 21: No classes P/T interview

March 25: Hot Lunch Day
 
           Science
We are continuing our building unit in science and the kids are starting to use terms like materials, tools, and fasteners! Each project we build is designed to help the children choose materials wisely and understand that everything they make has a purpose and a function.  This unit ties together nicely with our Fairytale unit as we will test our bridges to see if they can support the weight of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff and will see if our houses from the Three Little Pigs can withstand an earthquake or windstorm!   The kids are encouraged to talk about their projects afterward and decide what materials worked best and what designs they would modify and try again.  Thank you again to our parent volunteers who helped out with Scientists in School Day! Another exciting part of our building unit is the trip to Home Hardware where we actually get to use the drill press , hammers, and nails! The kids will paint their pencil holders in Art when we get back! Can’t wait to set them on our desks and actually use them!
Fairytales!
We have so many things to do and learn this month and they all revolve around Fairytales.  We are starting out with Jack & The Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Three Billy Goats and will be meeting The Three Little Pigs plus a few more over the next few weeks.  The kids will be writing some  fairytales of their own  and our focus is making sure we have all story elements character, setting, problem and solution!  
 
   Report Cards
Report cards will be coming home on Friday March 14.  We are  having a Celebration of Learning on Thursday March 13th from 5:30-7:00pm. You will be able to schedule a 20 minute slot using conference manager. This is an evening where your child can show what they know and update you on their latest projects and progress!  Hope to see you there!   



Math
Our new Geometry Unit in Math also ties in nicely with our Science Building and LA Fairytales! One of the big ideas in the geometry unit is that 2D items are called shapes and 3D items are called objects. The kids learn to use geometrical language and to describe, sort, and compare both 2D shapes and 3D objects. And of course, we get to build by replicating a design that is given and by problem solving the best way to fit pieces together. And of course we continue to reinforce the basic skills of number operation and number sense every day during our morning calendar time.
 
 

 

¬ Words  Of The Week
March 3-7   too, soon, good, who, have                  
March 10-14 when, where, who, what, once 
March 17-20  brown, brick, bring, pretty, from  
March 24-28 daddy, mommy, funny, any, every
 
 
Usborne Book Fair
March 20 & 21 
Times: 8:30-8:00pm Thurs
8:30-11:45 Friday
Payment of cash, cheque made out to Michelle Conrad, visa or MasterCard will be accepted March 19-21. The majority of the books will be ordered and delivered to your school in approximately 3 weeks. There will be a small selection available to purchase and take home from the fair. Your purchases will earn your school library 25% in free books!!! Come support your school and your childs literacy.
All students will be entered to win the $25 FREE book draw that will be made March 21.
 
 
Conference Manager Instructions
Step 1
 You can Pre-Register at https://mikemountain.schoolsoft.ca  (DO NOT include “www” in the url)You can set up a Parent Account by following the link below. Click the REGISTER NOW button and complete the registration form. Your login credentials (email and password) will remain in the system to make it easy to access the Conference Manager in the future.  
Please note that in order to enhance functionality and security, the Conference Manager requires you to use Internet Explorer 7 (or above), Firefox 3 (or above) or Safari 4 (or above). If you are using an older browser, the Conference Manager will automatically prompt you to update your browser and provide you with a link. This is a one-time process and only takes a couple of minutes.
 
Step 2 – Conference Manager Opens to Parents – Monday, March 10th at 6:00 am.
You can access the Parent Login Page using the link in the Confirmation Email. If you do not receive a Confirmation Email, you can login by going directly to https://mikemoutain.schoolsoft.ca
 
Step 3 -Book Your Time
Select the teachers of the classrooms you want to visit. You will see each teacher’s schedule. After booking your appointments you can print off your schedule. You will also receive an email containing the teacher name, time and location of the visit. You can log into the system at any time to view your bookings, print, cancel or re-schedule your “Celebration of Learning” time. You have the option of submitting comments or questions to the teacher as part of the booking process.
 
