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!