Good afternoon!
I was happy to be back to school today after being off with a migraine yesterday. We started off the day today with our weekly spelling test. The marked spelling tests will be coming home with all the students tonight. In language today the students worked on special sounds, identifying picture words, and adding suffixes to silent 'e' words. In our unit of inquiry today we worked on completing our final summative task. The children took the rough copies of their energy letters and turned them into good copies to be sent to the students in Miss. Elliot's class. I am going to be assessing these letters as the final assignment in this unit of inquiry. I will send home the marked rubrics for this assignment shortly. We also had a chance today to head over to Miss. Chang's class for reading buddies to practice our reading skills and forge relationships with other peers in the school. The students also went to french class.
Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, re-write incorrect spelling words ten times each in the spelling books (including the bonus word), Letters and Sounds page 100 - 101, and cursive page 96 - 97.
Important information: The candy sale is going to be beginning again at SJA starting Monday at first recess. Candy can be bought for 50 cents a piece.
Please mark Feb. 11th down for the upcoming SJA Gala. The theme is going to be 'Love Through the Ages'. This is a fun night for all friends and families to attend!
Please see my posting from earlier this week about information regarding the Khan Academy. This is a fun online math program that can be used to practice math skills at home. The children earn points and badges which they seem to really enjoy! It is also a way to help develop computer skills which is another important skill for the children to be developing at this age.
On Monday we are going to be starting our fourth IB unit for this year. The theme of this unit is 'How We Express Ourselves'. Every IB unit has a central idea, which acts as the objective for learning for the unit. The central idea for our next unit is 'People Use Art Forms to Express Their Culture'. In order to reach this central idea, 3 lines of inquiry have been developed to help direct us towards meeting the central idea. The three lines of inquiry for this unit are (1) the art forms of local cultures both past and present (2) the art forms of various international cultures (3) how art is used for expression and communication. I hope that this unit proves to be as interesting and exciting as I imagine it to be!
Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Nelson
Friday, January 20, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Good afternoon!
We started off today by working on another comprehension activity. Today we read a story about Tommy who was an energy hero of his neighbourhood. He saw all the ways that his neighbours were wasting energy and he went about trying to educate everyone on ways to conserve. The children are doing much better with these activities! In language today we also worked on finishing sentences, special sounds and vowel sounds. In our IB unit of inquiry today we began our final summative task. The children were introduced to a informal letter writing format, and then were asked to begin a brainstorm of ideas to get them ready to write their letter to a friend. In the brainstorm they have been asked to write down EVERYTHING they know about (1) the types of energy they have learned about, (2) the things that use energy, and (3) ways to conserve energy. We also went over the rubric for this assignment so that the students will know everything that is expected of them to receive a level 4 for this assignment. Please see my posting from last night for a copy of the rubric I will be using to assess the letter. During math today the children worked on problem solving with length (grade one) and adding and subtracting with tens (grade two). They also went to french and P.E classes.
Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Letters and Sounds page 96 - 97, math pages 118 - 119, cursive page 91 - 93, complete energy letter brainstorm.
Important information: Your child is bringing home their brainstorm with them tonight to complete at home. I hope that by sharing this activity with you, you will get a chance to see everything they have learned about energy in this unit. Please make sure they bring this important document back to school completed with them tomorrow, as we will be using it as the principle source to write our letters tomorrow morning.
I have had a few parents ask me for extra math practice for their students. I understand that the students are not bringing home as much math homework as they may have in previous years. This is a philosophy of Jump Math which encourages children to complete their math work at school so that they can be fully viewed and assessed by the teacher, rather than the teacher viewing the work they have completed at home.
I do appreciate the desire for extra practice with math homework outside of school though. I want to suggest an online math program for any families who are looking for extra math homework. This online program is called Khan Academy and is a recommended program of SJA. Each student can log on and create an account and they can independently go through a LARGE variety of math lessons from a range of topics from single digit addition to advanced algebra. I can track their progress from my own account to see how they are growing and improving. To be able to log on to the site, the students must have access to a google or facebook account. I would suggest doing this as a shared/supervised activity with your children where an adult's account can be used to log on. To find out how to log on to the site, or to go ahead and join Khan Academy please view their website at http://www.khanacademy.org/
Once you have logged in using a facebook or google account, you may then add me as a coach if you would like so that I can view and track progress. At the bottom of the login page click on the 'add a coach' link. Then enter my coach I.D which is 'csnider@stjudesacademy.com' and click 'register coach'. From here I will be able to watch with you as your child advances through their lessons.
