Fabulous First Graders

 Hello Grade 1 Families, Thank you so much to all of you who joined us online last week.  We enjoyed seeing your wonderful faces!  Huge thank you to all the parents who worked at home with their kiddos as well.  You are heroes! Last week in Literacy we reviewed our n o and p sounds, as well as learned about the "op" word family.  This includes words such as, hop, mop, top and lop! During Math we worked on our addition sentences using our favourite ice creams!  Ms. McGill's class learned about the "Make 10" strategy, where you start with a number, such as 5 and determine how many more you need to make 10!  Ms.  Secord's class worked on making groups of 10, by finding objects around their houses. An important learning intention in Grade 1 right now is, "I can skip count by 2s, 5s, and 10s from 0-100."  Both classes practice this regularly, working with objects, pictures, and numbers.  Last week, we used a hundred chart to identify what num...

EDIT: Do not come to Keeler to pick up the materials.  They will be posted on Google Classroom.  Hello Grade 1 Families, We have missed you and are SO excited to see you (online) next week.   Please see the linked document for the Grade 1 timetable for the week of January 4th-8th.  A small groups schedule will be posted on your Google Classroom for the times indicated.   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wRZ1wkmggIZ7up0tAaFCR4G8JSVJaXm4/view?usp=sharing A folder or duo-tang was sent home on the last day of school.  Within it, are a few pieces of interlined paper to assist your child with their letter formation during writing lessons, as well as other tools that will be referenced/used throughout the week. If you were unable to pick up those materials, they will be available on Google Classroom.   If you have any further questions, please make sure to read the school messenger that was sent out on December 30th, then email your child's tea...

This past week we had a wonderful time doing more fun work in Language Arts! Both classes are working very hard to identify rhyming words when we hear and see them!  We read a poem called "The Fat Cat'".  Throughout the week, each class read the poem several times and worked together to identify all of the "at" words in the poem.  During these conversations we talked about how these words sound the same at the end and that this is called rhyming! For Writing we transitioned from the poem, keeping the same theme.  Each student practiced using s a t i m to write the sentence: "It is a fat cat".  For Art, we completed a guided drawing of Pusheen the Cat (a fat cat) using this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS_PQYIGrTc .   Last week for Math, Ms, McGill's class finished our cups and they were brought home.  The goal of these cups was for students to work towards: I can count to 100 by 1s and 10s, starting at 0.  Ms. McGill's class a...

Last week we talked a lot about the importance of Remembrance Day, and why we recognize the soldiers that gave their lives for our freedom.  Each class learned a new song and recorded it for our Remembrance Day assembly last Tuesday. Ms. McGill's Class sang Little Poppy to the tune of Frere Jacques:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TmIJuIE1Lqfrw6PbwNDb3V8O_EYy_m31/view?usp=sharing Ms. Secord's class sang Nothing More by the Alternate Routes.   Both classes are continuing to learn about patterns, and how to identify the core of the pattern.  They are both also starting to talk about skip counting by tens, and Ms. McGill's class created counting cups to represent skip counting by 10. Both classes are continuing to create pattern sentences, focusing on capitals, periods, and finger spaces. Ms. McGill's class made the sentence "If I fits, I sits." to go with a popular meme.  

Last week was a bit short, but it was packed full of learning!  Grade 1 is working very hard to use our knowledge of the s a t i m letters and their sounds to sound out and write words!  This coming week, we will be introducing some fun games that focus on these sounds to our literacy centres. Ms. McGill's class worked hard on our printing.  We talked a lot about I can statements such as,  I can write using the sky, clouds, grass and dirt to remember where my letters go. (The lines on the page.) I can use a period at the end of a sentence. and I  can write my first name using only 1 uppercase. In Science, we did an experiment where we asked the question: What's that smell? Students were given 6 mystery cups.  In their animal groups, students made observations using only their noses!  When they smelled what was in the covered cup, students drew or wrote words to describe what they were smelling.  When smelling the lemons, students drew things that ...

What a cold week this has been!  We have all tried to stay warm.  Make sure that you are dressing your student appropriately with snowpants, boots, mitts, a hat, and a warm jacket, as we do go outside for our morning break and at lunchtime. This week we focused on how to fill in a tens frame. Did you know that you have to start in the same box every time?  Ask your child how to fill out these tens frames. Ms. McGill's class also looked at 3 element patterns.  Both classes will continue to look at 3 and 4 element patterns next week. In Language Arts, we have started doing literacy centres.  The children are practicing different literacy skills, such as practicing the alphabet, reading, writing, making magnet letter words, and using play-dough to create letters. We discussed our school community, and how we have special symbols that represent our school (like the Keeler Cougar sign, the outdoor classroom, our playground, and our school building). The children drew...

We started the week off by talking about what a Scientist does.  What is it, you ask?  Well, they ask questions and they make observations!  We spent the week learning about what an observation is and how to make one.  This led us into our Science unit about senses.   We learned that you can use your 5 senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to make observations.   Throughout the week we made observations in our classroom and the hallways, using language such as "I observed _____ using my eyes."  or "I observed _____ using my ears".  We also learned that scientists record their observations! At the end of the week we put our observations skills to work in Art.  We collected leaves from outside and created pictures by putting the leaves under our paper and rubbing the top of the paper with a crayon.  In Math, we read the story, "Only One You" by Linda Kranz and created 2 and 3 element patterns on our own fish! We also lear...