Montaganews--Tuesday, Oct. 30...

....the day before Hallowe'en was surprisingly fabulous here in Room 209! We really worked hard today and the mood in the air was absolutely wonderful.  Today the students really showed me that they are here to work first and then play....and it's not even November yet!  But it's true....they showed me an important student skill today: understanding that when they start a piece of work, they need to remember to finish it, that day or the next day, doesn't matter when, but it needs to be done and not forgotten...because the teacher will never forget.  I call this "owning my own learning". 

So, today:

-Naomi, Will, Henry, Lauren, Kaia performed our first Reader's Theatre, "The Teeny Tiny Woman" to the class.  They did a great job reading with expression.  Ask them how it went....
-Grade 1s are bringing home "The Adventures of Jolly Ghost".  Please ask them to read it to you or read it together with them.
-Grade 2s are bringing home "What Am I?".  These turned our fabulous!  This work is the reason I dismissed them late today. My apologies.  I just wanted them all to have the opportunity to read theirs out before taking them home.
-finished off our pattern trains. 
-went to the library for our book exchange. Naomi, Will, Lauren, Henry & Kaia performed the "Teeny Tiny Woman" to Ms. Jung's class & our librarian Ms. Y.   Yey! They were fabulous again!
-had computer time with Mr. A
-made birthday cards for Henry.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Henry! (on Friday)

Have a SAFE & HAPPY Hallowe'en!!!
Trick or Treat,
Ebru Montagano

Doing some Halloween Writing...can you guess who is your child by their clues??

Happy Sunday everyone and soon it will be Happy Halloween...(thus the orange font).
This blog will be primarily about Wednesday, October 31st...so read carefully for details...the kids are soooooooo excited and have been getting exponentially more and more excited as each day passes, so you don't want to miss any of the important information that I am going to send you!!!

So this Wednesday the children, staff and even parents are invited to dress up in their Halloween costumes for the big day!!!
The morning will begin with a school parade that has been organized by Mr. Toczak and Mr. Hodson. Every class will parade in their costumes through the entire school one class at a time...that way they can show off their costumes as well as have an opportunity to check out some of the cool costumes. After the parade the children will have the opportunity to go to the gym where there is a movie being shown. Now this movie maybe scarey to some. It has been made by Mr. Hodson and it will include some of the kids and teachers from the school and apparently there are some scarey parts (Ms. Jung was scared!!). So, if you think your child will be scared and will not enjoy a scarey movie (now I havent seen it) then please let me know. Ms. Yamashita has offered to show a non-scarey Halloween movie in the library for those who don't think they want to watch the school movie. I will tell the children as well and give them a choice, but I would love your input as well.

On this Wednesday this will be NO off to a running start.

Just a note about costumes. I would like you to keep in mind that the children will be wearing their costumes all day so make sure they are comfortable as there will be math and other work where they will be sitting on the carpet. If you think that after the parade that their costume would not lend itself to being worn all day, please send another change of clothes along so that they can slip out of the costume. Also, if you or your child are worried about it getting wrecked before the big night....have a change of clothes handy as recess and lunch can be rough on costumes!!

One more thing about Halloween and the fun treats that you will be certainly collecting. I will need your help and support on this one. We talk all the time about healthy and unhealthy foods. In fact Mrs. Montagano may be doing a four food group unit before the end of the year. Even though we all LOVE (me too) treats, they are not foods that keep our bodies sustained positively throughout the day and I have found that when the children bring their candy and chocolates to school there is definitely an increase in their hyperactivity and lack of attention. So, for the two days after Halloween the children are allowed to bring a treat, but after that I am asking that you keep their treats at home and dole them out after dinner. Thank you for your support on this one!!!

The pictures I am attaching are of all the pumpkin activities that we have been doing. We have been busy pumpkin scientists!
Thank you for your support.

PS. We will be having a small halloween party from 200 till 300 after Math. We will eat some popcorn, maybe play some bingo games, have some free play and then be dismissed.

Talking about fall!

Montaganews---Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012

There was excitement in the air today! The students seemed to have lots to tell each other and be excited about....mmmm....is it because it's almost October 31st?...I'm not sure.  But in any case, we made it through the day and got some work done too.

The most exciting part of the day was at 11 o'clock.  This was when Ms. Y, our fearless librarian, announced over the p.a. that we should D.E.A.R for 20 minutes!!...let me translate: Drop Everything And Read. She encouraged us to do this because it was national D.E.A.R day yesterday and since she isn't here on Mondays, she wanted to do this with us today.  She made the teachers and staff D.E.A.R too so it was really something else. Maybe you should try D.E.A.Ring at home, especially when you need 20 minutes of absolute quiet time to simply...read...read anything, even the newspaper.

