November 23rd-27th

We continue to learn about giving and generosity. We are creating special artwork and decorating the hallways. Ask your child what gift they decided to give that does not cost any money. We also created some very cute polar bears for the hallways.

In Math, students worked at the “turnaround” strategy for addition and completed more closed word problems. We continue to practice counting by 2’s to 20, by 5’s and 10’s to 100.

Students were given a picture prompt and asked to write about it. Students had a picture of a boy and girl with a huge dog in a wagon. The wagon’s wheels had broken off. Students were asked to write sentences about what they see and what might have happened prior to and after the picture was taken. We will be doing this more over the next few weeks. I was impressed! Students are really getting used to sounding out the words that they need when writing. The word family this week was “op”.

 

Upcoming Events:

Monday: Wear your formal uniform

Wednesday: Library Book Exchange

Thursday: Return your homework folder/Spelling test

Friday: No School

November 16th - 19th

Students were super excited about our surprise casual, rainbow day. It was a super colourful Monday! Thank you for checking out our blog each week.

LA/Social Studies/Health: Students have been writing about what makes them happy. This upcoming week, we will be writing about ways that we can fill someone else’s bucket. How can we help our neighbours, family and friends to be happy by doing special good deeds for them? We will then carry out these deeds during the month of December to help people realize how important they are to us. Feel free to discuss some possible things that you can do for others with your child. We will also be doing some special art work around this topic to decorate the hallways and the Learning Commons for the month of December.

Word Family: “ot”

Math: We continued to practice the “Counting Up Strategy” for addition this week, as well as practice with some closed word problems. We will be moving on to more open-ended problems and the “Turn Around Strategy” in the upcoming weeks.

Science: Students were excited to complete the smell test this week. We had six jars of items that you would use in your household, such as coffee, cinnamon, garlic, curry, toothpaste and vinegar. Students had to smell and guess what the items were from a list of 10 possible items. Students did an excellent job of figuring out these items! We will be learning about the sense of hearing and doing a sound test over the next two weeks.

Upcoming Events:

Monday: Formal Uniform Day

We need to wear a white dress shirt and not a polo shirt. Leggings are not acceptable for formal or informal uniforms. You must wear a tie if you wear pants for your formal uniform.

Wednesday: Library book exchange

We had a lot of students forget their books this past week, probably as we have not had book exchange for two weeks. Please send in your child’s books this week, so that they can get a new book.

Friday: Homework is due and we have a spelling test.

November 9th- 13th

LA: Students wrote about what Peace means to them. They could also use their five senses to explain how it feels, looks like, sounds like, tastes like and smells like. I was so impressed that all students wrote three or more sentences. It was definitely a topic that they enjoyed writing about.

Word Family: "ip"

Math: We started addition and some open-ended word problems. Students are expected to draw a picture and write number and word sentences to demonstrate the solution.

Science: We completed a touch test this week. Students were given a bag of different materials and were then given a descriptive word. They had to feel inside the bag to identify the correct object. Students enjoyed this activity very much.

Art: We used pointillism to create a fall tree. Students used markers, instead of paint, to make tiny dots in a pattern to create the leaves for the tree.

We enjoyed watching the Remembrance Day Assembly organized by the grade threes. Our school created postcards for the Veterans and I was able to send some of these to my brother-in-law, 3 cousins, an uncle and my father-in-law back in Newfoundland and in the USA. They were super touched and appreciated the gesture and artwork by our students. Other cards were delivered to the Veterans here in Calgary.

 

Message from Mrs. Taylor

 

Hello Le Roi Daniels!

Although it may be dreary, grey and gloomy outside, at Le Roi Daniels we are always cheerful and full of brightness.

On Monday November 16, we are going to bring colour and joy to our school by having a casual day where students can wear ANY colour of the rainbow.

This is one way to show our joy and remember we have a “RAINBOW OF POSSIBILITIES” in our school.

Be as creative as you would like!

 

November 2nd-6th

LA: This week, we read two books entitled, Whoever You Are by Mem Fox and I’m Like you, You’re Like Me by Cindy Gainer. We talked about how we are alike and how we are different. Students were then given a partner and a list of questions to interview their friend. Once they had filled out the interview graphic organizer, they used the information to write complete sentences about their partner. Students then got the chance to introduce their partner to the class. We are still working on getting through everyone to present and should finish this up early next week.

Word Family: “in”

Math: Students practiced counting by 2’s and continued comparing numbers. This week we compared the number of boys and girls in our class and which we had more of.

Social Studies: We are still working on the groups that we belong to. We were able to have a discussion about what a TLC school is and what the symbols in our school crest mean.

ART: We read stories about Remembrance Day and created a field of poppies scene and made postcards for Veterans.

