Happy Halloween !

Happy Halloween !!! Hope you're all having a great day :)  I am so very happy to be your child's grade one teacher.  It is a privilege to spend each day with your children at school.  However, the holidays are always a little more fun and magical.

We had a magical start to our school day.  This morning, we were very happy and lucky to have Richard Young with us.  Richard is a magician and he put on an awesome performance for our learners today.  In his color performance today we leaned about :

• transparent, transparent and opaque colors
• prisms, and discovered that when light passes through a prism it make a rainbow
• red, yellow and blue are primary colors
• red + blue makes purple 
• yellow + blue makes green
• Red + yellow make orange 
• orange, green and purple  are the secondary colors
• red +white make pink
• When white is added to a color it is called a tint
• When black is added to a  color it is called a shade
• A black object is black because it absorbs all the light
• Archie the dove is white
• White light is composed of all the colours

We loved watching  Richard the magician preform this morning. He was very fun and we learned a lot.  The learners also enjoyed the Halloween Parade  and some fun Halloween themed centers this afternoon.  

The students photos have arrived.  Most of the backpacks look very full today with costumes etc... and I don't want the photos to get damaged.  So  I will send those home to you tomorrow night.  

I hope the students enjoy their Halloween glow bracelets.  Have fun trick-or-treating tonight :)

Warm Regards

Mrs. Lai

Earth Rangers School Assembly

The Earth Rangers came to our school today, and put on a wonderful assembly for our learners.  It was a fun and educational assembly designed to engage and teach our learners about conversation, protecting animals and their habitats.  We also learned about some of the current conversation projects any how Earth Rangers are teaming up with Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect salamanders.  It was very inspiring assembly.  Students who are interested may visit EarthRangers.com and register to become an Earth Ranger.  

Wonderful Wednesday

What a wonderful week we have had so far.  The learners have been working so very hard and trying their best each day.  In addition, they are very kind to each other.  They are becoming a very close supportive community of learners.

Some highlights from the past few days.  We have been counting everything!  Counting the number of students at school each day, counting the number of days in October, and counting the number of letters in our name.

We have started learning about The Zones of Regulation. The zones is a program designed to teach students how to identify their feelings.  It also encourages students to think about how their behavior impacts those around them.  The zones program, is also helpful as it clearly identifies classroom expectations for all of the students.

There are 4 zones :

Red Zone - When a person might be experiencing a lot of frustration or anger.

Yellow Zone - A  person may be experiencing anxiety, the wiggles or silliness.

Green Zone - A person is in a calm, focused zone.  This is the zone we need to be in for learning.

Blue Zone - A person is the blue zone is demonstrating low energy levels, and might be feeling sad, tired or sick.

This morning we were all looking a little sleepy.  We talked about how sometimes when we feel sleepy we might be in the blue zone.  We did a body break after calendar time this morning to get us into the green zone for learning.  After a little exercise, and singing some awesome letter songs we were much more focused and productive.

In Social Studies, we have been focused on exploring what communities and groups we belong to.  We realized that in addition to our families, we also belong to K.T. School.  So we did a guided drawing of our school in our journals.  Adding details such as the bike rack, the flag pole and even the front door to make our pictures more interesting and realistic.  The learners created some wonderful pictures of our school.  Together we wrote a sentence to go with our illustrations.

We were so very excited it was popcorn day today!!!  After lunch, we were all a little in the yellow (silly) zone.  We talked about how its is ok to be in the yellow zone outside for recess break. However, for learning time we need to be in the green zone.  So we took some time after lunch to do some yoga in the classroom.  The students were really engaged with their stretches. After some mindful stretches we were all focused, calm and back in the green zone for learning.

After yoga, we met a new friend Cam the Chameleon.  We discovered that chameleons come in a variety of colors and they also have the ability to change color.  When the students colored Cam the Chameleons head red and his tail white, they discovered that his body became pink.  Also, when they colored  Cam the Chameleons head orange and his tail white, his body became peach.   We had great fun discovering that when white is added to a color it is called a tint.

The students also enjoyed going to gym and music class today.

Please enjoy some pictures from our learning time today.