The other notable part of today was starting our puzzle pieces.  I talked to them about how each student in this class is like a puzzle piece and when we put the pieces together we make up the wonderful class of Division 10.  I use this metaphor to illustrate how we need to take care of each other during our learning journeys and playing time, inside these walls and outside on the playground too. 

That's all from me today....
See you next Tuesday, have a great rest of the week.
Ebru Montagano

Good Early Morning Parents!!!
The rain is pounding down and the family is sleeping, even the cats, and like always the early morning bird is up!
I hope everyone had a great longer weekend and did something special on their Professional Day. I unfortunately had to postpone my art course at the 4 cats due to the fact that my daughter Abby severely sprained and possibly broke her ankle. Thus we were at clinics xraying her ankle and getting supplies to help ease her pain. Awww.....it was a climbing injury. So, 4 cats was great at allowing me to change my art course to several Tuesday evening lessons beginning in early November. So when I start learning some new techniques there, I will be sharing them with your sweet ones!

Thank you to everyone who came out and spent time with Mrs. Montagano and myself during our intake conferences. I loved having the opportunity to talk to you about your child, listening to you and hopefully being able to help set up some strategies for ongoing success with them. As I said during the meetings, our door is always open, feel free to drop by anytime to discuss concerns and issues.

This past week we started our unit on pumpkins. We started with our standard....what do I already know about.....I typically start this way with all of my science units to show the children how very clever they are. That they know so much already about things and that by the end, they will know even more. This is called learning!!! We also looked at how a pumpkin grows and started a project of putting it together that we just didn't quite finish up on Thursday. You will see it completed on Monday and then hanging in our classrooms. They are looking very amazing already.

In the library we have been working with Ms. Yamashita on a author study. Our author was born in Australia (like Kaia) and was raised in Belfast (like Lola) and his name is Oliver Jeffers. He is an author and illustrator of the cleverly written book.....The Boy who loved Books and many other wonderful stories. Ask your child about him.

Next week we will continue to work on pumpkins and I could use a hand if it is possible. On Thursday afternoon from 130 till 230 we will be looking at all aspects of the pumpkin, measuring it, checking to see if it floats or sinks, cutting it open and counting the seeds etc. For this I would like one parent per table group....so if I could get four or five volunteers I would very much appreciate it. Let me know if you can join us for an hour this Thursday afternoon.

With that stay dry, enjoy your Sunday and I will see you on Monday. If it is raining note that Off to a Running Start may be cancelled and it would be important to bring indoor shoes to school.
Cheers,
Teri

Hi Parents,
You will likely get two blog notices today as Ms. Montagano who is so organized will likely be sending hers off today too...she does have parent teacher interviews, so I may beat her to the draw!!!

I have enjoyed the few conversations that I have had already and look forward to meeting all the parents over the next few days.

This week will be a short week as we have a province wide professional day on Friday, October 19th. I will be attending some art workshop on the north shore and maybe one day your children will get to experience what I will be learning.

This week we have talked about Fall and what happens in the fall and as usual we have teamed that with a couple of beautiful art projects that will be adorning the hallways and inter sanctums of the classroom as well. Come in and take a look. This week will also be the start of our pumpkin unit. We will be learning about pumpkins, their life cycle, their uses etc. In all likely hood we will be focusing in on pumpkins more so than Halloween (which is already a very heightened time of excitement for children). Stay tuned for some great pumpkin projects and pumpkin writing.

What to remember:
1. Field trip notices need to be sent back before this Thursday so that I can start confirming details and organize parent volunteers. At this time a quick look shows me that we may be very short on drivers. So if you can drive and drop off and then pick up again...that would be very helpful.

2. The weekly spelling test is on Thursday this week as there is no school on Friday. The children have been doing very well!!!

3. Rainy weather=wet clothing. Please send appropriate outdoor wear. Please note that if they are wearing boots that I really need them to have shoes to change into as the carpet that they sit on can get very muddy if they are wearing their boots.

4. Continue to check for head lice as Ms. Jung's class has confirmed one case of headlice as well. 

Wonderful pictures of the grade ones cooking their applesauce muffins!
Thank you and have a great weekend,
Teri

one group taking a look at their seeds and filling in their recording sheets

Hello Parents,
Happy Belated Thanksgiving to everyone. Are you still eating the remains of the turkey like I am. I have had leftovers, made turkey soup and tonight the last of it has gone into my turkey pot pie....yum!!

