One Week To Go

Gingerbread Houses - Please send a small, individual size, empty milk carton along with a bag of candies on Wednesday, December 13th.  Feel free to send them a few days early if you're feeling organized!  :)

Food Hamper - Last day for collecting is Wednesday, December 13th.  

Online Survey - We are having a math review team come to the school in January and we need some feedback from your children.  Please complete the online survey with your child this week if possible.  The middle and high school students were able to do this in class but we have very little representation from elementary as we need you to type for them at home.  Thank so much! 

Please return skating forms and report card envelopes (with first page signed) as soon as possible.

It is a regular dismissal on Wednesday, December 13th and an early dismissal (1:10) after skating on Friday, December 15th.  Please indicate on the skating form if you will be taking your child directly home after skating.  We will all be going to the arena on the bus so that I can account for all students and not have a mix up if they drive with you at the last moment.  Besides, we love the bus ride!   :)

Skating on the 17th

We will be skating from 9:30-11:30 on Friday, December 17th and you are more than welcome to join us! This year it will be at Centennial Arena in White Rock since a hockey team has booked ice time for the whole year at the South Surrey Arena.  The older students will bus over around 9am and we will follow.  A permission form will be coming home soon.  Please indicate if you plan to take your child home after skating or if they will be coming back to school until the 1:10 dismissal.  Thank you!  :)

December Details

There's lots going on this month! 

The 12 Days of Christmas: (all school event of something to wear each day in addition to regular uniform)
Dec. 2 - Bells
Dec. 3 - Tie   (report cards come home today)
Dec. 6 - Gloves
Dec. 7 - Christmas socks
Dec. 8 - Scarf
Dec. 9 - Touque (also Christmas concert at 7pm - in classroom at 6:30pm)
Dec. 10 - Santa hat
Dec. 13 - Boots
Dec. 14 - Reindeer antlers or Elf ears
Dec. 15 - Christmas sweater
Dec. 16 - Pajamas
Dec. 17 - Red/White/Green (optional as we will be skating this day - you are welcome to join us - I'll post more details when I know them)

Wednesday

As also posted on our door this Wednesday, November 24th is an early dismissal at 1:10 and also a non-uniform day.  It is gym day but they are fine to come in whatever they chose tomorrow. 

A Few Dates

Report cards come out on Friday, December 3rd.  The students are being very encouraging towards one another as we set goals and work towards improvement.  They especially enjoy an "Art Show" after we've created a masterpiece during art.  They all sit at their desks and then I call a row at a time to go "shopping" at the Art Show.  They stand by the work of a peer and this indicates that they are buying the art as their favourite.  You should see the smiles!  "Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today".  :)

Also, please put Thursday, December 9th on your calendar for the K-8 Christmas Concert.  Your child will be singing in the choir and will need to be in their full winter uniform.  The concert starts at 7pm but we will meet in our classroom at 6:30pm.  Thanks so much! 

Colder Days

Hello Parents and Students of Elementary,

With winter approaching and the weather turning colder and colder, we in Elementary have been discussing student attire. We would like to encourage all parents to purchase a WRCA sweater, if you haven't already. When you do, please write your child's first and last name on the inside tag. These sweaters do not only look great, but they are very warm and, well, mandatory uniform at WRCA! A new policy that we are implementing is students are encouraged to keep a pair of running shoes in their classroom indoor wear. Boots can be worn to school and during outside break times. Before going outside for recess or lunch students will be given the opportunity to change into their boots. This policy will help keep students' feet warm and will keep our classrooms cleaner.

I also want to ask the parent community for their support in helping keep our children safe at lunch recess. We are in need of more parent supervisors from 12:00 to 12:45. Thank you to many of you who have faithfully shown up and supervised our children.

Sincerely,

The Elementary Staff of WRCA

Thank You!

The Veggie Tale Party was a success!  We had cheese, crackers, grapes, watermelon, pineapple, popcorn, chips, cupcakes, apple juice, cookies, veggies and dip, and the list goes on!!!  They loved it so thank you!  :)

You've Done It! :)

Well, all the home reading you've been doing has resulted in our first Veggie Tales Party!  It will be this Tuesday, November 2nd.  Please send in a snack (cheese, crackers, ham, grapes, apple juice boxes, veggies and dip, mini-muffins, etc) or a treat (popcorn, chips, cookies, etc) to share with the class. We will enjoy our snacks while watching a Veggie Tales movie so if your child has one they enjoy please send it in so we can vote on which one we would like to watch.  :)

A Few Additions

Wednesday, October 27th is also going to be a non-uniform day.  The high school students earn this once a month by coming in their complete uniform each day.  This is more of a freebie for us. 

Thursday, October 28th - We were told this morning in staff devotions that it will be a 1:10 dismissal again on this day so that we can fit in Parent/Teacher Conferences for our larger class sizes.  The conferences will be every 15 minutes from 1:30-8:30pm. 

Phew!  Lots to remember next week!  I've also posted this information on our door.  Thank you for all you do each day for your wonderful kids!  We appreciate you!  :)

Coming Soon!

Here are a few things to remember about next week...   :)

Monday, October 25th - Individual photo day (please send your child in their complete winter uniform - with sweater please!)

Wednesday, October 27th - Early dismissal at 1:10

Thursday, October 28th - Parent/Teacher Conferences (I will post the sign-up sheet outside our door as soon as it is given to me)

Friday, October 29th - Dressfest (This is a school-wide event where everyone dresses up in a costume for the day)

Happy Thanksgiving!

