Sept. 15

 Hello everyone!

Today we started with a class meeting to talk about what goes into the paper recycling and what goes into the garbage can - some friends were getting the bins mixed up. We also made a class "lost and found" bin for the crayons and other supplies that have escaped from their owner. 

We filled in our calendar and practiced counting to 100 by 1s. We spun a wheel on our smartboard to decide on another way to count to 100 - it landed on counting by 10s. So, we listened to the counting by 10s song and sang along! 

We worked on the letter B in our printing books today. We practiced the sound letter B makes together. We compared it to the sound letter P makes. We practice these letters together because we make the sounds in similar ways (lips together, then apart). We learned to "find" the letter sounds on our bodies (ex: letter P sound comes from air escaping our mouth - we can find it by putting our hands in front of our mouth and feeling the air. Letter B sound comes from our voice - we can feel it by placing our fingers gently on the front of our necks to feel our voice box vibrate with the sound!). Take a look at the pictures below to see some of our printing book work:

It was raining at our first recess time so we decided to have an indoor recess. After our indoor recess, we read a book together called The Little Acorn. It was about the journey of an acorn growing into a tree and how it changes through the seasons. This led us to talking about our very first science topic - the 4 seasons! We talked about which season is coming next and how we can tell that the season is changing right now. We finished up our science discussion a little early, so we used our extra time to review number 2, which we worked on yesterday. We practiced step-by-step how to draw the number 2 together, then worked on it independently on our whiteboards. We improved so much already!

After lunch we took some time to talk about why mindfulness is important. We met a character named Mojo who was feeling very anxious and stressed. We also revisited a book we read yesterday called "Worrysaurus". We talked about how feeling anxious, nervous, stressed, scared, frustrated, etc. are not comfortable feelings for our bodies. Those feelings can make us say and do things that we wouldn't normally do, and sometimes those things we say and do can make other people around us feel uncomfortable feelings as well. Using mindfulness strategies helps our bodies calm down, letting our brain think before we do or say things. This helps everyone do their best each day! Even if we are not feeling strong feelings, it is good to practice mindfulness regularly to teach our body those strategies and to make sure our bodies and brains are ready for their best learning throughout the day.

Ms. Yu came to visit us during math and we practiced some new pattern rules: ABC, AAB, and AABB. We made pages for a pattern book using each rule. We're almost finished making our pattern book! While Ms. Yu was helping us, Ms. Byrne was meeting with some of us one-on-one to do some alphabet testing. This helps her know which letters we already know well, and which ones we need some more practice with. 

We decided to go outside for our playground recess in the afternoon and then came back in to do some guided drawing. We are practicing drawing people for our star student book. Now that we are big kids in grade 1 we want to learn how to draw our friends the way that they look and not as stick people! Today we practiced how to draw a body. Drawing hands and feet are really tricky, but we stuck with it! We will practice some more when we do our next star student page tomorrow. 

We finished our day with P.E. in the gym with Ms. Sterne. 

Reminders:

- New Digital Citizenship forms were given to students who had not returned them yesterday. Please sign and return this form as soon as possible - we use iPads in our classroom during literacy centres (for a "listening to reading" centre using RazKids) and math centres (to practice new skills through Mathletics). Without a signed form, students are not able to use the iPads. 

- Meet the Teacher - Sept. 23rd - will be online. We will be having 2 sessions from 6-6:45 and 7-7:45. These sessions will be informational with an introduction to our grade 1 teaching team, specialist teachers, and admin, an overview of your child's school schedule, curriculum areas, and an opportunity to ask questions. 

- Sept. 29th - Orange Shirt Day - we will also be participating in a Smudge Ceremony as a school on this day. It will be held outside and socially distanced. 

- Sept. 30th - No School - Day of Truth and Reconciliation 

Always feel free to email me (nibyrne@cbe.ab.ca) or comment below with any questions.

Have a great day!

- Ms. Byrne