We're Back Up and Running

Technology is great, until it doesn't work!  After a two week hiatus due to unforseen technical difficulties, I finally have an update for you.

In math, we have been working away at our sorting and patterning unit.  you can practise these concepts at home with your child by doing the following activities...

• Ask your child to help you organize the kitchen utensils.  As your child sorts the utensils into groups, encourage discussion about the groupings.
• Ask your child to use red and green circles to make a pattern in two different ways.  Talk about how the patterns are the same and how they are different.
• Look for patterns at home with your child in things like sweaters, rugs, tiles and wallpaper.

During our literacy block, the students have become quite proficient at performing the tasks required of them in the Daily Five.  We have now been able to work through all five stations, and we are usually able to get to four of them in a day.  Be sure to ask your child what they are writing about...we have some really interesting stories coming in!  We have also been doing a unit on the reading strategy of Making Connections.  A connection is when a piece of text reminds you of something else.  The students have learned that there are three different types of connections...

• Text to Text - this is when something that we have read reminds us of something we have read before.
• Text to Self - in this type of connection, something we read reminds us of something we have done or felt before
• Text to World - although difficult for children of this age, we are working on relating what we have read to something that is going on in real life - a story we have heard from the news or from what is happening in our community.

You are going to be having a guest!

Flat Stanley has found his way to our classroom and will be coming home with each of the students to learn more about your heritage.  When Flat Stanley comes home with your child, there will be a letter in the package explaining what we are doing, and a disposable camera to capture a picture of the time that Stanley spent with your family.  He has been instructed to be on his best behaviour, remain quiet, and not eat too much!  Please make sure that Stanley makes it back to school each day, because he has quite a few houses to visit!  If for whatever reason, you don't have time the night Stanley comes home to interview you, simply get him back to school the next day, and he will come and visit a different night.