Thursday, January 30, 2020

le 30 janvier

Bonjour

Today we practiced telling stories using words like "premièrement/au début, en premier, ensuite, après, puis et finalement."

In Math we practice doing our friendly numbers that make 10 and what happens when you add 10 to a number. Please practice these skills at home.

Home Reading: Qu'est-ce que tu portes en hiver?

Please see your email from the office about how to view your report cards. The indicators this year have changed, please note the only indicator that is not meeting expectations is a 1.


Wednesday, January 29, 2020

le 29 janvier

Bonjour

This morning we reviewed what a 1, 2, 3, 4 in writing looks like. Students finished a writing task they began yesterday and then self-assessed their writing using the exemplars. Ask your child about what mark they gave themselves and why.



Today we had a very fun and engaging Math activity. Please ask your child about book shopping!!

Thank you for returning your skating forms. 

Last week to purchase a yearbook in Power School.
Report cards live online tomorrow.

No school Friday.


Tuesday, January 28, 2020

le 28 janvier

Bonjour

Volunteers needed for skating. Please email me if you are free.

Today we started work on our family trees in Social Studies. Students are bringing them home to complete with you tonight. I pointed out the countries of origin of each member of my family with the students. This might be interesting for you to discuss as well.

Yearbooks are still for sale on your Power School account.

Special dates this week:
Thursday/jeudi - Report cards available online at 3:30Healthy HungerFriday/vendredi - no school, 


Reminder Literacy Night Feb 6
On Thursday, February 6th at 6:30 pm, parents are invited to Varsity’s first Literacy Night.

Parents and guardians are invited to Join teacher Mme Jennifer McCann for a session covering how children learn to read, what the current research tells us is most effective and important, and how to best support your child.  A question and answer period will follow.

Although this presentation is best suited for parents with students in K-3, anyone is welcome to attend.

Please register online: https://forms.gle/585rrbPeSx5Krtf2A if you are able to attend.  We ask families to please arrange childcare and that only adults attend.

Monday, January 27, 2020

le 27 jan mots de la semaine


le 27 janvier

Bonjour

Today we learned a new adding strategy: les amis qui font 10. (Additions that make 10)


This morning students spoke SO MUCH Français. Bravo! More and more students are starting to bring home their special notes for speaking French 10 fois. They did an amazing job while sharing about their weekends. We got to learn about Chinese New Year too as some students participated in celebrations over the weekend.

This afternoon used Rekenreks for the first time. We use these to: practice number sense to 20, to subitize and to add.











We used the Canadian Climber today. Please continue to dress for gymnastics.

Home reading tonight.

Special dates this week:
Tuesday/mardi - Bibliotheque - please return all books
Thursday/jeudi - Report cards available online at 3:30
Healthy Hunger
Friday/vendredi - no school, reports available online

Friday, January 24, 2020

le 24 janvier

Bonjour!

Apologies for the delay in posting this!

A book is coming home for reading this weekend. How is home reading going? Please send me an email if you have any questions.

A great area of practice for Math this weekend is doubles and doubles plus one.

We have been practicing naming winter clothing items and their colours. (In French the colour comes after the noun).) We've been doing mini fashion shows where a student stands up and names/describes clothing from head to toe. Try it at home.

Bon weekend!

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

le 22 janvier

Bonjour

Today we learned a new addition strategy. Doubles + 1


This is a very useful strategy once students have mastered their doubles. Just a reminder, if you would like some games to practice doubles, please email me.

How to practice at home - throw a die. Double it and add one. Use playing cards, double it and add one.

I am away tomorrow and Mme Zdrill will be filling in for me.

Home reading tonight "Où sont les boules de neige?"


Tuesday, January 21, 2020

le 21 janvier

Bonjour!

We are becoming dynamos at adding doubles! I have a few printable doubles adding games (doubles to 20). If you'd like a copy, just send me an email.

Today we practiced some French grammar. Students read a text about winter clothing and then we went through with a highlighter and found all the colour words. Students then noticed that the colour always comes after the noun. We will continue to practice this.
I forgot to add the words of the week yesterday! Here they are!




Monday, January 20, 2020

le 20 janvier

Bonjour!

Our new song of the week. One of my favourites!  Bonjour l'hiver! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEINdfUmxsQ

Today we continued our work on doubles. We made a list of doubles, starting at 0 and then going as high as students could go. Patterns emerged! What were they?

We also tried doubling a sequence of numbers to see how far we could get:
1+1= 2, 2+2=4, 4+4=8, 8+8=16 this ended up getting tricky pretty quickly but we made it to 256! (This of course is not a grade 1 expectation, the students just wanted to experiment.)

Home reading coming home today.

Students are practicing their gymnastics routines with M. Trevor.