Warm Regards,

Mrs. Lai

Marvelous Mondays

A big thank you, to everyone for all of your help and support with our Home Reading program.  The learners are really enjoying developing their reading, fluency and comprehension skills.  We changed our home reading books at school today, so everyone is bringing home a new book to read with you tonight. 

At school today, the students were excited to explore our new literacy centers.  Each group had a turn with me to work on guided reading, while the other groups worked on a variety of letter and reading activities.  

In Social Studies, we continue to take turns sharing our All About Me Bags.  We love learning about our classmates and hearing what clubs or groups we belong to outside of school.  The students are doing a great job respectfully listening and asking thoughtful questions to each other.  

This afternoon, we learned some songs about Canada and Canadian symbols.  We read the book Canada 123, and the students have been creating their own Canadian counting stories.  In Math, we are focusing right now on Representing Numbers to 20. The Learning Goals for this unit are to: 

• Read and print numbers to 20.
• Read number words to twenty.
• Count forward from 0 to 20. 
• Count backward from 20 to 0.
• Count by matching the number word to the objects being counted. 
• "Build"numbers by arranging and rearranging objects.
• Recognize familiar groups of objects or dots.
• Compare and order numbers and groups of objects using words such as more, fewer, and same.
• Estimate the number of objects and check by counting.
• Use real-life materials to help solve simple number problems. 

At home with your child, collect sets of 11 to 20 objects (for example, 12 stuffed animals, 16 envelopes). Have your child count the objects. Ask: "How many are there in each set?" 

Thank you for your help and support :) 

Warm Regards,

Mrs. Lai

Friendly Friday

We had a wonderful day today!  The students really enjoying reading our morning message together each day.  We "pretend" we are word detectives, because that is what good readers do, and we search our message for our popcorn words together.

This morning we spent some time with our grade 3 buddies.  Our grade 3 friends helped us log onto the Raz-Kids website .  Raz-Kids is a great literacy website where students can listen to books, and practice reading.  It's also wonderful that Raz-Kids is available anywhere at home, or on the go.  So if you have your ipad with you and you have a few min before swimming class, or you need to entertain your child in the car or airplane, it's a great way to practice literacy on the go.  I will be sending home the students username and passwords to you sometime next week, so you can have your child practice their reading on Raz-Kids at home too.

We learned a fun new science poem today.  We had fun singing our new song together in class. I hope your child enjoys singing their new song to you this weekend.  We are becoming such great readers!

At school today, we also had a special assembly.  Constable Johnson came into speak with all of our learners about how to cross the street safely.Constable Johnson, is encouraging all of the students to cross the street at a crosswalk. In addition, Constable Johnson is teaching the children to use the Point, Pause, and Proceed method to make sure motorists see them.

How does Point-Pause-Proceed work? 

POINT (extend your arm) at the crosswalk, keeping all five fingers fully extended

PAUSE to look for traffic.  Look in all directions. Make eye contact with the driver and wait until all vehicles have come to a complete stop.

PROCEED across the street, keeping your arm and finger extended. Stay alert to potential dangers.

For homework this weekend, please review the Point, Pause, and Proceed method with your child. The link below is a great video, made by CPS, Alberta Ballet, the Calgary Stampeders, Calgary Hitmen, CBE, and Mayor Naheed Nenshi.  It does an excellent job illustrating the Point-Pause-Proceed method.  Please watch it together with your child.  If time permits, please also take your child to a crosswalk this weekend and practice this method together.

Thank you for your help and support.

Warm Regards,
Mrs. Lai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFu-vMRWf44

Fabulous Friday

The students are doing a great job with our morning routines :)  When they arrive at school, they hang up their coats and backpacks, put on their indoor shoes and grab a book and a cushion and start reading.  Over the past few weeks, they have really shown more interest and more endurance in reading to themselves.  It's great to see their love of reading grow.

This morning we learned a new fall poem.  We added our new poem to our poetry book.  Please take some time this weekend to share the songs/poems with your children at home.  

Our Grade 3 Buddy class also came to work with us this morning.  The reading buddies worked together to create a snakes & ladders sight word board game.  Once the board game was created, the students were all able to play the sight word game with their buddy.  We ended our time together, with the grade 3 buddies reading to each of the grade one students.  It was a fantastic time for all of our learners to work on their sight words and reading with our special grade 3 friends.  

