Good afternoon!

We had another great day today this Friday.  In today's class we had our weekly spelling test  The marked tests will be going home with your child tonight.  I ask that any words that were misspelled be written out ten times in their spelling books for Monday.  We also worked on our spelling books, a comprehension activity, ordinal numbers, read about Queen Tiye and, her husband Amenemhet, and worked on our science good copies.  The children also went to french class.

Homework: Read for 15 minutes, re-write any misspelled spelling words ten times, complete take-home comprehension activity if it was not finished in class, complete the pattern review sheet for the math unit test on Monday.

Important information:  Your child is bringing home a pizza form with them tonight.  If you would like for them to have pizza lunches on Wednesdays, please send back the form with money on Monday.  Those students who did not score 85% or higher on their re-test will have a final opportunity to write the test on Monday at lunch recess.  Please ensure that those children writing the re-test again are studying the notes from the bog, as well as their previous tests for the correct answers.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

In today's class we worked on our science projects which are coming along nicely.  The children have done a great job so far.  We also worked on vowels, patterning, cursive letters, and our spelling books.  The children also went for music, P.E and french classes.

Homework for tonight:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice spelling words for the spelling test tomorrow morning, finish the patterning review page in the math workbooks (grade two)and finish cursive page 22 if needed.

Important information:  We are going to be having our first math test on Monday afternoon.  It will be on our patterning unit.  A review sheet will go home with your child tomorrow to practice over the weekend.  We are having our re-test for this week's history test tomorrow at lunch.  Any child who scored 84% or less can re-write it in hopes of boosting their score.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

In today's class we worked on blends, vowels, punctuation, patterning, and the letters 'F' and 'J' in cursive writing.  We also read Where the Wild Things Are and wrote about the story in our journal.  The children wrote their second history test of the year on Ancient Africa, went to french and drama class.  What a busy day!  The children's marked history tests will be going home with them tonight.  Please make sure to sign the test and send it back with them tomorrow.  Students who scored 84% and lower can re-write the test to try to score up to 85%.  The re-write will be Friday at lunch recess.

Homework for tonight:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words for Friday's spelling test, finish cursive page 21 (both grade one and grade two) if necessary.

Important information:  Tomorrow is gym day.  Please make sure the children come dressed in their gym clothes.  Tomorrow is also candy store day.  Please send your child with some small change if they would like to purchase candy from the store.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

Today was rainy outside, but nice and productive inside our classroom!  In today's class we worked on ordinal numbers, vowels, continued with patterning, and completed a comprehension activity.  The children also went to music, P.E and french class.  The comprehension activity will be going home marked with your child tonight.  The mark is not being used for a grade. I discussed with the class that I wanted to do this comprehension activity today as a method of preparing for the history test tomorrow.  I hope that it got them practicing the art of listening, and pulling out information.

Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in your reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, and practice for the history test tomorrow.

Important information:  Tomorrow is casual day.  Children can come to school dressed casually if they bring a toonie, or have pre-paid for the year.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Fourth Week of School

Good afternoon!

It was great to have everyone back to school for our forth week of school together.  In today's class we got our new weekly spelling words.  This week we have upgraded to 10 words, since we have been doing so well with our five word lists.  We also worked on patterning, rhyming words, cursive, finished our science sentences, and read about Ancient China.  The students also attended french and art classes.

Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, complete cursive (Pages 19 - 20 for both grade one and two), and finish writing science jot notes for questions four and five of the rough copy.

Important information:  Today we had our history re-test for chapter 8.  The marked history tests will be going home with your child tonight.  Scores that improved will be adjusted, scores that declined will be left at their original mark.
On Wednesday we will be having our second history test for our chapter on Ancient Africa Chapter 11.  I have posted some study notes for your child to study before the test if they would like to do so.  The chapter has not been read to the class yet.  This will be done on Wednesday before the test, and they will be tested on their comprehension afterwards.
Wednesday is casual day at St. Jude's.  If your child would like to dress down for casual day, they may come to school in casual clothes.  Most children have already paid their $2 in advance, but if you have not, please ensure they come to school with their $2.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson


                                  Weekly Spelling words

      Grade One                                                      Grade Two

1. up        6. one                                              1. swim     6. away
2. wet      7. ten                                               2. teeth      7. fast
3. hat       8. pets                                             3. right       8. tree
4. like      9. men                                             4. legs        9. lost
5. name  10.  get                                             5. home     10. flat

Chapter 11 Study Guide

• There is a large, hot area in Egypt called the Sahara Desert.
• The only water in the Sahara Desert is found in an oasis, which is a patch of land where water collects.
• Long ago, the Sahara Desert was not dry.  It used to be very fertile, green and full of water.
• Anansi the Spider is a favourite story-time character in African stories.
• We don’t know much about ancient Africa because they did not leave any written records for us to learn from.
• Archaeologists have found fossilized seeds, grass and pollen in the Sahara Desert that do not grow in those parts today
• Eventually, the Sahara Desert eventually dried up because it stopped raining in that area.  Trees and grass died.
• Due to drought, the people of the Sahara moved towards the middle and south parts of Africa.
• Anansi the Spider is a tricky spider, who sold cassava, plantains and rice to different villages.

The ancient people of the Sahara Desert were farmers like the people in the Fertile Crescent.

Archaeologists have found oil paintings on African cave walls.

Yams are like sweet potatoes.

Plantains are like bananas.

The people of Africa passed down stories from person to person