HOMEWORK FOLDERS: Thanks for completing homework with your child and correcting it. Please check the homework document carefully, as there is a word problem, in addition to the Mathletics task most weeks. Please clean out your child’s homework folder and keep all previous weeks’ work at home. You only need to send in the present week’s work.

 

Upcoming Events:

Monday: Formal Uniform/Last day to order Acorn Art Projects

Tuesday: Formal Uniform for the Remembrance Day Assembly

Wednesday: NO School. Please keep your library books at home

Friday: Return your homework folders

Blog Oct 26-29

We had a very busy, short week.

We continued practicing counting by 5’s and 10’s and printing numbers to 100. Students also got some experience with their first word problem this week. It was a basic problem where there was only one answer. Students were encouraged to draw a picture and write a sentence to answer the word problem. This was practice to help us understand how to complete an open-ended problem in the future.

Our word family for this past week was ”ig”. Students continued with writing simple sentences and were given a picture prompt to help them write as many as they could about the picture. It was a Fall. I have emailed the Dolch sight words to you, so that you can support your child in learning these words.

We painted pumpkins by mixing red and yellow to create orange, and later in the week, we turned them into Jack-o-lanterns for our beautiful bulletin board. 

Students were quite excited about Halloween and enjoyed seeing a huge pumpkin that one of the grade three teacher’s dad bought in. It was over 150 pounds. Wow!

We were very lucky. Also, thanks to Mrs. Hoye, we had the chance to see all the costumes at our school. She did a video of all of us. We had some great costumes!

It was great to touch base with you all on Thursday night or Friday morning. Thanks for all your support in helping your child learn and grow. 

Happy Halloween! Stay safe and enjoy the special treats!

October 19th-23rd

Science: Students were excited to do our taste test this past week and to determine if the taste was sweet, sour, salty, bitter or umami.

Math: We practiced counting by 5’s and 10’s, as well as comparing numbers that are greater.

LA: Writing simple sentences on topics of "my weekend, family, I feel sad when". Also, all grade one students were given a picture prompt to write some sentences independently. This will be shared at our meetings later in the week.

Word family: “it”

Character: Books and discussion on "Respect" and "Responsibility"

We got to use laptops this week, but it took students a lot of time to log into the computers. Please allow your child to log into programs and homework as much as possible at home to aid in speed and accuracy.

 

Upcoming Events:

Monday: Picture Retake Day and Formal Uniforms.

Wednesday: Library Book Exchange and Acorn Art (mountain scene) will come home

Thursday: Early Dismissal at 12:00 and Parent-Teacher Meetings

Friday: No School/Teacher PD

 

October 13th-16th

Students were able to enjoy the first snowfall of the school year. Please make sure that you dress your child for the weather, as we go outside for Physical Education for 30 minutes each day. Please label your child’s gear.

 

In Social Studies, students started to learn about our community by discussing groups that they belong to and the benefits of those groups. We created a rainbow poster that included ourselves, family, school and community groups.

 

In Math, we continue with creating and extending AAB, ABB and AABB patterns. We are comparing numbers and deciding which is the greater number. We are also using these skills when comparing our class by the number of boys/girls, how we come to school, and the colour of eyes and hair. We practiced subitizing skills with turkey art.

 

Next week, we will be doing a taste test for a Science experiment. Items to be tasted are jelly beans, chocolate, strong tea, lemons, dill pickles, popcorn, pretzels, and raisins. All food items are nut and gelatin free. Please let me know if your child has allergies related to any of these items.

This week's Word Family: ad 

Upcoming reminders:

Monday: Wear your Formal Uniform

Wednesday: Return your library books

Friday: Return your homework

         Spelling test

 

EVERYDAY: Read on Raz-Kids or library books

 

October 5th-8th

We have been busy learning about Thanksgiving and Gratitude this past week. Students created a turkey by tracing their hand and then chose five things that they are thankful for. Students then practiced writing patterned sentences around being grateful.

Also, in Math, students created turkey pattern art. They had to give their turkey several feathers using fall colours and some of the patterns that we have been working on in class so far. (Please see pictures of one art and writing sample below.)

I hope that you get to spend some great quality time with your family this weekend and have the opportunity to count the many blessings that we all have. I am so thankful for all my students and supportive parents. Have a great long weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

September 28th - October 2nd

In Language Arts, we have focused on the "an" word family. We have also continued with writing simple sentences on topics such as my weekend, my favourite animal, my favourite toy, and what I want to be when I grow up. We are focusing on sounding out the words we need to write and saying the word slowly in order to identify the sounds within the word. We use sentence frames to create our sentences and emphasize that words do not have to be spelled correctly. 

In Math, we have worked on making ABC patterns and number sense activities for numbers up to 7.

We have started the sense of sight in Science. We were able to touch and feel some braille books that I borrowed from the public library. This week, we are going to practice making letters for our names with braille. 

Reminders: 

Monday, 5th: Wear your formal uniform

Wednesday, 7th: Library book exchange

Thursday, 8th: Homework is due

Friday, 9th: No school 

Monday, 12th: No School

September 21st - 24th

September 14th-18th

We continued to become familiar with class and school routines. Mrs. Hoye selected some students to help create a school wide video on "expected and unexpected" behaviours. We had a class discussion and followed up with one of my favourite stories, HaveYou Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. This book talks about how everyone has an invisible bucket and we can fill it or dip into it. We want others to feel good or happy and we can do our part to help with that. Ask your child about this special book.

We continued with "Ways to Make" a special number and counting activities in Math. In Language Arts, we wrote about our weekend and continued with patterned sentences on other topics as well.

In the upcoming weeks, we will be starting "Our Five Senses" in Science and "Belonging to Our World" in Social Studies. Please let me know if your child has allergies, as there will be taste and smell tests later in the unit. We will be talking about what groups that your child belongs to, such as sports, school, family, worship, etc. in the next few weeks as well.

Homework will start this week. Your child will bring home a homework folder on Monday. Please check the homework page on this site for details. It is due on Thursday, September 24th, as there is no school on Friday, 25th.

Library books are due each Wednesday. Students will only receive one book in the upcoming weeks, as we are finding that we do not have enough books to hold for three days, before allowing students can choose new books.

Please find the French blog page. I will add it to my blog soon, so that you can access it more easily.  

September 8th-11th

We have had another busy week in room 11. We continue to practice all classroom and school routines. We were able to visit the Learning Commons on Wednesday and students bought home 1 or 2 library books. We will have library book exchange each Wednesday, so please be sure to return your child’s books, so that he/she can get new books each week.

Our new Physical Education teacher started having physical activities outside with all classes. Students have been having fun practicing Terry Fox laps and learning new animal poses. The French teacher has been focusing on greetings and colours. The music teacher has been teaching students how to sign O’ Canada in sign language and they have been using musical instruments to practice rhythm.

Students have been working on a Social Studies activity “All About Me” where they share how old they are, and their favourite animal, colour and thing to eat. We also created a self-portrait to add to our first day of school pictures. I will try and send you a copy of your child’s portrait throughout the week.

In Math, we worked on “Ways to Make” a number. Students are required to demonstrate understanding of a specific number by showing it in different ways. This has been teacher guided right now, but will become an independent activity soon. Students can use ten frames where they colour the correct number of squares, identify whether the number is odd or even, what number comes before and after, draw a picture of the correct number, draw a number line, dice, number of fingers up on the hand, and tally marks. More items will be expected as we learn new concepts, like addition and subtraction sentences. At this time of year, we also practice printing the number correctly and spelling the word.

Friday, September 18^th is our Terry Fox Run. You should have received an email from Mrs. Taylor. It is a casual day and students can bring donations.

Thanks once again for sending your child to class well rested and ready to learn. Have a great weekend!

September 1st- 4th

It has been a week of learning new routines and adjusting to our new school life. It is great to be back! Students are doing well, considering all the changes that are happening! I am certainly lucky to have such a great group of students!

 

There are a few reminders and things that can be practiced at home to make this transition more smooth.

·      Students should not be wearing sandals, boots or crocks, etc. to school. We wear our outdoor shoes for Physical Education classes and we want students to be comfortable when we have fun outside. (Outdoor shoes need to be easy to run in.)

·      Bring a pair of black athletic shoes or black dress shoes that have non-marking soles to wear with your uniform. Gym shoes are also required unless you have a pair of black ones to wear with your uniform. We may need them if we have a rainy day or when PE classes start in the gym again.

·      Practice doing up zippers, buttons and other snaps at home so that students can be independent at school.

Also, practice opening containers, Ziploc bags, etc. that are in your child’s lunch kit.

·      Practice tying shoes if your child has shoes with laces.

·      Practice standing an arm length away from another person. We are trying to do “Zombie Walking” when going through the hallways and outside for social distancing. Students need to hold their arms out straight in front of them and to stay that distance the whole time.

·      A leak-proof water bottle, as students can not drink from the fountain. They can refill only.

·      Go to bed early to get lots of rest and eat a healthy breakfast before coming to school in the mornings.

·      Bring your masks to school each day.

·      Please have your child stay home if they are sick. If your child has a pre-existing condition, we need a letter from your doctor, otherwise, we will contact you to pick your child up if they show any signs of symptoms associated with COVID.

 

Next week, I will include more academic activities in my update. Homework will start during the week of the 21^st. I will send an email prior to it coming to describe details and how to find it on my blog. I am looking forward to a great year! Please do not hesitate to email me with questions or concerns. There is no school on Monday, September 7^th. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! See you on Tuesday, September 8^th.