Following snack and recess break, the students ended the week with center time and fun lunch.  

Just a friendly reminder, Monday is a P.D. Day. So no school for the students. 

Please remember, to return your child's home reading, library and poetry book to school on Tuesday.  

Warm Regards

Mrs. Lai

Calgary Public Library Book Truck

Calgary Public Library Book Truck

Interest to participate in the Book Truck was not as high as we would like thus we will not be partnering with them at this time.  We will look at a spring opportunity for students to tour the truck and learn more about their Summer Reading program.  New participation forms will be sent home at that time.  Thank you to all families who responded.

Ken Taylor Staff

Wall Story Wednesday

Hello!  I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend filled with family, friends and fun.

I was so happy to be see all of the students again after a long holiday weekend.  
It was so great to see all of their happy faces.  We now have one more happy face in our class, a wonderful sweet girl named Elaha. The students all did a terrific job including our new friend and welcoming her into our learning community.

In Science, we have been learning all about colour.  We have been reading a variety of stories related to our science theme.  Today, we read another story that focuses on colour.  In addition, we turned the classic story Brown Bear Brown Bear into a wall story.  Wall story's are a literacy strategy to encourage all of the students to become actively involved with the text.  Today the learners illustrated the story with their classmates.  Over the next few days, we will continue to work on our illustrations.  The next step for our class will be to post our story on the wall, where we will together practice reading this pattern story.  First we will focus on story pattern and learning the colour vocabulary. Next, the learners will be able to engage with their story during center time where they will practice reading the story on their own.  I know, with lots of opportunities for practice with this story, all of the students will be able to read it on their own and they will all start to see themselves as SUPER READERS!

A big thank you for helping the students gather their supplies on the weekend for their All About Me Bags.  The students are so very excited to share with their classmates, their All About Me Bag.  It is great to learn more about all of the learners, what makes them unique, what they enjoy and what teams/community clubs they belong to.

In Math class today, we continued our work with patterns. The learners are able to identify and copy patterns.  They are now able to create and extend patterns.  This week, we have been working on talking about how a pattern repeats and describing the patterns.  Today's math challenge was to illustrate patterns with  primary colors and secondary colors.

We ended the day with music and gym class. It was a very busy day full of learning.

Warm Regards,
Mrs. Lai

All About Me Bag

Tonight in your child's purple communication folder, you will see an "All About Me Bag" .  This special Social Studies project is to help us learn more about one another.  Over the weekend, please help your child to gather 5 to 7 small items or pictures to share with their classmates.  The items should help us to learn about what makes your child unique.  If your child belongs to a group in the community, please send an item that represents that group.  For example, if your child plays soccer you could send a picture of a soccer ball.  Each item needs to be small enough to fit in the brown bag.  Please do NOT send fragile items or expensive items to school.

Thank you for your help & support!

Warm Regards,
Mrs. Lai

Jacket Racket

Dear Parents,

Jacket Racket is a volunteer organization with the goal of ensuring that every child from Kindergarten to Grade 12 has a warm winter coat to wear to school. 90% of donations come from schools. The jackets are then distributed to children in schools where there is a need. This year we are inviting our students and parents to participate in a coat drive for Jacket Racket.  They accept gently used warm winter coats, snow pants, hats and mittens for all ages. Often whole families are outfitted, so any size is welcome.

A box will be set up in the Embassy for collection from October 10, 2017 to October 24, 2017

We encourage you to generously support this worthy project.

It is a great opportunity to help students who may be less fortunate.

          www.jacketracketcalgary.com

Thank you for your support.

Student Leadership Group and Mrs. Fraser

School Pick Up/Drop Off

Dear Parents,

We want to thank you for your great communication regarding attendance, appointments and emergencies.  This really makes a difference in our safety of our students as we know where they are, and, our office efficiencies throughout the day.

As the weather has become cooler we have observed that more families are calling into the office to make alternate arrangements at mid, or end of the day.  This is very disruptive for learning and, on some occasions, has become a safety concern resulting in the enactment of our Missing Child Protocol.   

