Good afternoon!

We had a great day today!  We started off the day by having our spelling test and working on our spelling books.  The marked spelling tests will be coming home with your child tonight.  We also worked on special sounds and read a story together during language.  In math the children worked on problem solving using coins.  It was a fun way to review what we have learned about counting money to date!  During science today we learned about chameleons.  We learned what they are, how they use their bodies to communicate, and other interesting facts.  Ask your child tonight to tell you what they learned about chameleons!  We also had another full-school rehearsal for our Grandparents' Day concert.  Today we rehearsed with music which really made the play come to life.  They also went to P.E and music classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, re-write incorrect spelling words, math page 172 - 173 and Letter and Sounds page 152 - 153.

Important information:  Tomorrow is a P.D Day and Monday is a holiday.  We will not be back at school until May 24th, 2011.

Scholastic book order forms can be brought in Tuesday as the final day to order if anyone is interested.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We started off the day today by working on language.  The children worked on story writing, special sounds and sentence construction.  We also read a story today about a boy trying to find a special, quiet place to relax.  I believe by emphasizing the need to develop personal reflection skills, it helps to promote Balanced students.  This is an important element of the IB Learner Profile!  During math we continued working on subtraction problems using math manipulatives.  We also had an addition and subtraction review, and began working on multiplication skills.  In history today we read about the rise and fall of Julius Caesar.  The children then wrote their comprehension test on the chapter.  They also went to french and drama classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words for tomorrow's spelling test, Language page 162 - 163 and math pages 200 - 201.

Important information:  Tomorrow is the final day of school before a 4-day weekend.  We do not have school on Friday or Monday, May 23rd.

Scholastic book order forms have gone home with your child tonight and are due back by Tuesday if you would like to order anything.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon! 

We started off the day today by working on language.  The children worked on creating stories, worked with special sounds and suffixes.  During math the children worked on roman numerals, adding and subtracting, place value and counting and writing money.  We had another school-wide drama rehearsal today for the upcoming Grandparents' Day concert.  The play is definitely improving, but a lot more work needs to be done.  Our class is having issues performing the parts when they are meant to.  Please make sure your children are studying the play and their actions nightly!  The children also went to music, P.E and french class.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, and Letters and Sounds page 148 - 149.

Important information:  In my blog last night I listed off some important dates that are quickly approaching.  Please see these dates and record them on your calendars!

Tomorrow is our next history comprehension test.  I did not release the chapter we are going to be reading, as I want all children to hear the chapter for the first time tomorrow.  I think this is the best way to ensure a fair, and accurate test of their oral comprehension level.  Please feel free to read books and ask your children questions about what has been read as a great way to study and prepare for the test!

This Friday is a P.D Day and there will be no school.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We started off the day today working on spelling. The children then moved on to language and practiced their special sounds, abbreviations and suffixes.  During math today we continued working with manipulatives while trying to solve subtraction problems.  The children also made up their own word problems for their friends to solve.  We read another chapter of Pipi Longstocking today and the children wrote about their own secret hiding spot (real or fictional) in their language books.  They also went to french and art classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Language pages 158 - 159 and Letters and Sounds page 146 - 147.

Important information:  Please see Mrs. Deras' blog for important information about the upcoming concert.  We are having another whole-school rehearsal tomorrow afternoon and we want to make sure all children know what they are doing.  I posted our classes' actions on my blog last week, and Mrs. Deras has them posted on her blog as well, so all parents can remain up-to-date about what is going on with the concert.

Some important dates to be made aware of:  May 20th P.D Day- No school
                                                                    May 23rd Victoria Day- No school
                                                                    May 25th Casual Day
                                                                    May 26th Track and Field Day
                                                                    May 27th Grandparents' Day Concert

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Grade One                Grade Two

1. mother                   1. sound
2. bath                       2. frown
3. white                      3. draw
4. when                      4. mouth
5. child                       5. crawl
6. dish                        6. talk
7. lunch                      7. because
8. shoe                       8. spoil
9. asked                     9. noise
10. sleeping               10. owl

Good afternoon!

In today's class we started off the day by working on language.  The children worked on story writing, special sounds and suffixes.  During math we had a review of adding and subtracting and place value.  We had another drama practice period today where the entire school came together to practice for the Grandparents' Day concert.  The concert is definitely improving, but our class could use some more practice to know what they are doing and when they are doing it.  The children also went to music and P.E classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words for tomorrow's spelling test, Language page 156 - 157, Letters and Sounds page 142 - 143 and math page 186 - 187.

Important information:  Please see my blog from earlier this week in regards to the Grandparents' Day concert.  I want to make sure that everyone is up-to-date and included in what is going on with the concert.

Wednesday, May 18th we are having our next history test.  This will be a comprehension test to see how well children can recall an oral lesson.  You can practice with your children nightly by asking them questions about the books they are reading at home.  Please see my blog posting from yesterday for further information.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We had a nice day today.  We started off the day today by working on language.  The children worked on contractions, opposites, and writing sentences.  During math today we continued on with grouping the tens and ones columns.  The children practiced 'trading' groups of ones into tens when necessary, then they compared the two types of adding- place value mats and traditional adding.  They also had a review of adding and subtracting and patterning.  In history today we read about Julius Caesar and Confucius and what they did in their respective times and places.  As a class we read about some of the important messages that Confucius delivered, such as "Do not do onto others what you would not want others to do to you" and "If you make a mistake and don't fix it, this is called a mistake".  These are good lessons that our children become more Principled people- which is an important element of the IB Learner Profile!  The children also played a board game that focused on finding Julius Caesar that they are bringing home with them tonight.  The children also went to french and drama classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, math page 184 - 185, Language page 154 - 155 and practice for history test next week.

Important information:  The children will be having a history test next Wednesday, May 18th, 2011.  This test will be to test their oral comprehension of the history chapter we read together as a class.  A good method for helping your child prepare and study for this test would be to ask them questions about the stories you are reading together over the next week.  Ask them to tell you what the beginning, middle and end of the story was, the main character's names, the places that were mentioned, etc.  This is an important skill that I believe we have been developing as a class over the school year so far. 

Please see my posting from yesterday about the upcoming concert.  I included some important information from Mrs. Deras about the role our class is going to have in play.  Our class is responsible for all the actions in the play.  The next whole-school practice period is tomorrow. 

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We started off the day today working on language.  The children worked on special sounds, opposites, writing sentences, and ABC order.  During math today the children worked on a review of adding and subtracting.  We had a drama practice period today where the whole school came together to rehearse for the Grandparents' Day concert.  It went really well, but there is definitely still practicing that needs to be done!  The children also went to music, french and P.E classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Letters and Sounds page 138 - 139, and math page 182 - 183.

Important information:  Please see Mrs. Deras' blog for important information about the upcoming concert.  Our class does not have any speaking roles, but we are responsible for the actions that will take place throughout the play.  Here are some examples of actions that our class needs to have ready for the play.  These actions go in order of the play and can be inputted into the script your child already has at home.  Please make sure they are practicing at home so they know when/how to do their actions.

They are to be SCARED, and HUDDLING their children when the rats attack.

They are to be IRATE AND FIST SHAKING/FINGER POINTING at the Mayor and Council.

They are to act SURPRISED when the Piper shows up.

They are to be SHOCKED  when the rats follow him into the river.

They  are to be HAPPY, REJOICING with their children when the rats leave

They are to MOCK the Piper.

Afterwards they are to be HORRIFIED at the children who are to follow him.

And finally they are to be EXTREMELY SADDENED at the fact that all the children have left Hamelin.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson