At the end of the day yesterday, I told the class that they had five minutes left of grade one and that they should pat themselves on the back for a great year. One of the students said, "aww, I wish grade one would last forever!".
It wasn't perfect (nothing is!), but it really has been an amazing year. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching your children - it truly has been a pleasure watching them grow this year, and I am looking forward to seeing them out on the yard and in the hallways and watching them get so big and tall in Grade 2!
Thank you for the gifts, the cards, the warm wishes in person and in writing, and the support that you have given all year long.
Mme Tessmann and I are lucky teachers, that's for sure!
We both thank you.
P.S.
Grade 1s: Don't forget to read and write as much as possible (without skipping too much summer fun of course)! Use your dictionaries, journals, and materials to keep practicing your skills! Bonnes vacances et bonne chance en deuxième année!
Parents: I hope you get a chance to look at your child's time capsule so they can show you how far they have come since the beginning of grade 1! Also, I have uploaded some more pictures on photobucket so make sure you check them out!
Have a fantastic summer!
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Pictures of Kinsmen Park
We made it to Kinsmen Park afterall! Luckily, the weather held out and we were able to enjoy the day at the park without any rain. Many thanks to the parents for their flexibility and willingness to help out today.
I took some pictures of our trip which I have uploaded to my photobucket album. If you have forgotten the password, send me an email and I will pass it along to you. I have a few other pictures left to upload from the year so check back again on the weekend if you would like to see them.
It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of school! We have already sent a lot of work and supplies home but we aren't quite finished yet, so you may want to send a plastic bag with your child just in case they need it. I have a special day planned tomorrow with the class where we will look back on and celebrate how much the students have grown since they had their first day of Grade 1. It will be a blast!
I took some pictures of our trip which I have uploaded to my photobucket album. If you have forgotten the password, send me an email and I will pass it along to you. I have a few other pictures left to upload from the year so check back again on the weekend if you would like to see them.
It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of school! We have already sent a lot of work and supplies home but we aren't quite finished yet, so you may want to send a plastic bag with your child just in case they need it. I have a special day planned tomorrow with the class where we will look back on and celebrate how much the students have grown since they had their first day of Grade 1. It will be a blast!
Monday, June 24, 2013
Kinsmen park
Tomorrow, we are supposed to be going to Kinsmen park for the afternoon. The weatherman is predicting rain and thundershowers for this day so it is looking fairly likely that it will be cancelled. We will make the final call tomorrow morning.
If it goes ahead (fingers crossed!), the plan is as follows:
We will begin walking to the park at 11:00am. Once we arrive there, we will eat our lunch and then play at the park. We will be taking the bus back to the school at 2:45pm.
Your child should bring:
- comfortable footwear
- a sun hat
- sunscreen and bug spray, if desired (apply to your child before school starts)
- an extra water bottle if desired
- a nutritious lunch
- a swimsuit and towel
Parents who are volunteering tomorrow should call the school in the morning to find out whether the trip will be going ahead or not.
If it goes ahead (fingers crossed!), the plan is as follows:
We will begin walking to the park at 11:00am. Once we arrive there, we will eat our lunch and then play at the park. We will be taking the bus back to the school at 2:45pm.
Your child should bring:
- comfortable footwear
- a sun hat
- sunscreen and bug spray, if desired (apply to your child before school starts)
- an extra water bottle if desired
- a nutritious lunch
- a swimsuit and towel
Parents who are volunteering tomorrow should call the school in the morning to find out whether the trip will be going ahead or not.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Last full week - events
I can't believe that it's already the last full week of school. This
last month as flown by!
Here are this week's events:
Play day tomorrow
Last week's play day was rained out and has been rescheduled for tomorrow from 12:45 until 2:25pm. All primary students will be outside doing various activities during this time. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately to be outside during this time.
Cosmo's visit on Tuesday
We will be joining Mme Hada's class at the Cosmo's Senior Centre at 1pm to sing We All Belong to the Earth for our final visit of the year.
School Swim this Friday
We will be enjoying a full day of swimming on Friday. Make sure your child arrives to school on time Friday morning, as we will be boarding the buses as soon as attendance is taken. Thank you to the many parents who have volunteered to join us on this day. It should be a great day!
We will begin to send your child's workbooks, duotangs, etc home gradually so that it isn't so overwhelming on the last day.
Here are this week's events:
Play day tomorrow
Last week's play day was rained out and has been rescheduled for tomorrow from 12:45 until 2:25pm. All primary students will be outside doing various activities during this time. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately to be outside during this time.
Cosmo's visit on Tuesday
We will be joining Mme Hada's class at the Cosmo's Senior Centre at 1pm to sing We All Belong to the Earth for our final visit of the year.
School Swim this Friday
We will be enjoying a full day of swimming on Friday. Make sure your child arrives to school on time Friday morning, as we will be boarding the buses as soon as attendance is taken. Thank you to the many parents who have volunteered to join us on this day. It should be a great day!
We will begin to send your child's workbooks, duotangs, etc home gradually so that it isn't so overwhelming on the last day.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Pike Lake, Raise-a-Reader Picnic, Pooh Corner, and waste-free lunch
What a busy, but wonderful week we've had! We had a great fun-filled day at Pike Lake on Wednesday, and today we heard Victoria School's amazing grades 5, 6, and 7/8 bands perform and read with care partners and parents and enjoyed a subway picnic lunch. It was great to see so many parents come out to read with their children today! Also, a big thank you to the parents who came with us to Pike Lake - your contribution to the successful day was greatly appreciated.