On Monday, January 20th, sales for our VAS Yearbook will begin online. Yearbooks are $15.00 per copy and families can order using their PowerSchool account. Students have already begun putting the book together and are excited to share the final product in June!

Friday, January 17, 2020

le 17 janvier

Bonjour

We had a great day building our snowmen! We spent the morning doing paper maché and learning to weave.

Thank you so much to all of our volunteers!

Home reading books are coming home for the weekend.

The link for the Parent Literacy Night on February 6th is now working. Please sign up if you'd like to join.


Bon weekend!




Thursday, January 16, 2020

le 16 janvier

Double the fun!

Today was all about doubles! 16 is a sum of a double and can be doubled. Doubles are an excellent strategy for mental math.

For attendance, each student gave a doubles fact. We practiced doubling all kinds of numbers, from 0-300!  We played a doubles dice game available here:
http://freebie-licious.blogspot.com/2013/10/doubles-arent-trouble.html?m=1

 Here is a visual to help with doubles facts:


In grade 1 students are learning to add and subtract to 20, to have strategies for mental math to 18 and to know/recall their facts to 5. We try to challenge students as much as possible because they can do hard things!!

We read a book called "J'aime les maths" in which Pat le chat helps his friend who is smart in a lot of ways but finds Math tricky and has difficulty learning to add. The message of the book is that people are good at different things but ANYONE can be good at math when they practice and find a way to connect to make the work more meaningful. A growth mindset in math is vital. We are trying to end the attitude of math isn't for me, math is hard... When students hear those statements, especially from friends and family, they believe them to be true- but they aren't!

Finally, this was our problem solving question for Math Talks today.


Tomorrow is our paper maché art project. Please dress for it! Scholastics due.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

le 15 janvier

Bonjour


All students have now completed their oral presentations about their winter photos. About 50% of the videos are now in Iris for your viewing pleasure. Check in with your child.

In Science we are learning about Winter. Ask your child about how some animals adapt to the wintertime. We watched a video about the Arctic Fox, Hare and Ptarmigan.

Library and Special lunch tomorrow. Please return books in the book bag for tomorrow.
Friday is our special paper maché project. Please send students in Art clothing (no gymnastics Friday.)
Scholastics also due Friday.

Email sent re: Home Readering--oops, the sign up link for Literacy Night only works for CBE addresses. I'll resent it when I've sorted it out. Sorry!
Other Home Reading materials in the blue folder as well as a book for today/tomorrow.

Merci!

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

le 14 janvier

Bonjour

Thank you for sending in your holiday photos! It looks like everyone had a great break. Today, we rehearsed a few sentences and  practiced explaining our photo to three different peers. Then students each presented their photo to the class, while I took videos. The videos are slowly making their way onto Iris. Tomorrow we will be writing about our photos.

Please return yesterday's home reading book for exchange tomorrow.

Your child is bringing home the goal he/she set with his/her grade 4 learning buddy today. Please take the time to review your child's goals and strategies.

Today we started our addition unit in Math. We did a pretest to see what we already know about addition. We need to learn:
-addition to 20
-understand and apply mental math to 18
-recall facts to 5
-how to problem solve with addition

We can use tools like: 100 chart, fingers, cubes, a number line, drawings
We can use strategies like: doubles, the inverse (5+7, 7+5), counting on (more to come)

Here is our problem of the day
Important dates
Please ensure students come dressed for the gymnastics unit (comfortable clothing, hair tied, avoiding dresses, hoodies, necklaces etc) for the next few weeks.
Thursday:
-Library. Please return books in the new bags provided. 
-Healthy Hunger lunch
Friday: 
-Scholastics due
-Paper maché snowmen day. Please send students in clothing suitable for Art. 
Thank you to all of our volunteers. You can arrive anytime between 8-8:30.

Monday, January 13, 2020

le 13 janvier

Bonjour

Tonight your child is bringing home either a paper book or a classroom book for home reading. Please read it 2-3 times and return by Wednesday. More information about our evolving home reading program to come by email, likely tomorrow or Wednesday.


Important dates
Monday: Winter photos due. 
Please ensure students come dressed for the gymnastics unit (comfortable clothing, hair tied, avoiding dresses, hoodies, necklaces etc) for the next few weeks.
Thursday:
-Library. Please return books in the new bags provided. 
-Healthy Hunger lunch
Friday: 
-Scholastics due
-Paper maché snowmen day. Please send students in clothing suitable for Art. 
Thank you to all of our volunteers. You can arrive anytime between 8-8:30.

Friday, January 10, 2020

le 10 janvier

Bonjour!

Today we worked with our grade 4 buddies to come up with a learning goal and strategies we can use to accomplish it. Stay tuned - they'll be coming home Monday.

Home reading tonight: En hiver je peux.

Below are the winter vocabulary words that will be frequently used over the next month (or months- it is Calgary after all!).