The SJA Gala is taking place on Saturday, February 11th and begins at 6pm. The theme for this year is 'Love Through the Ages'. Families and friends are all invited for this exciting evening of concerts, auctions, dinner and dancing.
SJA re-enrollment packages went home on Friday. If you have not seen this important package yet, please keep your eye out for it tonight.
Best regards,
Mrs. Nelson
We started off today by working on another comprehension activity. Today we read a story about Tommy who was an energy hero of his neighbourhood. He saw all the ways that his neighbours were wasting energy and he went about trying to educate everyone on ways to conserve. The children are doing much better with these activities! In language today we also worked on finishing sentences, special sounds and vowel sounds. In our IB unit of inquiry today we began our final summative task. The children were introduced to a informal letter writing format, and then were asked to begin a brainstorm of ideas to get them ready to write their letter to a friend. In the brainstorm they have been asked to write down EVERYTHING they know about (1) the types of energy they have learned about, (2) the things that use energy, and (3) ways to conserve energy. We also went over the rubric for this assignment so that the students will know everything that is expected of them to receive a level 4 for this assignment. Please see my posting from last night for a copy of the rubric I will be using to assess the letter. During math today the children worked on problem solving with length (grade one) and adding and subtracting with tens (grade two). They also went to french and P.E classes.
Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Letters and Sounds page 96 - 97, math pages 118 - 119, cursive page 91 - 93, complete energy letter brainstorm.
Important information: Your child is bringing home their brainstorm with them tonight to complete at home. I hope that by sharing this activity with you, you will get a chance to see everything they have learned about energy in this unit. Please make sure they bring this important document back to school completed with them tomorrow, as we will be using it as the principle source to write our letters tomorrow morning.
I have had a few parents ask me for extra math practice for their students. I understand that the students are not bringing home as much math homework as they may have in previous years. This is a philosophy of Jump Math which encourages children to complete their math work at school so that they can be fully viewed and assessed by the teacher, rather than the teacher viewing the work they have completed at home.
I do appreciate the desire for extra practice with math homework outside of school though. I want to suggest an online math program for any families who are looking for extra math homework. This online program is called Khan Academy and is a recommended program of SJA. Each student can log on and create an account and they can independently go through a LARGE variety of math lessons from a range of topics from single digit addition to advanced algebra. I can track their progress from my own account to see how they are growing and improving. To be able to log on to the site, the students must have access to a google or facebook account. I would suggest doing this as a shared/supervised activity with your children where an adult's account can be used to log on. To find out how to log on to the site, or to go ahead and join Khan Academy please view their website at http://www.khanacademy.org/
Once you have logged in using a facebook or google account, you may then add me as a coach if you would like so that I can view and track progress. At the bottom of the login page click on the 'add a coach' link. Then enter my coach I.D which is 'csnider@stjudesacademy.com' and click 'register coach'. From here I will be able to watch with you as your child advances through their lessons.
The SJA Gala is taking place on Saturday, February 11th and begins at 6pm. The theme for this year is 'Love Through the Ages'. Families and friends are all invited for this exciting evening of concerts, auctions, dinner and dancing.
SJA re-enrollment packages went home on Friday. If you have not seen this important package yet, please keep your eye out for it tonight.
Best regards,
Mrs. Nelson
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Bonjour!
We started off today by working on another comprehension activity. Today we read a story about Sarah who decided to help her family conserve energy after hearing about how energy usage causes pollution. The children had to read the story and then answer corresponding questions. I would still suggest that this be a nightly practice at home as well, as comprehension is a big part of helping a child improve with their reading. In language today we also worked on root words, special sounds and vowel sounds. In our IB unit of inquiry today we read a story called Conserving Energy, which gave a lot of scientific facts about how and why we should conserve energy. The students then went back to their journals and wrote down one thing they are going to try to do at home to save energy, and how they are going to do it. During math today the children worked on problem solving with length and height (grade one) and adding and subtracting with tens (grade two). They also went to french and music classes.
Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Letters and Sounds page 94 - 95, math pages 116 - 117, and complete journal (1 idea you have for saving energy at home, and 1 way you are going to accomplish that).
Important information: Tomorrow we are beginning our final task of this unit. The children are all going to be asked to choose a friend from another class to write a letter about energy to. They are going to have to provide their friend with information about the types of energy, the uses of energy and the ways they have learned to conserve energy. I have posted a copy of the rubric at the end of this posting. This will be the rubric I am going to be using to assess the letters once they have been completed on Friday.
I have had a few parents ask me for extra math practice for their students. I understand that the students are not bringing home as much math homework as they may have in previous years. This is a philosophy of Jump Math which encourages children to complete their math work at school so that they can be fully viewed and assessed by the teacher, rather than the teacher viewing the work they have completed at home.
I do appreciate the desire for extra practice with math homework outside of school though. I want to suggest an online math program for any families who are looking for extra math homework. This online program is called Khan Academy and is a recommended program of SJA. Each student can log on and create an account and they can independently go through a LARGE variety of math lessons from a range of topics from single digit addition to advanced algebra. I can track their progress from my own account to see how they are growing and improving. To be able to log on to the site, the students must have access to a google or facebook account. I would suggest doing this as a shared/supervised activity with your children where an adult's account can be used to log on. To find out how to log on to the site, or to go ahead and join Khan Academy please view their website at http://www.khanacademy.org/
Once you have logged in using a facebook or google account, you may then add me as a coach if you would like so that I can view and track progress. At the bottom of the login page click on the 'add a coach' link. Then enter my coach I.D which is 'csnider@stjudesacademy.com' and click 'register coach'. From here I will be able to watch with you as your child advances through their lessons.
The SJA Gala is taking place on Saturday, February 11th and begins at 6pm. The theme for this year is 'Love Through the Ages'. Families and friends are all invited for this exciting evening of concerts, auctions, dinner and dancing.
SJA re-enrollment packages went home on Friday. If you have not seen this important package yet, please keep your eye out for it tonight.
Best regards,
Mrs. Nelson
We started off today by working on another comprehension activity. Today we read a story about Sarah who decided to help her family conserve energy after hearing about how energy usage causes pollution. The children had to read the story and then answer corresponding questions. I would still suggest that this be a nightly practice at home as well, as comprehension is a big part of helping a child improve with their reading. In language today we also worked on root words, special sounds and vowel sounds. In our IB unit of inquiry today we read a story called Conserving Energy, which gave a lot of scientific facts about how and why we should conserve energy. The students then went back to their journals and wrote down one thing they are going to try to do at home to save energy, and how they are going to do it. During math today the children worked on problem solving with length and height (grade one) and adding and subtracting with tens (grade two). They also went to french and music classes.
Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Letters and Sounds page 94 - 95, math pages 116 - 117, and complete journal (1 idea you have for saving energy at home, and 1 way you are going to accomplish that).
Important information: Tomorrow we are beginning our final task of this unit. The children are all going to be asked to choose a friend from another class to write a letter about energy to. They are going to have to provide their friend with information about the types of energy, the uses of energy and the ways they have learned to conserve energy. I have posted a copy of the rubric at the end of this posting. This will be the rubric I am going to be using to assess the letters once they have been completed on Friday.
I have had a few parents ask me for extra math practice for their students. I understand that the students are not bringing home as much math homework as they may have in previous years. This is a philosophy of Jump Math which encourages children to complete their math work at school so that they can be fully viewed and assessed by the teacher, rather than the teacher viewing the work they have completed at home.
I do appreciate the desire for extra practice with math homework outside of school though. I want to suggest an online math program for any families who are looking for extra math homework. This online program is called Khan Academy and is a recommended program of SJA. Each student can log on and create an account and they can independently go through a LARGE variety of math lessons from a range of topics from single digit addition to advanced algebra. I can track their progress from my own account to see how they are growing and improving. To be able to log on to the site, the students must have access to a google or facebook account. I would suggest doing this as a shared/supervised activity with your children where an adult's account can be used to log on. To find out how to log on to the site, or to go ahead and join Khan Academy please view their website at http://www.khanacademy.org/
Once you have logged in using a facebook or google account, you may then add me as a coach if you would like so that I can view and track progress. At the bottom of the login page click on the 'add a coach' link. Then enter my coach I.D which is 'csnider@stjudesacademy.com' and click 'register coach'. From here I will be able to watch with you as your child advances through their lessons.
The SJA Gala is taking place on Saturday, February 11th and begins at 6pm. The theme for this year is 'Love Through the Ages'. Families and friends are all invited for this exciting evening of concerts, auctions, dinner and dancing.
SJA re-enrollment packages went home on Friday. If you have not seen this important package yet, please keep your eye out for it tonight.