 
Important Dates
Monday, Mar. 10:
 Conference Manager opens at 6:00 am  
Thursday, Mar. 13: Conference Manager closes at 4:00 pm
 
If you do not have Internet access, you are welcome to contact the office and we will schedule your conferences on your behalf. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact the school at 403.381.2211


 


Saturday, 8 March 2014

100th Day and Lego Build

We have been busy busy in grade one! Here are a few pics from some of our projects! March Newsletter coming soon!






















Tuesday, 4 February 2014

February Newsletter


Dear Parents:

Its hard to believe that it’s already February! As you know we have started our Science building unit with Scientists in School and will continue our learning by making cabins, towers, bridges, and so much more! If you have any small styrofoam plates, tin pie plates, plastic containers, or cardboard tubes, please send them to school by February 14th.  

This month we have started talking about the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  We are learning about all of the 15 events and will harness the excitement into some writing activities about TEAMWORK in the classroom.  

We also have two more big days to celebrate: The 100th day of school and Valentines on Friday Feb. 14th. Thank you to those who have already volunteered to help out with our stations from 8:30-9:40.  We have a combined party on Feb.14 but will open our valentine's on Feb. 13th. Thanks to our generous party snack moms! 

Random Acts of Kindness Week is Feb. 10-14th and we will be celebrating by writing kind notes to our friends and doing kind acts for our families!  I am planning a whole week around this theme where kids will be asked to perform many acts of kindness for each other in the classroom.  We just finished reading about how to be a bucket filler and this continues along the same theme.  Our writer’s workshop focus is making connections: text to text, text to self, and text to world. We also continue punctuation, editing, poem of the week, sight words, phonics and spelling! Whew!
 
Our focus in Math will be finishing up addition and subtraction to 12( heavy on subtraction for a little longer) , maintenance of counting skills by 1,2, 5, and 10 to 20+ and starting into our geometry unit next.   We continue with problem solving, doubles, review count on and back, odd/even & fact families. 

DATES TO REMEMBER!
Feb. 3
Library day is every Monday
Feb. 4
After school skating 3:30-4:30 at Nicholas Sheran
Feb. 5
Leader in Me Assembly 12:30/Winter Walk 2:05
Feb. 6
Show and tell day is every Thursday
Feb. 7
Professional Development Day: No School for students
Feb. 12
Art mom lesson: Thank you Mrs. McClung!
Feb. 13
Spirit Assembly: WEAR RED DAY
Valentine’s Day Party in afternoon/Valentine exchange
See class list of names for Valentines below
Spelling test will be today instead of Friday
 
Feb. 14
100th Day Celebration in the gym at 8:30-9:40
Classroom party 11:15-11:45
Feb.10-14
Random Acts of Kindness Week
How Full is Your Bucket
Feb. 17
NO SCHOOL : FAMILY DAY
Feb. 18& 19
NO SCHOOL: FALL BREAK
Feb. 20 &21
NO SCHOOL: TEACHER CONVENTION

 
                                          

February Sight Words
Feb3-7
Feb10-14
Feb 17-21
Feb 24-28
birthday
open
No school
think
May
old
No school
thank
again
boat
No school
that
say
mom
No school
this
ate
dad
No school
they

 Thanks a bunch for returning forms already to go on the Winter Walk on Feb. 5th in the afternoon. I imagine if the weather is like today we may have to cancel--will keep you posted. Please bundle your kids really well in the event that we go.
 
and....from the Valentine's list...Summer is a girl!!!! I must have posted that late at night! YIKES!! We have 8 boys and 12 girls!  Still 20 for the total!
 
Doubles update!
I retested most of the kids today and wow! we are doubles experts! If anyone needs extra practise I will send home a sheet for you tonight!  Great job Grade Ones!

 

 

 

 

Saturday, 1 February 2014

Valentine's Class List!




                                                                            Amy*
Audrey*
Aiden
Blake
Cambria*
Conner
Eden*
Hayden
Jackson
Lacey*
Lliam
Mya*
Parker
Roxana*
Saba*
Samiya*
Sho
Sophie M.*
Sophie P.*
                                                                         Summer *

                                                           8 boys + 12 girls*=20 total

Check back on Monday for the rest of our classroom February Newsletter!  A hard copy will be coming home Monday after school! Have fun making/addressing your valentines for the big day!