Important dates
Monday: Winter photos due. Please ensure students come dressed for the gymnastics unit (comfortable clothing, hair tied, avoiding dresses, hoodies, necklaces etc) for the next few weeks.
Thursday: Library. Please return books in the new bags provided. Healthy Hunger lunch
Friday: Paper maché snowmen day. Please send students in clothing suitable for Art. Thank you to all of our volunteers. You can arrive anytime between 8-8:30.

If there is anything I can include in the blog that would be helpful to you as parents, please let me know!

Bon weekend!

Thursday, January 9, 2020

le 9 janvier

Bonjour!

We've be practicing reading, writing, speaking and singing about our winter vocabulary. This week's focus was winter sports. What can your child tell you about winter sports in French?

We also are starting to talk about tools and strategies to help you when you get stuck.
In Math
-I can use my fingers
-I can use a number line or 100 chart
-I can use manipulatives to help me count, pattern and add.

While writing and reading
-I can sound out
-I can use the word wall or the duotangs in my desk
-I can ask a friend
-I can use a checklist to make sure my work is complete

If I don't know what to do:
-Look around/Look at the instructions on the board
-Ask a friend
-Ask Mme

We are still working hard on speaking in French with me and with others. I'm asking that (unless it's an emergency) students no longer speak in full English sentences. They are supported in using the French they do know. We are still tracking their participation and if they are speaking to their peers in French (this is a big one for everyone!). You can ask your child how their tracking sheet is coming along.

Merci!

Important dates
Monday: Winter photos due. Please ensure students come dressed for the gymnastics unit (comfortable clothing, hair tied, avoiding dresses, hoodies, necklaces etc) for the next few weeks.
Thursday: Library. Please return books in the new bags provided. Healthy Hunger lunch
Friday: Paper maché snowmen day. Please send students in clothing suitable for Art. Thank you to all of our volunteers. You can arrive anytime between 8-8:30.

Save the date: Literacy Night for Parents Feb 6.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

le 8 janvier

Bonjour

La nouvelle vertu du mois/virtue of the month: coopération.

Today we practiced skip counting in a variety of ways. In grade 1 students are expected to skip count by 2, 5, and 10 to 100 by the end of the year.

We also began (formally) adopting our beginning reading strategies. More will be incorporated as the year goes on.

Strategies for Reading with Accuracy (I can read the words! Je peux lire les mots!)
-use your finger to follow
-use your finger to cut words into syllables
-look at the first letter of a word
-sound it out
-reread text
-practice words of the week
We are prioritizing sounding a word out over simply looking at the picture - research is telling us that is not a strategy to rely on as it results in students guessing rather that using their knowledge of phonics (letters and sounds) to decode words, which becomes problematic as they move away from illustrated text.

Our home reading program will begin more formally with classroom books next week. For the time being, they will be bringing small paper readers home tonight and Friday.

**Save the date, I will be hosting a Literacy Night for parents Thursday February 6th at 6:30 in the gym. The evening will share practical ways to raise a reader but also look into the Science of reading acquisition. Any Varsity parent is welcome to join.**

Please send in your holiday pictures for Monday.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Wow - merci!

Hello!

We now have enough volunteers for January 17. That being said, if you are able to come you are still more than welcome to join.

Merci bien!

le 7 janvier

Bonjour!

Our 2020 classroom goals:
-speak in French during class discussions, with Mme McCann and to fellow students.
-be polite, helpful, kind and responsible citizens (say Bonjour, s'il te plait, merci, je suis desolé(e), look people in the eye and engage in conversation).

The expectation is that students are speaking mostly in French at all times in the classroom and coatroom. They should not be speaking in full sentences in English. Students currently have a yellow post it note on their desk. Each time I "catch" them speaking French I initial it. When they get 10 they will be bringing it home to show you how proud they are of their accomplishment.

Today we discussed how our senses keep us safe in different situations. For example, which senses would alert you to a fire? To a speeding car? To a storm?

Thank you to everyone who has sent in their winter photos. Please look at yesterday's blog post if you missed it and send/email one in by Monday.

****One-two more volunteers needed for our snowman paper maché project on Friday January 17 (pretty much all morning) if you are available, please email me. Thank you to everyone who already has! Much appreciated!*****



Monday, January 6, 2020

le 6 janvier

Bonjour!

Bonne année!

Welcome back! I hope you had a safe, fun and joy-filled holiday season.

Could you please help support your child in picking a photo from your winter holiday that they would like to bring in to the class to use as a base for writing? It should include enough detail for them to be able to talk and write about it.  Please feel free to email it to me instead of printing it. Could you please have them sent for Monday January 13.


****Volunteers needed for our snowman paper maché project. If you are able to volunteer Friday Jan 17 or Jan 24 (I'll pick whichever date we can get the most volunteers for- approximately 5 needed) please email me. Merci!*****