On Monday, the students will be heading to the Public Library Pooh Corner with Mme Tessmann and Mme Ollerhead's grade 2 class. We have collected some of the students' library cards for this event, but if you have not sent your child's card in already, make sure that you do so on Monday.
Next Thursday, June 13th is our Boomerang Waste-free lunch day, where students will be asked to use as little waste in their lunches as possible (and whatever waste they have, they will keep in their lunch kits to be thrown out at home). Here is a catchy music video that the school watched during our last assembly in order to help inspire us to use less waste on a daily basis. It is called Plastic Ocean, and it is sung by students in a school in Hong Kong:
On Monday, the students will be heading to the Public Library Pooh Corner with Mme Tessmann and Mme Ollerhead's grade 2 class. We have collected some of the students' library cards for this event, but if you have not sent your child's card in already, make sure that you do so on Monday.
Next Thursday, June 13th is our Boomerang Waste-free lunch day, where students will be asked to use as little waste in their lunches as possible (and whatever waste they have, they will keep in their lunch kits to be thrown out at home). Here is a catchy music video that the school watched during our last assembly in order to help inspire us to use less waste on a daily basis. It is called Plastic Ocean, and it is sung by students in a school in Hong Kong:
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Pike Lake - Rice Krispie Square Bakers needed
We now have enough parent volunteers for Pike Lake - thank you to all the parents who have offered!
We still need a few parents to volunteer to make rice krispie squares for the students to enjoy at Pike Lake, so if you are able to help us out with this, please send us a note in the agenda or by email to let us know.
Thank you for all of your support over the year. We are very lucky to have such generous and helpful parents!
We still need a few parents to volunteer to make rice krispie squares for the students to enjoy at Pike Lake, so if you are able to help us out with this, please send us a note in the agenda or by email to let us know.
Thank you for all of your support over the year. We are very lucky to have such generous and helpful parents!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Home reading support
After speaking with a parent this morning about the home reading program, it occurred to me that it would be helpful for parents if I blogged about all the letter and sound blends and rules that we have been learning so that you can better support your child's reading at home. So here it is:
Since my last update on this subject, we have learned that:
- ou makes a oo sound like in souris (which is not the same as the French u sound like in musique)
- on and om the same sound, which is a nasalized English long o vowel, like in maison *
- eau/au/ô all make the English long o (oh) sound like in bâteau
- oi makes a 'wa' sound, like in oiseau
- en/an and em/am all make the same sound which the students associate with a grandmaman ou grandpapa who is hard of hearing and saying "en?" when someone is speaking*
- in/ain/ein and im/aim/eim are all the same sound which the students associate to the sound of a buzzer in a game show, it is a nasalized English long a sound like in cousin *
- on and om the same sound, which is a nasalized English long o vowel sound like in maison *
* It should be noted that with the nasal sounds, if there is another syllable afterwards, the letters that make that nasal sound break apart. For example: cou/sin (2 syllables), cou/si/ne (3 syllables - notice how in is broken apart now due to the new vowel). It's a bit tricky to get used to that rule, but it will come!
We have also been looking at word endings more closely in class, since there are so many word endings in French. For example:
-ent is not pronounced if it is at the end of a verb (action word). For example, marchent sounds like marche when it is read aloud
- er and ez at the end of the word are both pronounced as a long a vowel sound (ay)
- there are many silent letters at the end of words in French: t, p, d, z, s, x
- sometimes words will end with -te or -de, which is not silent (for example, petit sounds like "peti" BUT petite sounds like "petit".
This week we are talking about ai and ei which is the same as è and ê which make the e sound like in the English word wet. We will talk about a few exceptions to this rule (there are always exceptions in French!) next week.
I hope that this blog post will help you help your child with his/her reading at home! If you have any questions about this or anything else, please let us know.
In closing, here is a video of the song we will present to the seniors at the Cosmo's Senior Centre tomorrow after lunch: Frère Jacques, rock'n roll style!
Since my last update on this subject, we have learned that:
- ou makes a oo sound like in souris (which is not the same as the French u sound like in musique)
- on and om the same sound, which is a nasalized English long o vowel, like in maison *
- eau/au/ô all make the English long o (oh) sound like in bâteau
- oi makes a 'wa' sound, like in oiseau
- en/an and em/am all make the same sound which the students associate with a grandmaman ou grandpapa who is hard of hearing and saying "en?" when someone is speaking*
- in/ain/ein and im/aim/eim are all the same sound which the students associate to the sound of a buzzer in a game show, it is a nasalized English long a sound like in cousin *
- on and om the same sound, which is a nasalized English long o vowel sound like in maison *
* It should be noted that with the nasal sounds, if there is another syllable afterwards, the letters that make that nasal sound break apart. For example: cou/sin (2 syllables), cou/si/ne (3 syllables - notice how in is broken apart now due to the new vowel). It's a bit tricky to get used to that rule, but it will come!
We have also been looking at word endings more closely in class, since there are so many word endings in French. For example:
-ent is not pronounced if it is at the end of a verb (action word). For example, marchent sounds like marche when it is read aloud
- er and ez at the end of the word are both pronounced as a long a vowel sound (ay)
- there are many silent letters at the end of words in French: t, p, d, z, s, x
- sometimes words will end with -te or -de, which is not silent (for example, petit sounds like "peti" BUT petite sounds like "petit".
This week we are talking about ai and ei which is the same as è and ê which make the e sound like in the English word wet. We will talk about a few exceptions to this rule (there are always exceptions in French!) next week.
I hope that this blog post will help you help your child with his/her reading at home! If you have any questions about this or anything else, please let us know.
In closing, here is a video of the song we will present to the seniors at the Cosmo's Senior Centre tomorrow after lunch: Frère Jacques, rock'n roll style!
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