Absences and Emergencies

Always call the 24 hr. attendance line if your child will be late, or away 403-817-3504

            - Leave your name, child’s name, teacher’s name and reason for absence or late

PRO Tips:

1.    Make plans such as play-dates the day before so the child is aware of the expectations.

2.    For appointments, pick up the child before the lunch hour begins, or after the lunch hour ends to save time (finding students during recess can be a slow process).  

3.    Arrive on time to pick up your child.  Children tend to worry if the parents are missing ;)

End of Day Pick-up

1.    Changes in routines are to be provided in writing (not email) to the teacher first thing in the morning unless it is an emergency

2.    Do not call, or email the school during the day to change plans (including play-dates, other family friends picking up the child etc.)

3.    Without written communication, regular routines such as taking the bus, walking home etc. will be followed and/or the child will be kept in the office until one of the emergency contacts is communicated with

4.    Students are not allowed to use the school phone to arrange play-dates

Thank you for your support,

Ken Taylor Staff

Marvelous Monday

September was a big month for our grade one learners! The grade one students have been learning new school routines, meeting new friends and learning all about belonging to a classroom.  The students are very excited about all of the new adventures we will be having this year.  It's going to be a fun year with lots of learning and new adventures along the way.

A big thank you to all the families for taking some time over the weekend to help your child with their Home Reading & Poetry Books :)  Thanks you so much for your help and support.

This morning the learners worked in their journals, drawing pictures and writing words about their weekend.  The students all did a fantastic job focusing on doing their best illustrations.  The students also did a great job on focusing on the corresponding sounds and letters to go along with their illustrations.  All the students worked so hard this morning.  Excellent job grade one class!!!

After a snack and recess break, we reviewed the letter Ll.  We sang some letter L songs together.  I am a big believer in incorporating music into the classroom.  There is strong evidence that Music engages the brain and helps enhance learning.  After we mastered the letter L songs and sound, we worked in our printing books to build our fine motor skills and practice printing the letter properly.  Learning to print correctly is important.  Letters should always be formed from the top down, and touch the lines.

This afternoon, we worked on some pattern songs and actions.   Then the learners worked on a Math About ME project.  We talked about our favorite numbers,  we counted how many letters we have in our first name, how many letters we have in our last name and how many teeth we have lost so far.

We ended the day with gym and music class.  

Tomorrow, we will go to the library.  Please return your child's library book to school tomorrow so that your child is able to sign out a new book.

Have a  great night!

Warm Regards,
Mrs. Lai

Home Reading Program

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

We are starting a new activity called the Home Reading Program. For the remainder of the school year your child will have the opportunity to take home books from the Home Reading library to share with you and your family members. This sharing can take place in a variety of ways.

1.  You may read the book to your child while he/she listens.

2.  You and your child may read together:

·        Choral reading (parent and child read in unison).

·        Echo reading (parent reads aloud one line at a time and the child reads the same line immediately afterwards).

3.  Your child may wish to read to you:

·        She/he may look at the pictures and tell the story in his /her own words.

·        She/he may share a book and is just beginning to read and the reading may only be an approximation of the story.

·        She/he may have memorized a story and be able to recite it verbatim, often without looking at the text.

·        She/he may read the text independently, needing help occasionally.

Please note that all of these attempts at reading reflect normal development and should be encouraged & celebrated.   If your child is telling the story in his/her own words, ask him/her if she would like to read the story again. Encourage your child who has memorized the book to focus on the print by underlining the words with their finger as she/he reads (finder tracking).

If your child is reading independently, but gets stuck on a word:

·        Let your child try to read it, encourage predicting from the context and the sound of the first letter.

·        If your child struggles with the word for more than ten seconds simply supply the word and allow your child to keep reading.

·        As your child becomes more confident and willing to take risks, have him/her skip the word and read to the end of the sentence. Then have him/her read the sentence again, putting in a word that makes sense.

·        Have your child look at the picture for a clue to the word.

Discuss the story and its characters as you read. Make predictions about the story. Before and during reading ask your child, “What do you think will happen next?” Read to confirm or correct your predictions.

The Home Reading booklets came home with your child on Friday in a purple bag.  A home reading log sheet was also sent home with your child to help us communicate regarding your child’s level and a way to keep track of the books your child reads.  Please be sure your child’s books are always transported in the purple bag provided to ensure they are not damaged.  Happy reading and thanks again for your help and support. 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Lai