We have been busy in the classroom these last couple of weeks.
We have had our guest gardener,Catriona  in twice already. Our first lesson was last Thursday where we took a look at how Seeds Travel. The children were challenged to look at a collection of seeds and sort them by their primary form of travel. The children enjoyed the hands on fun afternoon of curiousity and discovery. I was very impressed by their ability to take what they learned from Catriona and be able to look at seeds and see where they go. This Thursday (today) we had Catriona come in and talk about Mulching : the types of mulching and the reasons why we mulch. See if your child can remember why and what we use?? After the talk, Catriona worked with both grades. The grade two's harvested the basil and the grade ones planted the garlic. They were all very excited about their tasks. Tomorrow the grade two's will make some pesto sauce with all the basil that came in. I will be bringing in all the ingredients for us to make this aromatic pasta sauce. I am not sure when we will eat it...so i may freeze it and then we will consume at a later date. Meanwhile the grade ones will be doing their own cooking. They will be using the applesauce that they made a few weeks ago to make some cinnamony applesauce muffins...doesn't that sound great!!
Just so you know...besides the fun of cooking..there are so many elements of learning that take place during this time: sharing, taking turns, being safe and clean, measuring, and then watching the change (chemistry) and lastly the reading and the writing that takes place after the cooking has been done. The children are asked to do some writing about their recipe and what they are making. It is a fun way to learn. Thank you to my mamas who are helping out!!! We appreciate you.

This is Catriona doing her thing!

Important Information:
1. Spelling test tomorrow for the grade ones and twos. Grade twos have ten words and two bonus words. 
The grade ones will have six words tomorrow. The two they received on Wednesday plus the four they should be working on over the weeks.

2. Please return the VanDusen field trip forms. I am not charging anybody anything for the trip. It is thankyou to the PAC as they always give us a bit of money for field trips, so I thought we would use it now. The only thing i need is permission from you as well as DRIVERS!!!

3. Our Parent Teacher conferences are next Monday, Tuesday, Wddnesday and Thursday. It is not for the children, only the parent and the teacher. Please make sure you are prompt as if you are late, your time will be shortened as we are keeping to the schedule..

4. Home Reading is very important so try to make time for at least 15-20 minutes a day of oral reading...they read to you out loud...even the grade two's should practice reading outloud. They should be working on their fluency, speed, stopping at periods etc. After reading, it is important that the child remember to bring their home reading back so that we can exchange it on a daily basis. The grade twos need to bring it back and forth as well as often we have volunteers or my self who like to listen to them read.

With that, 
Enjoy the rain??????
I hear it is on it's way!!!
Take Care,
Teri

Montaganews-Tuesday, Oct 9

Hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving long weekend in the warm sunshine! We ended our day much more relaxed today so I feel like I accomplished my goal from last week....

Today we:

-talked more about friendship.  Today we got into talking about how to make a friend.  I was blown away with their 'recipes' on how to make a friend.  You should try asking them to tell you their recipe tonight if you have the chance...they are so perceptive!  We also talked about what to do when you & a friend can't decide on what to do (conflict resolution). We used my favourite story, Ladybug Girl & Bumblebee Boy to springboard into this discussion.  If you have a chance check out all the Ladybug Girl books-they're fabulous!  Also, here's the official Ladybug Girl website.  There are a few 'games' your child might enjoy playing on the computer. http://www.ladybuggirl.com/index.html

-'lassooed the core of a pattern' in math.  Ask your child to tell you what this means.  Hint: we used pipe cleaners...

-went to the library for our book exchange time.  The students went crazy over the ants invading the tree!  Our librarian, a.k.a "Super Y" is truly amazing!  Students are encouraged to memorize their student number which is also their library card number.  If you want me to tell you what your child's student number is so you can help them memorize it, send me a little note in the book bag and I'll write it on a sticky note for you.

-had computers time with Mr. A

-wrote in journals...mostly about Thanksgiving long weekend.

-had free time.

Have a great rest of the short week....

Ebru Montagano

Montaganews--Tuesday, October 2, 2012

We had another fabulous day in Room 209.  The students are settling in so nicely and are truly a lovely bunch.  Tuesdays seem to be jam packed with learning & fun and so I'm finding it difficult to let them go at 3 o'clock! My goal is to improve on this as I know you need them back :)

Today we:

-started the day with a quick little reader's theatre performance by Thomas & Will. They read the "I Like" story from the You'll Read to Me, I'll Read to You book.  It's a great book to read with a partner because there is a line to read in a different colour for each person.  I love anything that promotes reading!  Each student will get to do a reader's theatre performance this year. If you'd like to know more about reader's theatre, check this link out: http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/whatis.html

-talked about FRIENDSHIP...what does it mean to be a friend?...what is a friend?   We read one of the Frog & Toad stories called "Garden" to kickstart our discussion. You'd be so touched by their definitions.

-made up more patterns. This time, AB patterns and ABB and ABC and ABBA, and the tricky ABA, etc.  We clapped our patterns, used colours, used unifix cubes and then made pattern trains on paper with crayons.

-went to the library for our weekly book exchange time.  *Please remember to send the library books back for Tuesdays. 

-had computers time with Mr. A's substitute teacher.

-read a story chosen by birthday boy Lucas and made his card. Happy Birthday Lucas!

-wrote in journals. 

I'll be here Friday afternoon...see you then!

Ebru