Baking in Germany

Today we flew to Germany and learned how Christmas is celebrated by many German families.  We baked gingerbread men with help from Mrs. Walpole (thank you!) and decorated them in the afternoon. Yummy!  Tomorrow we will write about our gingerbread men.

Happy Hanukkah in Room 8

We traveled to Israel and are learning the beliefs and customs of Jewish families. Today we made latkes with the help of Mrs. Cooper and many students enjoyed the taste. The recipe will go home in your child's "suitcase" before the holiday break. We played with dreidels and made a menorah craft. Happy Hanukkah!

Winter Celebrations Around the World

We are about to begin our study of how people celebrate various winter holidays around the world. The children will be creating passports and will record their travels in their "suitcases". We will travel to England, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mexico and the Philippines. At each location, we will read stories, make crafts, learn about common customs and sometimes enjoy some traditional food. If you have a custom from your family's cultural background that you wish to share, please be sure to let us know. December is always a fun month of learning and exploring in Grade One!

 

Thank you families!

We would like to thank all of our families for coming to conferences and celebrating their children's learning. We appreciate your support!

Word Work

During Daily 5, we do Word Work to learn how to spell words.  We get to choose how we practice. We can make the words with Wikki Stixs or we can play Spider Race or we can write our words on a mini whiteboard. We have fun doing Word Work!

Update

Some photos have been removed from the blog as name tags on the desks were visible. We are working with our I.T. support to resolve this issue.

Our Centers

We learned about characteristics of materials with centers focused on the different kinds of smart (multiple intelligences)! We wrote about what it would be like if everything could only be made out of wood, we sorted objects according to what they were made of, we did experiments, we wrote songs and poems and we designed and created a candy holder!

Room 8's Halloween Video

Spelling Word List

If you have misplaced your spelling words or want to review or look ahead, click on this link:
Grade 1 Spelling Word List

Patterning

We have been learning about patterning!  Our goals in Grade 1 are to be able to make a pattern, make a pattern longer, translate a pattern (change it to a different form) and to know what the core of a pattern is (the chunk that happens over and over).  Let's try it with the patterns below!

Our Alphabet Song

We learned all the letters and sounds in the alphabet. We have special actions for each letter. Watch our video and you can see the actions! Knowing our letters and sounds helps us to learn how to read and write.

Timetable

Here is our classroom timetable...

Day1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Morning Math Routine	Morning Math Routine	Morning Math Routine	Morning Math Routine	Morning Math Routine	Morning Math Routine
French	Math	French	Math	French	Theme
Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess
Theme	Theme	Theme	Theme	Theme	Theme
Theme	Music	Theme	Music	Theme	Music
Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
Daily 5	Daily 5	Daily 5	Daily 5	Daily 5	Daily 5
Gym	Daily 5 Word Study	Daily 5 Word Study	Daily 5 Word Study	Daily 5 Word Study	Daily 5 Word Study
Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess
Writer’s Workshop	Writer’s Workshop	Gym	Writer’s Workshop	Gym	Writer’s Workshop
Library	Gym	Health	Literacy with ICT	Writer’s Workshop	Choice Time

Fire Safety Week

In Health, we learned about fire safety. We learned that we need to find two ways out of every room in case of a fire. Please consider having a fire drill at home and planning a meeting place for your family.  There are some fun games and activities related to fire safety at www.sparky.org.

Different Kinds of Smart

We have been learning about the different kinds of smart.  These are based on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.  We all have smooth roads (strengths) and bumpy roads (challenges) and we will be learning and working together to get better in all our kinds of smart!  Ask your child what kind of smart they are and to explain what it means.  What kind of smart are you?

Our Self Portraits

Our Fabulous Fall Art

Fall Celebration!

We celebrated the beginning of fall today.  We made leaf prints using our leaves with fall colours of paint.  We also had a taste test to see which type of fall apple we enjoyed the most.  Happy fall :)

Terry Fox Run

Today we did the Terry Fox run.  We had fun running outside!  Some of us zoomed past Mrs. Turner and she took some pictures. We ran today to remember Terry Fox and raise money for scientists to learn how to cure cancer. Terry  Fox was a HERO!    

Written by: Grade Ones

A Good Friend

Being a good friend is important in Grade One!  We will work, learn and play together all year.  These students understand what a good friend does and does not do.  This chart helps our students treat one another with respect and kindness.

We Believe...

Together we discussed what kind of classroom we would like to have and developed our belief statement.  The teachers refer to the chart to help the students remember what we believe in grade one.

Welcome to Grade One!  We are so excited to begin our journey of learning together. Please introduce yourself and share one thing that you enjoy.  Happy learning!