We're Almost At The Finish Line!

Spring has officially turned into summer, and we are 8 days away from the end of the year! We have been busy wrapping up all of the work that we have to finish by the end of the year, but have also been trying to have some fun in the process!
We have a very exciting week coming up, but I wanted to take a second to post some of the pictures from our Dental Field Trip to St. Clair College.  (Some of the kids didn't want their picture taken...lol)All of the kids were wonderful and there were many comments made by the St. Clair staff and students about how wonderful and polite the kids were! It was a great day!

Spring!

Wow! With March break, Easter and the weather finally looking better, time is really flying by! I told the students now that we are into April we are getting into "Go Time". We are wrapping up all the things that we need to learn in grade one, and starting to prepare for things they will need to know in grade two.  It is such a time of mixed emotions for me.  I am so proud of how far these littles have come, and the growth that they have shown, but I am completely not ready to let them go! I truly love this group of kids and have grown so close to each one of them...
But...time keeps ticking...
In the coming weeks we are going to be finishing up our math unit on geometry and spatial sense, and moving into a unit on linear measurement.  The students normally enjoy this unit, and I save it until the spring weather so we can do a lot of the activities outside.
In science, we are just finishing up our electricity unit...I'm hoping that my message is getting across, and they are remembering to turn of lights and electronics that aren't in use!
In literacy, we are going to be starting an exciting Inquiry project! Since Christmas, as a class we have been reading the Magic Tree House series.  So far we have finished 14 chapter books! The students love these stories.  They tell the tale of two young children who find a magic tree house in the woods that takes them time travelling to the past and future everywhere from the Dinosaurs and Ice Age to Outer Space.  For their Inquiry project, the students have been asked to choose one of the books that we have read and select one thing they would like to learn more about from this book.  We have everything from a student learning about Lions in Africa, to the history of Chinese writing.  The topics are as varied as the students personalities since each child gets to learn about what they are interested in.  The scope of these projects is incredible, because each child also gets to choose how they will present the information that they learn...some will be making books, some will be making posters or powerpoint demonstrations, and we even have one student writing a play! It will be an amazing experience of genuine inquiry and learning at it's best! It also proves a huge challenge as I have 22 students doing 22 completely different projects on 22 different topics! Wish me luck!  The positive part is that there is absolutely no work for you to do at home.  The students have been told that they can look at home for books they may have to help them, or if they would like to spend some time with you looking information up on the internet (I will provide a list of appropriate kid friendly research sites.) but there is no actual work to be done at home.  It is all completed at school.  I have also told the students that I DO NOT expect anybody to go out and buy anything for this project.  They will have plenty from what we have at school, what you can do at home, and maybe a trip to the public library.  I'm really looking forward to see how this all comes together!
I think that is about it for now.

Here are some age appropriate links where the students can look for information to get you started.

KidRex (General Kid Safe Search Engine)

Book Flix (Varied Topics)

Pebble Go (Good For any student learning about science or animals)

Happy February!

I cannot believe it is February already! The time since Christmas has flown by!

We've been very busy, and I think the kids have definitely noticed that we have switched from "Welcome to Grade One Mode" to "We Have To Get Ready For Grade Two Mode". There is less and less play time and more and more working time.  One word answers aren't enough any more, we're writing sentences now! They are learning that there is a time to work and a time to play.  You would be so proud of them! They are adapting really well to the new increased demands and expectations.

We have a lot of fun times coming up this month.  We have a few birthdays, Valentines Day, Family Day, Hundreds Day and we will be following the Yukon Quest!

The Yukon quest is a really fun way to talk about distance, overcoming challenges and sportsmanship.  Each day we will track the progress of the mushers and their dog teams. I have done this in years past, and the students have found it to be very enjoyable.  To find out more about this event, check out the link below...

Yukon Quest 2016

It's a little awkward with Valentines day falling on the Sunday of a 4 day weekend, so we will be having our little Valentines celebration on February 11th.  You are welcome to send individually wrapped treats or Valentines cards if you wish to do so on that day.  I ask for individually wrapped treats so that they are easier to bring home and eat in moderation. Imagine if everyone brought cupcakes! 21 cupcakes that either have to put in paper bags or eaten immediately leading to huge tummy aches! I usually get asked for names for the Valentine cards, so I am trying to be proactive and put it up now....Valentines are a great way to practise printing-especially when done a little at a time.

Gabriella                     Joseph
Alexis                         Finnegan
Jailah                          Julien
Olivia                         Nolan
Phoenix                      Sebastian
Nevaeh                       Ibrahim
Diane                         Preston
Hailey                        Jovan
Eryn                          Tyler
Anjali                        Nikola
                                  Aaryav

We will be celebrating 100's day on February 17. More details will follow as it gets closer.
In literacy, we are really working on telling stories, which will lead into writing them down.  Writing is going to be a large focus in the coming term, so any writing that you can get the kids to do at home will help them here at school. Practise makes perfect!
In Math, we are finishing up our time and money unit this week, getting ready to move into our big addition and subtraction unit.  Keep working on counting by 2's, 5's and 10's as well!
In Science, we are learning all about energy sources and how to save energy.  Hopefully I can get them to shut out lights when they leave a room!
Thank you again for the continued support.  You truly have amazing children.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.

We're learning about money!

Hi Everybody!
The grade one class is learning all about money.  There is a song that we are learning that is helping us learn the names of the coins. The students asked me to share the link so they could listen to the song at home.  It is a fun song!  Enjoy!

The students of grade 1Belanger will be performing on the stage during the Winter Concert next Wednesday, December 16th.   Please find white or grey clothes for your child to wear for their performance; they need to look like snow people or snow bunnies.  Also, they will need mittens, scarves and winter hats (no coats because it's too hot on the stage).  Send these items to school on concert day for rehearsal.

The performance that you are invited to see will be at 6pm that evening.  Please bring your child back to school at 5:45pm, so that we can start show on time.

50's Day!

This is our first blog post. We are writing it at 3:25 on Friday. Check our blog often for updates about our class.