Best regards,
Mrs. Nelson
Work habits | Excellent. Worked very well with no interruptions. | Very good. Worked well with few interruptions. | Fair. Worked with many interruptions | Poor. Was not able to work due to interruptions. |
Quality of cursive writing. | Excellent. Cursive showed a great deal of effort. There were little to no errors. Proofreading was evident. | Very good. Cursive showed effort. There were some errors that did not distract. Proofreading was almost always evident. | Fair. Cursive showed little effort. There were errors that distracted. Proofreading needs improvement. | Poor. Cursive showed no effort. There were many errors that made the letter difficult to read. Proofreading was not evident. |
Quality of information. | Excellent. A great deal of information about energy was offered. Many vocabulary words from the unit were used. The writing made sense. | Very good. Information about energy was offered throughout. Vocabulary words from the unit were used. The writing mostly made sense. | Fair. Some information about energy was offered. Some vocabulary words from the unit were used. The writing sometimes made sense. | Poor. Little/no information about energy was offered. Little/no vocabulary words from the unit were used. The writing made little/no sense. |
Quality of letter writing format. | Excellent. Letter was always clear and easy to follow. All aspects of an informal letter format were followed. | Very good. Letter was usually clear and easy to follow. Most aspects of an informal letter format were followed. | Fair. Letter was sometimes clear and easy to follow. Some aspects of an informal letter format were followed. | Poor Letter was not clear and was not easy to follow. Little/no aspects of an informal letter format were followed. |
Monday, January 16, 2012
Happy Monday!
It was nice to get back to school today after a weekend away. We started off today by recording the new weekly spelling words and working in our spelling workbooks. They worked on short 'o' words (grade one) and 'y' vowel words (grade two). In our IB unit of inquiry today we read a story called 'Why Should I Save Energy' that focused on a family that has trouble saving energy. A boy named Robert came into their house and gave them tips and suggestions for saving energy and explained to them the importance of energy conservation. After the story the children worked in their journals and provided tips for saving energy, as well as a summary of the importance of saving energy. We also began a new class books called The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. We will be reading this book together as a class and doing chapter summaries similair to what took place with Charlotte's Web. During math today the children worked on wide, narrow and height (grade one) and adding and subtracting with tens (grade two). They also went to french and P.E classes.
Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Spelling Workbook, cursive page 88 - 89, math pages 114 - 115, and complete journal (2 energy conservation tips and 1 reason for why it is important to save energy in complete sentences).
Important information: The SJA Gala is taking place on Saturday, February 11th and begins at 6pm. The theme for this year is 'Love Through the Ages'. Families and friends are all invited for this exciting evening of concerts, auctions, dinner and dancing.
SJA re-enrollment packages went home on Friday. If you have not seen this important package yet, please keep your eye out for it tonight.
Best regards,
Mrs. Nelson
Grade One Grade Two
1. lot 1. bunny
2. got 2. many
3. not 3. fry
4. job 4. only
5. drop 5. lucky
6. off 6. by
7. boss 7. tiny
8. loss 8. penny
9. rot 9. why
10. toss 10. key
It was nice to get back to school today after a weekend away. We started off today by recording the new weekly spelling words and working in our spelling workbooks. They worked on short 'o' words (grade one) and 'y' vowel words (grade two). In our IB unit of inquiry today we read a story called 'Why Should I Save Energy' that focused on a family that has trouble saving energy. A boy named Robert came into their house and gave them tips and suggestions for saving energy and explained to them the importance of energy conservation. After the story the children worked in their journals and provided tips for saving energy, as well as a summary of the importance of saving energy. We also began a new class books called The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. We will be reading this book together as a class and doing chapter summaries similair to what took place with Charlotte's Web. During math today the children worked on wide, narrow and height (grade one) and adding and subtracting with tens (grade two). They also went to french and P.E classes.
Homework: Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Spelling Workbook, cursive page 88 - 89, math pages 114 - 115, and complete journal (2 energy conservation tips and 1 reason for why it is important to save energy in complete sentences).
Important information: The SJA Gala is taking place on Saturday, February 11th and begins at 6pm. The theme for this year is 'Love Through the Ages'. Families and friends are all invited for this exciting evening of concerts, auctions, dinner and dancing.
SJA re-enrollment packages went home on Friday. If you have not seen this important package yet, please keep your eye out for it tonight.
Best regards,
Mrs. Nelson
Grade One Grade Two
1. lot 1. bunny
2. got 2. many
3. not 3. fry
4. job 4. only
5. drop 5. lucky
6. off 6. by
7. boss 7. tiny
8. loss 8. penny
9. rot 9. why
10. toss 10. key
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