So tomorrow is the last day of our week.  We are back on Tuesday, October 12th.  The students are to wear their full winter uniform when they come back.  Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for your fantastic kids.  They really are a great group.  :)

Non-Uniform and Early Dismissal

This Wednesday (29th) is a non-uniform day so your child may wear whatever they wish.  They have gym first thing in the morning as usual so maybe running shoes would still be a good idea.  It's also early dismissal at 1:10 and we are meeting our Grade 11 buddies for Buddy Chapel.  I can't believe September is almost over! 

Now That Was a Birthday!

Thank you all so much for the flowers, presents and cards for my birthday yesterday.  I felt very spoiled!  Your wonderful children were full of smiles and good wishes and were so pleased to bring me the cards they'd made.  I loved it.  What a great birthday!  :)

Sept. 13 - 17

Some fantastic home reading has been happening for "Bob's Book Club" this week!  Thank you so much for taking the time to get your child off to a great start.  Three books should be coming home each night but please feel free to read books from the library or home and record them also.  In their journals this week the students wrote, "A _____ lives in the ocean."  We brainstormed many creatures and then each child chose 2 to write about and illustrate.  We've been reviewing initial consonant sounds in their Phonics books and have been talking about the short vowels.  Sharing was wonderful this week with so many eager faces ready to talk about what they brought.  Thank you for connecting to our unit on ocean life.  This doesn't always have to be the case but it's been a great addition...ocean books, shark models, seashells, underwater paintings.  Wow!  In math we are working on patterning and addition facts to 10.  I have introduced "touch point" math to the class which is an alternative to counting on their fingers.  Each number has a series of dots (1 has 1 dot, 2 has 2 and so on up to 9).  The idea is that instead of putting down their pencil and counting on their fingers and then having to find their place again they simply touch the points where the dots are to be and find the answer.  The goal eventually is to start at the largest number and "count on" as a strategy.  As time goes on and their mental math improves even touch point won't be necessary.  Ask your child to show you the touch points if you are interested.  We have new art on the bulletin board outside our classroom.  Come see!  The weather was perfect for our Terry Fox Run on Friday.  It was nice to have many of your join us.  Also, a huge thank you to the parent volunteers who have already signed up to help in our room starting the last week in October.  I'm looking forward to having you!  :)

A Few Things...

Thank you all for being so organized with everything that needed to be bought, labelled and handed in at the beginning of the year.  I'm just missing a few things...  (or so my list says)

Bibles - Jared, Nicholas, Troy
$45 for supplies (cheque made out to WRCA) - Jackson, Calvin, Nicholas, Troy
Emergency kit - Aislyn, Jared, Calvin, Nicholas, Sarah, Troy

Also, just a reminder that we are a "Nut Free" school and we do have a peanut allergy in our class this year. 

So the Terry Fox run this Friday at 2pm took me 20 minutes to walk today.  We'll start on the field and I know the kids will do great!  It's a safe route with lots of trails away from the roads.  Everyone may wear red and white clothing or anything with Canada on it (t-shirt, hoodie, etc) on Friday instead of their gym uniform. Come join us!  :)

One Week Already!

Are they coming home a little sleepy?!  They've been working hard and these are long days but I'm very pleased with how well they are settling and making new friends.  We've welcomed Calvin, Jacob, Jared, Joseph, Julia, Maria and Sarah to WRCA this year! Our days begin with a morning job on our white boards, followed by calendar time, singing, devotions, spelling, printing and reading.  We've been reading all kinds of books about "Ocean Life" and turtles, along with our author study on Marcus Pfister, the author of "The Rainbow Fish".  Ask your child what lessons we've been learning from "The Rainbow Fish".  We now know sign language for many animals such as cat, dog, frog, fish, rabbit, horse, turtle and more.  We also know sun, tree, mom, dad, family, baby, grandma, grandpa.  Ask a smart Grade One near you!  Last week we learned our Bible memory verse, "A friend loves at all times".  This week we've been learning, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love comes from God".  Ask to see the actions that go along with the verses. The students had their first music class with Mr. MacLeod this week and WRCA is now starting French at the Grade One level for one block of 30 minutes a week with Madame Fuller.  :)

Remember that gym days are Wednesdays and Fridays and library begins this Thursday.  Home reading started this Monday as did the weekly sharing schedule.  Feel free to read any books from home or the library and record them in the red duotang for "Bob's Book Club".  We've also written the 8 spelling words to practice at home in our planners.  This Friday we are doing a Terry Fox Run for Grades 1-6 at 2:00pm.  I'll be learning the route tomorrow and will blog about it incase you want to join us!

Fantastic Kids!

Wow!  What a great group of little people!  I'm enjoying them already.  :)  Mr. Loewen welcomed us all back in the gym today and we sang some songs with Mr. MacLeod.  In class we talked about our class pets and animals in the ocean for our science unit.  We learned our first memory verse, "A friend loves at all times" and made sure that our 7 new students had someone to play with at recess and lunch.  Such a blessing that it was a rain-free day!  We did a spelling test of initial sounds only and I'm impressed with their understanding and their printing.  We read a story about a little mouse called "IQ Goes to School".  We sang, Jesus Love is a Bubblin' Over, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, Jesus Loves Me (with a great clapping beat) and The Days of the Week.   The students did a great job on their Ocean Life puzzles.  Did they make it home?  I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  Sleep well everyone.  :)

Great year ahead!

I'm looking forward to meeting you all tomorrow!  :)

Welcome to Grade 1!